Starting new medic job

Well I've started as a medic with a new service here in town. Have to do several protocol tests and shadow time before getting cut loose. I'm sure I'll have more to update now. Hope you had a good Christmas and hope you have a good New Years. I have to work tonight at the station and its supposed to snow... maybe a snow/rain mix. Who knows what we'll get. So far the radio has been pretty quiet with chatter....

until next time.... laugh til your belly hurts.

11/18 @ 10:19pm

It was SO AMAZING ! ! ! ! ! It was AWESOME! It was a great! It is such a cool story too.. everything that could have gone wrong did.. but yet everything still worked out great. My partner and I were scheduled for the ambulance that night. Well we had a fire call for an alarm at one of our corporate buildings. No one else showed up for the run so my partner and I took the engine. We were doing our investigation (the building is just a hop straight off the highway)... and I went outside to check on the sprinkler pit and (another engine crew with 2 guys from a neighboring dept were on scene with us too) another FF and I are walking back into the building when this van comes tearing into the parking lot with a guy hollering out the window. I'm thinking, this guy sounds drunk. LOL... We finally decipher "my wife is in the back having a baby". Now, normally when people say that.. mom is in labor.. yelling, all that.. but not this one... we opened the doors and mom pulls at the waistband of her britches and the head is already out!!!! Woo-Hoo!!! My adrenaline shot up like I cant even tell you! I grabbed the head and neck, had per push one time and out she came. Didn't have time to put gloves on or anything and I had my fire turnout gear on. She was SO tiny! I'm talking to mom trying to get some info on her... baby is 2 weeks OVERdue.. and they're traveling from OH to TX. yeah... I know... crazy decision there. This was baby #5. Baby is not breathing. Now.. since we have the engine and not the ambulance (and even though we've asked for one for a while, we also dont have a basic jump kit either on the engine)... so now.... we have a newborn.. and we have NO blankets, no suction, no O2, no OB kit.. no nothing! AND.. its 17 degrees out! I'm huddled up in the van with mom (since we're still attached).. and the other FF says "Do you want me to call your ambulance?" Ha!!! I'm like NO!.. WE"RE THE SQUAD crew.. you cant call us... call (dept down the street)! LOL! !! ! ! So, they're in route... Mom is a little lethargic.. I'm trying to keep her with us, I'm having her massage her own belly to help with the pain and stop the bleeding... the guys are rifling through their first aid kits trying to find me ANY airway, mask so I can help this little start breathing. She had meconium all over her.. pretty bad... it was very dark since the only light we had was a parking lot light but you could still tell... She was taking a half breath maybe once every 5-10 seconds or so... I'm hollering for anything to wrap her up into.. Dad throws me this dirty crusty old sweatshirt. It was bad but better than nothing. The other ambulance shows up with their medic and I'm telling the medic I need suction now. He starts to get his stuff out then says lets just get going and he takes off to get in the squad. LOL.. I'm hollering for him to come back.. I need him to cut the cord! I couldn't go anywhere yet! ha ha ha ha... by this time her cord is ice cold and her feet are so cold too. So the medic grabs the OB kit and cuts the cord.. meanwhile Dad is asking why cant HE cut the cord! oh Jeesh man... you should have thought about that while she was in labor and deciding to drive to TX!!!! We found out later that mom's water broke at 10:30 that MORNING! this is 10:30 at night! So... we get baby in the squad and take off to the hospital. We call another ambulance to get mom since mom is pretty stable. Enroute do all the normal stuff to warm her, get her O2 and suction her. We took her straight to L&D and they put her in the special care nursery immediately. Now.. for the stats... I thought she was tiny.. but ya know sometimes we misjudge things in the heat of the moment. Baby was in fact 2 weeks overdue but only weighted 5 pounds even. We were VERY close to losing her... her core body temp when we brought her in was only 91.7!!!! Yikes! But I can tell you I will always remember Nov. 18th, at 10:19pm. I went by and saw her Sat and Sun.. and by Sun she was off the oxygen tent and had her eyes open and looking around. the nurse is going to try and get a picture of her for me for my EMS scrapbook.
As far as mom and dad... the hospital got social services involved immediately. Their story kept changing as to how and why and all that. They seem very happy about the baby.. but its sad that they dont seem very capable of caring for her.
It was just amazing... they just happened to see our firetruck lights from the highway and pulled off and came to us!