{"id":40293,"date":"2020-02-05T08:12:53","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T15:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/?p=40293"},"modified":"2020-02-05T08:15:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T15:15:03","slug":"newman-the-positive-paramedic-project-117-my-friday-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bigmedicine.ca\/wordpress\/2020\/02\/newman-the-positive-paramedic-project-117-my-friday-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Newman | The Positive Paramedic Project #117 | My Friday Office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Medical response vehicle 975 – Shefford Fire Service <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the Director of Marketing for IPS Therapeutique* I tend to work from home most of the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My home office is pretty much standard albeit with the addition of multiple monitors to allow me to simultaneously work on crafting content, creating graphics, editing social media, and staying up to date with the ever shifting marketplace. Given it\u2019s my home office, there is usually a playlist of current indie music providing me with a soundtrack-de-jour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Fridays, I trade in my home office for something a bit more austere \u2013 with less room to get up and move around. There\u2019s no cappuccino maker although a Bluetooth connection does allow me to bring my playlists along for the ride. What my Friday office lacks in creature comforts, it makes up for with lifesaving gear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An AED, trauma gear, a resuscitation pack, personal protective equipment (PPE), and copious amounts of off-road rescue equipment. And it does have a siren and \u2013 hopefully \u2013 enough flashing lights to capture motorists\u2019 attention when I\u2019m responding to, or parked at the scene of an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a five-year hiatus from providing emergency medical services, I recently went through the recertification process and am now working with the Shefford Fire Department in southern Quebec. Our response district is enormous and while many of our calls involve trauma-related motor vehicle crashes, there is a wide spectrum of medical emergencies as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My work on the streets \u2013 and in the woods and on the mountain \u2013 provides me with an opportunity to understand and mitigate acute episodes of many of the diseases our clients are developing new drugs to treat. When last I recertified as medic, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) was mentioned in passing. This time around, PAH and the medications used to treat it were featured prominently in our in-class discussions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, being a street medic is a privilege. I am a lifelong student of the art of caring and believe in the importance of combining science and the human touch to provide my patients with a sense of comfort. My work at IPST provides me with a profound scientific foundation on which to further build on my understanding of emergency medical care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you reach me on a Friday, don\u2019t be surprised if I reply from my mobile office. Please consider being trained in CPR, First Aid and Stop The Bleed. You can help make a real difference in the case of a life-threatening emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for your consideration. Be well. Practice big medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hal Newman<\/p>\n\n\n\n