Overtime

I was already scheduled for two ambulance shifts last week when one of my classmates announced he was going out of town for the weekend and could I cover for him? I was happy to oblige and so ended up with a total of forty seven hours on duty. This meant that I got to work with five new partners and increasingly familiarize myself with the company's coverage and operations schemes. Plus we spent a fair amount of time on the move, responding to fourteen calls over that period. I had a blast.

Our clinical director announced recently that we can begin Clinical IV rotations as soon as we finish Clinical III, without having to wait for the scheduled start in mid-May. This is great news, because Clinical IV is pretty beefy. Thirteen eight-hour trips to the ED and two visits to the psych unit will take up a considerable amount of time. And since we also have a 255-hour field internship (Clinical V) that takes place largely over the summer, it will be much more pleasant not having to do the two clinicals concurrently.

In other news, the town of Tracy, CA has unveiled a plan to begin charging residents $300 to call 911 for a medical emergency. If they're not feeling lucky, though, citizens can opt for an annual $48 charge that will entitle them to unlimited 911 calls. I cannot make up this stuff.