Paramedic class today was about the average for me.

My teacher talks, I nod, he references a slide, I nod some more, and then I look down at my book in an attempt to follow along, while nodding the whole time of course.

Yep, I don’t have a clue of what is going on.

Granted, it is only my 3rd class, and we were covering the super-interesting and ultra-engaging subject of pharmacology.

And today I was told that some drugs are bad and some drugs are good. Sometimes good drugs can cause bad things to happen in a patient, and sometimes treating one bad thing can do some good for some underlying thing you couldn’t possibly have known existed. Patients may have an allergic reaction to one thing and then while being treated for that they could also be allergic to something in the medicine a paramedic treats you with.

So, after 5 hours of class today, here is what I learned: Start an IV, then draw up the right amount of whatever medicine the protocol states should treat whatever the patient appears to be dealing with, hit that plunger, and hope for the best. Oh, make sure the person driving drives real fast.

Hopefully something clicks soon, or I am going to fail this class.