Invasive

Warning: For those of you who get queasy by reading about anything having to do with blood or needles, think twice. For those of you who get queasy by looking at pictures of the like, take some thought. But for those of you who can't handle either, thanks for visiting. Please come again soon!

Today in my WEMT class we learned about Injections and IV's. We also had the opportunity to experience each of these from both ends of the needle. The injections were a piece of cake; squeeze the skin and go in at an angle. No big deal. The IV's were another story.

The instructor was very thorough in explaining, teaching, and demonstrating how to properly put an IV into somebody. We were all a bit nervous when it came to our turn to demonstrate our inexperienced ability of putting in an IV into somebody. I don't think it was so much of the fact of putting in an IV that scared me the most...it was trusting one of my classmates to put one in me that brought my heart rate up a little bit. With the several unpleasant experiences of almost fainting while trained phlebotomists incorrectly stuck me with a needle, my trust or confidence level wasn't too high with completely inexperienced and untrained individuals.

Before we began stabbing each other with needles the instructor demonstrated putting in an IV on one of my classmates who volunteered himself. He slowly showed us each step and fully explained the process. Afterwards he showed us what was happening with the needle on the inside of the vein by using a plastic wrapper to simulate the vein. While watching this unreal demonstration I began to get a bit queasy. At first I was in denial because I had just watched him do it on a human. I couldn't believe I was getting queasy watching him stick this needle into a plastic wrapper! What's up with that!?! I could feel my body temperature begin to drop but my body start to sweat at the same time. Light headedness set in. That's when I grabbed the nearest chair and sat down. Slowly but surely everything returned back to normal, for the most part. Phew!

When one of my instructors asked who didn't want to go first, my hand shot up (and was the only hand raised in the air). I needed some extra time to get myself prepared for a highly probable near-fainting experience. I know from past times the trigger points where I begin to lose it: when they miss the vein and begin digging/looking for it OR when they take the needle in and out several times. Nicht gut!

When my partner's and my turn came around (we were the very last group to go) I volunteered to stick my partner first. I didn't want to take the risk of sticking my partner while being nauseous or in a near-fainting state. To be honest, I had some anxiety with sticking my partner with a needle, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I did everything fast, smooth, and completely correct. My instructors were very impressed. When the tables turned and I was now on the opposite side of the needle my anxiety kicked in a little more. After my partner preped my arm and was getting ready to insert the needle I turned my head as a preventative of fainting, but boy did that needle hurt going in!! She inserted it very slowly which makes it so much more painful. After she got it into my arm and the climax of the pain from the insertion subsided a little bit the instructor watching and assisting said she had missed my vein and needed to pull the needle out and stick me again. (Heart rate rising).

Still looking away, my partner pulled it out and again slowly inserted the needle into my arm. It was just as painful as it was the first time. And yet again, she managed to miss my vein once more. My body began to sweat and my temperature began to drop. If something didn't happen fast I was a going to be a gonner. My instructor asked how I was feeling and after telling him he immediately stopped everything, had my partner take out the needle and put a guaze over my two bleeding puncture wounds. He did not want to take the risk of me fainting. I was grateful because I did not want to go through all the different phases that lead up to fainting - not a pleasant experience!















Left: My partner preping my arm before inserting the needle. Right: My partner's first attempt of insert the needle into my arm.















Left: Complete IV insertion done on my instructor by my partner after she tried twice on me. Right: Two small puncture wounds from needle. (The indent on the far right is a scar, the two puncture wounds are directly left of that - the two little red spots).

Again, I apologize for the sketchy pictures. They were taken on my phone camera because I still have been unable to find my real camera...

That was the excitement for the day in my WEMT course! At the end of class we had a full on scenario where we applied everything we have learned up to this point to this one scenario. I was the lead rescuer and as such felt quite a bit of adrenaline and pressure. But after going from a semi-unstable patient to one with no blood pressure, pulse, or breathing we were able to keep this patient alive and effectively evacuate him. It was the best our 6-person rescue team has ever worked together. It wasn't perfect, but it was well done. It was just awesome to walk away from the scene knowing that we have learned a lot of life-saving skills and can actually apply them effectively.