People I respect

[cjsmith]

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.

Comments

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

EMT is a single semester course at many community colleges... ;-)

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Really? I had no idea! Unfortunately, getting my butt in good enough shape to do the job would be a lot longer than a one semester course. ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ditto. Might even be impossible in my case. Still, taking the course, hmmmmmmmmmm. :-) A trained person in not great shape is still potentially better in a medical emergency than an UNtrained person in not great shape.

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

That is a very good point! And I can't possibly think of a good reason NOT to take the course. So, who knows? :) I just might if you do. We can goad each other on enourage each other, or something. ;)