Assessment part 2

Well, it has been and gone. I felt that it was not brilliant and I could and should have done better. BUT I passed.
There was a written test of 75 questions with a passmark of 75% and three practical assessments:-
A resus using AED and BVM
A medical condition that we had to diagnose and get a history for.
finally a trauma where we had to treat and load.
Both of the last two we had to do a handover for.
24 hours later I was asked if I could do a shift on support duty for the local ambulance service, nothing like going straight in at the deep end.

Assessment

Well, after the months of waiting it's here. Sunday I have to do my IHCD assessment to be BRC ambulance crew. Part of me thinks that I have done it all in training and should be OK, however a much bigger part is thinking "Run away and hide" I am honestly bricking it, I can feel my stomach cramping up even just typing this. I just hope that on the day I will be calm and perform as well as I can, my real fear is doing the hard things right and messing up on the basics

GPs

Don't you just love 'em?
Went today as I have been getting quite severe pain on the medial aspect of my right knee when driving. The GP told me very condescendingly that there was no crepitus, no heat and no sign of a bakers Cyst, all of which was blindingly obvious. He decided the pain was "mechanical" in nature and the answer was to stop driving! Not that easy for anyone but as a volunteer ambulance crew............
In the end the best I could get were some painkillers which I don't really want as they will just let me mangle it further without knowing and a vague promise to refer me to "A department" if there is no change in a month or so.

Anyone know how to change your GP?

Festival time

Reading festival, full of posh kids trying to look like bad boys. A tiring but fun weekend, none of the bands were to my taste but some of the stuff in the comedy tent was very good, not least the free beer we blagged from the Green room backstage. Had to do 2 shifts midnight to 8:00 AM, the first on the main campsite was fairly busy but mainly just the usual blisters/cuts/burns. The most interesting job of the night was the three who had take "E" but said they had had no effects except vomiting. On examination they had pupils like saucers and a pulse of 120ish. Got them off in the ambulance to the medical centre and was pleasantly suprised when they came back a couple of hours later to thank us. It really made the night worthwhile.
The second night we were on the quieter campsite. This had been well and truly cursed by the Q word and we ended up with a near drowning who had somehow launched from the ferry and had fallen abdomen first onto the jetty and was complaining of severe pain in the upper right quadrant (Just where the liver is). The real problem wasn't the patient but their three, very drunk mates who had obviously qualified as doctors after about seven pints and were telling me that she had got enough oxygen now and I should take it off her. After a trip in the blue light taxi to the med centre she apparantly discharged herself some four hours later.
More to follow.........