So now that the tough post is out of the way, let’s move on to something happier shall we?
Today was the first day of medic school, mk 2 
As with any other first day it was interesting, to say the least. One of the most telling things about the program is that there were four of us out of 20 that were not members of the City FireDept, and one of the 4 has been trying to get on with them for years. It does sound like CFD tends to use them as a medic mill, but it is an 11 month program, so it’s better than most mills.
This first semester will be Intro to Advance Practice for the first 8 weeks and Airway/Patient Assessment for the second eight weeks. And for about 14 of the 16 weeks we will be doing clinicals both in the hospital and on the bus. And I was told that I can do up to 50% of my 80 hours down here in BFE. Which is nice considering that just driving to class twice a week will rack up 300 miles at least on my car per week.
We also will do 2 4-hour OR rotations for ETI. I like this a lot, since my program in NM couldn’t secure any OR time for medic students due to the increasing popularity of LMAs and the asses some of the medic students made of themselves in the OR. I’ve got an advantage in that since moving out here I’ve gotten several field tubes, so I know I know how to do it.
And on the subject of skills, I’m apparently the only EMT-I in the entire program. All other 19 students are EMT-Bs. So I was told I’ll be held to a higher standard for skills that I have more practice with than the other students. Not that I mind that. It also means I don’t have to check out in class on IVs I get to go to clinicals a little earlier than the other students in the program.
So far the staff seems good to us. The only thing that struck me that I hate is… well, it’s something I’m not getting away from since the college is an accredited school now. And that’s FISDAP. FISDAP is something I used a little bit in NM and I swear it is just like dispatchers, minions of satan. But win some lose some I guess.
And one of the better parts of medic class is I might have someone that I can car pool with and study with here in BFE. A Vollie for Tiny Town Vollies is in my medic class. And she’s very very cute. It’ll be nice to have someone to drive with, if she agrees to it (we’ve already brought it up once) anyways. The only downside to her incredible cuteness though… her father is a TX DPS Sgt… I rather like my body parts intact and she’s just barely 21 so I’m a little scared off.
Anyways, that’s just first impressions of this medic program. Next class day is monday and I’ve got a ton of extra paperwork to fill out for them, not to mention finish reading the first 5 chapters of volume 1 of our Paramedic text. Not to mention get on Blackboard and register for Med Terminology and A&P (which I’m not dreading at all since they’re both online courses). Ya’ll have a good night, I need to try to get some rest. I go in for a thirty-six in 6 hours.