Going to try not to use the word UPDATE!

It has been 17 days since Jared left.  I am still working a ton.  Good news, only 5 more 12 hour days and I get two whole days off!  WOOO HOOOO!  Jared left San Antonio yesterday and went to Houston.   He was told there, that he and the other guys who were supposed to be driving to Atlanta, were no longer going to Atlanta.  The people making the travel arrangements said they would be in contact with them and to drive to Gulfport in the morning.  They were even told they could get a hotel room in Houston and leave in the morning.  They finally made it to a Sheraton Four Points, where he was upgraded to the Presidential Suite.  I guess there was a bit of confusion regarding their availability.  In any case, they were finally going to get to sleep in a real bed for the first time in over two weeks.  Well, at 5 am, someone called them screaming that they had missed their flight.  All were a bit confused.  So, as of around 1o am our time, Jared was half way to Gulfport.  Who knows when he will be coming home though.  We shall see.  At any rate, I am going to take a nap for now.  Hopefully he is home within the next 48 hours.  

Update on Jared and Ike

So today marks two weeks since Jared has been in Texas helping with disaster relief in Texas. He has done a lot of waiting around, some transporting, and played a whole bunch of poker. I can't exactly say that he is having the time of his life but it is definitely an experience for him. The rest of the Las Vegas team came back last night. Jared isn't sure what happened to the creepy guy from Medicwest that traveled out there with him. Last he heard, the kid was sent to Houston. The plan right now is to have Jared there until Sunday and then drive a truck back to it's base in Atlanta, GA. It is a 14 hour drive and they will drive a few trucks in a group, driving 7 hours each day then getting a hotel. If all goes as planned he should be home on Tuesday or Wednesday. We will see. I do miss him incredibly, but there is so much opportunity to make money there. He has been on the clock since 7am on September 11th and will be paid the entire time until 2 hours after he returns home. We already booked a place in Anaheim to stay in November. We deserve a little vacation after being apart for over 2 weeks. Our Disneyland passes expire on the 18th of November so we will get some use out of them before we lose them. We hadn't planned on renewing this year, we might later. I have been working a TON. I taught class this morning and I am needing to leave to go back for an 8 hour shift. It helps to pass the time. I only get emotional about him being gone when I sit and do nothing. I have enjoyed taking my half out of the middle of the bed. I will have to be sure to make room for Jared when he gets home. Hope all is well out in Blog land.

Work Gripes

Seeing that I am working a ton of overtime right now, the little annoyances that come from the general public, are seeming much worse. One of the things I find most annoying is when all the patient cares about is their blood pressure. We can be there for something completely unrelated to blood pressure and they get that sad look on their face and say "How's my blood pressure?" They look at me as if they are waiting for me to tell them how much longer they have to live. Is blood pressure important? Yes! People don't understand that when they are placed in a stressful situation, (Paramedics entering your home, is stressful enough) your blood pressure will go up. They don't always understand that it is a situational thing. So we could be dealing with a guy who just broke his leg and the only thing he wants to know is "how's my blood pressure?" I find that saying "It's fine" and hiding the numbers works well. Another major annoyance is the fact that family members don't want to give up the patients ID and insurance cards. They say, "Oh, I will take them to the hospital." Well, the hospital isn't the only one who wants to get paid here. It cracks me up that they will hand over their most beloved family members but when it comes to the ID and insurance card, I can't take it. It's like they think I have some Indian head dress at home made from all the ID's and insurance cards I have collected throughout the years. And if you think about it, if it were a matter of identity theft, not many of the people we pick up, would get me anywhere if I stole their identity. I also LOVE when people try to pick their treatment. This isn't Burger King! You can't come in and say I'll take a ride to the ER, hold the IV, extra morphine, and no aspirin, it gives me a belly ache. Oh and can I get a water while you are at it? And where do you keep the pillows? If I say you need an IV, you are getting one. And if you NEED a medication, you are getting it. Unless it is a doctor, an actual medical doctor, not a person who has a doctorate degree in underwater basket weaving, I probably won't listen. We also use a 1 to 10 scale to have the patient rate his or her pain. For women, I say to them a 10 is like having a baby. These people will look you square in the face, with no grimmace, no uncomfortable looks, and say "It's an 8." Me personally, if I were in 8 out of 10 pain, you would be able to see it. Those people are usually the ones who volunteer the information that the regular old opiate drugs such as morphine don't work for them, they need the stronger stuff like dilaudid. They can't be bothered with such simple and weak drugs. And the most frustrating thing of all is once you have taken your patient to the hospital who was so concerned about his blood pressure, didn't trust you with his ID, put a special order in for his treatment and requested the strongest narcotics out there for his 8 out of 10 pain, and he slept on the way in, you get to the ER and there sits Granny. Now Granny hasn't driven a car since they were pulled by horses (the real ones) but since Pappy was having chest pain, she wanted to get him to the hospital quickly. So, she put on her coke bottle glasses, secured Pappy's seatbelt, and operated a motor vehicle all the way to the ER at break neck speeds of 20mph. Here sits Pappy, having his major heart attack, accepting all treatments for his 2 out of 10 pain, and Granny drove him to the hospital. Moral of the story, those who don't need us call, those who do, don't. I think I feel better now that I got that off my chest.

Actually doing something....

Well, after 6 days in EMS Summer Camp, Jared finally got his first real assignment. He was paired up from a medic from St. Louis. Her previous partner had been fired that morning so he replaced him. He was fired for making a racial comment at the hospital towards the patient they were about to transport. Stupid guy! Jared's first task was to drive out to Corpus Christie Texas with a patient. I can't remember where they picked the patient up at though. Once they did that, it was off to Houston. He said it was like a ghost town. The curfew was still in effect so there was NO ONE out by the time they got dinner. The curfew is so strict that if you are caught out after 10 pm, you go straight to jail. They aren't messing around there. While in Houston he had a chance to meet up and talk with the other crews from Las Vegas that were out there. One of the guys has been given a fairly important position out there, Jared hopes he will put in a good word for him and he will get to help out with that. Jared and his strike team had to drive back to San Antonio early this morning. He drove the entire way while his partner slept. A little unfair. She offered to drive after hitting the two mile road that leads onto the air force base. He is exhausted this morning. He gets 8 hours of down time right now and then it is off again. Not sure what they will be doing but most of the patients can be returned to the facilities they came from. They should start that undertaking today. I miss him terribly. I feel very overwhelmed with doing everything on my own at home. Its a little stressful but I know that he is helping out there now and that will help immensely with our finances. Well, I am off to feed the dogs, feed myself and get the bills paid.

iPod Update

WOOO HOOO! Jared found his iPod. It wasn't stolen after all. He found it on a sort of "lost and found cot." He said he was walking along and happened upon it. He was thrilled. Apparently they came through and were cleaning and anything that didn't have a definite home, ended up on this cot. So glad he found it. He will at least have some tunes available while working, or not working. He checked trucks in and out again today. There were about 50 tour buses that went out today, each had a medic and an EMT. They had to bring their gear with them and get ready for the masses. Jared wanted to go out but they don't have any equipment since they didn't have actual ambulances assigned to them. If he could find an EMT willing to take a break he could go out but until then he is stuck. He is still glad to be out there. I have been busy cleaning the house and I went to Abbie's bridal shower today. The dogs have been well behaved. I miss Jared a ton. I go back to work tomorrow. I am trying to stay up late to get back on my schedule, but it does not appear that I am going to be able to hack it. I am beat!

Disaster Update

Well, so far so good for the command post at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas. Jared's first day was fairly uneventful. Yesterday, they had him checking all the units that came in. He and the other guy must have checked in 300 ambulances, delivery trucks, water trucks, etc. He said he has one nasty sun burn. So far today, they haven't done anything. Quite a few of the units were sent to Houston to move people around and possibly do a bit of search and rescue. Word is that they entire command post will be moved closer to Houston in order to be able to have a faster response. FEMA has tons of food and water stored at Kelly Air Force Base and hopefully it is enough. Jared is enjoying the experience, although it is hot and humid. He is looking forward to doing things other than checking trucks in. Sounds like conditions aren't exactly perfect and is iPod was stolen out of his bag in the huge tents they are using. Some nerve! I am busy at home cleaning the house and tending the puppies and kitty. I have today and tomorrow off, then I am pretty much working non-stop until October. Might as well right? I will keep you all updated as I get info.

Hurricane Ike

Jared was deployed today to assist our Disaster Response Team with hurricane Ike. Jared has been a DRT member since it's inception last year. The purpose of this team is to assist in the evacuation of patients that are in care homes, hospitals, etc that may be affected by the incoming storms. With that they may also be responsible for assisting FEMA with any other type of operation. They can be filling sandbags, evacuating animals, or assisting with search and rescue. His flight left today at 1125, and he is scheduled to return on the 26th of this month. This can be changed at any time and he may come home early or be kept longer. He is paid the entire time he is gone. He is excited about the opportunity and is looking forward to spending time working with the team. We have been up and down about when he was going and it has been quite a fiasco, but he is on his way now. We have a strike team out there now and Jared and another guy from Medic West went together today. The third group from our operation in Las Vegas will be getting together and packing up preparing for their departure in the upcoming weeks. Our first group went out just before Gustav hit. I will try to keep you updated on everything but since he is gone, I have also picked up all of the overtime shifts that he had signed up for. We will both be busy. Please keep Jared and the countless other people that have traveled to help out with the hurricanes in your thoughts and prayers. As I am sure most of you know, several of the people that came in from across the country to help after Katrina, were shot at. We hope they don't have to deal with that.