2 months down....

Well I've been at U.S for two months now and loving every minute of it. I already have a day time replacement shift with a great partner until April 4th. I'm very lucky to be where I am. I haven't seen anything to crazy yet but there are a few things I'd like to address:

The Importance of a good partner: A good partner makes the difference between this being the best job in the world and the worst job in the world. I've had many different partners, some I like more then others and I can think of one that I would never work with again.
When you work as a Paramedic it's just you and your partner in the ambulance, when you have a good partner the time flies by, you feel protected and you feel like someone's got your back. None of us are perfect are all of us are stronger in certain aspects then others. For example when if comes to the medical calls I find I'm very strong, however when it comes to psychiatric calls I find I struggle. With my current partner she knows that, so she will back me up and help me when she sees I'm lost a little. You want to feel that if you need a mistake your partner will be there to back you up. A good partner is the most important thing to being happy as a Paramedic.

"You Must See a Lot of terrible things": While yes we do see a lot of horrible things one thing I have noticed is that with all the talk of murder, and death, and terrorism etc... we forget how much love there actually is in the world. No matter how sick my patients are there is always someone there beside them looking after them. They stay at the hospital with them, and want to ride in the back of the Ambulance because they don't want to leave their side even for a second. It's encouraging to see mother with their children, sisters, brothers, grandchildren, and especially a married couple who have been together for 60 years, who care about each other today as much as they did 6 decades ago. So yes we see a lot of terrible things, but we also see true unselfish love at it's finest.

Death is not the worst thing in the world: I have seen people who are alive physically but dead in every other aspect, people who can't move, speak, or do anything on their own. That is no way to live. Death isn't the worst thing in the world.

So after two months I feel that I've come a long way, but still have far to go. I was listening to an ALS guy explain bundle branch blocks the other day and realize how little I actually know. My goal is to be ALS one day and I'm not even close. I study everyday, to try to build towards that goal.