Q. On the third day of Christmas, your true love gave to you, three French hens! So, what are you going to name them?
Herman, Herbert, and Hewie.
Q.1 First, I love your blog and the whole idea of what you are doing and your writing fascinates me. You’re a student and an EMT? Tell me how that works. And what are you going to be when you graduate? Is an EMT the same thing as a paramedic? Help me, I’m confused.
Well thank you! Yes, I'm a full-time college student who works in an ER part-time and volunteers as an EMT part-time. Basically I go to class, do my homework, go to work, and on Wednesdays I volunteer 18 hours of my time to the rescue squad. I want to end up being a career firefighter/paramedic in Northern Virginia. Paramedic is a level of the EMT certification, the highest, which is actually EMT-P. I'm an EMT-Basic, the beginning level.
Q.2 What’s the best part of your job? The worst?
The best is the camaraderie I find with my partners, I think. That, and the ability to make a veritable difference in people's lives. The worst is probably transporting "frequent fliers," those who continually abuse the emergency system.
Q.3 When did you decide you wanted a career in medicine?
From the time I could walk, really. Dad had me in little "nurse-in-training" scrubs and would take me on Saturday morning rounds with him. The patients thought I was just *adorable*, haha! I thought, however, that I didn't like the pink scrubs and wanted them to say "doctor-in-training." But honestly, I strayed from wanting a career in medicine for about a year before realizing it was simply meant to be.
Q.4 Tell us about your training.
Well, I have CPR/AED/First-Aid certification, EVOC, which is the certification needed to drive an emergency vehicle, EMT-Basic, and ITLS (International Trauma Life Support). ITLS furthers my EMT certification a bit. It took me about 4 months for EMT, two days for ITLS, one for CPR, and two for EVOC. Not too bad :)
Q.5 Why don’t people get out of the way of ambulances? Are they just stupid?
A lot of the time, they don't hear us coming until we're right up on them. And then, people are animals. At our very core, we're just frightened little bunnies following our instincts, trying to survive. So when we startle people, they freak out. Some people have calm instincts, and move to the side of the road in an orderly fashion. Some people jerk the wheel and fly out of the way. Some clam up and break hard, and we almost hit them. Some just keep driving because they think they can outrun us. People are just...instinctual.
Q.6 How many classes have you skipped this semester?
Can I plead the fifth?
Q.7 What’s the most useless thing you have ever bought?
When I was 15, I bought this pore-sucker thing. It was supposed to apply gentle suction and unclog your pores, basically. All it did was leave me with little hickey-like rings on my face.
Q.8 If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation, definitely. Imagine being able to go ANYWHERE in just a second. You could be friends with people all over the globe, you'd never need a car (how green!), I could go to museums and plays and famous landmarks anywhere...for free. It'd be so amazing.
Q.9 Tell us about the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you on the job.
A woman who thought her urine was radioactive kept asking me if I was pregnant because she didn't want to harm my unborn fetus. I kept assuring her I wasn't. Under his breath, Eric sighs "I think you have to be having sex to get pregnant." I considered a quick elbow to the stomach, but reconsidered.
Q.10 What food do you absolutely hate and will never eat?
Brussel Sprouts, oh god.
Q.11 What’s the name of one movie that you watch over and over?
Super Troopers
Q.12 Did you go shopping on Black Friday?
Actually yes! I got up really early with my roommate and her dad, walked to the mall, and found out they didn't open until 8. So I went back to bed, got up at noon, and went back. I did some good shopping :) It was my first year, too!
Q.13 What do your co-workers do that really irritate you?
Hmm. Drew irritates me when he second-guesses himself. Eric irritates me when he gets on his little "I'm better than you because I'm an EMT-Intermediate" kick.
Q.14 Tell me the craziest thing you have ever seen at one of those wild hospital Christmas parties I’m always hearing about.
Well, this is my first year working at a hospital, and I'm missing the party! I'm so mad. But! I did see some pretty interesting dancing at the yearly rescue squad banquet, haha. And there's a pretty good picture of me dancing with my *ahem* much-older-than-me professor/partner.
Q.15 Do you play a musical instrument?
Yes! I play the clarinet, bass clarinet, and contra-bass clarinet. The contra is a six-foot tall clarinet you have to sit on a stool to play. It's fabulous; I can shake the rafters!
Holiday Quickfire Questions
Favorite…
a. reindeer - Vixen. She sounds saucy.
b. cookie - These spice cookies my aunt always makes.
c. carol - O Holy Night.
d. holiday television show - I guess it would have to be How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
e. activity - Singing Christmasy songs at the Christmas Eve service. Either that or re-figuring out how to play dreidel every year with my family. My dad and his side of the family are Jewish, so we celebrate both holidays. I always fail miserably at actually spinning the dreidel, though.
Herman, Herbert, and Hewie.
Q.1 First, I love your blog and the whole idea of what you are doing and your writing fascinates me. You’re a student and an EMT? Tell me how that works. And what are you going to be when you graduate? Is an EMT the same thing as a paramedic? Help me, I’m confused.
Well thank you! Yes, I'm a full-time college student who works in an ER part-time and volunteers as an EMT part-time. Basically I go to class, do my homework, go to work, and on Wednesdays I volunteer 18 hours of my time to the rescue squad. I want to end up being a career firefighter/paramedic in Northern Virginia. Paramedic is a level of the EMT certification, the highest, which is actually EMT-P. I'm an EMT-Basic, the beginning level.
Q.2 What’s the best part of your job? The worst?
The best is the camaraderie I find with my partners, I think. That, and the ability to make a veritable difference in people's lives. The worst is probably transporting "frequent fliers," those who continually abuse the emergency system.
Q.3 When did you decide you wanted a career in medicine?
From the time I could walk, really. Dad had me in little "nurse-in-training" scrubs and would take me on Saturday morning rounds with him. The patients thought I was just *adorable*, haha! I thought, however, that I didn't like the pink scrubs and wanted them to say "doctor-in-training." But honestly, I strayed from wanting a career in medicine for about a year before realizing it was simply meant to be.
Q.4 Tell us about your training.
Well, I have CPR/AED/First-Aid certification, EVOC, which is the certification needed to drive an emergency vehicle, EMT-Basic, and ITLS (International Trauma Life Support). ITLS furthers my EMT certification a bit. It took me about 4 months for EMT, two days for ITLS, one for CPR, and two for EVOC. Not too bad :)
Q.5 Why don’t people get out of the way of ambulances? Are they just stupid?
A lot of the time, they don't hear us coming until we're right up on them. And then, people are animals. At our very core, we're just frightened little bunnies following our instincts, trying to survive. So when we startle people, they freak out. Some people have calm instincts, and move to the side of the road in an orderly fashion. Some people jerk the wheel and fly out of the way. Some clam up and break hard, and we almost hit them. Some just keep driving because they think they can outrun us. People are just...instinctual.
Q.6 How many classes have you skipped this semester?
Can I plead the fifth?
Q.7 What’s the most useless thing you have ever bought?
When I was 15, I bought this pore-sucker thing. It was supposed to apply gentle suction and unclog your pores, basically. All it did was leave me with little hickey-like rings on my face.
Q.8 If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation, definitely. Imagine being able to go ANYWHERE in just a second. You could be friends with people all over the globe, you'd never need a car (how green!), I could go to museums and plays and famous landmarks anywhere...for free. It'd be so amazing.
Q.9 Tell us about the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you on the job.
A woman who thought her urine was radioactive kept asking me if I was pregnant because she didn't want to harm my unborn fetus. I kept assuring her I wasn't. Under his breath, Eric sighs "I think you have to be having sex to get pregnant." I considered a quick elbow to the stomach, but reconsidered.
Q.10 What food do you absolutely hate and will never eat?
Brussel Sprouts, oh god.
Q.11 What’s the name of one movie that you watch over and over?
Super Troopers
Q.12 Did you go shopping on Black Friday?
Actually yes! I got up really early with my roommate and her dad, walked to the mall, and found out they didn't open until 8. So I went back to bed, got up at noon, and went back. I did some good shopping :) It was my first year, too!
Q.13 What do your co-workers do that really irritate you?
Hmm. Drew irritates me when he second-guesses himself. Eric irritates me when he gets on his little "I'm better than you because I'm an EMT-Intermediate" kick.
Q.14 Tell me the craziest thing you have ever seen at one of those wild hospital Christmas parties I’m always hearing about.
Well, this is my first year working at a hospital, and I'm missing the party! I'm so mad. But! I did see some pretty interesting dancing at the yearly rescue squad banquet, haha. And there's a pretty good picture of me dancing with my *ahem* much-older-than-me professor/partner.
Q.15 Do you play a musical instrument?
Yes! I play the clarinet, bass clarinet, and contra-bass clarinet. The contra is a six-foot tall clarinet you have to sit on a stool to play. It's fabulous; I can shake the rafters!
Holiday Quickfire Questions
Favorite…
a. reindeer - Vixen. She sounds saucy.
b. cookie - These spice cookies my aunt always makes.
c. carol - O Holy Night.
d. holiday television show - I guess it would have to be How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
e. activity - Singing Christmasy songs at the Christmas Eve service. Either that or re-figuring out how to play dreidel every year with my family. My dad and his side of the family are Jewish, so we celebrate both holidays. I always fail miserably at actually spinning the dreidel, though.
Thank you for being my third day of Christmas, Sam a/k/a Medic61 a/k/a SamtheEMT at On the Clock.
2 comments:
Hi Sam! i loved this post about you...hope you're feeling better!
hugs,
tracy
Aww, this was so much fun! Thanks for thinking to add me as a calendar...um...EMT, haha!
Post a Comment