Tuesday, February 6, 2001
I've had a lot of EMS and EMT experience over the past several days. Let's start with Saturday!
For nearly every state, EMT courses require that students successfully complete 10 hours of ER clinical time. Now, as for why it's 10 hours of hospital time and not 10 hours of field/ride-along time is beyond me. EMTs work in and are trained for field work, not hospital work. I agree that exposure to the workings of an emergency department is important, but then again, I don't make the rules.
I started my hours Saturday, from 1200-1700, at Cayuga Medical Center's ED. The ER is fairly large for the population it serves, with one main trauma bay, 3 general trauma rooms with cardiac monitors, one regular room with casting supplies, one OB, and two private/triage rooms. The other side includes one psych room and 4 fast-track (<1 hr; flu, etc.) rooms.
Basically, EMT students assist the nurses with taking vitals, blood draws, patient and family assistance, cleaning, and other remedial (but usually fairly cool) tasks. On Saturday I took several sets of vitals, transported two patients (one to ICU, and another to general ward), observed shortness of breath (SOB in the medical field!) and bradycardia (heart rate was mid-30's), and assisted with lab draws and an IV line set for an infant. Infants' vessels are insanely small and fragile, and they tend to have little to no tolerance for needles--a few more hands helping with tubes, tape, and flailing limbs is always a plus!
The patients in an ER are surprisingly talkative. In retrospect, I understand why... most patients tended to stay in the ER for several hours with nothing to do. Some had family present, others didn't. In fact, a man was brought in with acute hypertension (high blood pressure) ~200, which causes dizziness, among other symptoms. I don't believe he remembered receiving any drugs, because when I took his final BP before going upstairs and told him is systolic was just 140, he said I was much better than the BP machine they used on him earlier. Great stuff!
I'll be going to CMC again this Saturday for another 5 hours, completing my 10. When the rush dies down (there are 40+ in the class, 2 at a time max), I'll probably consider doing more.
On Sunday I completed my practical exam for CUEMS attendant. An attendant (vs. a trainee) gets to sit shotgun, use radios to communicate to Cornell Public Safety (dispatch), assist directly with patient care, write up most of the patient care report, direct backboarding/c-spine, set up oxygen, and best of all--play with lights/siren (RL&S) if needed.
I'll be running my first overnight shift the Friday after next. Apparently, Friday overnight shifts always get calls--usually ETOH (a.k.a. intoxicated). Most ETOH are grounds for RL&S, so it could be fun! Saturday will be set aside for sleeping the hours that I didn't get Friday night.
Enjoy the new weather box... More reliable, and now providing more information including wind, wind chill and dewpoint!
Next entry will include more updates on this semester's classes. So until next time,
Aaron
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