JRTC at Ft. Polk SUCKS BALLS

My first Blog Carnival

First Due Blog Carnival sponsored by Fire Critic

My previous blog post, was submitted and is included in the First Due Blog Carnival put on by @FireCritic on his site at Fire Critic.com be sure to check not only mine, but other posts as well.

I am a Firefighter because...

...of a couple of reasons, actually.

First off, I spent many an afternoon driving "Coffee Table 51" while watching reruns of Emergency! (Emergency! One in syndication) as a boy. That started things off for me.

The other reason was an uncle of mine that spent alot of his time visiting Peoria's different firehouses. My dad and I never knew if he was going to be at 12's, 5's, Central, 10's, 8's, or even way up at 13's (at the time...now there's 16, 19, and 20). 12's was the easiest for me to get to.

That kept me going until 2002, when I was voted on to my department--and made engineer within 30 seconds of pack training (something about that mask flying toward a captain's head as soon as I took that very first breath--on air).

There you go. The "in a nutshell" reasons I'm a firefighter...why I'm in EMS will come later.

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?????

Chronicles of EMS

Last night in San Francisco, trauma shears were opening bottles left and right (bottles of what, you be the judge) for the world premiere of Chronicles of EMS, a reality series about EMS. After my girlfriend, @shell1972 and I watched it, I thought that there is much to be done to make things right for EMS providers.

We watched the gala beforehand, and were able to put faces to many of the twitter names that we have followed and talked to/at over the last few months. I wish I could have had the time off and some of the National Guard aviation boys needed some flight time to go.

After watching the 1st rerun of #CoEMS, I thought (damn, that gets me in trouble sometimes) about the green side of EMS--as far as the Army is concerned, us combat medics ARE EMS when we're out in the field with Joe, and not stuck in a hospital (disclaimer: I'm assigned to a Combat Support Hospital in the EMT section *ER*...although I would LOVE to be assigned to an ambulance company). So in my normal "it's better to beg forgiveness" way, I dropped @setla a note saying "come watch me train my medics". I dropped him my email (both civilian and military) and hope to converse with him soon.

A quandry...

Now it's a time where I take off my Combat Medic hat and put on my writer's hat. Needless to say, wearing that hat makes me sit in front of a blank page for hours on end (when I'm not on twitter or facebook, etc) trying to come up with what to write.

I've written 2 books already, and have also started writing adaptations of those books for television/web. There be my quandary...

I've basically run out of ideas.

I'm not asking for ideas, mind you. If it comes down to it, I'll just listen to the scanner and pull calls out of Peoria. The thing is...basically everything else to make my characters tick.

I've got the pilot about 7/8 done. Just have to close that one all up. It'll be the ones after that that will become a headache.

The other reason I'm just about out of APAP is wondering if there's a way to incorporate EMS 2.0 into it. Along with trying to make a 21st century version of Emergency! in a nutshell.

Guess I'll sleep on it and try tomorrow after work...at least while I still have Final Draft open and blinking on a blank page.

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...