4 of 5: Life through rose-tinted spectacles.
Well after yesterday's bout of exciting uniform fitting, today we went on to have a talk about "diversity". I'm sure lots of people have their own opinions on political correctness, and I suspect there is a very diverse range of opinions in those. Mine falls into to the area where I should, regardless of any guidelines, treat others as I would like to be treated and in a manner in which is polite. I realise that to be polite in some cultures requires a certain amount of research for the slightly ignorant like myself, but in general I think I've got it right. However, today somebody made a very good point about respecting diversity:
"If people are nice they tend to stay nice, but if people are dickheads no amount of classes or guidelines will ever change that"
Hard to disagree with that I think.
As the day progressed we moved on from PC things to more practical ones, Basic Life Support. We were all given a free (not so very) Pocket (size) Mask, and introduced to the idea of primary survey. This is all new to me, so I'm trying to keep my mind open very wide to absorb everything. After this we got to practice our new BLS CPR skills on a very expensive mannequin, that gave an electronic readout on our performance of CPR. I got 83% first time, not too bad I thought, but it should be around 95%. Again back on to the carry chair, this time with a 45kg waited dummy on it. It wasn't so much the weight I found difficult (being O so very strong...), more the technique to lift it correctly. A skill I need to develop for sure.
Finally we moved onto stretchers, playing with the 3 different types we have for the 3 different ambulances. The first and most basic was for the LDV trucks, and we also practiced loading it onto the back. Bearing in mind the LDVs don't have lifts, it was actually easier than I thought it was going to be, a pleasant surprise. However I'm sure the addition of a 60kg person screaming in agony may make a slight difference..
The other two are for the Mercs. In a startlingly dangerous move back towards ambulance geek-dom, though most LAS Sprinters look the same, there are some differences between them. I *think* they're already on the 3rd edition, somebody correct me if I'm (probably) wrong. The differences lie in the Blue lights, going from strobes to LEDs and some other internal positioning of equipment. The stretchers are (blissfully) hydraulic, so much easier to use and load compared to the LDVs.
So as I lower the lift at the back of the ambulance, lift up the hand rails and lower it to the floor, I feel content. Despite the fact that the rain is coming down hard and fast, and soon making my white shirt appear see-through, I feel happy. As I load the stretcher on, and press raise on the controls, push it in and lock it, the rain drops don't bother me a bit. For all I know those rain drops could be little beats of sunshine beating down on my back. I then take off my rose tinted spectacles, and enjoy the fact that I'm still young enough to enjoy simple things like this.
"If people are nice they tend to stay nice, but if people are dickheads no amount of classes or guidelines will ever change that"
Hard to disagree with that I think.
As the day progressed we moved on from PC things to more practical ones, Basic Life Support. We were all given a free (not so very) Pocket (size) Mask, and introduced to the idea of primary survey. This is all new to me, so I'm trying to keep my mind open very wide to absorb everything. After this we got to practice our new BLS CPR skills on a very expensive mannequin, that gave an electronic readout on our performance of CPR. I got 83% first time, not too bad I thought, but it should be around 95%. Again back on to the carry chair, this time with a 45kg waited dummy on it. It wasn't so much the weight I found difficult (being O so very strong...), more the technique to lift it correctly. A skill I need to develop for sure.
Finally we moved onto stretchers, playing with the 3 different types we have for the 3 different ambulances. The first and most basic was for the LDV trucks, and we also practiced loading it onto the back. Bearing in mind the LDVs don't have lifts, it was actually easier than I thought it was going to be, a pleasant surprise. However I'm sure the addition of a 60kg person screaming in agony may make a slight difference..
The other two are for the Mercs. In a startlingly dangerous move back towards ambulance geek-dom, though most LAS Sprinters look the same, there are some differences between them. I *think* they're already on the 3rd edition, somebody correct me if I'm (probably) wrong. The differences lie in the Blue lights, going from strobes to LEDs and some other internal positioning of equipment. The stretchers are (blissfully) hydraulic, so much easier to use and load compared to the LDVs.
So as I lower the lift at the back of the ambulance, lift up the hand rails and lower it to the floor, I feel content. Despite the fact that the rain is coming down hard and fast, and soon making my white shirt appear see-through, I feel happy. As I load the stretcher on, and press raise on the controls, push it in and lock it, the rain drops don't bother me a bit. For all I know those rain drops could be little beats of sunshine beating down on my back. I then take off my rose tinted spectacles, and enjoy the fact that I'm still young enough to enjoy simple things like this.
posted by Carmelo @ 7:05 pm
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