Crazy Week!

"I believe that we are who we choose to be. Nobody is going to come and save you. You've got to save yourself. Nobody is going to give you anything. You've got to go our and fight for it. Nobody knows what you want except you, and nobody will be as sorry as you if you don't get it. So don't give up on your dreams."   -Unknown.

Life has been soo busy recently, I feel like I haven't had much time to sit back and catch my breath. School is getting to be overwhelming. This morning I took an exam that covered more than 700 pages, 15 chapters and a variety of subjects. This week was going to be a week off.... So much for that. I've also taken it upon myself for reasons unknown to design a class t-shirt. 

This week has also been one of the craziest weeks of my life. It started off with back to back clinicals at the University of Utah Medical Center Emergency Department. Sunday I went in at 1300 and left at 0100 Monday morning and had to be back up there to follow Salt Lake City Fire Department's Medical Director around at 0900. Sunday's night shift was crazy busy! We had trauma after trauma come in. I had the opportunity to talk to a handful of nurses and techs and learn some valuable information that I have a feeling will help me out in the months to come. I was very successful with my IV starts and have become more confident in my abilities to choose a site and hit my mark. Monday's shift was one full of firsts and crazies. I experienced things that I hope never to see smell or come in contact with in any way, ever again. I'll just leave the description at decontamination for feces, yeast infection, and maggots, oh and a poorly cared for gastrostomy bag... I definitely needed something to take my mind off of medical things even just for a little while.

I've been looking at rodeo kayaks for a few weeks now and have contacted heaven only knows how many people about their posts on KSL. There were a few boats that I called to go look at and they had been sold just hours before. I feel this was a blessing in disguise. I found a little yellow 6.5' Dagger Ultrafuge for sale by a college kid living in Provo and decided to go have a look and see if it was one that might work. I sat in it and the padding was just where it needed to be and fit like a glove. Needless to say, I'm now the happy owner of said kayak. Haval made the trip with me and we had the brilliant idea to see if Jared would let us come use his pool to learn to Eskimo Roll in. He said yes, so I called my dad up and asked if he would come and talk us through how to execute one. I struggled with it for a while and needed a break. Haval hopped into a kayak for his first time ever and on his third try, managed to right  himself. Me, being the fierce competitor I am had to try and try and try again until I could do it for myself. Best investment I've made in a while :D I can't wait to play with it more this spring as the weather gets better.

Wednesday was my study day. I read and reread and tested myself until my mind turned to mush, and then I went and picked out a new set of whitewater paddles and a rafting life vest! 

Thursday I just had to go out and play with my new toys and try the significantly shorter paddles out. They took some getting used to but are much easier to maneuver in the tiny kayak. It was a lovely way to start my morning and destress a bit. I then retreated back to Sugarhouse coffee to do my last stent of studying before the big test Friday morning. I felt confident in how the pretests were going and the information I had covered. Logan text me and said he was done with his last final and we decided to go out and celebrate so we went shooting. I love going out to shoot with that kid, we always have a good time. We had a good chance to catch up on life and how things were going with old friends we used to hang out with over dinner at the Pie Pizzaria. I'm amazed with how fast time flies and how good friends can be apart for various reasons for long periods of time and get back together and it seems like you were never apart! One can never have too many friends and I'm lucky to have some of the best to be had!

Hopefully the results of this test prove that my hard work and concentration have paid off and that I'm showing enough progress and improvement that my teachers will be happy with my performance. I'm looking forward to the weeks to come and the warm weather that summer will hopefully bring! 

Bit of a rough week

This week was rough! There was a lot of information we covered and it hit me just how much we need to know in a short amount of time. I'm not studying nearly enough. This program truly is demanding of both time and energy. Friday came and I was looking forward to a nice break over the weekend.

Yesterday I completed my third BLS ride along with the same station I had the pleasure of working with last week. I thought since they were so welcoming to me last week the least I could do was bring them some doughnuts from Banbury Cross. Eastwood has the biggest sweet tooth I've ever seen. As I arrived at the station they were leaving on a call and I took my wallet and keys, locked my car and hopped straight into the engine with them.

There was something in the air yesterday. There was an unusually high amount of both respiratory and cardiac arrests. I had a feeling that I was going to get to experience my first go around with CPR and resuscitation. Our first patient I would be surprised to hear if he made it through the rest of the day. He didn't not look good and I could tell that his family was prepared and ready for him to die. Our second call was a man complaining of Pneumonia, we didn't get to interact with him too much, Gold Cross was on scene and ready to transport. He thanked us for responding and hopped in the ambulance so he could go get treatment at the hospital.

The third call of the day was rough. It was dispatched as a pediatric respiratory arrest. They said the child was not breathing and mom was performing breaths and pediatric CPR. Luckily by the time we got there mom had gotten the child breathing again. Grandma was on scene and kept saying make sure they both go. We found out that this little one that was fighting for his own life had a twin brother and Grandma wanted them to be transported together so they could stay with in sight of each other. Needless to say, we didn't spend much time on scene and Gold Cross was quick to transport the baby up to Primary Childrens for further treatment. Mom was unusually calm during this whole thing. We suspected she was on something and very high. It makes me sad to see the situation a lot of patients we interact with are in. It makes me appreciate the life and choices I have made for myself.

Things quieted down for a bit and just as we had finished dinner our last call of the night came in. It wouldn't be a ride along with out an overdose. This one was the worst yet by far. We knocked on the door and tried to enter but it was locked. A man answered and said She's not breathing. We rushed in and found her unresponsive on her bedroom floor. One of the Firemen I was riding along with suggested we move her into the living room where we would have more room to work. Good thing he suggested it because we would soon need all the extra room we could get. We opened our boxes and got ready to start CPR. I was first in charge of the airway. I continued to breathe for her using a Non-rebreather mask while the rest of the crew started on compressions until the medics could respond, administer medications, and hook her up to a heart monitor. I got to see them intubate her as well as start and Interosseous Access line. Which is where you drill a needle into the bone marrow when IV access is unavailable. I also got to step in and perform CPR compressions along side the crew. It was a textbook version of organized chaos. We were able to get a heartbeat back. Gold Cross soon after transported her to the nearest hospital but I would be shocked if she survived the ride.

Today was a day of firsts for me. I love the work I do and the people I have the pleasure of doing it with. When the going gets rough the tough get going. I have a renewed appreciation for the field of work that I hope to someday play a bigger role in.

Don't ever take life for granted.

Until next time,
Katie

BLS ride along

Today I had the pleasure of riding along with two advanced EMTs from Gold Cross. I have always gone with the Fire crews. It was fun to see how the two groups work together to get things done and provide the best care they can. It was a slow day as far as calls go, but I learned a lot from Jen and Ervin. As we were washing the rig and wiping it down, we were talking about the importance of getting along and meshing with your partner. If you can trust your partner and know that they have your back, your job becomes much less stressful and easier to do. Every time I go on a ride, I learn something new that I will never forget and walk away wanting more. I was treated as an equal while riding with them. That meant a lot to me! I feel we all had a good time and got a long well. I hope that when I'm put with a partner I can mesh with them as well as these two do. I can't wait to actually work in the field and go somewhere long enough to get to really know the people that I'm spending my time with.

On a little bit of a different note, this past weekend I had the chance to go down to Zion National Park with my mom, two of her friends and their daughters, and my good friend Whitney. We couldn't have asked for better weather and company. We all had a blast! Here are a few pictures.

I'll try to keep writing regularly. Life has been so good to me! I can't wait to see what tomorrow and the future brings!

Until next time,
Katie

Taking small things for granted

Today our Paramedic class had the honor and pleasure of listening to Annette speak about what to expect on out clinical rotations at the Burn Unit at the University of Utah hospital. I am always so excited when we get to here about a specific injury or patient we may encounter in the health field from someone who works with it everyday and not only that but is passionate about what they do. While she was going through her slide show I found myself grimacing at some of the graphic pictures she had included. I then stepped back and thought to myself, how would I feel if that was a picture of myself or of someone I loved. Our natural and first instinct is to shy away from uncomfortable sights. Annette brought up an often forgotten point. These are people too and they have feelings greater than any of us may experience. Having worked with burn patients for many years, the best thing we as a normally not very warm and welcoming society can do when we encounter someone who has experienced this unfortunate situation is to acknowledge them and ask them about their experience. Saying something like "I noticed the scar on your arm, it looks like it's from a burn. How are you healing? or what happened if you don't mind me asking?" She said the worst thing we as a society can do is pretend like we're not looking and don't care. In elementary school aged kids she said that when a kid returns to school, his/her friends will rally around the patient and act as protectors of them. In middle school and high school, people are ruthless and those who at one time we considered our closest friends may not be as accepting. When do we as people make this shift and why?

Annette also shared with us the awe inspiring experience of seeing these people who come in because a needle broke off in their arm from self administering heroine to admitting themselves to detox, and changing their thinking from what am I going to do now that I can't shoot up myself to who is going to take care of my ill mother. She said "Peoples' perspective on life changes after being burned, those who live choose to live and those who don't want to survive usually don't."

Another little tidbit she left us with was the saying "Don't tell me what to do if you can't tell me why." I am going to try my best to use this every chance I get. Not so much on the not taking orders but when I give orders or ask others to do something differently, I better have a good reason why I asked them to change what they're doing, or it's most likely not a very logical request. I'm not a huge fan of taking orders or of criticism. I struggled with this a lot with coaches in high school. I found I was much more receptive to their instruction if they had data to back up their request, and took the time to explain it to me. This can also be applied to patient care, when performing a procedure on a patient, they're (in theory, definitely not always) going to be much more calm and receptive to care if they know what to expect and why you're going to do it to them.

As Kyle brought up at the end of class these calls are low frequency/high acuity for the Fire Department. Meaning we won't get called on them much but when we do, a lot is required of us and our interventions may just be the difference between life and death.

Class today has reminded me to appreciate the little things in life.

I was reading on a facebook page of a friend of a friend about their child who's time is set to expire really soon due to heart failure and how they as a family are coping with this potentially devastating time in their lives and there are a few lines from it that put my feelings in to words more effectively than I seem to be able to. Here are two lines that really stuck out to me:

"I believe it is in recognizing the many blessings we already have that we find happiness. That isn't to say life isn't painful for us and that we wish things were otherwise - but our trials, when placed in the context of our blessings, seem to give us a much more balanced and joyful perspective."

"... it is the battles that rage inside our minds and hearts that are in greatest need of others service."

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.
— Henri-Frederic Amiel

Remember to let those you love and appreciate know just how much you love and appreciate them and to do it as often as you can. You never know if that may be your last chance to do so.

Until next time,

Katie

Lab Day

Lab days intimidate me. That being said, today  was definitely one of the more enjoyable days in class. We went over how to give IVs and calculate drip rates. I hit one vein and blew through the back of another. Too bad the one I botched up with my instructor's. Luckily he was very understanding and a great sport. He talked me through what I had done wrong all while gritting his teeth through the pain I was causing him. I felt sooo bad. 

In the assessment portion. We had an awesome Paramedic come in that I already respect so much. The way he treats each of us as equals and doesn't care about our background or past experience made me feel soo much more comfortable and relaxed. Hearing him talk about his experiences and passion for the work he does and loves has made an impact on me. I have a feeling I will be spending more time with him picking his brain to gain as much knowledge and insight as I can. So far I've been able to hold my own alright and have been able to become friends with most everyone in class which has been a blast. I can't wait for the weeks to come to get to know, and trust everyone even more.

Until next time!

Katie

Observational Ride Along Day II

Today I had the chance to ride along with SLCFD Station 2. The calls I got to go on consisted of a false alarm on a high rise fire, a chest pain, another drunk that got sent to detox, a woman that was presenting with a brain attack (stroke), a lift assist, and another woman who was complaining of chest pain and bronchitis.

I had the opportunity to experience a lot of new things today. On the first chest pain call, we were dispatched to the road home. I had looked at the outside many times but I would have never been able to picture just how sad and dirty the inside was. I was a little shocked. The people hanging out there welcomed us and thanked us for our service to them which was nice. I would never want to have to live in their shoes.

While the engine responded to the high rise fire, I got to sit in the rig and listed to the communication and break down of the event over the radio. It was really interesting to see how they delegated who would be the inspection crew, who would be in charge of finding the water source, and who would be responding as backup. It makes me appreciate the hard work and time these guys put in to make sure that they can be there when they're needed and be able to deescalate the problem as soon as possible. Even though it was a false alarm there was a lot to be learned from it and the firefighters take any opportunity to continue their training and to become more familiar with the buildings within their district so that when there is a real fire, they know the best way in and out of the building and the possible risks they would have to consider to maintain their team's safety.

While treating the woman who was presenting as a possible stroke, I learned that sometimes you can't rely on only talking to communicate, not only was her speech slurred, but she couldn't understand us because she only speaks Russian. Having her family translate presented some problems too. They couldn't tell us where she was hurting or how she was feeling, they could fill in bits and pieces of the events leading up to the attack, and some of her current medications but not much else. Simple questions like can you blink for us or raise your arms and hold them turned into a game of charades almost. We loaded her in the ambulance and I got to ride to the hospital with the medics in the back of the ambulance to continue observing their patient care. We transferred the care to the hospital staff and I got to sit and watch while the Neurologist took over and started tests of her own. On the other side of the curtain, a full arrest was going on. I never got a chance to see the patient but I heard them call it and watched as they cleaned up the room. That made me realize that I have no room to complain when I'm having a rough day. At least I'm breathing alive and well.

As usual, I had a blast and thought the men I rode along with today were great. They gave me pieces of advice that I will never forget and more importantly, I learned more from them by the example they set and their high standards for each other and themselves. I hope if I ever have the chance to work along side them as a coworker, I'll be able to pull my own weight and make them proud.

Until Tomorrow!

Katie

Beginning of week two!

This weekend was a busy one to say the least, I went on a ride a long with station 8 this weekend. Nothing too stressful, it was mainly just to observe life in the fire house and that's exactly what I did. I have what the firefighters call a white cloud following me. No matter what station I'm at, we don't receive many calls. Station 8 is known to be one of the busiest stations in the valley and average anywhere from 6-12 calls in a day, we had two for the 12 hours I was there with them. I did however get two patient contacts. I took blood sugar and blood pressures on two very intoxicated males. The rest of the day consisted of watching Paranorman, College Basketball, and a very cool car auction. The guys at 8 were great and it was a pleasure getting to meet and work along side everyone.

Sunday I went down to Provo to stay at a friend's place and have some fun. We made a Cafe Rio style dinner and had a great time playing games. One of Afton's room mates, Renee is in the animation program at BYU and it was a lot of fun talking art, color theory and concept design with her. If I wasn't doing paramedic, I would probably be studying art as my major. For now it will remain as one of my beloved hobbies that I will use as an excuse to take a break from studying once in a while.

Anytime I am together with this particular group of friends (Afton, Haval, Jared, and any of his room mates that choose to come) we can be doing anything and burst out into uncontrollable laughter leaving us all in tears and barely able to breathe. Werewolf and Uno were the games of choice this weekend. I'm so glad I have these people in my life to lighten the mood and knock me down to size. While waiting for dinner to cook last night, we were giving each other nicknames Struggles is what I ended up with, I wasn't too offended because put simply, it fits. Haval was Stutters and Jared was Gimp. We can all pick on each other and laugh at ourselves without taking offense because we all know it's meant to be taken very lightly. We all know that we would do anything for each other. I'm so lucky to have such an awesome support group cheering me on in life.

While this weekend was a lot of fun, it left me very sleep deprived and class this morning was very long. We were warned at the beginning of class that it was going to be one of those "death by power point" kind of days. Sure enough, we went through almost 200 slides on the subject of patient assessments. I have another ride along tomorrow and I can't wait to hopefully get a few more patient contacts to add to meager list. Hopefully I will get the chance to write tomorrow night to tell of my time spent at the firehouse.

Until then!
Katie

End of the first week!

I have made it through the first week of medic school. TGIF. The mutual feeling in class this morning seemed to be exhaustion. We were all tired and quiet. I was having a rough morning and was not feeling that great. I was happy to sit in my back corner and take my notes and listen to the lecture. Little did I know we were going to be running through some scenarios first. I know that when I am working as a paramedic in the field, I will have to be able to put my own personal struggles and ill thoughts aside and approach my patients with the best attitude I can muster up, and be able to focus all of my attention on them and their current problem. I am going to strive to make myself work through these mornings and approach everything that is asked of me with the attitude and answer, "Yes of course" and "Sure, why not?" I have to make myself take advantage of every opportunity to better myself and build my skill set along with my confidence in my abilities so I can be the best paramedic/person I can be.

A few tidbits from yesterday and today before I pass out and take a much needed afternoon nap.
-It is vital that you become very familiar with your equipment and how to properly use it.
-Always prep your surfaces when applying fast patches, and shave the sweater if needs be. Singed hair doesn't smell so good.
-Never assume. Always be searching for possible alternatives and narrow down your choices  logically.
-While ANP stands for Atrial Neuro Peptide, BNP stands for Brain Neuro Peptide and by that they really mean Ventricular Neuro Peptide. It was just found in the brains of rats first.
-"Don't treat the damn monitor, treat your patient." (talking about reading the ECG machine) They make mistakes too.

A movie we watched yesterday in class to lighten the mood a little bit



Until next time!

Katie

Pictures I realize never made it onto the blog from this fall

Pumpkin carving with Whitney!

An epic day of shooting with the boys

We can't help but goof off a bit.

This series of photos I found on my camera while I was downloading the ones I had taken... I guess that's what I get for leaving my camera unattended.

This on makes me laugh every time :)

Looks like I left the camera unattended again...

Gardner Village with my mom and cousin Annie and her kid Giselle.

Annie and Giselle.

My cute momma and I.

Another day of epic shooting with some more of my favorite people.

Silly Jason

Nasty A rat tail....

Jason's anime face.

All I can say is my life is filled with awesome family and friends!