A Day (Or Night) In the Life of a Volunteer Paramedic (Part 1): Typical Shift At The Rescue Squad

I was recently asked by a member of the public what a typical day is like for me. That is such a hard question to answer because each shift is so different. Being a bit of a smart aleck, I asked them "what day?" I work a rotating 24hrs on/72hrs off schedule with the private ambulance transport company. My volunteer paramedic schedule of 12hr shifts is set up around my work schedule. I prefer running as the Region A medic on Sunday and Monday nights. Sometimes I run Sunday days because I can take the chase car to church and respond from there. I also volunteer with the Fire Company which is separate from the Rescue Squad. Fire duty crew is a 12hr shift every 6th night. I work holidays, am out in all sorts of weather and I don't know what a "weekend" is anymore. And I haven't even started on the regular continuing education classes I have to take to keep my certifications current.

But let's give this a try. Let's assume that I'm on duty at the volunteer rescue squad as the regional medic. The shift begins at 6pm, but since everything in fire-rescue goes off 24hr clock time, it's actually 1800. I usually leave home at least an hour before the start of my shift to allow for travel time with rush hour. If it's one of the days when my roommate is working night shift and won't be home to take care of the pets I leave earlier so I can drop my dog Fiona off for a sleepover at a friend's house.

Well, she's already asleep in the car. Apparently, Fiona was more than ready for a sleepover while I'm on duty.

Once I get to the station, I change into my uniform if I'm not already wearing it and call the county dispatch center to place my unit in service. Then I do a quick duty check to make sure I have everything on the unit and change the battery in the portable radio.

One of the ALS Chase vehicles we used to run from the rescue squad station. Oh, and a helicopter.

Then it's time for dinner. You never know when you'll get a call, so food is always a high priority. Every time you sit down to eat, go to the restroom, start your workout, etc., you feel like you're tempting fate to give you a call. Most shifts, I end up coordinating dinner with the ambulance crew on duty. After dinner, I like to do training of some sort.

Extrication Training

Training can be pretty much anything. If you don't train your skills and knowledge gets rusty. You don't want to be trying to relearn that splinting procedure on a call. Training is important! Two of my favorite evening shift training options are doing area familiarization/driver training and practicing ALS/BLS skills. If you know the shortcuts, major streets and intersections--and even better the addresses, your response times are faster because you already know where you're going. Long summer evenings are perfect for this kind of area familiarization. Practicing skills such as intubations on the dummy, doing a drug bag check (and reviewing the indications, doses and contraindications for all the drugs in the bag), and teaching basic skills to new members are other good options. The more you know, the more you practice, the better you will be under stress in a critical incident. I also try to review at least one of the local protocols per shift. Knowing the protocols is very important, and there are always protocols you don't use very often.

Bunk room at the station. The night this photo was taken, I ran a lot of calls and consequently didn't spend much time in here.

After training, sometimes there is time to use the station gym, work on projects, and watch TV before bedtime. I usually pick a bunk room as soon as I'm done with my duty check and before dinner. And at any point in time, this routine can and will be interrupted by calls. In the area I cover, the average time it takes to run a call once you allow for response time to the scene, an on scene time of about 15-20 minutes, transport time and the return trip to the station (often via the scene to retrieve the chase vehicle) is about 2-2.5 hours. Critical patients require more documentation, so the report-writing time at the ED is longer.

People often ask how busy we are. The truthful answer is that it depends upon the day. Calls seem to come in waves. At one point in time, there will be 4 calls going on at once and I'll be on one and there will be units from 3 other stations on calls in my area. Other days I'll run nothing the entire shift. Some shifts I will run 6 calls and never really see the station.

Another question or rather statement I hear a lot, is "so you're an ambulance driver?" Well, technically, yes, I am. But I'm a whole lot more than an ambulance driver. I'm actually a paramedic. I've successfully completed about 2,000 hours of classroom and practical training, followed by about 8 months of field training before I was allowed to run calls on my own. So, "Yes, Ma'am. But I'm a little more than just an ambulance driver..."

Taking A Break From The Garden: Puppy Time!

Last August I took a break from gardening for a little while after moving. Why? Because I acquired a small fuzzy ball of trouble, mayhem, energy, messes, fun and total cuteness: also known as my Border Collie puppy Fiona Grace or "Fi" (pronounced "fee") for short.

NOTICE: This is your warning that there will be a LOT of puppy pictures in this post.

Last July, I stopped by southern Virginia on my way to North Carolina for some R&R after paramedic class to meet the litter of puppies and decided I wanted the only girl in the litter of four. She was about the size of a Guinea Pig and really cuddly. I spent the next four hours I was driving talking to my car about puppy names. Half the list I'd picked out earlier just didn't seem to fit this little girl's temperament. Finally settled on calling the little princess Fiona because not only is it a traditional Border Collie Name, she was spunky and stood up to all three of her bigger brothers kind of like the character in the TV show Burn Notice. And before you ask, I was completely unaware of the movie Shrek. Never seen it.

Hello world, meet Fiona!

My friend (and fellow volunteer paramedic) ended up getting one of her brothers, so we carpooled down to pick up the puppies in August and my roommate came along for the ride.

Fiona and her brother decided to cuddle with my roommate on the way home.

The next few weeks were a blur. Figuring out puppy-sitting arrangements on the days my roommate and I were both working, vet appointments, starting initial training, socializing her and getting her used to strange loud noises and large objects. With such a busy schedule, she took frequent naps to keep up her incessant energy.

So tired and so small!

She loved to chew. One of her favorite toys was (and still is) this Kong binkie. Especially if it's filled with chunky peanut butter.

Two Months old with Binkie

Four months and the ever-present binkie.

Six Months with Binkie. She's lost the puppy fuzz now.

Taught her to enjoy strange things--like drinking out of a syringe, and normal things like sit, down & stay. Oh, and look at me to so I can take yet another picture with you looking this time.

Two months and drinking water out of a syringe during a visit to the Rescue Squad station.

Three months and I FINALLY have her full attention for a few seconds.

I had her attention in the last picture because I was holding her new favorite toy: a Frisbee. We've gone through about five of these now. She's truly obsessed with the game. She's eight months in this picture.

We've been hiking, pumpkin picking, and visited the fire station I volunteer at. The bells going off or the tones dropping don't even bother her. She's working on getting comfortable around crowds since she's a little shy with new people.

Hiking to Bear's Den at 4 months.

Pumpkin picking at 4 months

Posing on the front of the engine during a visit to the fire station. Almost five months old.

Posing in one of the chase vehicles for National Puppy Day. Seven Months old.

She's now reached the fine age of 10 months. She's all of about 35 lbs, fast, smart, and totally obsessed with balls, frisbees, and cats. Good old Border Collie instinct kicking in because she wants to round up all kinds of things. Chickens, cats, me... We're getting pretty good at the basic obedience commands. She's a good traveler and I take her everywhere I possibly can. So much fun now that she's patient enough to focus and obey commands!

All a girl needs when going hiking: backpack and faithful canine companion. Fiona is nine months in this photo taken at Bear's Den. 

As you can see, I've had my hands full with this one. She's finally reached an age where her body has grown enough that I can start agility and sheep herding training with her. Going to try obedience competition first though. And then maybe we should try something that involves swimming...

Fiona at nine months. She's on a nice "down-stay" in the middle of a patch of bluebells we found next to the Bear's Den lodge on the Appalachian Trail. Isn't she gorgeous?

At ten months, she's staying cool while playing fetch with a stick in a lake and giving her best "drowned rat" impression.  

Fun and exciting times coming up this summer! Her new thing is to have me throw the frisbee from the patio and leap over my pots to go fetch it. As long as she doesn't tip over all my plants in her pursuit of the frisbee, ball and cat, we'll be fine.

Until next time then...