It's about time

I've finally gotten a copy of EGAN'S Fundamentals of Respiratory Care. I've been coveting that book for quite a while. The ninth edition just came out this month. That's now my favorite book. I was pleasantly surprised by what was discussed in the first five chapters of the book. I was expecting applied Anatomy and Physiology in the first few chapters. Applied Anatomy and Physiology doesn't start until chapter 8.


These are the Titles for the first 5 chapters of EGAN'S Fundamentals of Respiratory Care (Ninth Edition):

Chapter 1: History of Respiratory Care
Chapter 2: Quality and Evidence-Based Respiratory Care
Chapter 3: Patient Safety, Communication and Recordkeeping
Chapter 4: Principles of Infection Control
Chapter 5: Ethical and Legal Implcations of Practice


Those chapters clarified a few things, for me, that I thought I was going to have to ask an RT about.

Why I hate you

If you live in a place that doesn't get cold or have snow, I hate you. I have many reasons to hate you.

This is why I hate you when I'm at my bus stop at 5:45AM:

This is why I hate you, when I'm walking to someone's apartment after work:

When I go for a walk, and I get caught in a snow storm, this is why I hate you:

A watch I don't hate

I generally hate wearing watches. In the past when I've tried to wear a watch, I found that I was constantly taking it off and putting it down somewhere. Unfortunately, when I put the watch down I could never remember where I put it. So, like most people these days, I haven't regularly worn a watch for several years because I use my cell phone to keep track of the time.

A few months ago, I decided that I should get used to wearing a watch. As an RT student, and eventually an RT, wearing a watch could come in handy when I'm trying to measure someone’s pulse or respiration rate.

My efforts to train myself to wear a watch haven't been working to well until recently. Things finally changed, when I took a hammer to one of my watches.

The watch that I was trying to get used to wearing fell on the floor one day and the back came off of it. I couldn't quite figure out how to get the back of the watch back onto the watch, so I thought that I would give it a few taps with a hammer. Unfortunately, for my watch, I started to get a little frustrated and started pounding on the damn thing until I broke it real good. I also discovered that taking a hammer to something, while it's on a ceramic tile floor, is also not a good idea. Ceramic tile can, and will, chip when hit with a hammer.

A few days after my watch got hammered, I went over to the local pharmacy and bought a cheap Timex. I'm quite pleased with the watch, because I don't detest wearing it. I actually have trouble remembering to take it off, before I go to bed at night. I try to avoid wearing a watch when I'm sleeping, because I will invariably smack myself in the face with it. I think it's the watch's wristband that makes all of the difference. It's not metal and it's not leather, which seems to make it less objectionable on my wrist.

My new watch:

Maybe he's not an idiot

I pride myself on my ability to change my mind...

I may have formed a negative opinion of my new boss prematurely. I had a long talk with him yesterday and he doesn't seem nearly as clueless as I thought. I'm going to delete my "My new boss is an idiot" post, because it's probably just a spitefull baseless rant that doesn't have any value.

Trauma Bag

The bag part of my Trauma Bag arrived today. I was starting to think that it was lost in the mail. I just finished stuffing it, with First Aid supplies.

A new attitude at work

Shut up and keep your head down.

If I remain inconspicuous and don't call attention to myself, I might just have a job until school starts.

Job turning to crap?

Most of the people I work with are quite perturbed about the "replacement" of my boss. A couple of people I work with are thinking that they will probably be "replaced" very soon. Given my plans to start school in September, I'm not overly concerned about losing my job. I am a bit concerned about the prospect of not having any money coming in for several months, while I'm waiting for school to start. I also don't want to look for another IT job. I would rather be unemployed, if I can do that without enduring much of a financial hardship.

I'm going to be starting school in about 7 months. I'm wondering about what type of severance I would be entitled to, if I lose my job. If I get fired tomorrow would I get enough money, in my severance package, to get me through the next 7 months? Would I actually have any money left over when school starts? Am I going to be left as the last man standing in August, after everyone else has either quit or been fired?

I met my new boss on Friday. He seems like a decent guy, but given the situation, I don't know if he can be trusted.

The only person not upset by the current situation is a lazy, brown nosing , ass-kissing weazel. That guy's already doing some hard core schmoozing of the new boss.

CPR Protective Barrier Devices

Ever since I took that CPR course, I've been interested in getting some kind of CPR Protective Barrier Device, that is easy to carry around. If I'm ever in a position of giving someone CPR, I don't want to be worrying about getting any nasty diseases.

After looking around for ages, I finally found and purchased a couple of barriers that are small enough to fit into a pocket. One of them is even small enough to fit into my wallet.

They're both made by a company called O-Two Medical Technologies. The one that can fit into my wallet is called a Revive-Aid®. The one that can't fit into my wallet, because it has a one way valve on it, is called Bio-Barrier®. Information about both products can be found here: http://www.otwo.com/prod_cpr.htm

I ordered 4 Bio-Barriers and 2 Revive-Aids, and a Laerdal Pocket Mask, from a company called Access Medical. I have a Bio-Barrier in my wallet. I have a Bio-Barrier and a Revive-Aid in one of my coat pockets.

Maybe I do need a trauma bag

After taking that First Aid and CPR course, I decided that I would put together a trauma bag. A trauma bag is just a very good first aid kit, that is more suited towards providing treatment for serious injuries. As far as I'm concerned, a typical first aid kit is suitable for injuries that are in the "boo boo" category. For serious "holy crap that's a lot of blood" injuries, you need a trauma bag. My trauma bag is basically going to be a very well stocked first aid kit with some extra stuff for protecting myself if I give CPR to someone.

My trauma bag is getting kind of expensive. Yesterday I was thinking that I was maybe getting a bit carried away. So far I've invested about $220.00 into the trauma bag.

Yesterday morning, I walked out of the front door of my building and was met by a distraught wild eyed woman who was saying something about a guy hanging out of a window and police being all over the place. She really didn't make much sense and I just made a funny face and mentioned something about "That being scary" and then proceeded on my way to the super market.

While I was still wondering about the mental status of the woman, I saw the police cars parked in front of the building next door. I also saw the police officer looking up, about 12 storeys, at a person whose legs were hanging precariously out of a window. The police officer was repeatedly yelling at the person hanging out of the window and telling him that he should get inside so that they could talk. I really didn't want to watch because it really did look like the person could let go and plummet to an almost certain death. I'm not very sensitive, when it comes to blood and gore, but I'm definitely not one of "those people" who finds people getting hurt entertaining. I also have some problems with the sound of breaking bones. That sound is something I try to avoid hearing. I also thought that I wouldn't really be able to do anything that the police couldn't do themselves and I didn't want to become part of a crowd control issue.

As I continued on my way, I was wondering why there wasn't an ambulance anywhere to be seen. As I turned a corner I saw a couple more police cars that were blocking traffic. As I turned the next corner, I saw an ambulance parked on the side of the road with its engine running. Maybe keeping an ambulance out of sight, from a possible jumper, is a good idea.

Maybe me having a trauma bag, is also a good idea.

Changes at Work

My boss at work is now "seeking other career opportunities". His replacement should start work in about a week. It looks like someone else's head might be on the chopping block, as well. I'm kind of wondering how long I'll want and or have this job. Will I quit or get fired before I start school?

There's a pretty good chance that my work environment will turn to crap fairly quickly. Only time will tell. I'm not too personally involved in my workplace anymore, so this whole situation isn't really stressing me out the way that it is others.

I do my job and get paid. Very mercantile. Very unstressful.

Messing with my blog

I've been meaning to update my blog a bit. I'm going to start doing that today. I hope I don't mess anything up.

AED Demo

This is an online demo of an AED: Philips Heart Start FR2+ Defibrillator

That's the model that I was trained on during my course last weekend.

All is in order

Someone from the College Registrar's office left me a voice mail, on Monday, to let me know that my letter was received and that everything was in order.

AED use and the law

I actually found the legislation, for my legal jurisdiction, that applies to the use of an AED outside of a health care setting. The legislation says that a person "...who, in good faith, voluntarily and without reasonable expectation of compensation or reward uses a defibrillator on a person experiencing an emergency is not liable for damages that result from the person’s negligence in acting or failing to act while using the defibrillator, unless it is established that the damages were caused by the gross negligence of the person.". The legislation came into force in July 2007.

Letter of intent

Earlier this week, I sent a letter to the College stating, "...that I intend to start the Respiratory Therapy Program, in September 2008, as per the conditions of the admission deferral I was granted in 2007." I sent the letter through registered mail, so I know that it was received on January 9th.

Yes, I can use an AED

According to the instructors, who taught me CPR today, I can use a publicly accessible AED.

A Laerdal® AED Trainer 2 was used for teaching us how to use a Heartstart® FR2 Automated External Defibrillator. We were told that all of the popular AEDs were as easy to use as the Heartstart FR2. I shouold be able to use any AED that I have access to during a cardiac emergency.

The fire department in my region uses the Heartstart® FR2 Automated External Defibrillator .

First Aid and CPR/AED Course

Today, I finished the first day of a two day CPR and First Aid course. It's called "Red Cross Standard First Aid and CPR/AED-HCP". Taking the course is a prerequisite for the Respiratory Therapy program, that I'll be starting in September. It's also satisfies the First Aid and CPR certification requirements that health care professionals need.

We did the First Aid portion today and will do the CPR/AED portion tomorrow. I'm really wondering about the legal issues associated with the use of AEDs in my area. After I finish the course, am I legally allowed to use an AED on someone?

Today the course was taught by two people, one is a Paramedic and the other is a Fire Fighter.

I think the second day will be a bit harder. I'm looking forward to it.

Didn't go home last night

I was in the office till midnight last night. The last bus home was at 11:30. I stayed overnight in a hotel and just got back into work. I worked for 14.5 hours last night. I think I'm only going to work for an hour today, before I go home.

Working late

I volunteered to stay late at work today, so that I could help get our phone system back up and running. Everyone was shocked at how eagerly offered to stay late. I haven't done that in a couple of years. Usually I get out of here as soon as I put in my time.

I work. I get paid. Very mercantile. Completely stress free.

Our phone system has been out of commission all day. I get paid by the hour. I wonder how many more hours this will take.

8 months till school starts. I'm working late because I need the money for school.

Commuting to work

I've been commuting to work for just over four months now. On days that I work in the big city, I spend at least 4.5 hours sitting on a bus getting to work and back. That amount of commuting did take some getting used to. I'm glad that I usually only do that for three days every week.

I've found that if I bring a couple of books and my iPod, I can either sleep or keep myself busy while travelling. One of the books is for studying, the other book is for enjoying. The iPod is nice, because there's a big city news Video Pod Cast that I can watch while travelling. If I can watch the news on my iPod I don't have much of a desire to watch the news at 11PM.

9 months till school starts.