first day-eve

     I said before that it feels like I am speaking a different language than the people of Topeka, sometimes.  Today is Saturday,  I start work on Monday.  Training really,  WORK will start a week or two after that.  It's an amazing feeling to be new at a job, but come in with such high expectations. It seems everybody I have spoken with from AMR Topeka, has at one point said, "Oh, you're the guy from California."  I know that I know what I am doing, but there is still some pressure to perform.  I think that actual medicine is probably 20% of what we do in Paramedicne.  I think the other 80% is personal relations with your patients, the community, the police, the hospitals, your co-workers and who knows who else. Confidence in who you are and your abilities is essential on scene and in the the back of an ambulance.  I will have to find a nice balance between the 'Yes sir, No Sir' culture and the confident, command of a scene that is required to succeed.  Honestly, I think this will be exciting and only make my medicine better.  I am really starting to get excited.
     I went into the AMR Topeka HQs yesterday to handle some paperwork, uniform fitting, they also do a physical test prior to starting work.  So lets start with the similarities to ALCO, especially AMR.  My didactic with NCTI and my internship were a very difficult time in my life.  Possibly the most difficult thing I have ever had to do.  To many things in the air, trying to juggle to much. Literally the day I got my Paramedic card in the mail, I showed up at AMR ALCO and applied for a job.  Truthfully I had been there a week prior and picked up an application. I met Katrina Kover that day.  She grabbed Josephine from me and held her while she answered my questions and gave me the application packet.  After all I had gone through to get to this point I was immensely intimidated to take the next step. Katrina made me feel at home in a place I was terrified to be.  When I walked into AMR Topeka yesterday, Mina and Melody had made me a hand made gift/welcome basket.  It was special and touching. I felt that 'home' feeling again. I have uprooted my family and left the only EMS world I had ever known to arrive on their doorstep. I can't explain how comforting it was to have Mina and Melody on my side. On the first day they knew who I was and where I was from.  They went out of their way to make me feel welcome and ease the transition.  Thank you to all three women.
     Mike Taigman, a very busy and very intelligent man with a lot on his plate.  I remember the first time I met him.  Mike looked me in the eye and listened too what I had to say, then very slowly and methodically answered all my questions.  If you are patient, Mike will unleash a wealth of knowledge on you.  He won't force it down your throat, but if you wait, shut up and listen, you will not believe how much you can learn from this man.  Ken Keller is similar and different.  If you give Ken an inch he will talk your ear off.  Ken is a very busy man with a lot of things on his plate. Ken excused himself from his busy day and walked me through the entire operations. He showed me the workshop, the offices, he explained the airway bags and the system in general, he showed me two of the three ambulances that got sent over from ALCO  (I couldn't immediately recognize which ones they were). Ken spoke the entire time.  Just like Mike, if you are patient and willing to listen, it will be worth your time.
     The last thing,  I am meeting people here everyday that have helped me and my family get to Kansas.  I would like to thank each and every one of you.  Thank You.