It’s Bxiie Q. with the 411

When O2 was very little he would say he wanted to be an EMT when he got bigger.  He had a little first-in bag and a really cool EMT jacket.  But at some point he claimed he changed his mind.  Maybe, probably, he would want to be a firefighter; certainly not an EMT.  Now he’s seven; he still claims no interest.  That’s okay; EMS is my deal, it addresses issues in my past and not his.  While I would be perfectly happy if he decided to go into EMS, I will be perfectly happy if he does not.

Tonight he and I were looking at my Flickr account stats and we came across this picture, my 40th most viewed photo…

The picture shows an accident victim being tubed; being intubated with an endotracheal tube.  O2 had some questions; first, what is that blue thing the guy on the left is holding?

It’s a bag-valve-mask, a BVM, I explained.  It’s used to ventilate a patient, blow oxygen into their lungs, if they are having difficulty breathing on their own.

Okay.

So, what’s the silver light-saber looking thing the other guy is holding?

It’s a laryngiscope.

Huh?

We went exploring across the Internet.  I showed him a picture, started to explain intubation.  He was very interested and wanted more detail.

We checked out some anatomy stuff and learned the difference between the trachea and the esophagus.  We watched some video of intubations being performed on surgical patients, both from the outside and from inside the pharynx. We talked about why people get tubes, the mechanics of how they work, and details of installation.

After a bit, we came across some combitube information so we talked about dual-lumen airways and how they work and watched some video of combitubes being placed.

He looked thoughtful for a minute, then asked, why would one use an ET tube rather than a combitube?

He’s a sharp kid.  I suspect he may, despite his current statements to the contrary, end up in healthcare.

The girls like to tussle.

Especially in the winter, they get a little stir-crazy. In addition to climbing on every possible horizontal surface (and many improbable vertical ones) and knocking over arbitrary objects, the girls like to fight each other. If you did not know they were play fighting, you would think you were witnessing a kitty fight to the death.

But at the end of the day, they curl up together and sleep. This kitty bed is a one foot cube… Both kitties fit.

I’ve spent five days at recert classes over the last two weekends…  Additionally, on Sunday afternoon, Toadstool (hiya!) recerted my CPR. I’ve had the chief of my paid FD sign all the things that needed to be signed by my head of service.  I need to get another signature from my medical director (a doctor at one of the hospitals to which I deliver patients) then I’ll be all set to take the recert exam for Vermont on February 18th.  Assuming I pass that, I’ll be set in Vermont.

As far as New Hamster goes, I’m still short five hours of continuing education, all (coincidentally) in pediatrics.  I will pick those up in the next week or two via video and Internet training, then I’ll be ready to send my application to the National Registry.  Once they return my new card, I’ll send that to the NH office, then I’ll be all set over there.

I’m so happy I only have to do this every other year.

From a Fark photoshop thread (‘insert a dose of reality into your favorite film’) at http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=4156628

We got a Wii for the offspring for Christmas.  As it turns out, Rabid and I use it as much as the kids do.  We play a round of golf, bowling, and tennis every day.  Rabid is pretty good; the best player in the house.  I’m catching up, though.