Learning point of the day...

Evidently Spock has green blood because he is a copper based organism.

The things we learn...

And on that note...

"There are these people with an LVAD in them. No heartbeat, no blood pressure. You listen to their chest and you don’t hear ba-bump ba-bump, you hear whhrrrrrr." ~Pharmacology Professor 

Quote of the Day

"That's how you make a cat sound like a dog, you know? You dump some gasoline on them, light it and they go 'WOOF'."

Tomorrow is the day!

School starts again! I'm excited. And a wee tiny bit nervous. This last week went by so much faster than I expected (it always does, but it always surprises me nonetheless). I've still ironing and boot polishing on my to-do list (as well as reviewing a couple chapters for tomorrow, yay for pre-class assignments) but I'm mostly ready.

Looks good, right? I also have Pharmacology: An Introduction and Bates' Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking but they are the e-version so I can't put a picture of them up.

I must say, it's not my biggest pile of books ever but I think it may be the scariest. But it's going to be fun, and a challenge, which I need.

On a related though different note, this song came on my radio and I realized ... maybe I should take a chocolate frog to school with me tomorrow...just in case!

Lazy summer days...

...bore the tar out of me.

I decided this morning that I wasn't getting up to my alarm. This is by no means an unusual occurrence, as I firmly believe morning shouldn't happen until around 12pm. So, I got up at 1230. Wandered around looking for my glasses which I'd knocked off my bed sometime in the night. Then I made coffee.

I'm of the opinion that the inventor of coffee should be knighted, sainted and given a public day so we can celebrate.

Anyway, since I know we'll be taking a "I bet you haven't cracked a book since EMT class" test on the first day of medic school I actually went back to my old EMT book to review the bits that I'd had trouble with. Namely cardiac emergencies. For some reason, cardiac calls freak me out.

I think it has to do with the fact that my second ever call on an ALS truck was a cardiac arrest. My medic told me later that her first ever (serious) respiratory call left her nervous whenever she gets one now. We spend respiratory calls with me watching the patient and her watching the road.

Regardless, I read the medication/pharmacology chapter of my EMT book, and part of the cardiac chapter. It only makes me more eager to start class again, because now that I've seen a (tiny) bit, I -know- there is so much more to these calls that I'm missing.

I know that they're not as simple as the scenario's we ran through in class. For example, this is rarely the case:
  PT: My chest hurts.
  QLC: Oh! Your chest hurts! Let me check your ABC's, decide which hospital we are going to, then I shall perform a focus exam while getting SAMPLE.
  PT: My chest hurts. It's a 10/10.
  QLC: Well, from what I gathered, I can tell you you're probably having a cardiac event. Here, chew up this aspirin and since you have been prescribed Nitro, why don't I assist you with taking those?
  PT: Oh, that's lovely. My chest doesn't hurt any more, but  now I have a headache!

No, never that simple. After a couple runs, I could fumble through setting up the ECG - though I still have no idea how to read them. And I figured out how to spike a bag pretty easily, and pass things. But I want to know more!

I want school to start!

I want my ambulance rides back!

I even want my captain's chair back. I figured out how to make it into a roller-coaster feeling seat when we go lights and sirens.

I just came to a random conclusion: It's a good thing I'm not filthy rich, I'd die of boredom if there was nothing to get me out of the house. Huzzah for school.

Yeah!

Scored a new couch today. Well, a new old couch. It's new to me, even if it is pretty banged up. But now I have somewhere to sit!!

I used to sit on a futon that was covered in plywood upon which sat a very thin pad. But now I have a lovely green love seat and it's soft, and squishy and I'M SO HAPPY!!

What the world says...

And what is true seems to be totally different.

For example: Past students straight up told our class that getting a "C" for an internship is extremely difficult. Getting a "B" is amazing. And getting an "A" is nothing short of impossible.

The teacher who leads the internship hinted the same thing. He never specifically said it, but he did say he grades hard and that they were using this class to weed out the number of applicants to Core.

I got my grades back today.

I have accomplished the impossible.

My bestest best athiest called me insane and an alien. I was told that because it's a skill based class and not book lore that I could not be considered a nerd.

And then the insurance confirmation person congratulated me on my GPA. I'm not sure why she asked about my GPA in the first place, but she did. It was nice to hear though.