Holy Cow - I survived

Both my EMT class and the after party! It's a miracle on both ends!

Our graduation ceremony is tonight and we will all be showing up wearing normal clothes. I don't know that I'll recognize anyone if they're not in all navy blue with black shoes and a black belt. Seriously!

I'll post pictures of the class and graduation later. But there will be no pictures of the party; those images are sacrosanct!

I'm going to miss hanging out and palpating all these crazy folks. And I won't know what to do with an entire Saturday at my disposal.I've met some incredible and amazing people during this journey and look forward to seeing where there lives take them. I'm truly blessed to have some of them in my life and will miss our stressed-out, study/bonding/bitching sessions (both those with & without beer). It makes me look forward to nursing school even more. If I got this close to people in 10 weeks, just imagine what can happen over 2 years!

One thing I do plan on doing this summer is learning to knit socks! I've got two books I've been dying to open but haven't been allowed until this class is over. It's open season now!

Down to the Wire

This is the week. My EMT final looms and I am at odds. I know I should be studying. I know I should be focused. I know I should have caught up on my reading. Funny how I know so much yet know so little too . . .

I'm freaking about my written final tomorrow night. We're getting together to study tonight. I'll be studying more tomorrow with a break for a doctor's appointment. I need to get a physical done by the end of June for nursing school. Then it will be back to studying more, right up until the final exam. And then it's out for a beer or two - NO MORE!

After volunteering on Friday I'll be hooking up with a classmate to do a dry run through of all the skills stations before the big day on Saturday. I'm as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Part of it is my performance anxiety and part of it is the fact that I know it will be completely different than our midterm practical. That was so easy - almost too easy in my mind. I don't know that I feel truly prepared for Saturday. Bless my classmates who keep trying to reassure me; I know they mean well but I'm still ramping up to a good panic state.

I wish I could go back in time by one week and prepare better. But you know what, all last week I knew I was slacking off! I just couldn't stop myself. Sounds crazy but it's true. I think if I had been in an all white room with no window and no doors and nothing but my books to study with, I still would have found a way to distract myself. And now I'm kicking myself for that. Sigh . . . I hope I learn from this and don't repeat myself for nursing school!

Anyway, wish me luck. Regardless of what happens, it will be over on Saturday. And, if I do pass it all, I will be graduating on Tuesday!

And then it will be off to Park City, Utah for a weekend of glorious relaxation.

Study Group

I'm hosting a study group at my house today for our EMT class. I can't believe that we have our midterm in less than two weeks. Time has been flying by; we've already finished our third week of class - only seven more left. Gulp!

I got to be a "victim" last Friday for a ATLS class held at SF General. ATLS is Advanced Trauma Life Support. All of the students were doctors, residents & I believe there was one nurse practitioner. We were able to listen to some of the lecture portions which included a lot of the same information we were taught (ABCs! excpet they added D & E). They did exercises in patient triage during multiple casualty incidents - interesting to see what patients warranted advanced status and who needed to wait. Then we went to our moulage area. That's where they dressed us up and put makeup on us to simulate injuries. I was the victim of a fall from my roof and was unconscious (so not much acting taking place).

While I know that the doctors have many more tools at their disposal, sometimes I think they got tripped up in not keeping things simple. Some of them missed a major trauma sign that I had and I even died once. The nurse who was helping in the scenario was very good at directing the doctor towards different things. She would say "are you sure you don't want to look at anything else while the collar is off" or "would you like me to open some IVs or run some blood tests for you?" I'm very thankful that there is a team of people who work on you during a trauma emergency. It's amazing how much people can forget!

I will follow up with pictures next week as I need to get them from my instructor. In all there were four volunteers: fall victim, crushing injury victim (wall fell on him), stabbing victim (domestic dispute - his wife was unhappy with him), and a fight victim who was also stabbed in the back. I think the fight guy died twice!

This is a tough class but I'm glad I'm in it. I feel like I'm really learning a lot and my confidence level has increased, especially as I learn more about what to do and how to treat people.

EMT Insanity (and babies too!)

So, they weren't lying when they said it would be a tough 10 weeks. We're barely into week number two and I'm already stressed out. That may have something to do with the fact that my work has been brutal of late (pushed out deadlines making me compromise my time and resources) but it may not.

I was 25 minutes late to class on Tuesday. ARGH!! I felt like a complete arse and you can be sure it won't happen again. And they handed out cool logo to-go mugs at the beginning of class that I missed out on. I will of course be asking about getting one tonight but it will be very sheepishly.

Tonight and Saturday we are covering the basics of patient assessment, serious foundational work. I am caught up on my reading and ready for action (I think). So far the classes have been good: fast paced, sometimes humorous, mix of lecture and skills. Last Saturday was mostly skills on patient lifting. Whoo boy! I was tired after that one! Thank goodness we own his-n-hers heating pads! One instructor said that this job would be more of a workout than any session at the gym and she was right. Trying to help carry a 6'2", 220 lb. guy down a flight of stairs using a stair chair is what did me in. I have absolutely no upper body strength so I can add that to the list of items to work on (along with cardio, heart, core, etc.)

I will have to be careful to maintain a good balance during all of this. This was my second week of part-time work and I can feel the things that are being left undone start to pile up - both on my desk and in my brain. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel in about two weeks which will be just in time for my EMT mid-term. Phew!

In other news - last Sunday I got to hang out with some of my "internet pet" friends down in San Jose. It was a lovely little afternoon gathering. Then it was back to the city for dinner with Gina & Aaron. Wonderful beef bourguignon with rice pudding for dessert. They make such lovely meals and it's always nice to sit and have a great after dinner conversation with them.

Also, my nephew Luc got his bag I made for him and loves it. But I don't think he loves it as much as the stretchy frog that was in there too! :) But the better news is that Ed & Nora will be having baby #2! She is knocked up and they're having another boy at the beginning of September. On the baby front, my mom saw my cousin Jessie and she's about to pop with her second boy, Logan. And my other cousin Angie is newly pregnant with her second as well. Babies abounding! Mom sent me wonderful pictures of my niece Lily. She's got such a great smile on her. I'll get them scanned in and posted soon!

Off to class for work on scene safety and patient assessment. Wish me luck!

p.s. - no word yet on nursing programs from SFSU or CCSF, but April is a long month!

First Class tonight!

Tonight begins my 10 weeks of craziness! I am beginning an EMT class through the San Francisco Paramedics Association. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. I'm sure the nerves will go away after the first few classes.

We had an information session last week to cover all the paperwork, expectations, goals, uniforms (gulp) and whatnot. I was a bit nervous as I sat there, the only woman among 15 men. But at the last minute there were 2 other ladies who made it to the class. We meet T/Th from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 to 5:00. Not looking forward to those long days for sure.

We are required to wear our uniforms for every class session. Navy pants (carhart work pants from Sears), navy t-shirt or polo provided by them with logo, black belt and black shoes. They didn't tell us until the meeting that the shoes should have toe protection. I've got some on order and hope they come in soon.

In other news, I hosted a knitting gathering over the weekend for some pals from Ravelry. Lovely company, good snacks & fun conversation. We even got some knitting done in the bargain! I finished a hat to send off for a friend of a friend who will be going through Chemo. I got the pattern from Head Huggers and knit the Lace-edged Women's hat using Lion Brand microspun. It turned out quite well and I want to get it off in the mail tomorrow.