Those of you who aren't aware of my activities outside of med school: I volunteer at the Red Cross as a first aid provider at events. (Events being small local pop concerts, fairs, sports games, national holidays etc) People generally never ask me for a paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablet. If they do, the occurrence is only about once or twice for every 50 hrs of volunteer work. To be clear, our Dutch Red Cross district doesn't hand out pills if we can help it. Our volunteers also aren't given medication to hand out to people. But at my latest 5-hr shift, I've been asked for aspirins/paracetamol/ibuprofen over 6 times. Some people were suffering from headaches, others were trying to get one for their friend with a headache. And another was trying to get aspirins for a 2 year old child. .. Uh. How about.. No.
Because I'm such a shorty, my Red Cross district is having difficulties finding fitting clothing for me :') The solution to making yourself known as a first aider without having to deal with sizes too large for me? This.
"EHBO" = "Eerste Hulp Bij Ongevallen". This is the Dutch equivalent of First Aid.
"Welcome to Health & Life Sciences (or Health & Wellness Management, as some people call it), where you shall marry your books and neglect your own health despite studying a healthcare-related course."
Yes, I'm ill, again, and I'm cramming for an upcoming test and my first aid certificate. Rather, I'm supposed to be cramming for an upcoming test. Instead, I'm blogging about absolutely nothing. I'm laying off doctor's appointments in favor of lab work and food poisoning cases. My body temperature's been elevated at times, and my family doctor clearly told me I HAD to get back if I would become feverish. I'm effectively running myself down trying to get into med school.
Good news: I practiced my first aid skills on real people. I took care of a fake arterial bleeding without gasping at the amount of blood or stressing out. I bandaged the wound nicely without putting too much pressure on the limb. Go me!
Arterial bleeding!
I'll take some days off once I'm done with the Threat & Protection I exam and the first aid exam. Holiday music, anyone?
Hi there, I've survived my last blood drawings (two of them, even..) and my retakes. I even managed to score 8.5 out of 10 points! Go me! I still have no clue as to what I'm suffering from, but my doctor did help me with diagnostic questions and approaches for when I get into med school. Several months ago, I signed up to volunteer for the Dutch Red Cross as a First Aid provider. Tomorrow, I'll be going into training :D I'll be saving lives!
