Community Project.

Traffic Offenders Intervention Program.

The Police Community Youth Club (PCYC) run this program as part of the court proceedings for people who have run foul of the Law and been caught committing an offence like exceeding 0.05 blood alcohol, speeding or some other Road Traffic offence.

The program runs for eight weeks and participants are required to attend weekly sessions conducted by presenters from agencies that are involved with traffic offences such as insurance companies, road safety councils, Fire, Police, Rescue and Ambulance.

At the end of each session they are given an assignment to complete and return the next week. Failure to attend is passed on to their legal council, police, the courts or probation officers so it is real life stuff.

I have a good background in public presentation thanks to the old work place and thought that this was a good program to become involved in so I applied through the Ambulance Media Department late last year and was accepted.

I received my presentation pack of a DVD and script before Christmas and did my first one tonight.

I have two hours to talk about the causes of accidents, show some television road safety ads as well as some real footage of accidents as well as throwing them stats about risk taking and high risk groups. The group was of a good mix 25 to 50 yrs, male and female and looked to cover all social backgrounds.

It went well, most referring to the note was for the stats, a few war stories thrown in and try to make them understand that although all Emergency Service members attend such incidents as part of our normal work it does have an effect on us as well as the greater community with families, friends and the general community who may be witnesses to the incident.

I left feeling that I had added to the greater good and appeared to be well received by all the attendants. Time I guess will tell.

Weather forecast has my two day shifts up in the low 30's Celsius, hot.

Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz

Got Overtime!

At my home station.

Four cars on for the day.

Four jobs all day for us.

I did manage therefore to get some of my station duties done and to hear this joke from a patient.

Two elderly ladies are sitting in church during a long sermon when one leans to the other and say's,
I think my bottom has gone to sleep!
The other replies,
I think your right, I heard it snore three times!

Well I liked it

Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz

And the city let out a sigh and partied!

Thank God for that.

My Blessed Friday/Saturday Nights double came through and brought some work.

There were medical patients, a difficult respiratory distress - a little pulmonary oedema/a little chest infection, some signs/symptoms of both and missing signs/symptom of both.

We used,
Cervical Collars,
Splints,
Metaclopramide,
Naloxone,
Hartmann's,
Scored some good pins (a cannula),
Protected quite a few from themselves,
Assisted our good friends the Police with several jobs
Scheduled a patient, (Mental Health)
And saw a NSWP Tazer barb that was stuck in the sternum of a stupid drunk tourist who thought it wise to ignore and challenge Police authority.

Might see if I can find some time to slip into town and donate some blood (O Neg).


Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz

The most exciting thing about today,

Was the ride home.

Sydney weather brought on a storm around six and it was still going when I had finished and was ready to ride home.

It wasn't cold but as I do ???? share the road home with cars and it has been dry for a while I took it carefully.

We did have an a patient with an interesting underlying problem

Aperger's Syndrome
'A pervasive developmental disorder resembling autistic disorder, being characterised by severe impairment of social interactions and by restricted interests and behaviours, but lacking the delays in development of language, cognative function, and self-help skills that additionally define autistic disorder. It may be equivalent to a high-functioning form of autistic disorder'
Dorland's Medical Dictionary 30th ed.

Never heard of it before, basically alone the patient functions fine and even with one-on-one but severe dysfunction occurs when in a larger social group like a social dementia.

Anyway they had an upset stomach and had tried to get a fix from their GP but it had not helped, their social worker called us after five days of vomiting a few times each day.
Haemodynamically stable, transported to the waiting room.

Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz

What a munted day.

Started well,

Got up before the alarm,
Had some breakfast,
Good, strong bike ride in,
Got my designated Ambulance,
Got our first job.

Chest pain,
In an licensed establishment in Kings Cross,
Patient crying and sobbing complaining of chest pain that feels better when they push right there!
Non-Diaphoretic, Well perfused, Drunk, By-Pass history, BP good, Pulse strong & regular, three lead QRS narrow, some ST depression (like history), ANXIOUS +++++++

Valium and some Thiamine was what he got and some social work,

Next job Chest pain unrelieved by 3 GTN tablets and 3 GTN sprays, BP 130 sys!

Presents every week with similar, has a history but it all disappears when we arrive at hospital?

Next two jobs a complete cock-up, wrong locations, wrong destinations, held up other allied services for over an hour, not some of my best work.

Last job an eye problem, macular degeneration in pain, take to specialist centre who treat on the stretcher and bundle us out because they don't want them admitted due to patients mild dementia??????


The only good thing was presenting my current Padawan with my report of his period with me and our open and positive discussion of the points I made.
It's kind of like kids, seeing them grow and develop from what you do.


Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz

It's been a bit quiet on the overtime front also!

Or maybe I just have too many hours logged up on o/t, top of the list is the least hours, etc,,.

So Tracy and I went on a ride yesterday out the Cook River cycle path and managed to find the connection to the Sydney Olympic Park cycle paths.
Not that clearly signposted out there but we managed it.

To her credit Tracy had a silly stack at zero speed but a nice abrasion to the medial aspect of her right forearm about 150mm long.

We were only 5km into the ride and she just fell over waiting at a road crossing. Although in pain she didn't want to return and so we completed the ride with her injured.

I am a meanie, because I didn't seem overly concerned with the injury.
When we got back home 4hrs later and she had her first look clearly in a mirror and stated 'it's not that big is it!'

But I'm still a meanie?????

Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz

It' been quiet?

It's been very quiet really,

The punters must have tired themselves out with the New Year celebrations.

This is good in some ways because we are dealing with medical patients, those who are sick with medical complaints, not so easy for the young Padawan to pick up on.

We only have another three shifts together before the end of the roster when I pass the baton of his education on to another of our senior officers and I commence with another Padawan who has been with us for a roster already.

Tracy and I have started another round of IVF, fingers crossed this may be the one!

Welcome to a new follower of my blog from home.
I will be likewise following your blog to find out how things stand in the Apple Isle as the plan still stands to return even though they don't recognise the ASNSW P1 qualification which sounds a lot like the Ambulance Paramedic of TAS.


Be careful out there and I'll see you at the Big One.

Taz