“How Does a Helicopter Paramedic Work?”

While listening to "How Does a Helicopter Paramedic Work?" presented by David Plotz, Jeff Ennis tells some personal anecdotes about his experience as a paramedic and what his job is all about. The first thing I thought while listening to this podcast was how great it is that Grey's Anatomy now has all 10 seasons on Netflix. The next thought I had was that Ennis says he works 24 hour shifts. And I complain about trying to stay awake in my 55 minute classes?

Personally, I've spent a pretty decent amount of time in ambulances. Blood transfusions, pneumonia, anaphylactic shock, all the good stuff. Paramedics have this magical aura about them. Every paramedic I've ever had in an ambulance has been a man and it's always been a very personable guy. I can get that kind of vibe from Jeff Ennis. He seems personable and he seems like somebody that would have been able to calm a 12 year old me down as I get stabbed with IV's. 

Ennis' main anecdote is about a bit of a puzzle piece of a patient. A paramedic only has so much time to figure out how to treat a patient and what a proper diagnosis is. Ennis states that he thinks that the damage that went to this young man's brain was too much and that he probably couldn't have been saved. However, Ennis seems to be at peace with this. He says the man had healthy organs that could save 7 other lives. He states that this kind of thinking allows him to sleep at night. 

As a lifeguard, I can't imagine this kind of pressure. The worst EPA I've ever had I was completely alone. A 70 year old man was in the steam room and he suddenly hunched over and couldn't talk. I ran into the room and as a 15 year old I was pretty much clueless on what to do. I thought it was a stroke but I didn't really know. I thought about how I was supposed to ask him to smile or to raise his arm, right? Did I get that right on the test? Was that even for a stroke? I ran back to the guard room, grabbed a bucket (in case he vomited) pulled the emergency button grabbed more First Aid supplies. What the hell was I supposed to do? Why the hell did I think to grab a bucket and not get him some water? I called 911 and grabbed all the paperwork I didn't really know how to fill out and tried to calmly explain the situation. 

Finally, my manager came out. She asked all the questions I didn't know how to ask and did all the medical things I didn't know how to do. I can't imagine having this kind of panic every day and it amazes me that Ennis still has such a positive spirit. 

Food for thought...

Do you think Ennis is able to keep a positive spirit because he only gets the first sight of patients? Kind of like he gets to assess and do what he can and then pass the patient on to the trauma center? Maybe he feels a different kind of stress than the doctors do.  

How does a teacher work?

It's obvious that there are all different kinds of educators. There are teachers that put on a movie and hope no one asks them a question. There are teachers who delve hours into making intricate lesson plans for their students each night. There are teachers who regurgitate information from the textbook and assume that if their students score high on standardized tests they're doing a great job. After reading excerpts from Studs Terkel's Working and listening to the podcast "How Does a Principal Work?" presented by David Plotz, we've seen all different types of educators.

From Studs Terkel's Working we read a little about "Rose Hoffman, a teacher" To me, I would say that this woman seems about 110% done with her job. She's been in the education system for over thirty years and I don't think she's coping with the changes very well. It's obvious that Hoffman has trouble adapting to the different ethnicities going on in her classroom and she has no trouble picking favorites. She states, "I loved the Polish people. They were hard-working." (485). Hoffman also seems to have a closed door policy. She claims, "Even a child deserves a certain type of privacy in their personal life. I don't see where that has anything to do with what a child studies." (484). This statement is a significant contrast to Andrew Rubin in "How does a Principal Work?"

Rubin seems incredibly concerned with his students and what's going on outside of school. He takes the time to make playlists every day for his students to walk into school and be excited to be there. He seems to have a very personal relationship with his teachers and just in this 19 minute podcast a listener can really tell that he has genuine compassion for his students. At one point Plotz asks in what ways the music and all of the goofy things Rubin does helps the students and Rubin laughs and says that really, he hopes that the kids will just laugh with him. In one simple conclusion, anyone who runs a 5K in a chicken suit obviously has a lot of dedication to their job. 

Finally, we have "Pat Zimmerman, a teacher" also from Studs Terkel's Working. Zimmerman seems to have a very "hands off" policy. The students are given work and it's their duty to decide what they want to do with it. Zimmerman states, "We lay out powerful materials in front of them, and tell 'em they're perfectly capable of doing it - and not make any excuses about it." (490). If they don't want to go to college, that's okay. If they don't want to push themselves, that's okay. He states, "I discourage competition in the classroom. The only one I accept is the student's competition with himself." (490). Although I do enjoy that Zimmerman is letting students make their own choices, it's obvious that these students don't necessarily have the ability to make their  own choices wisely. These students are coming from low income areas, most likely without very many role models to look up to. So, I wonder why they would try? If competition isn't motivating them, then what is?

Food for thought...

The best teacher I have ever had was my orchestra teacher. I had him for seven years (he teaches middle school and high school orchestra) and he was incredibly similar to Rubin. He blared music as we filed into the classroom (sometimes death metal sometimes classical) and he let us choose what pieces we wanted to perform. He was there to guide us to perform to our best abilities but with music that we loved. He was a bit of a push-over, but we loved him so much nobody even abused the fact that we could have gotten away with whatever we wanted.

So, what type of teacher is the most effective? Would this type of teacher work at all schools? If not, what type of school do you think he would be successful at?

"Working" Entry 1

The parallels between Rankin's story and Walker's story are honestly uncanny. It's obvious they are both very passionate (or at least used to be) about this job. Rankin states "...anything that grows is really remarkable when you think about it" and in that one line I realized why Rankin has been working these physically exhausting potentially fourteen hour workdays for the past forty years of his life- he loves it. Walker had a similar statement when he discussed the satisfaction a farmer gets when he/she gets a good crop. He explains that it's tedious work, but it's rewarding work. Another thing both of these men can definitely agree upon is the struggle of unpredictability. Bugs, weather, what crops people will want, etc. are all major stressors for farmers. Finally, one thing is definitely for sure; they are exhausted. Another similarity that Aunt Katherine Haynes shares with both of these men, she is exhausted. However, Aunt Katherine Hayes brought up an interesting point about education. She repeatedly states that she's "just a hillbilly" but seems proud of all the hard work she's accomplished in her life. I would say that she's more unhappy with her lack of education rather than her work. I think she's proud of her farm and proud of her children but wishes that she could have a little bit more basic knowledge. All three of these people have a very different perspective on working than I do. First of all, as a future educator, I don't feel I really have any physical labor to be concerned about in my future. Unpredictability, however, I feel is a concern no matter what your career path is. 

Just a thought....

I'm not sure how the interviewer meant it, but when he said that Rankin's job was a lot about bugs I almost felt he was a little condescending... While Rankin did say a lot about insects and how to deal with them I felt that the way the interviewer presented the question was a little rude... Does anyone else feel this way?​