Getting tired......

What up. OK so quick update on the course. Thing are moving long at an increasingly rapid pace. We're into medical situations now and we (at least myself for sure) are getting saturated. With pre-hospital care as a paramedic you have a set of protocols that dictate how you treat someone based on certain criteria. At first it was pretty simple but as we move along there are more and more protocols to remember and it's starting to get hard for me to remember every little thing about them. You can only give Ventolin if they have a history of this but can't if they're allergic to it, or you can give ASA for chest pain if they don't have any of these 4 things and nitroglycerin if they don't have these 4 things and their blood pressure is above this. This is actually the easy stuff for me. I know that I can manage a patient fine in a practical setting regardless of what it is so long as we've been taught it. The problem I have is with the studying at night. I prioritize like so: practical is most important since in my mind premium care for you patient is vital. Whereas knowledge, ie. knowing what causes acute renal failure is secondary, since in my practical mind set I should only have to know the signs and symptoms of ARF and how to treat it. This causes a problem since I spend all my "spare" time concentrating on the practical aspect of this phase when I should be devoting the majority of it the theoretical portion as there is a lot more to cover.

Anyway the course is going fine. According to the instructors they haven't seen a course get out as early as us (which is still around 4:30-5:00PM) consistently in years. I have to admit it's pretty cool to be here and be a part of it. I was talking about this with my girlfriend last weekend when she asked me if we (the course) were generally a cocky group of guys and I had to explain to her why we aren't. In the Navy I'll openly admit that I was confident and borderline cocky and I think it was because of the environment I was in. The majority of the people aren't physically fit, let alone to my standards and less than half are proficient at their jobs let alone excellent. So someone who IS fit and DOES excel........ it's hard not to get an exaggerated opinion of oneself. But here on this course it's easy to stay humble because you are challenged every day. You are surrounded by people that are in better shape and more knowledgeable than yourself in any given aspect. The instructors are second to none and are critical of the students' performance at all times. And just in case we can't keep ourselves in line they constantly remind us "you're doing good........ BUT don't let up". It's weird to hear stuff like that from them but when it happens I feel like a dog whose been given a treat for good behaviour.

Anyway that's about it. Tomorrows another day and I need to get back to studying instead of procrastinating which is why this entry is so fuckin' long.

Peace.

Halfway pt. 2

So you probably watched the video by now and seen how Christians arm bled when I pulled the needle out. That was my bad of course since I didn't have any gauze ready to put over it. Besides that the course is going along swimmingly. It's hard to believe that we're already halfway through medical phase, 50% closer to being a paramedic, and a long ways off from being a SAR Tech. We still have para phase, dive phase, mountain ops, sea ops, winter ops (avalanche rescue) and of course, arctic ops. So all the cool shit is yet to come but it's important to realize that all that stuff is just a vehicle to get us to the scene so we can administer medical care. We should be starting our hospital time in local ER's in the next few weeks so that will give us some much needed practical experience. I'm already nervous about it though. It's easy to stick needles in SAR candidates since they will suffer through anything, but I imagine it's a different story when you're dealing with some crabby hag or drunk guy who's pissed off for a dumb reason. Typically nurses are extremely caring and understanding but I'm anxious to see what happens when you stick 16 intense dudes in that setting and let them play with needles and stuff.

So all in all everything is going as planned. The pic here is of selection back in Feb 08. If you recall we had to survive with no food for 4 days in the mountains north of Jasper. One of the tasks we had to do during that time was build a ground-to-air signal fire in the event you see an airplane. The smoke has to reach tree-top level in a minute or less or you fail. Good times that I'm glad I'll never have to do again!

Halfway through med phase update pt. 1

One more tick in the box.

Thanksgiving marks another part of the course behind us. The past 3 days has been spent testing the course on the medical knowledge we've accumulated so far. Wednesday was a written exam and Thursday and Friday were practical exams. We were tested on our ability to follow the patient assessment model for limb injuries (in this case a broken leg) as well as CPR and defibrillation. We've had plenty of time to practice and the tests were pretty easy by the time we actually did them. Everyone passed all the tests with no serious problems.

On a bright note Ewa is back from her 7 month deployment with the Navy. I drove down to Victoria to meet her when she got back and we spent the week up here in Comox at an oceanside cabin. She has a ton of pictures from Malaysia, Dubai, India, Japan, Spain, etc..... It looked like a pretty good deployment but I'm just glad she's back!

Vehicle Extrication

First IV

Entonox

A day in the life........

Med update

OK so we're into the thick of med phase now and it's all good. We're just doing some basic stuff right now to get the procedures to become a habit. I've done all of this before since I was lucky enough to get an advanced medical first response course. But this week we start to get into things I haven't covered before. Pain management using Entonox (laughing gas), which of course we have to understand it's effects in order to use effectively. So that means we will all be sucking back on some laughing gas and I will be sure to get some video footage of that. Also we start doing pharmacology and IV administration. I'm really looking forward to that. I've never put a needle in someone and then forced drugs directly into their bloodstream. Muuuuaaahahahha!

Also the picture below is of two guys (Geoff and Eric) while we were learning how to properly auscultate (fancy word for listen) to someones breathing. It just worked out that they were making the gayest faces ever when I took it. Add a caption and some bordering and walla! Magic.

1 month down, 10 more to go

Medical Phase

Well the start of the medical phase has begun. The regular Primary Care Paramedic course is 4 months long with another 3 months to do the practical portion in ambulances and in ER's. SAR Techs do the course in 3 months and have 10 days to do all the required practical work in the various hospitals and ams around the coast. RAD. After a lengthy period of time of since ground ops (Sunday) we show up to work on Monday and get issued a massive amount of books. That pic is the required reading for just one of us.


After that we were given an assignment due for tomorrow on top of the 3 hours of reading a night. Everyone was split into pair and had to do a presentation on a system of the body. Christian and I got the Digestive system. Zuko and his partner got the Reproductive system. The pic below is Zukes stellar vision of what the Gonads are all about.

HAI/Ground Ops

Another phase down. High Altitude Indoc in Winnipeg was pretty easy. The purpose of it was to understand how your body reacts under thin atmosphere and to recognize the signs and symptoms of hypoxia(shortage of oxygen), there are a lot of signs and people tend to have different one's which is why we all had to do it. Winnipeg sucks as far as I could tell, the only cool thing was taking limo's to and from the airport and hanging out in the executive lounge(it's good to be a SAR Tech). It's too spread out and it was just a boring phase so I imagine that had some impact. It was pretty cool though going to 30Kft (higher than Mt. Everest) in the hypobaric chamber and getting all fucked up.
After a week of that we took another plane to Edmonton, got on a private bus and drove to Jarvis Lake, the same place we did selection. We were told it would be a relaxing phase and a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun but relaxing........ hells no. The days start at 0700 and end anywhere between 2200 and 2230. And these aren't normal work days as most people would call them. SAR Tech work days differ slightly. For example, one day we spent building improvised stretchers and carrying people through swamps and bush for hours on end. Not cool, but extremely valuable training. Another day we had to search for a 17 year old boy with special needs who was also an insulin dependant diabetic. We started from the highway and worked our way in towards the lake. Once we got to the lake we received info that he was spotted on the island in the middle of the lake. Now Jarvis Lake is a high altitude, glacier fed lake and it's September, so it's effin' COLD. So we strip down and pack everything in our bivy bags and hit the water. Once on the other side we get dressed again, ruck up and continue the search. I happened to be in the front and found Johnny, a heavy mannequin. So now we have to construct a raft capable of keeping Johnny out of the water. It's kind of funny to see a group of axe wielding men on a beach with huge packs on, making a raft in their underwear. Everything worked out okay though and again it was an extremely valuable exercise. These are just a couple examples of what the week was like. Good training but it was a loooooong week and my body is feeling it now.

Clinical Sciences 200 done!

Well the first of many tests is done. For the past 2 weeks we've been trying to remember the information that would normally be taught to us over the period of a semester. Well today was the test day. Kind of significant since it's the first of many tests. Almost everybody passed though so it's all good. And for the one's that didn't, it's just a small matter of working on some weak areas before the re-test. The beauty of this course is that you take 16 guys, and no matter what you ask them to do or learn, they can do it.

This Sunday we leave for Winnipeg to do high altitude indoctrination for a week and then to Jarvis Lake to do ground ops.

The picture is of a SAR Tech ruck sack. Much better than the shit they give the guys in the Army. That's all the kit I'll be lugging around Jarvis Lake in ground ops. The other picture is of the guys just chillin' in our lounge.

Beach party

Course/family get together at Air Force beach. Good times.

Zukowski's zombie eyes.

This is the best job ever.

Well we're only halfway through the second week and this is officially the best job ever. Not only do we get to learn the coolest combination of skills in the world (ie. paramedic, skydiving, mountain climbing, etc.) but we also get treated really well, are given some sweet equipment, and get pro deals (50% off) on Helly Hansen, The North Face, Sierra Design, and Smith and Oakley glasses. Best job ever.

We started group PT which is run by the fitness staff. Needless to say it's pretty hard. We've done sprints up sand dunes while fireman carrying another man, crab walks up sand dunes, pool PT, you name it. The picture here is of a guy puking during pool PT. The course had to tread water for an hour straight while passing two 20 pound bricks around the circle, one clockwise and one counter-clockwise. Concurrently a guy had to break off of the group and do 25 pushups, a rope climb, and 15 chinups before rejoining the group and another guy leaving. And yes they have put a rope for us to climb and a chinup bar in the pool so you have to start out in the water. Good times had by all. Hopefully I'll be able to get some underwater shots of the guys bobbing for bricks this week.

Course Schedule

Pre study PCP and HAI/AMT
11 August - 22 August 08(pre-study) 25 August - 29 August 08 (HAI/AMT)
CFSSAR and CFSSAT at Winnipeg,Manitoba
The pre-study medical covers the anatomy and physiology portion of the primary care paramedic training. The high altitude indoctrination will include air medical considerations, physiology of flight and exposure to the effects of hypoxia.

Ground operations
30 August - 07 September 08
Jarvis Lake, Alberta
Theory and practical application of ground search techniques, search planning, man tracking and advanced navigation skills.

Primary Care Paramedic Program
08 September - 19 December 08
CFSSAR and Victoria BC
Twelves weeks of theory and practical training in pre-hospital emergency care covering anatomy, physiology and treatment of trauma and medical emergencies. Three weeks of in-hospital and ambulance practicums will follow the classroom theory.

Winter operations
05 - 09 January 09
CFSSAR
An introduction to winter back country travel and avalanche rescue techniques.

Arctic Operations
12 - 23 January 09
CFSSAR, Resolute Bay Det, Nunavut
Training and operations utilizing SAR Tech equipment in extreme arctic conditions.

Dive phase
26 January - 06 March 09
Fleet diving unit Esquimalt, CFSSAR and Helicopter egress
This phase is 6 weeks in duration and is conducted at the FDU, CFSSAR and Survival system in Dartmouth N.S. The SAR Student are going to be trained in the skills necessary to qualify as a SAR Tech Diver , including overturned vessel survivor extraction.

Sea Operations
09 March - 13 March and 23 - 27 March 09
CFSSAR
An introduction to sea survival, helicopter and fixed wing rescue procedures.

Parachute Operations
30 March - 15 may 09
Arizona and CFSSAR
Training in parachute operation's to include packing, inspecting, jumping and airmanship. Parachute descents will include both static line and freefall.

Mountain operation
18 - 29 May 09
Jasper, Alberta
An introduction to basic mountain climbing skills and rescue techniques on rock, snow and ice.


SAR Fundamentals and operational phase
31 May - 12 Jun 09
Jarvis Lake, Alberta
Ground search followed by operational type training putting into used all previous phases and skills. This is an assessment phase used to evaluate the individual on his performance and will be the deciding factor for the SAR Tech QL5A qualification.

Grad Week (Grad day 18 June 09)

15 - 19 June 09
CFSSAR

SAR Tech birthday bumps.

First Day

Well Course 42 has officially started. The day started off with an unofficial welcome by the course NCO. He told us what to expect from today and we shared some laughs. He basically told us to forget everything that happened on selection, meaning all the negative motivation, and that the instructors are there to ensure that we finish the course. That was good to hear. I spent the whole day waiting for an explosion that would leave us all panting and sweating. But it never came.

We did the SAR Tech PT test in the morning and as you can see in the picture, some of us even blew some chunks. The end of the day finished off with us doing our first of many sets of pushups. It was a good feeling. I'll try and get some footage of some random "extra-training" that we're sure to do tomorrow.

Pre PT test PT test.

The guys got together to run the PT test prior to the real thing on Tuesday. It consists of a 2.4km run, 31 pushups, 33 situps, 8 chinups, a 450m shuttle run at 20m intervals, and a 2X 6m rope climb. All of this needs to be done as fast as possible to a maximum time of 17 minutes. Believe me it is a hard test. Especially if you push yourself. Our course runs it anywhere from 13:30 to 15:00 minutes. Hardest 14 minutes of your life.