It's another day at the office. You walk into work grab your med unit check off sheet and head to the ambulance. As you make your way to the ambulance you mind starts to wonder, you start to think about what the day will bring. "Is this going to be a trauma call day?", "Will this be Diabetic call day"?, or will this be one of those 'random' days where you receive a variety calls? You think yesterday was "elderly falls day" so you got that one out of the way for the week. So whats next?
It is a strange phenomenon that some types of calls seem type of calls seem to come in on the same day or even the same week. The problem is becoming complacent. In this line of work we always have to be ready for that "big trauma". or that bad pediatric run. As a paramedic you never know what type of call is coming in next. Is it "Mrs. Jones fell out of bed again?", or will it be the dreaded "My child is not breathing!"?
This is why training and constant education is such an important factor. If you let yourself become complacent you may not be ready for "the big call". You need to constantly stay up on the latest trends in Emergency Medicine. You need to constantly refresh on the 'basics', during school it was beat into your head "secure the airway", "control bleeding", these are the basic things you will fall back on when "the sh!!t is hiting the fan". Keep your skills up, has it been awhile since you started an IV (been letting the rookie do them all?). The important thing is to stay sharp in this business. When your skills are needed the most (that really bad call) you need to have the capability and confidence to handle the situation. Everyone might be looking at you with the "what do we do next look", are you ready to take the lead and perform at the high level you are expected to?
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