Ride Along

This weekend I got to go on my first clinical ride along for my EMT class, and let me tell you, cooler things there never were. Without violating HIPAA, I want to tell you a little bit about them! First off, let me explain what a ride-along is. Basically, we get to do a 12-hour shift where we go on all the ambulance calls that that department gets and we're allowed to do as much as we've learned in class, which is a good deal by now! I went on three calls (it was a little slow because it was Sunday).
Things I learned:

• Firefighters cook damn well. Cheesy eggs, biscuits, bacon and hashbrowns for breakfast and the best steak ever, fries and green beans for dinner. My stomach really likes this job.
• Sometimes people are dumb. We had an "I forgot to eat or drink water for two days." Okaayyy.
  
• That checklist you learn in class is just so they can cover everything you should know. And people will look at you weird if you ask why we aren't doing the rest of the medical exam once the chief complaint has been identified.
• When they're telling you in class that you better document your shit well and quickly, they're not kidding. I could barely remember details for the first call after the second. No way could anyone remember in two years in court. 
• Fugliest uniform ever. Sorry. And I have bruises from those steel-toed boots. 

Overall, it was awesome! I got to do a bunch of vitals and a couple glucometer readings. I think I was nervous for nothing. I'm really excited for my next one in a couple weeks! It's a Friday night shift, so there's sure to be interesting things.