CPR, BLS, ACLS, BBQ

I started classes on Monday.  Classes are unfortunately the same nights as my roller derby practice, so my derby career is on hold for the moment.  I had my very very very first class on Monday, as I already said.  I was so nervous, scared, anxious, and all the bad feelings in the world mixed into one.  I wasn't nervous about doing it, it was more the social anxiety.  I get that sometimes when I am putting myself into a position where every detail is not planned and I'm not 100% sure what is going to happen.  I can control it, though.  And I did.  Well, my classes are in Logansport, Indiana.  That is about an hour away from my house.  So, class starts at 6, I left at 4.  I figured I would take my knitting, and I'd have a little time for some coffee and wool before class to help me calm down.  Did not happen that way!  Not at all.  I guess there are two hospitals in Logansport; Logansport Memorial, and Logansport STATE.  So, I typed in Logansport Hospital into my GPS.  Guess where it took me?  You guessed it.  State.  So, here I am, no clue where the fuck to go, driving around this creepy ass state hospital facility.  If you have never been to a state hospital, they are mental institutions.  They are dilapidated and creepy.  Most are haunted.  Central State Hospital is my favorite place to go ghost hunting.  But I digress, again!  I call the contact number I have for the class, and the conversation goes something like this:
Me: Hello, I am supposed to be taking an EMT class from you, and I'm not sure where to go.
Hospital Staff Lady (HSL): Just come in the main entrance and I'll direct you from there.
Me: I'm not sure where that is....
HSL: Okay, well where are you?
Me: The uhm, Isaac Ray Treatment Center.....?
HSL: (laughs) Honey, you are the WRONG hospital!
Me: I am?  Oh wow.  Great!  I'm from Kokomo and am NOT familiar with Logan at all.  Where do I go?

She then stays on the phone with me until my car is safely parked in the CORRECT hospitals garage.  The time I get there?  Yeah.  5:45.  Well, I get to my room no problem, and I meet my instructors, Tim and Shirley.  Tim is this short, squat little man.  He's got a big belly and white hair.  He's very welcoming and nice.  He is pretty witty, too.  He talks 100 miles a minute and drinks a six pack of diet Mt. Dew during class.  Shirley is a tall brunette, about 55.  She looks like a lesbian.  She is also funny, and very nice.  Anyway, those are my instructors.  Class starts, and we all introduce ourselves.  Tim and Shirley say they are paramedics who have been in the field for over 30 years.  I am the only girl taking my EMT class.  The rest are men, and most are fire fighters.  I really respect them for what they do.  They're all WAY older than me, too.  There is one 18 YO boy, me at 19, and a 20 year old boy.  the rest are 30+.  Well they wasted no time teaching us.  This was Healthcare provider CPR.  We went through it all, you know.  Learned how to do it, and then we did it.  I "saved" four "people" that night, from finding them unresponsive to getting them breathing again.  Tim told us when they started breathing.  ;)  I also saved two kids and a baby.  It was awesome to think that someday someone will open their eyes in the back of an ambulance and see me.  See me saving their life.  It's so cool to think about.  Class got over at about 9:45, and I got home around 10:30.  Anyway, that's how it went.  I have class again tomorrow night, and I'll probably make a post about it on Friday.

Introduction!

Hello, people of the Internet!  Oh, look at me, acting like anyone will actually read this.  How hopeful.  I guess this is when I should tell you a little about myself, huh?  Well, my name is Jen.  I am nineteen at the time of this post, and will be until October.  I am a crafty lady, I knit and I crochet, and I tat.  I have a thing for vinyl records.  I am a lesbian.  I am a licensed hairstylist in the state of Indiana.  I play roller derby.  And....I am an EMT student.  I will eventually become a paramedic.

Well, that's me.  I'm really not that much fun to talk about, huh?  Well, let's start the whole journey.  When I decided to go into Emergency Medical Services (EMS).  My mom went to the hospital for chest pain.  I went with her.  I walked out of the room for a moment, and there, leaning against the wall in all his uniformed glory, was an EMT.  I had never thought about it.  I mean, my mom is an respiratory therapist, so I was raised in hospitals.  EMTs and Paramedics just sort of....were.  But I digress.  He was there, and that's that.  I thought about how exciting that job must be, and the most excitement I got being a hairstylist was when granny got her perm done.  So, I went home and I looked up information about EMS.  I found that it sounds like exactly what I'd like to do, and there was an EMT class in a few months.  I talked to my mom about it, and she said she had always hoped I'd go into the medical field.  She said it would be a great career for me.  So I looked into the class, signed up, and here we are.  =)

I JUST had my first class last night.  I am about to write another post about that tomorrow.


Stay safe.
Jen