Another first.

Now, we've all had to ask unpleasant questions and we've had to ask to see unpleasant things in order to formulate a field impression of what is going on with a patient. When my EMT-B instructor told me that I would most likely one day ask to see the poo in someone's toilet or assess the odor of a patient's breath I scoffed. I have been a paramedic for several years and it turns out she was right- I have done both of these things.

Tonight, however, was another first for me. For tonight was the night that for the first time in my EMS career I have been presented with a sealable container of a patients vomit that they had saved from several hours ago just in case we wanted to see it and evaluate it. While I was writing down the patient's med list I picked up one bottle that initially appeared to just be of a different color to learn that no, this prescription bottle contained no pills, for it was the proud home of vomit, not even warm, fresh from the stomach vomit, no this container was cold to the touch as it had been there for several hours.

It made me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit, but I managed to suppress it. There were no empty prescription bottles for me to use.

What to do?

So I've been thinking lately and I'm not sure what course of action I'm going to take.

Do I stay here in Pittsburgh for a few years or do I move back to Maine when my lease is up?

If I stay here I'll continue to work and possibly go back to school.

If I move back to Maine I can go back to my old jobs, at least on per diem basis so job hunting won't really be an issue, plus I'll be closer to friends & family (whom I miss a whole bunch) and I'd possibly go back to school.

Pittsburgh is fun, its a great city and there's opportunity here but my family & friends are in Maine.

Blood Pressure

For the last few days I've been feeling a bit crappy. Everyone here smokes, in the garage no less, and thats where everyone congregates when we're not on calls or taking care of things around the base. I would walk up to my second floor apartment and feel winded, or I would be doing something physical and get tired and so I blamed it on the second hand smoke at work. But the other day I stood up from a squatted position after working on something and I felt lightheaded and faint so Just for kicks I got in the ambulance and grabbed the BP cuff on the LifePak and checked my pressure. I didn't believe it so I had one of my coworkers check it and he got the same results, then I checked it again a few times over the course of the day. I have been on blood pressure medications for nine years, after not feeling right one day I had a friend check it and my BP was 222/110, since then I've been on medication to control it without a whole lot of success.

I have moved back to the city I love, I have a great apartment and a new job with absolutely no stress whatsoever. My blood pressure is 112/53. I am sleeping better. I wake up with my alarm feeling refreshed. I'm happy, it's some crazy shit. I could get used to this.

First Day of Work

Today was my first day at my new job and of course as with any new job I was a bit apprehensive when I went in. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. I walked in to meet one of the guys going on shift with me sitting in the garage reading the news paper, we sat and bullshitted for a bit then the other medic on my unit came in and we bullshitted some more. My day was a routine of paperwork, boring training videos and more paperwork broken up by hanging out in the base joking around and ribbing on each other. It seems like there's a really good group of people that work there and they all joke around with each other and they all watch out for each other. I think this is going to be a really good place to work. We only went out on one call and the approach they take is different from mine, but I'm sure I'll settle in to a routine. I'm back tomorrow at 0600 for another 12 hours!