EMT Class... Continued

So I had my 2nd test a couple days ago. I missed one very minor point on the practical exam: I forgot to test the suction of the device before using it. Not exactly a life threatening issue but I still wish I hadn't missed it. On the written portion I got 95/100. Again, the best in the class that I know of.

So now we have moved onto the meat of the class: patient assessment. And let me tell you, it is a doozy! In the 'trauma' and 'medical' portion combined there are about 4 to 5 times as many steps to get down for the practical. In fact, this Saturday there is an 8 hour lab! 8 hours, that's right haha... It should be interesting.

Patient assessment is actually one of my favorite topics because it is the way that we get the big picture of what's going on in the patient's body. This includes the scene size-up, initial assessment, focused physical exam and patient history (SAMPLE history as well as OPQRST), rapid trauma exam, detailed physical exam, and on-going exams, etc. All this with vital signs and changing conditions smashed in between all of that. Even if you know all the medical stuff in the world you won't be able to solve the problem if you can't find it in the first place, which is why I like this stuff so much.

Anyways, have to go to bed!

Goodnight,
Daniel

An Excuse To Listen To Music

That's what this post is... I just can't stop listening to music right now and it's almost 2 in the AM. I am currently listening to the incredibly simple yet satisfying chord changes of "She's Got A Way" by Billy Joel.

Tomorrow (ahem... today) I have the second test(s) of my EMT class. There is a practical test and a written test encompassing all the information regarding 'airway'. This is extremely important because YOU NEED TO BREATH TO LIVE! But obviously you knew that... And of course if you aren't breathing than I need to help you! The tools EMTs use to create/maintain a stable airway range from oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal airways, and suctioning devices, to oxygen (big one!), non-rebreather masks, and nasal cannulas.

Lucky for me I was already certified in Oxygen (O2) Administration by the Red Cross when I took my Emergency Response class with Steven over the summer. This definitely gave me an edge up. Not only that, but O2 administration has very mechanical steps which are easy for me to remember. Sometimes when you are in the moment, though, you can tend to forget what to do! That's why you have to be focused...

On all my last tests I have scored a 100%: the best in the class as far as the written portion goes. I am hoping to maintain an edge throughout the course in order to get a beaming recommendation for a firefighting position. Wish me luck! I feel confident and I have studied well so no worries, right? We'll see...

Anyways... I have to get to bed! That is, if I can ever get this music out of my head.

Goodnight,
Daniel

Why I Support Vouchers...

Later,
Daniel

Cool Robot Video

I thought this was a great idea. And it is especially interesting to me because we worked with similar Lego Mindstorms at the University of Washington.

The meat of our project at the UW was to build a robot that could navigate through certain obstacles. Okay, that was fine... But the best part of the project was where we had to battle our robots against the other teams' robots. I can't remember exactly, but I know we did alright on the navigation. For the battling we chose a different tactic than the other teams. Needless to say we creamed them. Most teams used physical means of destroying or debilitating the other robots; we didn't even need to touch them.

The robots themselves send and receive data through an IR port. This is the same as, say, your TV clicker. Usually you would simply use this port to download your programs and such to the device. Instead... And let me give almost all the credit to Steven on this one... We used the IR port to literally stop/turn-off the other team's robot. It worked perfectly, too! While Steven and I both came up with the idea in general, Steven was able to do a ton of research in order to find out exactly what bytes, etc. to send in order to get the other robots to stop.

The best part was that we told absolutely nobody about our plan. The first time we got it to work, we went into the test room and randomly fired off the 'stop' message to other robots. We were holding the robot at the time as well, so that nobody knew that it was us. In the same way that you can use the TV clicker from a distance, we were turning off other robots from a distance. The other teams were so perplexed... "what just happened?", "why did it just turn off?"! We could hardly keep a straight face!

In the obstacle course where we would battle, there was a turn that each robot had to come around in order to get to us. The robot would start to come around... And then stop! Haha... The first time this happened, the crowd of other students (and the other team) just fell silent and was completely disappointed. We then told them what we did and they were very pissed. Haha... I'm sorry, but it was just too awesome.

Anyways... That class at the UW was a really great time and I wish there were more hands on classes like it. Not only did we get to build small robots, we got to build small bridges (of which my teams bridge held the most weight) and some other stuff I can't remember... Oh well. I just really like working in a team to build awesome fun stuff like that.

Later,
Daniel

Conscious Thought Required

"The Jews endured much more for thousands of years and own half of America, including the ghettos. The Japanese were decimated and within less than 50 years became a global economy. Africa still lives primitively and is the only continent that routinely slaughters entire villages and to this day enslaves its own people..."

I found the quote above on You Tube in response to somebody who was angered by a simply-stated fact about black people. This person claimed that the stated fact proved that black people are still being oppressed and that racism is still a prominent issue in America. The first thing that came to my mind after reading this was "oh man!". Really though... What kind of a conclusion are you supposed to draw from those three statements?

The first thing that has to be asked is, "well why is Africa still ... ?" Is it that they are deprived of money? food? how about the means to educate themselves? I mean what is it?! Could it be that they just don't have enough time to learn or educate themselves because they are too busy surviving? I have no idea...

For now I will just stop there because I can tell that I will just get into huge trouble with what I say because I can't explain my thoughts to the full extent unless I am in person. This is one of those things that I would love to talk about with someone for hours. This provided they were objective and didn't get offended, but instead just wanted to find the truth.

Oh well...

Later,
Daniel

EMT Class

So like I said a few days ago, my EMT class has started and now I am finally getting into the swing of things. I have class on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I am also working every day that I do not have class (except Saturdays, but I have class on a couple different Saturdays anyways). It is grueling but at least I am getting stuff done. It feels so much better to be busy with work and school again. I think a great amount of satisfaction comes from just ending a shift or class. Maybe it just makes me thankful for the times that I don't have to work. I don't know...

I have only had three days of class so far. Almost every class is 4 hours with a couple 3 hour classes dispersed throughout and a couple 8 hour Saturday sessions. The first day (and today) was kind of boring because we were discussing the huge syllabus, legal issues regarding being an EMT, and a [very dry] section on human anatomy. The second day was great because even though the material itself was boring, the lecture was awesome. We were talking about body substance isolation (BSI) procedures and the wellbeing of the EMT. We covered all the diseases that we would have to shield ourselves from and how to deal with the stress of it all (death, etc.). The instructor had great stories and was really energetic. We have two instructors and this guy is great in my opinion.

Anyways... I have been reading the material and I can't wait for it to get more interesting, instead of just this legal/health/whatever stuff. I can't wait to actually start using procedures. It is always awkward though, because we have to practice the procedures on each other and it is a very touchy feely course and you never want to offend anyone so you have to be careful. Throughout the course, people get used to it though.

Hmm... So much else that I could talk about, but I'm really tired. I will try and keep posting whenever I have time!

Goodnight,
Daniel

New Year

Well... Happy new year I guess. Let's hope it's better than the last one, right? I sure do at least. What if there is a set amount of happiness in the universe and just for the sake of argument (or until science proves otherwise) the universe is a closed system. This would mean that whoever had a great and happy year just stole it from another person. Interesting...

So I know it has been a while since I posted last but I have been just fed up recently. Too much stuff right now that I just don't want to even discuss. I did have a great Christmas though. I am very thankful for the gifts I got this year. I hope everybody else has had a great Christmas as well.

I started my EMT class today and it should be exciting but it didn't help raise my mood at all. Near the second half of the course we will actually be getting 'clinical/ride' time out in the field which should be overwhelming but enlightening. 10 hours is required, at least 5 in an emergency room. I can't wait. The class itself is, at times, lengthy and drawn out, though. Every class is about 4 hours. Sometimes just lecture, sometimes activities and labs. I hope it will really pick up quickly.

Hmm... I have been playing poker recently. Steven and I have started playing poker with some friends over the past two weeks. The first time I played, we did a $5 buy-in with one re-buy. I came in 2nd, which meant (for that night) I won $16. After that I was extremely interested in the game and went home and played online with play money (just chips, no real money folks). I had to re-buy the play money 3 times and then finally got my groove on. With the 3000 chips that I put into it, I am now over 24,000 chips. Not bad I'd say! Haha...

At the time that we played our second game with our friends, I was up about 11,000 chips online, so I probably gained some experience. We played another game with a $5 buy-in. This time with 2 re-buys. Needless to say I left the table with 1st place and $40. I love it!

I figure with the money that I won from these two poker nights (net $46) I might try playing with some other people in some actual games just to see what happens. Even if I lose, it will be fun and challenging. I think I might have a little talent where this game is concerned and I would like to pursue it. I honestly don't think I will continue to do this well, but may as well see.

The one thing about online play is that there is a lot less bluffing and reading of other players. Because it isn't real money (at least in the games I play) people don't have a problem just throwing chips in. Generally, if you play your big hands and fold your small hands online you will be able to gain. It's cheap really, which is why I like the stress of being in person; getting a great hand then playing weak to sucker people in, or playing strong to scare people out. It is awesome! I definitely want to start playing with more challenging players, though.

Anyways... I'm tired!

Goodnight,
Daniel