Dayquil anyone? AKA: the post that unintentionally provides advertising to so many products.
Well, I just logged on after our kids were ravaged by a little bit of a cold bug. I am shocked to see how long it has been since I have made a post. Now I know why William and my Mom have requested me to get up and do some typing.
I guess I am too much of a geek lately also. So many things to do (a new game: their naptime is critical to my mental health) that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.
As I mentioned, the kids managed to come down with a cold bug this week. Ryan (who we have started calling Mr. No, due to his agreeable attitude to life in general) got it first, mostly a case of sniffles and a cough. Then he started to get better, right after he passed it along to Holly. She was pretty miserable for a day and a half, and then the most amusing thing happened. She passed it back to Ryan! He transformed into the most unpleasant, petulant, and wholly uncooperative little boy I have ever met. For the last two or three sniffles/colds (months) he has flatly refused all medicines. He won't take Tylenol, Advil, or any cold syrup. I guess you could say that time spent trying to convince a two and a half year old that he will actually feel better if he drinks a thick liquid (and seriously it doesn't really taste like grape) could be one of the most pointless, and I daresay messy exercises that I have undertaken in years. At some point you need to stop the carnage, and just try and make him comfortable other ways.
I have definitely become a strong believer in the anti-bacterial hand slime that Michelle purchased last year. I hadn't used it all year, until the last time we all got sick, I made a decision. Germ-X is similar to Purell or any of a bunch (handful?) of hand sanitizers that I have always, honestly, looked upon as wastes of money. But there is nothing better then everyone in the house getting sick every time that one person gets sick to make me rethink the efficacy of hand sanitizers. I didn't get sick this time! I used that slime, which comes in a pump just like hand soap, and doesn't require water, every 15 minutes and every time Holly asked me "Can you get my booger?"
I am struck once again by the quality of the Scrubs soundtrack. It is so nice that I can hear a particular track, and at once I start chuckling because I instantly remember the episode and the character situations, and yes, I get amused. Very nice music.
I was thinking, back when Michelle and I lived in our apartment, before we bought our house, that I wanted to get back in to EMS. While I attended RIT, and for the intervening summers, I volunteered with RIT ambulance, and Sloper-Willen Ambulance (back near my home town of Poughkeepsie). Anyway, back in the apartment I kept putting it off, because I figured that when we moved out of the apartment(I have the funniest image in my head of trying to raise Emma, Holly and Ryan in the one-bedroom apartment we had. Picture that!), it would be highly unlikely that we would stay "in-district". But now we have our house, and when we have enough money to trade up, we are going to stay right in the same community that we are in, I need to get back out into the field.
Back in the days of Sloper-Willen, I only did "ride-along's" Which meant that I rode with a with a crew two other people. Sloper-Willen was different from RIT in this respect. At Sloper-Willen, a crew was an EMT-D and an EMT-P (a Paramedic). If the call was just a simple matter of transport (the term from Scrubs "gomers" come to mind) to the hospital the EMT-D would take it and the paramedic would drive. But if it was a an ALS call (Advanced Life Support) then the EMT-D would drive, and the paramedic would get the messy work in the back. Being the extra person with CPR and EMT-D certifications I was basically in charge of chest compressions, and carrying the bags. This differs from the protocols that I found in place in Western New York. At RIT Ambulance, and most of the volunteer outfits in the region they run a crew of a driver and a medic. The driver only has to maintain a current CPR certification and a AAPS class (Ambulance Accident Prevention Seminar) doesn't hurt. The medic, in most cases is an EMT-D, and if ALS is needed, that is a separate call for additional support.
The major reason for the differences between the two regions, up here in Western New York there is a large volunteer base, and there are numerous suburbs that have individual BLS (Basic Life Support) ambulance groups. In the area around Poughkeepsie there are volunteer Fire Departments, but there are no (or very few volunteer ambulances). Sloper-Willen, and the other biggie named Alamo Ambulance are paid services similar to the national names that people recognize like Rural/Metro Ambulance which exists in the city of Rochester and elsewhere.
I am going to try to make some time every week to see if I can pick up a couple shifts. I guess I will try to get out and make myself a little more familiar with the street names and geography of Avon.
Well, that's about it. A walk down memory lane, and a mental step in the direction of resuming some public service.
I guess I am too much of a geek lately also. So many things to do (a new game: their naptime is critical to my mental health) that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.
As I mentioned, the kids managed to come down with a cold bug this week. Ryan (who we have started calling Mr. No, due to his agreeable attitude to life in general) got it first, mostly a case of sniffles and a cough. Then he started to get better, right after he passed it along to Holly. She was pretty miserable for a day and a half, and then the most amusing thing happened. She passed it back to Ryan! He transformed into the most unpleasant, petulant, and wholly uncooperative little boy I have ever met. For the last two or three sniffles/colds (months) he has flatly refused all medicines. He won't take Tylenol, Advil, or any cold syrup. I guess you could say that time spent trying to convince a two and a half year old that he will actually feel better if he drinks a thick liquid (and seriously it doesn't really taste like grape) could be one of the most pointless, and I daresay messy exercises that I have undertaken in years. At some point you need to stop the carnage, and just try and make him comfortable other ways.
I have definitely become a strong believer in the anti-bacterial hand slime that Michelle purchased last year. I hadn't used it all year, until the last time we all got sick, I made a decision. Germ-X is similar to Purell or any of a bunch (handful?) of hand sanitizers that I have always, honestly, looked upon as wastes of money. But there is nothing better then everyone in the house getting sick every time that one person gets sick to make me rethink the efficacy of hand sanitizers. I didn't get sick this time! I used that slime, which comes in a pump just like hand soap, and doesn't require water, every 15 minutes and every time Holly asked me "Can you get my booger?"
I am struck once again by the quality of the Scrubs soundtrack. It is so nice that I can hear a particular track, and at once I start chuckling because I instantly remember the episode and the character situations, and yes, I get amused. Very nice music.
I was thinking, back when Michelle and I lived in our apartment, before we bought our house, that I wanted to get back in to EMS. While I attended RIT, and for the intervening summers, I volunteered with RIT ambulance, and Sloper-Willen Ambulance (back near my home town of Poughkeepsie). Anyway, back in the apartment I kept putting it off, because I figured that when we moved out of the apartment(I have the funniest image in my head of trying to raise Emma, Holly and Ryan in the one-bedroom apartment we had. Picture that!), it would be highly unlikely that we would stay "in-district". But now we have our house, and when we have enough money to trade up, we are going to stay right in the same community that we are in, I need to get back out into the field.
Back in the days of Sloper-Willen, I only did "ride-along's" Which meant that I rode with a with a crew two other people. Sloper-Willen was different from RIT in this respect. At Sloper-Willen, a crew was an EMT-D and an EMT-P (a Paramedic). If the call was just a simple matter of transport (the term from Scrubs "gomers" come to mind) to the hospital the EMT-D would take it and the paramedic would drive. But if it was a an ALS call (Advanced Life Support) then the EMT-D would drive, and the paramedic would get the messy work in the back. Being the extra person with CPR and EMT-D certifications I was basically in charge of chest compressions, and carrying the bags. This differs from the protocols that I found in place in Western New York. At RIT Ambulance, and most of the volunteer outfits in the region they run a crew of a driver and a medic. The driver only has to maintain a current CPR certification and a AAPS class (Ambulance Accident Prevention Seminar) doesn't hurt. The medic, in most cases is an EMT-D, and if ALS is needed, that is a separate call for additional support.
The major reason for the differences between the two regions, up here in Western New York there is a large volunteer base, and there are numerous suburbs that have individual BLS (Basic Life Support) ambulance groups. In the area around Poughkeepsie there are volunteer Fire Departments, but there are no (or very few volunteer ambulances). Sloper-Willen, and the other biggie named Alamo Ambulance are paid services similar to the national names that people recognize like Rural/Metro Ambulance which exists in the city of Rochester and elsewhere.
I am going to try to make some time every week to see if I can pick up a couple shifts. I guess I will try to get out and make myself a little more familiar with the street names and geography of Avon.
Well, that's about it. A walk down memory lane, and a mental step in the direction of resuming some public service.
posted by Tim @ 10:45 PM
1 Comments
