I’m all packed up to go to work:
Dayquil, check. (how does spellcheck recognize Nyquil and not Dayquil?)
Tissues with lotion, check.
Throat lozenges, check.
Tylenol, check.
Ginger tea and cold-care tea, check.
Bleargh.
BUT. I’m
now finally answering phones at work, having finally gotten the
requisite certs from the state, and I almost had my first baby last
night! Emergency medical dispatch is so different from all the cop
dispatching I’ve done, and so crazy-scary. I haven’t given unsuccessful
CPR yet, but I’m sure that’ll happen this week. Happens all the time.
But a baby! They award "storks" for births facilitated by dispatchers,
and I desperately want one. This lady last night, she was SO close,
pushing hard and steady, and she kept talking to me. I think I actually
did a little tiny bit of good calming her down (although a coworker
passed me a note that said "breathe." So I told her to breathe. He
points at me, no, you breathe!). Darn firefighters got there
just in time to pull the baby out, a little girl named Christine. So I
didn’t get to hear her first lungful of air, but I can’t wait until I
do get to hear that on the phone (I heard a coworker’s baby last week
— so little! I thought the caller had given birth to a mad cat!)
All right. Off to work. At least I can’t give my cold to the callers.
If you ever do hear someone give birth to a mad cat, I would like to have a copy of the recording.
And I’m sorry you’re sick. I should have said that first but I’m a bit of a cow like that.
You need Emergen-C!!! :0
Feel better.
Damn, everyone’s having babies.
“No, you breathe!” Congratulations, anyway! It’s not a job I could do, but I so appreciate that people like you DO!
Don’t forget the hand sanitizer!
Stash some Airborne & Zicam in your desk (or locker?) – a little prevention never hurts – plus, Airborne is yummy! Seriously – you have the coolest job ever, and I love how much you love it. I can’t wait for you to “have” your first baby!
they do sound like cats. When I was being prepped for my c-section I asked the nurse who let the kittens into the hospital??? She looked at me weird and said it was the newborn babies….I was a little loopy at the time.
Very cool. I hope you get your stork very soon 🙂 Hubby worked in FF dispatch for a time. Never delivered or near delivered a baby though!
Mad Cats!! So true! When I was 13 my mom had a baby! Everytime my little sister would cry I’d invariably run to save my ancient, but much beloved cat from some horrible cat-accident. It took me few times before I was programmed to check on the baby first. Seriously though, you have one of the coolest jobs on earth. A calm cool dispacthers voice is the most welcome sound in the world when sh*t hits the fan…. I know.
Wow, you talked a woman through delivering a baby?! Damn, girl.
Oh my god, your job is so exciting and television-like. Um. That came out wrong. But you know what I mean. (Says the girl who knits for a living… more or less)
I only hope that if I’m ever in a position where I’m on the phone with a medical dispatcher — that dispatcher is someone like you!
You know, I’m VERY sure that they never included breathing instructions in any of the CPR training I’ve had, which is just plain WRONG clearly.
Also, you need to be, like, grounded and stuff, so you can feel the energy.
Ha ha! That’s what we need. Zen CPR.
so would it count if the call came from out of state? i’m sure SOMEONE out there in blog-land is expecting, and could keep your number on speed dial… 😉
I call local police dispatch occasionally – to report traffic accidents, angry drunk panhandlers, etc. – and I think of you whenever I do! Every time I call I want to tell the dispatcher about you, but I figure that would take a bit too long and they’ve got other things they’re supposed to be doing, like talking people through delivering babies…
btw, after taking much too long to get around to it, I finally started my own blog, and one of my first blog entries is about you… anyway, I’m still working on figuring stuff out, but I’m having a good time with it!
When I think of how many times I’ve been talked through CPR! You’re in total overdrive, watching your kid turn blue, and this calm person is talking your through each step that you thought you knew but can’t remember because you’re so scared… I hallucinate every time and usually drop the phone because I turn to talk to the operator and it’s just this little black plastic thing with numbers on it, huhn? It’s as if you guys teleport your presence to the scene.
Oh, and Nyquil pre-dates Dayquil by quite a few years so spellcheck just hasn’t caught up.
Hope your side of the bay isn’t as dreary and wet as mine! I finally turned the heat on today.
If I hadn’t already been at the hospital for an induction, my second baby just might have been born by 911. I now have #3, 12 days old, and she does sound like a mad cat. When she does cry out (not often), we still say “Was that the cat or Megan?”
Um…
” haven’t given unsuccessful CPR yet, but I’m sure that’ll happen this week. Happens all the time. ”
That is a bit scary…
HOpe you feel better!
Gosh, that brings back memories of my EMT days!
Call me. I’ll let you hear a lung full of baby air. heh
What an awesome job you have! And I hope you’re feeling better. 🙂
How totally awesome! My second baby was delivered by paramedic (accidental home birth ‘cuz I was too stuborn to realize I was so far in labor), so I have a special soft spot in my heart for those guys. My baby was his first, and I gave him a picture of the little tyke later. Best birth experience I could ask for.