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People I respect
I respect EMTs and paramedics. Seriously. I respect the hell outta people who do that work.
For years I've had an itch to get more and better crisis-response medical training. First aid, First Responder, paramedic, EMT... I don't even know all the designations, but I've wanted the training. People who do this work save lives. It's not only useful, it's vital, in the root sense of that word.
Naturally these thoughts of mine are in sharper focus lately.
Me, I probably couldn't be an emergency medical responder full-time. I have more than one chronic pain condition that could disable me just enough to keep me out of that line of work completely. My Bay Area mortgage also pushes for a high-tech job. So OK, not full-time, not unless a lot changes.
There's still quite a bit I can do. I could refresh my medic first aid training, keep my CPR training up to date, look at first responder courses, organize a workplace emergency response team... Stuff. Y'know. Stuff that could be useful. Stuff that could, for someone I happen across some day, be vital.
For years I've had an itch to get more and better crisis-response medical training. First aid, First Responder, paramedic, EMT... I don't even know all the designations, but I've wanted the training. People who do this work save lives. It's not only useful, it's vital, in the root sense of that word.
Naturally these thoughts of mine are in sharper focus lately.
Me, I probably couldn't be an emergency medical responder full-time. I have more than one chronic pain condition that could disable me just enough to keep me out of that line of work completely. My Bay Area mortgage also pushes for a high-tech job. So OK, not full-time, not unless a lot changes.
There's still quite a bit I can do. I could refresh my medic first aid training, keep my CPR training up to date, look at first responder courses, organize a workplace emergency response team... Stuff. Y'know. Stuff that could be useful. Stuff that could, for someone I happen across some day, be vital.
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Maybe assemble a kit to take with you for square dancing when you or Rob call it - although the odds of a severe injury are probably small, there could be a cut or sprain.
Or first aid for Rob to use with/on flight students.
And doing the workplace stuff is a great idea. We have a volunteer fireman who works here - he's the floor's fire warden. (You'd know he's a fireman - he's got firetrucks and fireman stuff in his cube!)
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We've got first-aid kits in our cars and in the airplane. As for square dancing, Rob has had multiple medical situations occur while he's been calling: one diabetic person having a siezure, one heart attack moments after walking out the dance hall door... The population we call to is not overwhelmingly healthy. It's good to know what to do in the first minute or two.
I definitely like the idea of the workplace stuff. I don't know how much support I'd need from the company, but it's worth finding out.
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The diabetic siezure happened when an RN was nearby, so she helped stabilize the guy while Rob phoned for the paramedics. The heart attack happened just outside the hall in a big entryway of a hotel, and I think the hotel staff were the ones to get the ambulance for that guy. (He made it and is still dancing.)
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That reminds me I need to check with the local Red Cross office about updating mine. They've both lapsed since I left $FormerEmployer, as they paid for the annual classes when I was there. Since I have actually used my training, it might be a good idea.
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And I'm saying this as an irregular Red Cross volunteer...
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I took the tour bus around to various points in the park, including the hike from Happy Isles up to Vernal Fall. I'm wearing Dockers and a polo shirt - my usual work attire, and regular (non-hiking) sneakers. Since it was early May, all the falls were running heavy, including Vernal, soaking and spraying the cut granite steps that lead up the last bit to the brink. I just grinned and bore it, taking my time, being very careful how I stepped, getting very wet.
Once I turned around to come back down, going even more carefully than I went up, I was behind a woman who did appear to be equipped more appropriately for hiking. On one of the granite steps, though, she missed her footing a bit, and used her left arm to stop herself against the side of the hill to the left of the trail. Over the spray of the falls, I swear I thought I heard a CRACK. She yelped and slumped against the side of the trail/hillside and I could tell she was favoring her left wrist. The guy in front of her, not with her, but also better equipped to be hiking, stopped as well, and I asked him to head down to Happy Isles as quickly as he could to contact help.
In a sudden creative inspiration, I took the woman's backpack apart (it was a framed one), and used the nylon straps and one of the frame poles as a splint and sling and helped her very carefully come down the trail. By the time we got to the bottom of that (I think it's about a mile?) trail, the other guy was there with a park ambulance. One of the EMTs thought I did pretty well with the improvised sling and splint.
Sorry about the long story, but I'm still amused at how I really had no business on that trail equipped as I was, and still ended up being able to help someone. :-)
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(I can't do much volunteer work any more. Since I started working for me, rather than for any specific employer, everything I do needs to provide me with some sort of income. Otherwise, I starve.)
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As for income, I hear ya.
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So, even if you could not do anything full-time, you could still smack people like me upside the head until they are ready to learn and then teach them. :)
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goad each other on enourage each other, or something. ;)no subject
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