[img_assist|fid=663|thumb=1|alt=cute penguin]We're having a great time here in South Africa. Our current locale is Cape Town. We went to Table Mountain National Park yesterday where we ran into some cute little guys on the beach.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas in Nieu Bethesda, deep in the heart of what the South Africans call the Karoo - a huge, dry, and somewhat desolate area straddling the provinces of Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and part of Free State. A crazy lady spent 25 years decorating her house with an odd variety of sculptures and crushed glass.

Taking a quick study break, and decided to drop a cupple o lines. I have my first final on the 28th of this month and the last one on the 25th of jan. School is going O.K. we got out last week. It starts up again on the 30th of jan. Anatomy is by far the coolest subject. We work on real human cadavers in disection lab. Kinda creepy at first but after a few months you talk about what you had for dinner the night before. We covered all the bones and muscles this semester. Next semester is all about the neurological, vascular and lymphatic systems. Next year we do internal organs, uro-genital and respitory system. Bio Phyisics is also great last lecture we went over the mechanics of how AED's difibrilate the heart. The week before we went over CT scanners. Next semester I will start running with the school's ALS ambulance. They will accept my EMT 2 stuff and I will take a test to get about 15 ALS drugs and EKG stuff.

Right now I live in the down town area of Budapest. There is a huge park like central park about 10 minutes from my pad. I take the dogs there every day and they get to harass all the other dog owners for cookies. On the week ends I go see my family in a small town next to the Austrian boarder. We go for long walks in the mountains

Station #3 looks really cool. I like the new setting of the web page. I think I will be back to visit the summer after next I will keep you posted when. Till then be safe take care and have a happy new year.

Cheers, Eric

A huge Thank You to those who turned out during the past 5 days to get the sheet rocking party kicked off! A great turnout on Friday made the sheet rock delivery go smoothly, even if it took forever. Thanks to Rick, Paul B., Ron, Bill, Kris, Gordon & Brad.
Jarkko gets an Attaboy for Perseverance for showing up every day during the holiday weekend to seal vapor barrier and hang sheetrock. Not that he did that alone, but on more than one morning he was there to turn on the lights and start the coffee, even after responding to the mutual aid fire call in the wee hours of Monday morning. And he was there to the bitter end every day to help turn out the lights. Not to mention having to put up with my cooking. Earl pulls in a close second, putting in dogged determination to find the right way to cut & assemble the backing strips for the ridge line. Others who came out and put in long hours over the 4-day weekend were Josh, Ron Dearborn, Bill Witte, Ann & Chief. Through their efforts, about 40% of the side walls and ceiling are rocked. That consumed all but a few sheets of 2 of the countless piles of rock currently scattered all over the building, so we re-gained a little floor space (the barn dances originally scheduled for this week have been cancelled!).

Activity at Station 3 was low key this last weekend, but productive. Ron stopped by the station Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend to see how the insulating had gone ... the story is that we nearly had a cardiac call he was so shocked to see the completed insulation job. He pitched in this weekend with Earl, Jarkko, Bill, Andrea, and Veronica to install the vapor barrier over the insulation. Phil was at the station early both days to fire up the heater as the -20 and colder overnight temperatures made working in the cold somewhat unpleasant. Terry and Sonya brought home made chicken soup and sandwiches for lunch Saturday and spaghetti on Sunday. I spent the weekend sweeping the floor and generally cleaning things up before taking off early, both days. I'm such a slacker.

[img_assist|fid=515|thumb=1|alt=Feeling Blue?|caption=Hooking up fuel oil lines.] Phil made some parts runs and concentrated on installing a downdraft forced air furnace. The temperature inside the station at the end of the day approached freezing, a nice temperature to work in if you're a polar bear. The downdraft furnace should raise the temperature higher because it can recirculuate the warming air, unlike the heater trailer which heats cold outside air and pumps it into the building, forcing out the warmish air.

The insulating party over the four day (for some of us) weekend was a fantastic success! As previously reported, the walls were insulated in a few hours. The ceiling and eves took considerably longer. We rented two man-lifts to access the high areas and kept them busy between 8 and 11 hours Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Veronica, Kim, Erik, Anne, Al, Jack, Andrea, Rick, Bill, Jarkko, Phil, and I were the movers and shakers with Terry and Anne supplying the lunchtime goodies.

[img_assist|fid=473|thumb=1|alt=Insulated!]Temperatures were well below zero each day, but as the insulation went up and the eves were closed off, the heater did a progressively better job of warming the station. The inside temperature climbed all the way up to 15 above on Sunday, warm enough to eat lunch in the building instead of hiding out in Construction Trailer 43, our mobile building command post. The inside echo also died down as the building's metal skin was hidden behind the white insulation batts.

Thankfully, the white, formaldehyde free insulation didn't seem to be too itchy. Everyone was pretty thankful for that, especially the people installing ceiling insulation.

If you see any of the folks who helped with the insulation, give them a slap on the back and thank them for a job well done! It was a tremendous amount of work and everyone's help was hugely appreciated!

Hey everyone...

Well I have not really had time to talk to or email anyone in quite awhile... Paramedic school and working in a Level 2 Trauma Center ER has been keeping me busy... Apparently at work I must be doing well as a tech, They have me precepting one of the new hires coming in. It has been a rather interesting experience between school and work; but now I only have 2 more ride-along shifts and our final exam is Dec. 13th: we're all pretty happy about that... The ER is pretty crazy, We see over 200 people a day I am told, and I've seen some pretty sick people. I've gotten to see the trauma team crack a chest open (while I was doing CPR on the Patient), and the other day Borland was bringing in an Acute MI, or heart attack, when she went into sudden cardiac arrest. They shocked her back to life, and when she got to the ER she arrested again. I shocked her twice bringing her back, and then we took her to the Cath lab where they were able to open up the artery in her heart, and from what I hear she is already home.

This morning's insulating party was over almost as soon as it started. We got a late start because there wasn't time last night to load the generator and I slept too late this morning. I arrived at 9:30, half an hour late, to find Jarkko waiting patiently in the parking lot. We set up the generator and lights and started insulating the walls. Andrea and Rick showed up not long afterwards and made custom cuts to fill in around the windows and doors.

We erected two sections of scaffolding to reach the tops of the walls. By 12:30, the walls were insulated with the exception of the stub between the bay doors and the blocked section at the base of the walls. Someone's lack of planning (no names, right Paul?) caused us to not have a sharp, long blade knife so cuts were made with a dull pocket knife. It works, but you wouldn't want to do too much of it.

Premixed lidocaine IV bags for drips have been placed on all three ambulances in the inside right rear compartment with the onboard meds and spare defib pads. There is a microdrip IV set with each premixed lidocaine bag.

EMT-3s who missed Tuesday's training - Please review lidocaine drips and be sure that you understand our standing orders and how to set appropriate drip rates (using a microdrip IV set). Please see me if you have any doubts or questions.

DuoNeb will go on CGFR ambulances as soon as the state signs off on our extended scope training program. That should happen before the end of the calendar year.

Advanced EMT-2s and Advanced EMT-3s who missed Tuesday's training - you are not authorized to use DuoNeb until you have completed training. Dr. Carpenter would prefer us to use DuoNeb instead of albuterol alone for the first nebulizer treatment. I'd like all advanced 2s and 3s to be up to speed on this drug by the time it goes on the ambulances. I'll teach DuoNeb and lidocaine drips one more time in December (time TBA). If you cannot attend, please contact me to arrange individual training.

-Doug

The bay doors went up last week at Station 3 and Spendard Builders delivered a truckload of insulation, which is sitting safe and sound inside the now lockable building. I'd like to start insulating on Thursday. If we bust our humps, I believe we should be able to get the insulation and vapor barrier installed in the entire building by Sunday evening.

My schedule is pretty flexible as I've no commitments from Wednesday night until Monday morning. My plan is to spend most of the daylight hours at Station 3, starting around 9:00am and going until dark or we're tired of working.

It will probably be chilly as there's no heat in the building, yet, but David Rohwer's trailer will be there with generators and its propane heater. Hopefully, we will be able to install a downdraft forced air furnace in the station, but that will depend on many factors, including getting the furnace!

If you want to join the fun, the department has Tyvek suits with hoods and face masks. We'll fire up the lights and perhaps some tunes and move this project one stop closer to completion. Come spend the entire day or just a few hours ... every bit of help is appreciated and worthwhile!

Email me if you have questions about anything or just want to confirm that you'll be there. I'll bring lunch for as many people as I know are showing up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thursday I planned to break early and head up to Station 2 for dinner 8-)

Hello again!

Just wanted to give all those interested an update. Since my last email I have found a job with Northglenn Ambulance on the north side of Denver and have also been offered a job with Pridemark Paramedics. I have considered trying to work out something part time with them but don't know if it will work. Anyway, Northglenn is a small but good company. They run 6 ambulances, all ALS either with a double medic or an EMT and a medic. They also have volunteers. They cover a fairly good sized area and are soon getting a contract with another city so the area will be increasing.