My first placement was very quiet. As I said yesterday, over the two days at the branch in Torquay there was only one call out each day.
I won't detail the specific nature of the two jobs in lieu of privacy laws. I will say that the first job required transport to Geelong Hospital but did not require any treatment from the paramedics. The job on the second day involved a trauma in the surf so there was a bit of blood and suspected fractures to deal with and most certainly a trip to Geelong.
I was with one of the paramedics for both days and she was fantastic at explaining everything that they did. Whether it was explaining why they were checking what they were checking in the morning vehicle check or the choice of medication when treating a patient, I think I learned the most I could given the very limited exposure to actual patients. The three paramedics I worked with were all very warm people, highly professional in their practice and passionate about their work.
Most of the time was spent sitting around at the branch waiting for a job. The second day we went out for coffee (hot chocolate in my case), wandered around the Torquay market and did some supermarket shopping for the branch which made the time pass a lot faster.
After I got back in the van after wandering around at the market, I was convinced I'd lost my phone
Both at the branch at Torquay and in the paramedics' room at Geelong Hospital there was a lot of talk about the politics of being a paramedic and working for Ambulance Victoria. I can't discuss that in depth either because Ambulance Victoria are very strict about what their people say about them. I was only an insider for 2 days and my readership isn't exactly extensive but I'm not looking to piss off Ambulance Victoria for the sake of my blog.
The thing that resonated with me most from my placement is that paramedics are a fantastic group of people who do a predominantly thankless job with the utmost professionalism and care. I have seen parts of the work that resonated with me as well as other elements that I will have to take into account when considering the direction I take in the future.
I couldn't take a huge amount from this experience from a clinical standpoint because of how quiet it was but it has given me some much needed additional insight.
However, getting myself around, driving such long distances to unfamiliar places and dealing with getting lost by myself seemed like an important milestone. I have been so behind the eight ball as far as learning to drive is concerned and I feel like I'm making rapid progress toward achieving the kind of independence someone of my age ought to have. Thus far I haven't felt like an independent, capable, young adult. That's the kind of person I want to be and it's very assuring to feel like I'm taking bigger steps in that direction.
