On Thomas Jefferson, Peas, and Getting Called Out of Church

I remember reading that Thomas Jefferson was an avid gardener (of course his garden was gigantic compared to mine!). One of his favorite vegetables was English Peas and he had a friendly competition with his neighbors to see who could have the earliest ones. So I looked it up--he grew 15 different varieties! (Check it out here: http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/fun-fact-peas). I planted peas this year, on April 5th. Too bad I only have space for one variety. And they started poking their little leaves up April 16! I meant to take a picture several times, but kept getting distracted and forgetting.

I did not forget to take pictures of the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. this year. Unfortunately pictures like the one below cannot do them justice.

This particular tree in full bloom was located next to the tidal basin near the Jefferson Memorial.

I've been enjoying the privilege of being the regional medic and having a chase vehicle. It means that if I run on a Sunday day, I can take the ALS chase car and go to church.  I take a radio or minitor and my phone, turn the volume down as low as I and sit near the back so I can get out fast without disturbing too many people. Unfortunately this plan has backfired on me a couple times and I have had to leave the service rather abruptly. Like on Palm Sunday.

I heard that one go out about halfway through the sermon. It was for a hand injury--initially BLS. Some guy was doing training and got the tip of his finger pinched off. I had a feeling I'd be going on that one and sure enough, they called for ALS. Nothing really I could do when I got there. It was a frustrating call on numerous levels. Turns out the hand doctor was not able to reattach his fingertip. Oh well. You win some and you lose some. All you can do is your job to the best of the ability God has blessed you with.

Have had some "good" calls the past few weeks. Let's start with the typical definition of a "good call" from the medic's standpoint. A bad call is one where things do not go smoothly. And average call is one where things go well, but the reason you were called is not notable. Like getting that 3am "I stubbed my toe 4 hours ago" or also at 3am "I've been short of breath for 3 days and nothing has changed but it's now an emergency because I can still talk your ear off non-stop for 5 minutes without getting short of breath" call. Yeah. Then you have calls where the illness or injury is genuine. That finger amputation call was good except that things on scene were a bit messy. Seems like I've been going through a steep learning curve after being released.

For example, there was the first time I gave pain medication after being released. This tough little lady fell off her horse in the middle of a field. The ambulance got there first and if a) someone hadn't showed me where to go and b) the ambulance crew hadn't been standing right next to her, I would never have found her. The grass was at least a foot tall and you couldn't see her. She'd broken her ankle. It was extremely painful, swollen and deformed. I wasn't able to completely remove her boot and there really was no good way to splint it. I started my IV and gave her pain medication out there in the deep grass. Unfortunately it didn't do her much good. We eventually got her to the hospital and even three doses of pain medication later it barely took the edge off her pain. In all honesty, she warned me she had a high tolerance for pain medication. I wish I could have managed to splint her ankle better, but she refused to let us touch it and it was going to take us forever on scene. I have a feeling it would have helped with the pain though. Next time.

So much for that. Been rather busy with hospital rotations for paramedic class lately. Speaking of paramedic class, I'd better get going. More homework to do.