Hello guys/gals from Ohio
I found this site yesterday and wished I had found it a couple years ago. My name is Linette, I work in a rural EMS 911 response area which our company is responsible for 75% of the county's calls-there are two of our trucks to cover this-and we are at closest 30 miles from any hospital. I have 6 years experience as a basic, running 72-96 hours a week until 2005, which I also was a paramedic student, one of the oldest in the class, I was called Mom. lol
Almost halfway through the course, I blew 3 discs, 1 (L3) half-way through my spinal cord causing permanent nerve damage to my R leg. When the injury happened, I was told it was just a pinched nerve to follow up with family doc, which I did. The hospital didn't do any testing- no x-rays, ct or MRI, even though it took three people to undress me, no movement below the knee on R leg. All reflexes were intack, they said no emergency. So, I went back to work, thinking I was a wimp, to suck it up, which I thot I was, only to find out that after I had an MRI at the request of my family doc and a apt with a neurosurgeon, had been working with a disc in my spinal cord for almost 2 months. The surgeon freeked out when he saw the MRI, asked if I walked in there, questioned who I was. I'm like what the hell. He said, by looking at the MRI and x-rays, I should be paralyzed from the waist, be about 65 - 70 years old and about 275-300 lbs. I'm like Thanks doc!! I'm 5'6", 130 lbs. and was 34 at the time. He said I would never work again, I'm like noooo, I love my job. I went back to work 6 weeks later, way too soon, blew another disc 6 months later. Was off 6 months that time. I only lasted until Nov. 2007 when I could no longer safely run with just me and one other person. I can't lift 3-400lbs anymore. I had to quit. I still to critical assists, we call them 3rds, cause we get to have 3 people on the truck!!! A gift.
I'm a single mom of two excellent teenage boys, 16 & 17, the youngest wanting to be a tactical medic, plus he is a pyro. (started young, had to allow supervised fire lessons when we camped, which curbed the starting fires when I wasn't home) teaching him about fire and the way fire "works" and allowing him to safely experiment on different items (never explosives or stuff like that) supervised and safely performed, starting about the age of 5, now he is respectfull of fire and its capabilities, and my house never burnt down!!!
After I had to quit my job, and my fiance broke up with me, I lost my house, my quad cab 4x4 truck (I loved that truck!) and had to file bankruptsy last year.
Last week is just talked with the nursing director at the college I used to attend, and am planning on returning to get my RN and maybe onto PA. I am I bit scared though, I can run a code, but forget how to do algebra, which was my best subject in school 20 years ago. Now it terrifies me that I won't be able to pass the entrance tests!!
Well, anyway, I have lots of experience and many different types of uncommon calls, plus, it sucked, cause being a medic student, i was allow to perform medic skills on the truck "supervised", then after the surgery, not allowed anymore, like I forget how to start ivs, or how to intubate, or give Narcan or run a code myself. So my boss put me with new medics, who would freek out, look at me, panic, ask what to do, i would ask them what are our protocols, "I don't know!!!" then i would tell them what our protocols were and sometimes, "do you want a suggestion from a dumb basic for once??" actually worked. Even though I wasn't known to the the fun one to break the rules, cause my best friend was the Ast. General Manager of the company, not that I told on everything, just if it involved property damage or performace unnacceptable to the company, I was respected, I was honest and when the crap hit the fan, I did know what to do and how to best use our county's resources for the benefit of the pts. Seriously, I have been on the phone to dispatch, listening to a call, they can't find the road cause they're not from around here, and directions are like this-not kidding-go 5 miles S on 39, turn by "Kangaroo Crossing" (older residents call an old bridge this from a story some 50 years ago), turn R at the 2nd Mayham Rd, take the 3 dirt road on the L and turn by the white barn with electric fence with Holstein cows in field. Go through gate, pt is in back milking parlor down on floor.
