And So It Begins...

Alright, as of 5:00pm yesterday I'm part of the Search and Rescue team and officially on call.

• Pager? Check

• Radio? Check

• Radio chest harness? Check

• Backpack dutifully packed, in my car, and ready to go? Check?

• New Box of climbing goodies? Check

• Training? Ummmm, we're working on that.

Each new member received our basic first aid kits and a small amount of high angle rescue gear, plus our electronic leashes (pagers) that will define our lives for a while to come. I'm kind of a geek so I ripped into the first aid kit right away. We were told that we can add whatever we want, but we have to have at least this as a minimum:

-Trauma sheers

-BVM

-Sam Splint X1

-NiTride gloves

-Small bio bag

-1 large roll Kerlix

-4 4X4 Gauze

-1 Combine dressing 8X 10

-2 triangle bandages

-Tape

-Emergency blanket

-Mole Skin 4X3”

-3 antimicrobacterial wipes

-2 triple antibiotic

-2 Ibu (Cedaprin)

-2 Diphen

-Bandaids

-1 Bug X towelette

-1 Sunscreen

-1 sting relief

I added:

1. Two more SAM splints
2. Acetaminophen (in case someone is allergic to both aspirin and Ibuprofen)
3. Small mag light
   
4. Maxi pads (don't laugh, they're the best wound control I can find other than a quick clot bandage)
5. Tongue depressors (I'm super nervous about putting my fingers in patient's mouths)
6. Smaller gloves for bystanders, bigger gloves to fit over my thin pair of liners.
   

I'll be in a probationary period for the next 9 months. That means I have to be at all the training sessions an 67% of the call outs. The probability of me getting called out before all of my basic training is complete is pretty high because of our call volume (2-3 per week on avg.). I just hope that they'll use me as a pack mule and not much else. Its not that I'm not comfortable with my high angle rescue skills or my medical knowledge (I teach that stuff...) its that having never worked with anyone on this team before I have no idea what to expect, I have no idea how THEY do things, and I sure as hell don't want to piss anyone else off.