Day 2 of Medic School

Today was filled mostly with a lot of review of material we all should have covered in previous classes such as physiology, and anatomy. The first half of class we talked about the electophysiology of how the heart works. It was a nice refresher since I haven't been in physiology since last year. This will play heavily in our ability to interpret Electrocardiograms (ECGs) later on in our career. It was also helpful that I had the opportunity to take an Advanced Cardio Life Support class from my EMT intermediate teacher and this covered almost all of what I had studied for that. I am also so thankful for taking two Medical Terminology classes as they are put to almost constant use in the classroom. Just a few of the words we used multiple times today were, ionotropic, chronotropic, dromotropic, enteral, parenteral, synergism, potentiation, bioavailability, among many others.

We also went over the importance of working as a team. These fellow medics and EMTs are your family away from home. They have your back and you in return should have theirs. Without each other it becomes almost impossible to perform even the simplest of tasks. They are your witness when shit hits the fan so you better become the best of friends.

One of the most intimidating parts of this class is the medication list, we received 7 pages (landscape mind you) of drugs listed with their generic and trade name, class, indications, dosages (both ped and adult), contraindications, side effects along with some additional notes on each drug. Our instructor told us by the end of the year we will be able to recreate this table from memory... I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

Once again I left the room with a desire to know as much as I can so when I am put in the situation of having someone's life in my hands and their family expecting me to fix their loved one, I am able to do so to the best of my capabilities.

A few tidbits I liked from class,
-You guys are having a unique experience in this class, you are the guinea pigs. You get everything, the important stuff along with the shit that I will edit out later because frankly... it didn't work.
-PFM: stands for Pure F#*$&%( Magic, this was used to describe the complex functions of the heart both mechanically and electrically.
-The way we practice is the way we play, verbalize everything and go through your checklists religiously.
-As you get your experience you will know where to cut corners, don't start here.
-Kill them all and let God sort them out, well since the public wouldn't be very happy about that, take them to the Emergency Department and let them sort it out.
-The three things that people need most when their life on the line is and IV, O2, and Diesel. (meaning an IV running to push meds, oxygen is always a good thing, and diesel burning in the engine while their in the back of the ambulance being transported to the appropriate facility.)

Until next time,
Katie