Skills Camp - Day 4

Wednesday. I was at the cafeteria eating, when a dear friend of mine-Alyssa called me, and said she was here at Camp MiVoden to see me!!! I was shocked! She had said that she wanted to come out, but I guess I'm internally pessimistic sometimes, and doubted it would actually happen..especially since I'm an hour from Coeur d'Alene, and she's a Night Shift Nurse....  We were able to spend 45 blissful minutes together, which was so much fun, before my first Session started. Thanks Lyssie for coming to see me!! That was SO special!!! :)

A friend gave me this quote...I like it a lot:

"The capacity to care is the thing that gives life its deepest meaning and significance."

Today, we worked on the following skills:
Overview on EPI Pens/MDI & all other meds we EMTs are allowed to give.

Meet Eddie. XD (The Ped's size name is Eddie Jr.)
This is a Nasopharyngyeal Airway...This picture just strikes me funny for some reason...

Doing it double!!! (Heath, Mark, & Sinclair) Too funny!

Reviewed CPR/AED skills

After we practiced the CPR/AED, we acted out a scenario as a group. One thing that I really like about this class, is that they strive to have each one of us know what it is like to be the patient--by putting us in their devices, being carried all around, etc. etc. The scenarios we acted out were incredibly helpful, not only for learning the skills, but for preparing ourselves for what might happen in real life.

First of all, 4 people were volunteered to be the 'EMTs', and were sent out so we could discuss the scene details.

Tom informing our 'EMTs' (Chaz, Dwayne, Heath & Sarah) abt the scenario.

The goal of this, was for us all to get a feel of what an accident scene could look like, and how important it is to find the patient immediately, get a grips on what happened, and keep focused, even when the crowd is going crazy--making sure that you yourself are not in an unsafe scene at the same time.

The Scenario:
Every summer, here in N. Idaho, we have a Classic Car Show called the 'Car d'Lane'. The patient was an older gentleman (a dummy), who was participating in the show with his 2 sons, in hopes to be able to sell their Classic. However, when the dad went to get something from the trunk, he collapsed in Cardiac Arrest.

EMS arrives on the scene 2 find both sons in hysterics, the one actually starts sobbing on an EMT's shoulder, asking "What took you so long? Will you be able to save him? Ohhh...., etc." (2 awesome actors!!)

Dwayne found the patient, and both sons are going crazy (see the one blubbering on him?) ;p

Meanwhile, the busy crowd finally notices what is going on, and starts swarming around making a ruckus and being extremely disruptive...maybe even dangerous!! An AED is brought (by me), and defibrillation is started. A 'doctor' pushes her way into the front, and tries to manipulatively take control, giving all sorts of bad advice, while some of the throng start being almost violent towards the Control Officers.

Crazy crowd (Dr. Arantzazu "Arancha" wants to step in)

Dr. Arantzazu overseeing CPR attempts & giving inaccurate advice

Then Law Enforcement shows up and helps keep the crowd back (to the back of the room), and are able to remove the sons from the immediate scene & calm them down enough to try to find out any pertinent history.

An upward approach

Meanwhile, we nosey bystanders (just for kicks) decide to watch through the windows of the building....so they closed the curtains. ;p

We then went over Obstetrics/Birth, and what a normal birth would look like, versus any complications we might come across. I'm always amazed to find how different people handle the thought of birth differently. We had a visual aid (rubber) up there, and I think every one handled it well, at least outwardly. Still it strikes me funny, because to me, it is just a natural, beautiful, normal process of life.

OB Class

In the EMS field, actually delivering a baby during transport is not very common, but it does happen. There were many things that I could have expounded upon, or added to--especially about Breech or VBAC births (I had the chance to, but didn't), but the thing is, most EMTs will never have the opportunity to, and for a lot of them, all they can really handle are the basic details/techniques...not all the garbage I'd throw at them. Besides, I came to learn, not to teach. :)

See?! They think it's normal....in fact, they're so bored, they're reading the paper!! ;p

It was neat though, because the instructor and I got along really well, and he questioned me afterwards, and asked why I didn't say anything...and I told him like I said above, that I came to learn, not teach...and then we had a really good discussion on how we would 'really' deliver a baby (he has delivered one before in EMS), etc. It was neat and refreshing, because we had very similar views.

We then worked on Patient Assessments: Medical & Trauma

After rehearsing them as a group, we started doing moulaged scenarios by twos. I teamed up with the other Sarah (who is about my age & my height) for the medical, and with Sinclair for the Trauma.

Our Medical scenarios took place in a boat on the very choppy lake, with 2 of our instructors acting as the proctor/bystander & patient. Our scenarios dealt with Cardiac and Diabetes/hypoglycemic shock patients.

Its really neat, because all of our instructors want us to succeed. They all have fun humor as well, and are genuinely care that you do well, and want to help you. Thus, these scenarios are not only fun, but you learn a ton in a good setting. With us girls, they decided to throw different complications at us, to see how we would respond...which made it a lot of fun. :)

Troy--one of our awesome Instructors

 That afternoon, Jaime & Luke-Adam's wife and 2.5 y/o son came to spend the night....boy was that a blast!!! We became buddies...

Luke had no problem with the Pediatric Backboard...even when they carried him around, tipped it foot first, etc. He even let us take his brachial pulse!!

That night, a bunch of us studied together, doing more scenarios, etc. That was a blast!!

Efren, Ryan, Cass, & Kirsten

Now THIS is the way to study!! Using a cardboard splint as a cushion and good old Dummy as a footstool :)