Saving lives and warm fuzzies

For the record, in 6 months of being a paramedic I have technically saved one life.
I think I can safely say that 'saving lives' is not the main part of this job. The other day, a medical office assistant reminded me what this job is all about.

My partner and I were waiting in a doctor's office for a patient to finish his appointment with the doctor. The office assistant looked over and said, "You guys do a really great job!"
Enter awkward moment... what does one say to this? "I know" or "no, go on" (Paramedics are not good at being glory hogs).
Anyways, she continued to tell us that when she was a small child, she had Crohn's Disease and was at one point taken to hospital via ambulance. She said, "the paramedics were so nice to me... they made me comfortable and even stroked my hair... now every time I see you guys I get warm fuzzies."
That is the reason I love my job. People don't remember treatments you do or medications you give, they remember the way you made them comfortable. When you got them an extra blanket or fluffed their pillow. People remember your good and caring attitude and I hope I never lose that.

Respect nurses. Respect them.

Nurses, I think, are the most patient people in the most frustrating job.
This story must begin with another story.

Story 1:
Last night I worked in PoCo. We got stuck at Royal Columbian Hospital. Surprise, surprise... there were no beds available. Wait, tangent... new story.

Story 2:
Why did we, as the city of Vancouver, decide to spend billions of dollars on the Olympics while our health care system goes down the drain? Why, when people are dying on ambulance stretchers in the hallways or sitting on said stretchers for 19 hours at a time without any privacy or proper medical care, are we deciding that we need to spend an extra 5 million dollars on the esthetics of the speed skating rink in Richmond (which is just going to sink in 5 years anyways)?
Ok, back to:

Story 1:
So, while sitting in the hospital I was given 3 other crews' patients so as to clear up crews from the hospital so they can go out to the street and bring more people in. We were there for 3 hours. You may think, wow, that would be quite boring. Well, apparantly sick people need quite a bit of attention.
Patient 1 vomits and needs to be cleaned.
Patient 2 is short of breath, terminally ill and needs to be readjusted constantly so he doesn't aspirate on his own saliva.
Patient 3 needs to go to the bathroom
Patient 4 is cold and needs another blanket
Patient 2's oxygen has run out
Patient 1 vomits again
Patient 4 is thirsty
Patient 3 wonders why a doctor hasn't come by yet and proceeds to complain about the health care system as if there is something I can do about it
Patient 1 vomits again and needs their IV bag to be changed (the fluids goin' out as fast as it goes in!)

Story 3:
This brings me to my point: Nurses are amazing.
Nurses care for at least 5 patients at a time. Being a nurse would be like being stuck in 2 hallways for 12 hours at a time. Blughhhh. Nurses do everything for their patients from keeping them comfortable to medical care to wiping their asses.
So, while some nurses sometimes seem grumpy, you must remember that they are people too. People working 12 hours and wiping everyone's asses.


*DISCLAIMER: any comment in this post is a personal view; the point of a 'weblog' if I am not mistaken. I am in no way intolerant of the beliefs, creeds or opinions of Olympians themselves. And hey, if you disagree with me and think that all nurses are cows, I guess that's your prerogative.*

Raining!

It's finally fall in Vancouver, and that means that it is rainy season!
I, personally, love the rain. This dreary, damp, wet weather makes me so happy. I think I have opposite SADS.

Ryan and I finally made it to church together this last Sunday for the first time since June. My work schedule has been so random and with working so much I haven't been able to commit to going to church. We went to an Anglican church in Vancouver and it was actually pretty good. Before you get all sketched out I'll tell you that this church is leading the part of the Anglican church that is trying very hard to stick to it's orthodox roots.
I'm not normally a fan of liturgical services but this one was very good. The pastor was from England and gave a very good sermon on Jesus' first miracle.
Also, the acoustics in the church were incredible! The choir was placed at the back of the sanctuary up in a loft-like balcony thing. When the congregation was singing the hymns, the choir added the harmonies and the sound echoed in the entire place with an almost haunting beauty; it almost brought me to tears!
Although the service was very traditional and we read almost the whole thing (prayers and such) off of a piece of paper (which I'm not normally a fan of either), it was filled with more emotion than some of the more 'rowdy' evangelical services I have been to.
Perhaps we will go back one day?

Paramedic tip of the day:
If your leg is broken, you will probably know it. Bruising does not = broken.

Oops

Oh crap....

Well, I fixed the 5x posting of my coffee likeness.

Maybe I was really trying to make a point, or maybe there was some crazy virus, or maybe blogspot screwed me over and made me look quite the fool, or maybe I just had too much double espresso.

Mmmmm coffee

You Are a Double Espresso

Hey Energizer Bunny Girl! Do you ever slow down?You're a mix of high energy and ambition, perfectly matched with strong espressoWhen you want something you get it - by any means possibleYou're driven, determined, and no nonsense. Which is just how you like your java.

What'>http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatkindofcoffeeareyouquiz/">What Kind of Coffee Are You?

A good weekend

What a good weekend!

I went with my husband's band Laureate (see link on side of page for delicious good music) to Seattle to play in a little cafe.

Even though sitting in a basement (graciously donated by Matt Wall) listening to the guys rehearse all day was a little bit boring for me, it was all worth it. Not only did I finish 2 very challenging Sudoku puzzles, but the show was great, the hot tub was warm and bubbly, the pizza was fresh and the beer was cheap.

Plus, look at how hot my husband is...

Hands off ladies.

Other highlights included naming Mike LaRoy's car (Perquacky) and laughing at the middle aged man with pony tail driving the miada (see Mike LaRoy's blog for pictures).

Paramedic tip of the day:
If ever impaled by anything, do not remove it. Just leave it be man, because that thing is holding in a lot of blood that will come out should you remove said object. I wonder if poor Steve would have survived had he left that sting ray thing where it was for a bit.

Another job?

With September here and many full time paramedics realizing that they do, in fact, need to work in order to get paid and can no longer milk their copious amounts of vacation time any more, I am left with little to no work.
This raises the question.... should I try to get another job?
Or, do I wait and trust that I will get enough work to pay the bills?

The kind of work I could get would probably be minimum wage.
So, lets say I work 8 hours a day, 4 days a week... I would make $256 minus taxes.
This is depressing because that is how much I would make in one shift with the ambulance.
PLUS, I would probably not enjoy the minimum wage job and would dread going to work.

What to do, what to do....