Hello there...

Ok, new to this blogging thing. But I guess that here is as good a place to start as any.

Back in July 2007 I finally acted on my long standing interest in becoming a volunteer firefighter. Being as our local volunteer company was less than a mile from my house, it would have been silly not to take advantage of that situation. Sent my emails went in for my interview and low and behold a couple weeks later i'm sitting in my first company meeting waiting to be sworn in among the newest group of people to join our company.

A whole new experience for me really, even the first meeting. Trying to take it all in and keep my cool being the "new kid on the block" i just kept quiet and took notes. Well now comes the time when our recruitment officer asks us to line up in front of the room and tell the group a little about ourselves. They'd introduce us by name and what we'd like to do for the apartment. Originally i was told the department was only taking on new administrative members so i relegated myself to doing the best i can in that role until some operational slots open up. I'm introduced and listed on the company website as being inline for Suppression. Fun stuff, huge grin, a little giggle (ok just on the inside, gimme a break i was excited).

A lot of red tape and jumping hurdles, and getting over a mild phobic reaction to anything near my eyes (ESPECIALLY CONTACT LENSES, which i needed to get to pass my physical) later i'm currently in class for my EMT-Basic, basically to learn about boo-boo's and band-aids. Oh there's some neat stuff to be learned and its just more motivation to get a higher level certification. But, I digress.

This is a VERY VERY brief intro to where this blog comes from. Now onto the fun stuff.

Our volunteer company puts our Basic Life Support Ambulance in-service about 3-5 times a week on average. And any member cleared by the county as physically capable, and who has fulfilled certain requirements can upstaff the unit. I figured even though i havnt passed my EMT-B yet i'd ride whenever the crew would let me to get experience and actually get a chance to practice the skills we're learning in class.

I must tow around a grey cloud behind me and i'll tell you why in a moment, but i just have to share a quick annecdote about my first call ever, back in october fall weather just starting i figured a short day shift on the ambulance was just the cure for a boring day. Show up in my fresh new uniform, bunker gear neatly stowed in the crew compartment and BAM, toned out not 15 minutes after logging the unit onto the CAD system. Call comes through as an unidentified injury to a hand on "trash". Figuring OK, Mr. Homemaker cut his hand on the tuna can making his kids school lunches. NOPE! Dispatch sends out additional info to our MCT computer in the ambulance while we're enroute. Mr. Homemaker is Mr. Irate Fingerless Gentleman who has possible amputation of digits on his hand, unknown number, hand wrapped in a t-shirt to stop the bleeding. Priority 1 response to the scene and we show up to Mr. Fingerless standing on the corner hand wrapped in a fairly filthy t-shirt. Come to find out the implement of amputation is not innocent little tuna can but GIANT TRASH TRUCK. Our ALS medic unit was also on scene and unwrapped Mr. Fingerless' hand to find a full on clean amputation of a finger, right clean through no gore, little bleeding just GONE! I went my way up the street to make sure the rest of the people on scene have the appropriate information and get people to the right hospital to meet their co-worker. Being as its my first day and figuring my patient interaction would be severely limited. Nope, i'm up there and our Medic driver points at the gaping maw of this garbage truck, looks me square in the eye and says "You're the new guy right? go in there and find that finger", gag! Ok fine, am i supposed to dig through this full sized garbage truck to find this gentleman's missing digit? Nope, Mr. Medic Driver says "It'll be easy just follow that tendon, the finger has got to be on the other end." Yup it was, about 12 inches of tendon later i find the finger, firmly lodged in a leather work glove.

So, throw the gloved finger in a suction basin and run back down to the unit to try and save Mr. Fingerless' finger. The medic gives us the transport, priority 1 to our local trauma center. Smooth transport, less smooth "extrication" of the finger from said glove. My aide and I worked as smoothly as possible in the back of a jostling ambulance to cut away the glove without damaging any tissue more than we needed to. My aide tells me to push the digit out. Nope, starts to de-glove (for the non-medical out there) the skin starts to peel away from the musculature and bone beneath. That won't work, more cutting, more cutting. POP, out comes the finger into the waiting sterile glove to be tied off and chilled for transport. We encode the hospital thinking, minor amputation at least we'll be met by a nurse. We arrive to find our unit on the board, a room assigned but no one there to meet us, 20 minutes later we get someone. Hopefully Mr. Fingerless is not Mr. Re-Attached Finger but followup we never did find out.

Good first call i'd say. I didn't even get the slightest bit queezy. We'll see how i do on my first bloody patient.

Next night riding we get a call to the local schoolyard for a possible broken forearm on a pediatric patient. Oh great, screaming little kid, and just a bruise. Couldnt be farther from the truth. Lil' Miss Severely Angulated forearm was calm, and cool as a cucumber, as long as she didnt look at the arm. Ms. Mom was more upset. That call went a lot smoother, we used the new and improved red-hat splint, a.k.a. Corey Hold this sling in place until we get to the hospital.

We get to the hospital in record time, encode her into the system and poof gone to the pediatric ER. I'm sure she had a pretty pink cast on in no time and all her friends signed it and shes off to the races ready to get in more trouble.

Now this is two shifts in a row with good calls, here comes the nickname. The driver and aide on that shift start calling me Odie, or OD short for Obvious Deformity, or the over eager little dog that that fat orange cat likes to torture.

I've ridden a lot since then, and made it through most of the Trauma lessons in my EMT-B class, but i'll keep you updated on the goings on as soon as there's something interesting to report.