Running Around Madness

Well hello everyone, it has been a long time since I have been able to update this. I have been really busy as of late. Here's the short version. School is busy, we are on 20 days of straight class, school was falling apart, and I recently joined an ambulance service. Now here's the long:

School

School has been good so far. Hazardous Materials has been intense. We have had a lot of stuff thrown at us in a short amount of time. We've had three quizzes in about two weeks and gone through 400 pages of material in 4 weeks. Doesn't seem that fast but with some stuff that could kill you super quick like you kind of want to take your time. In Emergency Apparatus Maintenance we've been greasing u-joints and what not, We cleaned the batteries and refilled them. Once we plugged those back in we hooked up the exhaust to fan system... then... we started checking out the air tanks for moisture. It was good up until the last one leaked all over me. But that is okay.


So with the retirement of our department head there has been a lack of leadership in our program. Instructors tell us to show up for classes then don't show up themselves. It's ridiculous. Instructors tell us to wear uniforms but wear jeans because they are in charge. Yeah, they are, but in a paramilitary structure such as the fire profession is, leading by example is key. Today though one of the instructors hit each of the points we were contesting, each of the problems we had if you will, and made a point to fix each one. It was good. That is about it on the school area of my life. 


Job

So I recently got a job with Eagle Ambulance out of Montana City. Ask around Helena and you'll realize that Eagle isn't well liked. Why, because the last person that was in charge ran it into the ground and burned a lot of bridges. The new lady who is in charge is trying to get us back up to being a respected ambulance service. So far on my first real day of work I had a trauma call. Lady with a possible hip fracture. I got there after being told to take a deep breath and busted out some vitals. I held c-spine and helped backboard her. We got her to the hospital. She was talkative and as cheesy as it is to say, She probably won't remember me but I will probably think about her from time to time my whole life.

We also have had a few hospital transfers. For instance we had two between here and Missoula yesterday. We also got to standby at a hockey game. It was nice to watch the game for free. The Bozeman Icedogs played the Helena Big Horns... I was torn as I am from Bozeman. But the Big Horns won 7-3.

So yeah the EMT job is pretty good. It doesn't pay well, but having a job where I feel like I accomplish something and I help people is worth it. Once I get my endorsements I will be paid more.

Conclusion


So yeah. That is about it in a nutshell. Having a full time job and going to school full time doesn't afford me much in terms of free time. At least not for another weekend or two. After that I will be able to recharge my batteries. But until then I promise to get more on this posting deal. Stay tuned!