The Top 10 things I’d rather do than…

Situation:  Daughter asked me to take her bra shopping.

Answered by saying I’d rather…

10. Walk through Osama’s front door wearing a suicide vest

9. Go into a working house fire wearing a pair of tight bikini briefs ONLY

8. Work in front of the berm at a hot rifle range.

7. Tap dance on a landmine

6. Be the stuntman on the Mayhem commercials.

5. Breakdance on the autobahn

4. Be kicked in the nuts by all 32 starting punters in the NFL

3. Run face first into the spinning tail rotor of a Blackhawk.

2. Go sliding down a sliding board of nothing but double edged razor blades and land in a vat of rubbing ETOH.

1. Stand in the middle USASOC graduation ceremony and call Rangers, Airborne, and SF Soldiers “pussies”.

Yep…that about sums it up

I got presents...

I was working my day job Friday morning, and stopped at my unit to help one of the full-timers put the flag up. While we were hoisting the colors (after I dropped the state flag--just means we have another governor going to jail) he told me to stop back by after I got done.

0900 rolled around and I went back to my unit. He opened up the MOS Library and basically told me an early "Happy Birthday". There were manuals and textbooks galore all stacked up on the table.

I went through and got me some that I know I'd end up using for training my medics on drill weekends. Got me the 5th edition CIVILIAN PHTLS textbook and instructor's manual, along with the Brady EMT-I instructor manual. I also got the Brady 9th Edition EMT-B Military Edition set--textbook, workbook, and pocket guide.

I came back home with my presents grinning from ear to ear...@shell1972 didn't know what to do with me.

Now that I'm armed with all these reference books, my medics are get some better training.

Anyone know where I can get the powerpoint slides for them?????

Picture this...

0300 hours Friday night

You are awakened by dispatch for a call of shots fired. You and your partner @ckemtp (only using him as an example because he's the first one I could think of at the time of writing) arrive on scene and find it secured by PD and find your pt. a 21 y/o male with a GSW to his upper leg and lower back. You treat according to protocol and transport to the trauma center...hopefully with a large bore or 2 in the arm.

same time...defferent location

You are awakened by someone shouting "DOC" you put your gear together while hearing gunfire. You get over and are pointed to your pt, a 21 y/o male with a GSW to his upper leg and lower back. He's CAOx3 and shouting. You pull back the charging handle of your weapon and attempt to make your way to your pt. His buddy nearby has already put a tourniquet on his upper leg. Your pt. is trying his best to return fire the same as you.

The locations: The first one is at your friendly neighborhood housing project with a gangbanger. The second...downtown Tikrit, Baghdad, or Kabul.

Today, the United States is at war. As a combat medic, it is possible that you will be called on to deploy to a foreign country and provide medical care in a combat zone. You need to understand the differences between trauma management in the homeland and trauma management in a foreign country during wartime.

AAOS, 68W Advanced Field Craft, 2009, p. 5

Trauma management in combat has its own hazards (that goes without saying).

Most of the time, "Doc" only has the equipment that's on his back. He's hoping that "Joe" has the basic first aid stuff on his person...or that his battle buddy has taken care of him the best he can.

Let's look at these two again...

@Ckemtp will be en route to the trauma center much sooner than "Doc" will. In combat, there could be as long as 25 minutes or MORE for some kind of transport to the closest hospital...with only 1000mL total of Hextend and 2000mL total of LR to keep "Joe" alive.

I will have to continue this in another post...

I'm no better...

Earlier today, I got an email from @theHappyMedic asking me to clear something up for him because he was in an "email melee" with someone.

He asked me "Are you better because you're a combat medic?"

My short answer was NO.

That email was one reason I decided to start a text blog today. Of course listening to Firefighter Netcast was another.

In the world of the combat medic, I am trained as an Intermediate, but certifed by the NREMT as a BASIC. That's right, I'm an EMT-B for all intents and purposes.

In combat, though (along with on military installations at the local commander's discretion) I'm allowed to do more than I could on my FD where I engineer and run rescue calls.

In one case I can basically
Intubate
Cannulate
Defibrillate
Medicate
Oxygenate

The "medicate" is limited. Sometimes we have a small O2 cylinder, sometimes we don't. THAT depends on our appropriate medical contol (No ASA for your CP, sir.)

In another case I can basically
Oxygenate
Defibrillate
and wait for ALS to show up...usually about 5 minutes after we put our BP cuff on.

In one case, I can look good in a green suit...in another I can look good responding in my T-shirt, blue jeans, work jacket with vest.

Oh, how I'd love to do a cric stick sometimes when on calls with my FD...Nope...only a State and NREMT-B so I can't.

I'll spell out more differences as time goes on.