First (and hopefully last) Three-Fer

The sad thing is, I don't remember a damn thing about Friday. Yesterday we had a lot of fun doing a blood pressure and File of Life clinic at a local elderly high rise... really a good time. Today we were visited by the crew at Peer Support--good stuff... Really nice to know that we have all these services available. I think that's all...

Another two-fer

Yesterday wrapped up ITLS and today we did Ob/Gyn/GU and some DV stuff... Pretty interesteding stuff. LFTO Tutthill spent the morning on Ob/Gyn and then Paramedic Dan White spent most of the afternoon talking about Domestic Violence, the newly reborn "Gold Unit", and Coital Injuries--I honestly thought the whole thing was a gag, but it was pretty informative. We also met the King of Trauma, Dr. Hirsch, Director of Trauma Surgery at BMC. We also added "Department Pager" to the list of things to always have and to never loose. The best news of the day being that as of 1600hrs tommorrow, we are 1/4 of the way thru the didactic portion of Recruit Training.

Its like herding cats...

Well, we started off the week fairly typically, although MLK Day and BTLS has kept us out of the gym Monday and Tuesday, and again tomorrow. Pretty standard going in the classroom, but the LFTOs are definately keeping us on a shorter leash, and are a bit less patient with the foolish questions and most of the class's inability to follow simple directions. O'Brien had a great couple storys about the "Atenolol Lady" and "Lithium Guy", and Mentele put up a HELL of fight during an AMS assessement... Quite a scrap. Fine.

Two days for one...

Thursday and Friday this week were pretty tame. Some close order drill and safety pad stuff on Thursday was pretty interesting, and the exam on Friday was pretty easy, but inconsistent. That's pretty much it... Week 2, down.

Same shit...

Pretty tame day... PT (6 flights), card's lecture with Dr. Moyer, Pulse Ox lecture with Harding, and then VS labs all afternoon. Safety Pads, CAD and EMail tomorrow... Should be cool.

Fucking Traffic

Its amazing how 10 minutes can add almost an hour to your commute. I arrived at Bragdon Street 5 minutes late this morning, but so far, all its cost me is a few bucks (for the can and lost pay) and some time to complete an incident report. Other than that, the day went OK... We got a good look at the new Tango-1 and some of the spare trucks (which will be 90's in a few weeks). Pretty tame stuff, but a nice break from TQI. We're back to running stairs in the AM...

Snowflakes and Locusts...

...were apparently forecast, as I got a call last from LFTO Mentele, telling me that I have to report to the Academy at 0700 as we were being deployed for the snowstorm. I woke up at 0430, and promptly climbed back into bed as it was POURING rain. It started to snow soon after and we got a few inches. Needless to say, we were never deployed.

We also took our first "real" quiz today... Pretty easy stuff... What ages/weights get pedi AED pads? Who is C-4? Who is C-2? Who is C-11? Well, C-11 is a Deputy, and my guess would be they'd be asking us about the Dep on "temporary assignment" to the Academy (I win). And C-4 is a Superintendant... My guess would be they'd want us to know the name of the one who came in to welcome us (I win). And maybe you could figure out who C-2 was after he came in during the quiz to introduce himself, and mentioned Deputy Cavaleri by name, and mentioned that she had come to introduce herself... FUCKING DOPES!! Our Squad average was 60! FUCKING 60!! I think my 96 kept us out of the 40's! Use the test to take the test folks. No excuses, play like a champion.

One week down...

Pretty good day... PT isn't all that bad. The lack of sleep, however... Got to meet two graduates of 07-02 to get an idea of what the next few months hold--really great to hear some of their stories. Also, got our hands on the City's 9' straps--bad ass when you get the hang of them. LFTO Harding also showed us a sling and swath trick using only 2-6" ACE bandages--SICK! Glad to be done with the week... Only a few more to go. ...One bite at a time.

Stairs suck...

Hit the exercise balls in the gym today... Sucked. Ran 6 flights... Sucked. Forgot my ID in my gym locker... really sucked (bucked up). Not a bad day after that, although really boring... If I don't have SAMPLE and OPQRST down by now, I'm fucked. I'd also like to thank GAC for making me look brilliant when I answered a question about the Parasympathetic system. Also got our first look at our SCBA masks and Nerve Agent Kits. First week ends tomorrow, so I've got to get ready (and sneak in a nap)... Out.

Day Three

I'm exausted, but still in the game. CPR all day today... and as is the norm with CPR, no one knows what the fuck is up. Capt. Murphy says one thing, the video says another, and the FTOs who heard neither say a third, and bust your nuts for fucking it up. PT wasn't as bad as anticipated, but they also took it easy on us. Not much of a day, but busy and long. Now I'm off to clean and press uniforms... Until tomorrow.

How do you eat an elephant?

... One bite at a time. Walked into the Academy today and was promptly told that our classroom was on the 6th floor and the elevators were off limits to recruits--"Come back when you get your badge... We'll give you all the elevator rides you want." Found my seat and was promptly rewarded with a Fisher-Price "My First Stethoscope", a blood pressure cuff, a pen light, trauma shears, pen, highlighter, protocol books, EMT book, EMS Policies and Proceedures Manual, CPR manual, clip board, schedule, and PT instructions. We were met by Capt O'Connor, Chief Serino, and Deputy Antonino. Pretty interesting morning, going over Academy rules (elevators, Ready Squad, and Fire Alarm stuff) and a short lunch. We were then in-serviced on the gym, and taken to Bragdon Street (SOD HQ) to pick up turn-out gear, and got the chance to check out the Tango and X-Ray units. Back at RTQI, our duty crew cleaned up, and lugged 3 bottles of water up from the 4th Floor Kitchen (no elevators). Got out a little late, but litte traffic on the ride home. PT starts tomorrow... should be tough, but I think I cancel my gym membership.

So began my career at "City". Many thanks to the people who helped me get here, especially LT. O'B. and CAPT. Powers. This morning was probably the most important part of working for PHC--payroll, benefits, and pension paperwork. The afternoon was perhaps the most painfully boring experience of my life--three hours on harrassment, discrimination, and retalliation. Just heard Div-1 and A-2 going to a PD OT (updated everyone OK, Cxl)--can't wait to be on the road. Tomorrow we hit the Academy--should be interesting. If I do nothing else, I will be on time and prepared... I hope.