So It's Been A Long Time

Well with the start of all that is cardiology time has been in high demand and low availability. Hence the very large gap in postings. All that aside class is going well, still managing to maintain the 4.0 I've been rolling with since the beginning. Staring at rhythm strips and algo's is getting a little boring but surprisingly comforting. I'm still surprised that I can even hang in this course, as it was billed as a very hard program. But I think once you're up to speed, maintaining the pace is not a problem. It's the slow times that set you back, busy doesn't seem that busy anymore.

I hope that this theory carries over to actual paramedic work. That after you get up to racing speed, everything slows down as you don't feel the speed, just the acceleration. Baby Medic called it along time ago. He wondered something along the lines of "how can I get all that I need to do, done, in the short time I'm given?" And I wonder the same thing. I know right away, you get what you can done and hopefully that still provides adequate care to you patients. Later on, with better skills and time management, you can add things to the list and complete more in the same time frame.

Back to Partyology.

Wrapping Up

With one semester behind me, I'm proud to say I made it, proving myself both right and wrong. With the much needed confidence boost, I look forward to the courses to come without many reservations. I made it through pharmacology, I sure as hell can make it through cardiology. Which just happens to be the next mountain to summit. So while everyone is out enjoying the summer, I shall be nose deep in a textbook. Maybe I'll sneak outside and bask in the sun while reviewing cardiac rhythms.

I'm smart enough to know I don't know jack yet and I still need to keep practicing the basics but, it's nice to think I might have picked up a few things along the way.

One Semester Down

If class was a party, the keg would almost be cashed. With two finals over and done with we are able to take a breath and relax a bit over the weekend. One final tarnishes the coming week, thankfully it's on Tuesday. The rest of the week will be nice and low key, no tests, just show up and help the class ahead of us get ready for their clinicals.

A weekend will be the only break we enjoy between semesters, as our summer session picks up right away. Behavioral and environmental issues will become our new universe to discover. Bring on the crazies.

From One Frying Pan To The Next

Apprehension built up from classes ahead of us had convinced us that pharmacology would be the next great test of our abilities to incorporate and ultimately retain a massive amount of material. The previous student were correct, there was a large amount of material to retain, but the mountain was not quite as tall as they had made it sound. I walked away with an "A" without feeling very tested. Do I remember every detail of every drug, no. But I walk away with a huge interest, which will compel me dig deeper in an attempt to know more than the average medic. Really, do any of us actually say "I just want to sneak by, hoping to avoid the ton of trouble created by not properly caring for our patients. No we want to be the smartest kid in the room of smart kids. We are too damn proud to just be "in" the room of smart kids. Which is of course the bane of every medics existence. We believe deeply that knowledge is power. Our pharmacology section is completed, the road work has been laid. From here on out it's our job to finish on our own.

We start our airway section on Monday. We've been given a large reading assignment to complete over the weekend. Adding a little flavor as we sizzle in our new frying pan.

Redemption

During our pharmacology we've of course been practicing our IV techniques. For some this includes blindly digging with hopes of just a little blood to show a flash, while others must be using the magnetic needles that seek out veins. I've been somewhere in between, constantly tortured be the wing needle. We start testing on Monday.

Dispatch to a late 20's or early 30's male in seizure. After ascending the stairway to heaven we find our patient. Presenting in the usual manner, prone on the bathroom floor and of course with his pants at his ankles. You almost made it buddy. His tachy and fairly hypoxic at 74%. He continues to wiggle around, his usual postictal activity as we are told. With a big bear hug and some quick work on the pants we chair lift him down the stairs to our cot waiting at the front door. He continues to tug on the oxygen mask and flail about as we head for the ambulance. I'm tasked with starting an IV on Mr. Seizure. Honestly I would have rathered him still be in seizure as I think he would probably not have such large movements. Lethargic as his is, his still remembers what an IV is and how it feels. I find a perfectly suitable vein, much more accommodating than anything I've found in class. The 18g slides right in, and is if on cue he moves and I lose my tamponade and the blood drains down onto my leg and on the seat as I move his arm over it. With a little clean up, it's as good as gold.

Why can I start a perfect IV in a moving rig, on a fighting seizure patient with rather dark skin, but can't seem to strike gold on an arm placed perfectly on a table, beautiful lighting and skin like porcelain. The outcome is ultimately better for the patient, but not for my grades.

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

So with the start of pharmacology we began brushing up on our math skills. Kicking it off with calculating dosages. Now I took every advanced math class during high school. The previous college level math wasn't easy either, but I might have created a minor dependence on the "calculator." Apparently being on the "calc" as I'm putting it, drastically decreases your ability to navigate even elementary math problems. Setting up the proper equation is very simple, but who knew that one should remember how to divide long handed. I'm limping a bit without the "calc" as my crutch. But a few more problems and I should be fine. After the lovely spring break that I'm enjoying we shall break into calculating drip rates.

As I look around our classroom and watch the struggling students I can't help but notice that they are almost always the youngest of the class. I'm saddened by the implications this brings to light. I hope that this does not highlight the inadequacies of the current educational systems in place to teach our younger generations. Just some food for thought.

Bring on the Big Sticks

So, we've finished our first of many patient assessment portions of class, now on to pharmacology. Just to get us all thinking over the weekend we blindly jumped into the world of IV therapy. After a little lecture time and playing with the IV arm, we started in on each other. Now being someone who is already varianced, I was the first victim. I was more than happy to be the first lab rat. After a little smooth talking someone stepped forward to "give it a try." Sort of joking and mostly serious the instructor told us "this first time, I just want to see that you actually break the skin, anything more is just icing on the cake." Well with a little instruction with the cath in my arm, the willing medic student achieved a nicely patent IV. I think she was more nervous about hurting me than actually getting it into the vein. She did a hell of a lot better than the participants did in my first IV class. Because I was one who had performed this skill on the ambulance before, I had to wait for everyone else to try their luck. My turn came right before the end of class, with the 40's y/o female with one kidney and veins that are non existent from years of dialysis. Sometime later we might address how she thinks she can do this job, but a new blog would be needed to encapsulate those feelings. She had crap veins, everything you saw looked like a windy road on the side of a mountain, you couldn't feel anything either. After inspecting both arms, including the one in the sling, the instructor gave me a little reprieve and allowed someone else to sit in. It was the same girl who had started with me. Not wanting to increase the size of the new bruise she was developing, I went for an of the road vein. And just like fate who have it, I missed. She was a champ though and even let me dig a little bit. But I broke the skin as the instructor wanted. Isn't school humbling. We start pharm on Monday. God help me.