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.

One....More....Month

Looks like in a month I'll begin training with the Search and Rescue team. I wish I had something more exciting to report. A Sheriff's Deputy dropped by my house to look around today and talk with me, then interviewed my neighbors, and yesterday called all of my former bosses and everyone I've ever lived with. They're taking this rather seriously I guess.

I'm excited...
I'm excited to be on call
I'm excited to hump it up a trail and help someone (i.e. 90% of rescues...)
I'm excited to pull people off rocks
I'm excited to learn how to pull people our of rivers
I'm excited to challenge myself and to be a part of the team

I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise that it won't be boring!

Pre-Employment Physical

After being poked, prodded, tested, and felt up I'm one step closer to actually starting on the Search and Rescue team. All that stands in my way now is my yet-to-be-completed FBI background check (because our SAR team is Law Enforcement based its required, we also assist in fugitive recovery and child abduction response).

Surprise, I passed my physical. I guess devoting the last ten years of my life to attempting to become a professional cyclist has some perks. My 12 lead EKG actually came back as Sinus Bradycardia... my resting heart rate was about 39. The rest of the physical was unremarkable. Except that I HATE FRIGGIN NEEDLES. I'm terrified of them. Hence, the blood draw was not fun, nor were the immunizations, nor was the TB test. All I have to do now is get XRayed and hope my background check passes!

The Basic Amentities...

Sorry its been a while. I've been working... a lot... between 4 jobs and about 83 hours a week average. The funny thing is that I enjoy all of my jobs enough that it doesn't seem to bad. Sure, not hanging out with the girl of the moment and driving all the time sucks. But, what can ya do?

Interestingly enough we've had some issues at our house too. I say house, but in reality its a cabin... in the woods...at 6500 feet or so. For instance, our septic tank overflowed. So, no toilets for a while until that got fixed (the work bathroom sure saw a lot of use). Now, our well is having issues and hence no water. Its actually quite a challenge to live without running water. We cart up 25 gallon jugs of water from the valley but still no *running* water. No showers, no toilets, and its hard to wash the dishes. Forget laundry or washing the bikes!

In the back country there isn't indoor plumbing either, obviously, but I'm also not having to show up for work, be close to customers, and teach classes. Its not good for me to stink! So, I'm at a loss for what to do until all of this is taken care of.

Also, I've been debating which direction I want this blog to go. It began as a semi-anonymous chronicle of my journey to get into medical school and then hopefully points beyond through the medical education system. But, during the summer there isn't much of that going on. Sure, I think everything I do helps me in one way or another but not really directly. Plus, if I begin to get to specific I loose what little anonymity I have (example: I teach wilderness medicine classes... but if I said any more than that a lot of people would know exactly who I work for). We'll see in the future where it goes. I like writing though, when I have the time. Its calming and allows me to organize my thoughts.

Until then, cheers! And thanks for reading!

CV

I had to rewrite my CV for a new wilderness medicine instructor position I was offered and I thought the cover letter described my "I DONT WANT TO BE ANOTHER PREMED" mentality pretty well. I'm still editing it, but for shits and grins here we go:

Since graduating high school in May of 2004 my goal has been acceptance into medical school. My path towards that goal has changed and evolved as I have continued my education, both within and outside of academia, but the goal has remained the same. Rather than assuming the same path as many of my peers with the same goal I wanted to branch out into other fields of study, gain experience, and prove to myself that a career in medicine was my calling in life.

My first two years of college I balanced my academic career with an elite level athletic career in cycling. In 2006 I decided to take a hiatus from school in order to pursue my other dream of becoming a professional cyclist. I moved to Herstberge, Belgium to race for an amateur Elite team against some of the finest cyclist’s in the world. Racing and living in such a professionally oriented environment taught me many things. I learned discipline throughout my lifestyle, I learned to love a routine, and most importantly I learned how to struggle and be successful.

Upon my return to the United States I was set to return to Europe and race the next season. Fate had other plans and in the spring of 2007 I found myself injured and unable to ride my bike. This blow to my racing career brought me back into academia as I threw all of my energy previously reserved for athletics into my school work. It was at this time that I began working in the Vascular Biology Lab at Big Mountain University and found my passion for research. This new found passion changed my academic plans and I began to explore careers that would allow me to combine medicine and research. The natural path was a combined MD/PhD program.

Athletics had instilled into me a work ethic and my research experience has shown me a new path I wished to take. However, the true turning point after which I allowed myself to completely dedicate myself to a career in medicine came when I earned my Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) license. I loved interacting with patients and hearing their stories. I loved having the knowledge to help them and most importantly I was driven to gain more knowledge and more experience in order to help those patients more. I finally saw medical school as a means to an end rather than the goal itself. Now, I wish to go to medical school not to become a physician but so that I can gain the knowledge and experience necessary to help the patients that I cannot help now.

I have many opportunities now that I believe will help me become a better physician in the future. I would like to teach Advanced Wilderness Life Support courses because it is a combination of my passions for the outdoors and for medicine. I would like to work for the County Search and Rescue team because of the challenging and rewarding nature of such work. Finally, I would like to continue my training as an EMT because in the end I believe it is those experiences with patients that have driven me this far and will help me the most over the course of my life.

Reflection of a Mechanic (i.e. sleeping on the ground and wanting a motorcycle)

As part of my job at the bike shop I'm the "Special events and promotions manager" (yes, that's a self appointed title) I get to work at a lot of events, races, clinics, and the such. These events are fun but a ton of work and often the people I deal with are trying to say the least. I figure that's good practice for the future... especially the second part. Plus, clocking in 56 hours in a weekend does not hurt the dwindling checking account.

First, my nomadic sleeping arrangements for the weekend:Please notice the ten grand worth of bike frames in the passenger seat, the awesome lesbian seagull (my car) and my bivy sack which has taken me many, many places. I've said it before, but I feel lucky that my parents raised me in the outdoors, living out of our minivan on vacations. Because of them I'm comfortable living out of my car for days and NOT living like a hobo.

Second, my friend's new KTM 450 dual sport moto:The problem is that he let me ride it when we had two hours of downtime. Now, I was an idiot and didn't have a helmet on or anything but my mechanic's T-shirt. This kept me from going really, really fast. I just went really fast. That bike was like an orgasm on wheels. I couldn't believe it. I want one now, very very badly. Insurance on a motorcycle for a 21 year old male? Ouch.....

What else have I learned?

That simply waking up in the morning means there is something to be thankful for.

Rest In Peace...