WOW, I'm officially a Paramedic. After 10 long months my school is over, I have passed all my exams and I am now proud to say that I am a Paramedic. It's strange to say but I never thought this day would come, I thought somewhere along the line something's going to go wrong and I'm not going to make it, but I worked hard, and wanted it bad enough and now Phil McHugh is a Paramedic.
So I applied at CETAM and Urgence Sante and haven't heard from either of them yet, so now I will remained unemployed until I get some news. Maybe spend a few stress less days while I still can.
I will forever be associated with Group 89 and all the men and women in it, and I couldn't be happier. We all share a certain bond that's unexplainable. We shared highs and lows, didn't always get along all the time but in the end we cheered each other on and wished well. I'm proud to say that I was part of Group 89, and any one of them can take care of my loved ones any day. So I present to you, the newest group of Paramedics, who will be protecting the streets of Quebec for years to come.
Charlene Bourdages Taylor
Olivier Simon Chayer
Michael Cote
Bridgette Desrochers
Pierre Deziel
Justin Gauthier
Olivier Garneau
France Gignac
Julein Henry
Marc Andre Lacroix
PIerre Masse
Phil McHugh
Dominic Pepin
Bridgette Proulx
Melissa Roy
Samuel St Louis
Nicole-Anik
Mihai
Daniel
Felicitations Je suis fier de vous autres. BONNE CHANCE
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Paramedic in 7 days....
So I'm back at school doing more practice and studying and some final tweaking before I become a working Paramedic. It's a bit frustrating to be back at school and doing everything for pretend, after spending 6 weeks, with real equipment and real patients. School at the college, has been out all summer and now we're all back. The area where the Paramedic students are located, isn't very big and there are a lot of us. We returned from our stages to realize we had no classroom anymore. The Paramedic section has two groups of people the students doing the 10 month AEC and the students doing the 3 year DEC. The Dec students get the better equipment, and all the classrooms so the students doing the AEC, about to be on the road doing it for real in two weeks (like us) have no equipment to practice with, or any place to practice. Very frustrating.
We all shared stories about our stage and we all seems to have a great experience. One of my teachers asked me and a classmate to speak to his 1st year DEC students about our thoughts on the profession and our gols for the future. He chose my classmate because she didn't like the road and doesn't want to be a Paramedic, and I loved it and showed a lot of passion for it. So we addressed the students and told them about our experiences. I was honored that he chose me to speak.
Yesterday I went to Urgence Sante for an information session on their hiring process. It's ridiculous. It would start on October 7th, and by the time it's done it's November 28th. They make you take a bunch of tests you've already taken, such as a TAPTA ( Test D'apptitude Physique, Technicien Ambulancier) and UVU (utulisation d'un vehivule d'urgence). The whole process takes too long, so I really hope I hear from CETAM.
I want to talk a bit about something that's really been bothering me about the DEC students. They walk around with shirts that say PARAMEDIC on the back of them, even though they were specifically told not to.. I find that completely inappropriate. They are not Paramedics they are Paramedic Students there's a big difference, to me it's the same as a Med student walking around with a white coat that says Doctor. Yes they have some training, but not enough to call themselves Paramedics. I think being called a Paramedic is something you earn. Something you earn with experience, until you've had to do CPR for real, or give a report at a hospital,or have had puke on your hands, and had the responsibility of some stranger's life in your hands, then you're not a Paramedic, and it's disrespectful to the real Paramedics to call yourself one when you're not. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, am I making a big deal out of nothing or do I have a point?
My friend Ian started school in Ontario last week, and he seems to be liking it and doing real well, I wish him the best of luck on his journey, and hope I can help him in anyway I can. I have no doubt he'll make a great Paramedic and one day be almost as good as I am. ;)
We all shared stories about our stage and we all seems to have a great experience. One of my teachers asked me and a classmate to speak to his 1st year DEC students about our thoughts on the profession and our gols for the future. He chose my classmate because she didn't like the road and doesn't want to be a Paramedic, and I loved it and showed a lot of passion for it. So we addressed the students and told them about our experiences. I was honored that he chose me to speak.
Yesterday I went to Urgence Sante for an information session on their hiring process. It's ridiculous. It would start on October 7th, and by the time it's done it's November 28th. They make you take a bunch of tests you've already taken, such as a TAPTA ( Test D'apptitude Physique, Technicien Ambulancier) and UVU (utulisation d'un vehivule d'urgence). The whole process takes too long, so I really hope I hear from CETAM.
I want to talk a bit about something that's really been bothering me about the DEC students. They walk around with shirts that say PARAMEDIC on the back of them, even though they were specifically told not to.. I find that completely inappropriate. They are not Paramedics they are Paramedic Students there's a big difference, to me it's the same as a Med student walking around with a white coat that says Doctor. Yes they have some training, but not enough to call themselves Paramedics. I think being called a Paramedic is something you earn. Something you earn with experience, until you've had to do CPR for real, or give a report at a hospital,or have had puke on your hands, and had the responsibility of some stranger's life in your hands, then you're not a Paramedic, and it's disrespectful to the real Paramedics to call yourself one when you're not. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, am I making a big deal out of nothing or do I have a point?
My friend Ian started school in Ontario last week, and he seems to be liking it and doing real well, I wish him the best of luck on his journey, and hope I can help him in anyway I can. I have no doubt he'll make a great Paramedic and one day be almost as good as I am. ;)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
End Of Stage & What's Next
Well, my stage is completely over. For school it ended on August 20th but I kept going in for fun and extra experience. I'm not really able to describe my experience, but it's definitely one I'll never forget. I got to see a lot of calls, the people at the hospital and CETAM were very nice to me, the police were nice as well. The last few days my Maitres de stage were leaving me alone with the patient, leaving me alone to give my reports and fill out the paperwork. They said they have no doubt in my mind that I'll be an excellent Paramedic, and I'm ready to go out and work on my own, they said I was the ideal stagiare and they were lucky to have me. They were so nice to me, and taught me so much, throughout my career I'll never forget them. My last night of stage we got a sweet call:
The call comes in as a priority 1 possible stroke. We we bolt lights and siren to the house. When we pull up we see a large older man lying on the grass with all his family around him. I'm thinking, "oh no he's in cardiac arrest" so I hurry towards him, I turn on the monitor I tell his daughter to move and make me some space, I squeeze his trapeziums muscles to wake him up, he makes a face but doesn't wake up, I tilt his head back, listen for breathing, he's breathing fine, I check his carotid pulse, it's strong but irregular, his family tells me he's known for arrhythmia's (irregular heart beats) so I don't think much of it, I rip his shirt open, put on the pas for defibrillation in case his heart stops we can shock him right way. On the monitor I see an irregular sinus rhythm. I check his radial pulse its strong but irregular as well, his family mentions that he had ten beers, I take it into consideration, but based on the size of the man I don't think this is just an intox. Then his family mentions he's diabetic. A light goes of in all our heads, he's hypoglycemic (low sugar) Alcohol can lower ones sugar level so this was a clear case. as I monitor the patient and ask the family questions my parent checks his blood sugar level it's a 2.0, (normal between 4-6) so we prepare a drug called glucagon, my partner prepares the needle, and injects it in his arm. Two minutes later the man wakes up, still out of it, not talking and not aware of where he is. He put him on the stretcher, I ask the family if he complained of any chest pain before he fell down to make sure this is just a case of hypoglycemia because diabetics have heart attacks too, they say so, so we hop in the Ambulance and take off. I watch as he slowly regains consciousness, when we get to the hospital, his eyes are fully opened, he's being combative and aggressive (normal behavior in a case like this) so we have to hold him down on the stretcher, so the nurse can get an I.V in, he was very strong. Once he starts to settle down we pack up our stuff and leave.
We bring another patient about an hour later and the doctor says our diabetic patient is awake, and doing great, and that we did a good job. Pretty amazing stuff.
What's next: Well now that I'm done my stage I return to school on September 15th, for my final exams. Practice exams and written exams. Then on September 26th I should be graduated and a real Paramedic. Stay Tuned...
The call comes in as a priority 1 possible stroke. We we bolt lights and siren to the house. When we pull up we see a large older man lying on the grass with all his family around him. I'm thinking, "oh no he's in cardiac arrest" so I hurry towards him, I turn on the monitor I tell his daughter to move and make me some space, I squeeze his trapeziums muscles to wake him up, he makes a face but doesn't wake up, I tilt his head back, listen for breathing, he's breathing fine, I check his carotid pulse, it's strong but irregular, his family tells me he's known for arrhythmia's (irregular heart beats) so I don't think much of it, I rip his shirt open, put on the pas for defibrillation in case his heart stops we can shock him right way. On the monitor I see an irregular sinus rhythm. I check his radial pulse its strong but irregular as well, his family mentions that he had ten beers, I take it into consideration, but based on the size of the man I don't think this is just an intox. Then his family mentions he's diabetic. A light goes of in all our heads, he's hypoglycemic (low sugar) Alcohol can lower ones sugar level so this was a clear case. as I monitor the patient and ask the family questions my parent checks his blood sugar level it's a 2.0, (normal between 4-6) so we prepare a drug called glucagon, my partner prepares the needle, and injects it in his arm. Two minutes later the man wakes up, still out of it, not talking and not aware of where he is. He put him on the stretcher, I ask the family if he complained of any chest pain before he fell down to make sure this is just a case of hypoglycemia because diabetics have heart attacks too, they say so, so we hop in the Ambulance and take off. I watch as he slowly regains consciousness, when we get to the hospital, his eyes are fully opened, he's being combative and aggressive (normal behavior in a case like this) so we have to hold him down on the stretcher, so the nurse can get an I.V in, he was very strong. Once he starts to settle down we pack up our stuff and leave.
We bring another patient about an hour later and the doctor says our diabetic patient is awake, and doing great, and that we did a good job. Pretty amazing stuff.
What's next: Well now that I'm done my stage I return to school on September 15th, for my final exams. Practice exams and written exams. Then on September 26th I should be graduated and a real Paramedic. Stay Tuned...
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