Skills Camp - Day 5

Thursday.  Jamie & Luke left in the morning....sad moment... Love that little guy!! We were buddies...I helped him with his breakfast, and he would run up to me whenever he saw me. During one of our classes, he came up to me and begged me to 'Come and Play!!' Oh, how I wanted to!! I want a whole house full of little boys...may God help me to train them up to be God-Fearing, hardworking men!!!

Luke wore this child-size C-Collar for about 10 minutes..just wandering around :)

After listening to Luke's heart rate, I let him use my stethoscope to listen to mine. After about 3 minutes of this, his mommy came into the room, and I told him to go listen to his mommy's baby (Jaime is due in mid- October)
So precious!!!

Of course, then he had to listen to HER heartbeat... :)

All day long, we worked on honing our Medical & Trauma Skills. It was then, that Sinclair and I took our first Trauma Assessment (since we were a team)...the scenario was a motorcycle accident, with multiple injuries including a flail chest.

Pretty cool moulages don't ya think??

A closer look at the arm

And the leg

The day went great. I passed my Trauma Assessment on the first try, though it was still really choppy...so we kept practicing all day, with our instructors and then also in little mini-groups. I listened/watched on a lot of Assessments as well, and learned a lot that way too.

One of our instructors-Shane...doing an ET... No..it's not THAT hard!! ;p

In the afternoon, we each had an exit interview with the Directors & received our Certificates of Completion after passing all the skills...woohoo!!

BACK: Scott Reasor, Kyle, Mark, Ken Bookamer, Devon, Shane Andersen, ?? (patient), Chaz, Kyle (patient)
MIDDLE: Andrew, Ryan, Efren, Ashlee (patient), Heath, Cheryl Boss (patient), Sinclair, Ryan Asher, Tom Hiltenbrand, Adam Knight, Luke
FRONT: Sarah, Kirsten, Arantzazu, Cass, Jenn, Me, Russ, Dwayne

We literally worked/studied/practiced scenarios all day, and into the night...with hardly any breaks...just trying to get those Assessments memorized....they're pretty long!! Since today was the last day, everything started getting packed up, and I was able to help a little with that...

Scott helped us all set up our NREMT accounts for getting our National Certification...Macs rule!! :)

After dinner, somehow, the guys started a water balloon fight-towards Sarah & I (our cabin dorms are separated by about 15 feet). Of course, being EMS students, guess what they used as balloons? Exam gloves of course!! ;p

I startle really easily...and somehow, I got soaked...which pumped my adrenaline. Then, since I was already headed to talk to Scott (our always good-natured/humored Director), they asked me to tell him they 'needed' him at the dorms...
I couldn't stop laughing all the way down....my adrenaline was so up, and all the students studying in the main room knew something was up outside... I was able to control myself (to just a big smile), while talking to Scott, and then gave him the message...

Always a smile..even in the most stressful of times...

Of course, being Scott, and a longtime firefighter (who knows how to play pranks), he KNEW something was up, and asked me so... But he came up anyway, and but outwitted the guys by climbing up by the back of the cabins (5-floors) and getting on the top portico, defeating any hopes to soak him. That was pretty hilarious.

A few of us went through and practiced all the main skills on each other for tomorrow's big National Skills Test. The last one we did was the Supine Immobilization. On Wednesday, we had to carry strap the person in, and then work as a team to carry them around the building, up and down stairs, etc. And, since I was one of the smallest, I had gotten to be the guinea pig for a bunch of stuff (which I loved).

It's amazing how calm people can be...this truck is backing up, past the Ambulance, with almost 0" clearance....we are all watching (calmly) from inside.   :-O

So I jokingly asked if they were going to do it again tonight...no. As part of the procedure, to make sure that you strapped the 'patient' tight enough, they tip the whole board over, to see if the patient falls. Well, knowing I'd enjoy it, instead of just tipping it over, they tipped it every way imaginable, including upside down and feet/head first. Already pumped, I was laughing so hard, my vision got blurry!!! :P
Then, it was my turn to do Immobilize my patient, and I was still laughing so hard, it took me about 15 minutes to complete!! (The carpet wasn't helpful either, with the velcro straps).

A few guys came by to study for the test tomorrow, and watched us do the Immobilizations (I guess it was entertaining, since we were cracking jokes every other second). After I finished, I looked up and see 6'5" Mr. Exterminator himself in all of his gear!! :-) That was pretty funny....

All in all, it was a good, busy, packed full day....some people would call it stressful, though I didn't see it as that... It sure was a lot to get straight though, and make sure you're not missing any of the long list of Critical Criteria (instant fail)...I think we got to bed around 11pm. Totally worth it.