And we're back - on a bee line with insanity

So my 10 day stint in Kingston has finally come to an end. I met some cool people and some crazy people, and if you were to draw a Venn diagram you would see that there was some overlap between the two. The dynamic was such that the laughter and appreciation for rediculous situations that many of us had as students became contagious and affected the instructors as well. By the end it was inappropriate jokes all around. We laughed, we cried, we cleared spines. Also I learned a tremendous amount. It wasn't the physiology that was so much new to me, as the techniques for manipulating it for the better of a person's health. I feel now as though if I came onto the scene of an accident, in the urban or wilderness context, that I would be capable of being just what I am supposed to be, a First Responder.
For info on what the course entails check out http://wildmed.ca/coursewfr.htm
All I have to do now is see if Dave Graham, our director, or ODG as we like to call him, will sponsor part of the course. He's just gonna have to. So now the insanity begins. I just have a jumbled mess of ideas and things I need to get done before France, and I need to impose order on them. Impose order on chaos, that's what they tell us in the WFR world. We'll see about that. My guess is once this is all done I'm going to need Advanced Life Support. Here's my plan though: Figure out where in France the camp should pick me up from: notify the camp.
Be on time for the final I have to invigilate tomorrow morning, mark that shit.
Go to my two dentist appointments and have my crown replaced (fuck).
Get gear for spring/summer, and make sure I have the money for it. In order of importance:
New river shoes so I don't get a stick in my foot: see entry on Noire river
A new camera (yikes)
Footprint for my tent
New dry sack
Pelican Case for new camera.

I think that's it for now.

Sent off my stuff for the WRT1 course in the summer, hopefully they get it and all goes well.
Also got a letter from the psych dept. offering grad studies for next year, and my mom couldn't figure out why I just didn't care - it's cause that's plan B, I want to go through a different dept, but at least the offer's on the table. Going to meet with my supervisor about that today.

Also I need to get a porchclimber party in, around the 24th it's scheduled. Game on.

Funny story: The other morning we learned how to do spine stable car extrications. They're useful since pretty much anyone who's been in a car wreck has a potential spinal injury. There were some cool techniques, so for the final simulation (the big last one where people get evaluated) a bunch of us were victims. I guess we were kicking ass in the course so we didn't need to do the final. . . Here was the story. A man was changing a tire by the roadside with his pregnant wife waiting in the back seat. A second car sped down the highway, the driver acting as an ambulance driver for his friend who was going into anaphylactic shock. He lost control of the car and hit the car of the man changing the tire. That made 6 victims. Add to that Chris and I, who were lumberjacks felling a tree of the roadside who were severely injured in an unrelated incident and unconscious on the ground, bleeding to death. That's 8 victims. To set up the scene my friend Rob (yes, just one more Rob for this blog) pulled his car up to Chisy's (the man changing the tire). All doors were opened, engines running, stereo blasting David Bowie's "under pressure" and Rob leaning on the horn. Blood everywhere, clothes torn, exposed bones protruding through skin, spinals and severe deadly bleeds. It was a shitstorm. The rescuers ran onto the scene and adrenaline ran high as they tried to suss out the situation. It was a couple of minutes before someone finally achieved the calming effect of pulling Rob off of the car horn and turned the car off. After several minutes, our rescuers had stabilized the scene. Important holes were plugged, people's heads were stable and in good hands. Neil, one of the instructors navigated through the scene, video camera in hand, asking rescuers about their patients for the purposes of watching after to assess what was done right and what could have been done better. Then it happened, and it was all on tape. My friend Amy had a victim stable in the palms of her gloved hands. She was taking pulse and breathing readings, and busily reporting them to the incident commander. A man pulled up on the road next to the field we were on. He got out of his car, and didn't flinch at the bloody bodies strewn across the field and the rescuers running back and forth from victim to victim doing all they could. He walked into the midst of our triage and didn't blink. Obliviously, on tape, he asked Amy "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but would you be able to give me some directions?" Amy looked dumbfounded. Neil stood there with the camera and looked at Amy. Neil usually has all the answers but now his face was only questions. Amy shook her head back at him indicating her guess was as good as his. The man proceded to bend down showing her his map, ignoring the victim whose face he essentially covered with his map. For lack of better recourse Amy began to help him, still bewildered. The best thing she could think of doing was leave a bloody thumbprint on the map, which was a pretty good idea, and then tracing blood lines all over it as she pointed out where he should go. He thanked her, and in no hurry, ambled off of the scene. Unbelievable. That situation was topped only by the oblivious Pierre who answered his cellphone twice during the scenario, like nothing serious was going on. Keep in mind this was a final exam. Pierre was on camera, patient laying unconscious next to him, saying "no, well I can't really talk right now, but if you'd like to call me back later tonight, I'd loooove to talk to you."

Unbelievable
Un - Believable.