Megacodes over

I passed my Exit Megacodes this morning. It was a huge relief to finally get them out of the way. Each of us tested on one medical and one trauma scenario on Tuesday; as it turned out, no one passed both scenarios on the first try. Some people even failed both scenarios. I passed my medical but had to retest trauma. All the Tuesday retest slots were full, so I scheduled mine for this morning. The retest scenario was straightforward, and I passed with no problems. Now I am clear to begin Phase II of the field internship, where I function as the "in charge" paramedic.

Clinical IV started with a bang yesterday as I walked in the doors of the emergency department to find them working a cardiac arrest. I went in to observe the goings-on and was shortly put to work doing chest compressions. It was neat to see the full "code team" at work. Interestingly, while they have some equipment and drugs that we don't, by and large they're doing with eight people what I've been trained to do with two or three.

In other news, the U.S. Chess Championship is underway in St. Louis, Missouri. The four top seeds, Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura, Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk and Yury Shulman, are tied for first place with 4.5 / 6. Round seven is being played right now.