Q & A Day Answered

Sophie asked:
Where do you live?

Dani answers:
Hahaha. I've gotten this one a few times before. I will NOT give up my location. The banner is from a city I once lived in, not one that I am living in now.

Jeremy asked:
Where do you get inspiration for the blog?

Dani answers:
Honestly- before I clock in I pretend my life is a show worth watching. I think about how all the episodes of television shows have themes, and then I pay attention to my colleagues and patients. At that point it unfolds. If I am at a loss but know a topic- I pull from a once-upon-a-time patient.
Music is another huge inspiration. When I get up in the mornings I turn on CMT or GAC (yep, I'm a hick) and if a song catches my eye and my ears then I'll keep listening. Every now and then a song makes you cry, or feel strong, or even both. Thats when I post the lyrics on the sidebar. Those help me out when I re-read the blog, seeing the lyrics that got me through.

Justmyblog asked:
What is your opinion of using a Sager on a open femur fracture vs. a closed one.

Dani answers:
I'm sorry, what? I'm a CNA and an EMT-B...and I couldn't even google an image of this thing to make sure I wasn't missing something. Oh, and to top it off, I'm Blondie and left handed. Sorry to be useless with that one.

TEMTI asked:
What inspired you to create the blog?

Dani answers:
Actually my best friend. I have been through a hell of a year, and I was sitting outside the campus in march, pouting a little bit about how frustrated I was. I worked at one unit, was looking for another and am legally too young to work as an EMT. There are only about 3 of us who continued on with EMS, one is a firefighter in a small town and the other is an ER tech at a local hospital. Sadly, me working an ortho unit is the next best thing to working EMS. Everyone else gave up.
He read Peter Canning's books, 'Paramedic' and started his own blog. He gave me the link and asked me to read it and I agreed. I thought the idea was fantastic. Suddenly I started my own. He didn't get past one post before deleting it. I kept writing. Suddenly, the blog bloomed.

Kanoosh asks:
What do you like about your job? What do you hate about it?

Dani answers:
Good question!
A) I love the people, namely on the ortho unit. The patients are so awesome, always so nice, funny, polite, and even if their not, their still great! The staff is incredible, its definitely a family and I love being a part of it. I also love that they let me learn, I've been in on surgeries, I've seen scans and radiology reports and surgical images. Its been an amazing job.
B) I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE feeling like I'm working a care center. When I have 4 patients and all of them are dying, have brief changes every 5 minutes and are mean, ICK! In care centers the residents are sweet, in hospitals- ACK!

Archie asks:
What do you hope will come from this blog?

Dani answers:
Honestly I hope to take my best-of posts and turn it into a small book. I would love to turn this into something more for myself and my readers. I hope that somehow, someday I will have inspired someone to keep going in medicine, to start a career, or to wait another year before quitting. I hope that one day I can go into Barnes and noble and see one copy of my book on the shelf and smile, even if my mother is the only one who buys it.