For years now, I have been waiting for my company to let me take the company-sponsored Level II First Aid course. Why?
1. I work with numerous people that I would consider to be walking, ticking time bombs in the health-sense.
2. I teach fitness classes that attempt to raise heart rates and breathing rates of not-necessarily fit people.
3. I teach fitness classes to lots of people over the age of 60, with hip replacements and pacemakers and long lists of medical ailments.
4. It's free, and I'm already used to re-certing my fitness-related first aid every year.
But above all, it's because I am constantly around people that I care deeply about and would hate to stand by and watch them suffer if something bad happened.
So FINALLY I beat everyone to the front of the line when the attendant spot came up. I'm in Day 3 of a 5-day course.
If there was a sign across my forehead, it would read "TILT TILT TILT!!" Five days is NOT enough to learn all of this information, much less practice it on willing guinea pigs.
"Who wants to have their eyelid everted?"
"What about a obstructed airway?"
"Stroke, anyone?"
Yeah. Anyhow today was the first day that I had a bit of a meltdown, watching my imaginary cyanotic patient staring up at me as I tried to seal my hand over his open pneumothorax. I have always had a profound respect for anyone in the healthcare field, but it has increased tenfold in the past 3 days.
My knees are sore from attending to the seemingly endless stream of victims today. My brain is fried from trying to remember when or when not to insert an oral airway, or if so, WHEN? And my fingers are in "The Claw" from holding Rescusi-Annie in the jaw-thrust ventilation position. But I will read my assignment tonight, do my homework and return to class tomorrow like a good lil' tri girl for another day of my newly-discovered triathlon: Airway, Breathing and Circulation.
Hopefully I will never, EVER have to use this stuff. But if I do, at least I know (mostly) what I'm doing!
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If I ever need my pneumothorax opened, you're my girl! There was a poor, uneaten diva salad with your name on it last night, but now I understand why. You are such a good girl! You go, overextended tri girl!!!!
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