Slack-tastic

So, yeah, I've been slacking off again with writing. It seems to come hand in hand with either being crazy busy or entirely asleep. If I'm busy, there's stuff going on and no time to write. If I'm not busy, there's time to write and nothing going on to write about. Only when I hit that sweet spot in the middle do you hear anything here. Nothing too exciting lately, no word back yet on the cardiac patient, so just a reflection here on my changing role as an intermediate...

I worked a 24 at the ambulance co. recently and ended up doing calls with three different medics. Two of those were "stay and play" medics as opposed to "load and go" medics. The stay and play medics are those who want to do nearly everything on-scene, or at least in the ambulance at the scene, so they have everything together and organized by the time we're rolling. I can understand it because a lot of the transport times in the city are short so if you want to have time to double-check yourself, you have to finish most of it before you roll.

Before this shift, I've been mostly with load and go medics - ones that want the patient in the truck and on the road as quickly as possible, with everything accomplished en route and if we don't get time to do something, well that just leaves the hospital something to do. These have also been the medics of the mindset that if you aren't going to use an IV for something specific, then don't start one. Goes back to efficiency because if you don't have to wait to start an IV, then you are that much faster to transporting.

I'm not yet falling in support of one side or the other, just noticing the distinct dichotomy first-hand and the difference it makes in the turn-over time between calls and the pacing of the day. Stay and play medics spend longer with each call making the break between calls shorter, but you really do feel busier all day. Load and go usually falls in line with getting the patient to definitive hospital care quickly when they need it, and getting them out of the truck quickly when they don't need it. I think both methods can be appropriate for specific patients, and I've seen people who tend towards one type utilize the other when a specific situation calls for it. I'm learning how to cooperate with both methods and how that changes my role on scene, so hopefully I'll be able to blend smoothly with anyone I work with.