The last blog post - Week 3 reflection

When I look back on senior project, the first thing I think of is the list I made on my computer of all the calls I went on. My end count was a little over 40, between Andover, Franklin, Sanbornton, and Penacook. I'm proud of this number. Now when I listen to my pager on open and hear Franklin's tones I pay attention for a second and think about the type of call until I remember that I'm not riding with them on senior project anymore. I listen to their ambulance respond and wish I was there.  It's kind of upsetting and when that happened to me this weekend it really struck me, finally, that senior project was over and I was graduating. The week perfectly culminated everything I have learned over senior project. The last shift at Franklin was insane. Everything I had known about doing maintenance work around the station was thrown away because we were running calls back to back, a total of 12 in the shift. In a span of 24 hours I reasoned with unstable women, ran vitals on a postictal patient, backboarded a drunk driver, ran two calls back to back, and was trusted enough by my sponsor to talk on the radio with Lakes Region. My second goal was to gain exposure to Advanced Life Support pre hospital care. As much as I hoped this would happen, uncertainty is the name of the game in the fire service. I was lucky enough to work with an aggressive and talented paramedic who I saw push narcotics multiple times. In addition to that I developed a ton of confidence in taking vitals on my own and applying 4 lead EKGs, basic skills I was unsure of earlier. I left my comfort zone and went to a different, professional, department which required me to be in uniform and follow orders. In the end I left with complete understanding of their equipment and procedures, and most valuable, trust from the firefighters and captain on my shift. I've never worked with a better group of guys and I feel so fortunate to have been let into their tight  bond. I witnessed first hand how successful teamwork can be, and above everything, that is the biggest "take away" I have from my senior project. I want to extend thanks to Phil, Jason, Jon, Captain Goldthwaite, Greg, Joni, Captain Hicks, Deputy LaChapelle, Chief Smith, Deputy Taylor. Deputy Brechtel, Supervisor Gibbons, Officer Callahan, Wanda Bowers, Lieutenant Parker, Paul Steele, Bruce, Karen, Jim, Sue, Mike, and the Andover Fire + Rescue crew who have supported me since day 1.