It has been hot as fried hell. Makes me wonder why I live here. Why we didn't get away years ago. Also makes me want go back to night shift. Less busy and cooler. On Tuesday I didn't get home until 9 pm. Yep 14 1/2 hours. Doesn't sound like much, but when you're running back to back calls, don't get time to eat or drink or even wipe the sweat off, it is a terribly long day. Our cot battery was dead for 5 hours and we were about to run out of monitor batteries. By the time we got back to our station, we were down more patient care reports that I have ever been down. It's hard to remember what happened with a patient you saw 6 hours ago when you have seen 4 more since then. I don't think I have ever been so hungry or thirsty in my life. My undershirt was completely soaked with sweat. It was so gross. Nobody cares either. They just wonder why you don't work more overtime. Or take more classes (on your own time without pay). This is what I signed up for though. Don't get me wrong, I love running calls and taking care of people. It just breaks you down physically (and mentally) to be that busy when it's so hot out. Looking back on the day from hell now, I am thankful. I am thankful for the experience. Every patient I take care of makes me a little bit better for the next patient I take care of. I heard a rumor that our new medical director doesn't like older medics. I'm not one of the dinosaurs, but I am older than the average medic. I hope this is just a rumor.
So one night this week I got home after a busy day at work, got showered and fixed myself something to eat when my pager went off. I wasn't on call, but it was a code blue, so I knew that I needed to dress myself and go on this call (as I'm the only medic around on work nights). So I got dressed and left...and heard another one of our crew members just screaming on the radio. She commanded the ambulance to stop and wait for her. So, she felt like it was appropriate to delay care for this person who is in cardiac arrest. It didn't occur to her that it would be better for the patient if she let the ambulance go on without her. Granted, her help would be needed, but it would be much better to let the ambulance get there, get an aed on and get chest compressions started. Throughout this debacle, she was on the wrong radio channel. So she is screaming on the dispatch channel for the whole county to hear. Someone radio'd up and told her that she was on the wrong channel, and she just screamed at them. It was ridiculous. I am betting that she has no idea how she sounds. I followed behind in my personal vehicle. I saw her get out of a vehicle, stomp over to the fire suburban and slam the door. I wanted to mute everything and play some circus music. I don't understand why she gets so worked up. She has been an emt for years. After all of this, we didn't even make the scene. Another agency was closer and triaged code black. Meaning the person was too dead to attempt to resuscitate.
So the super busy day....I got home...and was asked "what's for supper?". So I get home at 9 pm, and the other people living in my house were incapable of getting themselves dinner. I ordered a pizza when I finally got back to post. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so to say I was hangry would be a drastic understatement. The boy had been home all day, and was sleeping when I got home. Hubby got home from work before 5pm. The kitchen was a disaster. No effing way I am cooking! It would sure be nice to know that they would consider that I may be exhausted. Maybe I would be hungry. It would be nice to have dinner prepared for me without me having to direct it. I guess there will be plenty of that when I get to the nursing home though. Guess what though? The kitchen is still a mess. Know why? Because I haven't cleaned it yet. I will most likely do that today though. I have company coming over in a few minutes, so I won't get to it soon.
Yesterday was kind of fun. Kind of. I took my boy and met my daughter, her bf and his nephew and niece at the zoo. It was ridiculously hot again. I was a puddle of sweat within 20 minutes of going in, but sweat seems to be my look lately. The boy loved it. He wasn't ready to go when everyone else was....lol. It was fun hanging out with the little kids. They were adorable. Makes me wish that I could have had more kids. I can't wait to be a grandma. After the zoo we went to a new donut shop in town that just opened. Idk if it was the extreme heat or the fact that we had taco bell for lunch earlier, but the bite of donut that I had just didn't sit well in my tummy at all. They make all kinds of donuts. Weird stuff. Orange tang, grape, smores, etc. I'm anxious to go back when I'm actually hungry and not in the midst of heat exhaustion.
I guess I have to sign off for now. My company will be here in a few minutes. And I should put a bra on. and maybe get dressed. I hope to be back later. I have so much more to say.
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