New Cadets, among other things

March Back for the Class of 2013 is today.  In about an hour, the first human being I will ever be directly responsible for will arrive and I will see him for the first time.  This place sure is an experiment isn’t it?  This is going to be my chance to figure out my style.

In other news, I passed the National Registry exam for EMT.  It really scared me honestly.  The test was just awkward, but I passed.  I did another shift with the paramedics on Sunday.  Almost got to see a dead body.  I was looking forward to it…but they canceled us right before we got there, and then they put us on another call.  We could have gone back after the detectives went through, but we didn’t.  It was a better shift than my actual ride-along though.  We got about 9 calls I think as opposed to 1.

I’m taking 20 credit hours this semester.  I have class solid from 0730 to 1155, then lunch, followed by labs on some days for Physics and American Politics, and I have last hour cycling every other day.  Gonna be a hell of a semester with 8 courses.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now.

Michael

I’ve gotten terrible about this haven’t I?

Shame on me for not posting anything!

I’m almost done with EMT.  We had the NYS Practical Exam, on Sunday which I passed (though I forgot to check my trauma patient’s genitals, shucks) and now all that’s left is the National Registry Exam which I am taking on Friday morning.  No problem.

I had my ride time this past Saturday.  Rather disappointing.  Only got one call and it was an elderly woman with chest pain.  Could have called that one.  I did get to see an open fracture that came into the ER while we were there.  The guy’s ulna was sticking out with like at least half an inch exposed.  Good stuff.  They had given him 10 cc of morphine and he was still hurting bad.  I got to stabilize his arm for a couple minutes.

Anyway, I’m just kind of doing nothing…catching up on rest and sleep.

Michael

Emergency Medical Technician – Basic

The title basically covers my entire life right now.  Everyone here at West Point has to do at least one MDS (Military Development School) during one of our summers.  During the year, you put in your preferences and then get slotted for them.

I’ve got through Combat Lifesaver Certification twice now in its entirety and did CPR and First Aid with Red Cross at my unit.  I’ve always thought that medical knowledge is an important thing to have, especially in the Army.  As a result, the MDS called AMT (Advanced Medical Training) was my first choice, and I was happy when I found out that I got it, mostly because it meant I wasn’t doing Air Assault.

Today was the 6th day of the course.  It is usually a 4 to 6 month course, but we are doing it in 17 days.   Needless to say, regardless of the difficulty level of the course, it’s a lot of information to learn in such a short time.  I’m doing well though, passed both of our tests so far on the first try, which is more than I can say for some of my comrades.

I’ll get to do clinical ride along time on August 1st, where I go with an actual ambulance to real calls and get to help.  I’m looking forward to it, but also to being done with the course.  10 hours a day is a lot of classroom time.

Anyway, I’m gonna go not study.

Michael