Fixin to go
October 19th, 2005 by rsm
Ah the weekend already beckons. Too many things to do this week, too much dumped on me at work and I can tell the stress is rising. When I start having dreams about the office, it means even my rest periods are being infiltrated by my work ethic. No wonder I’m tired.
But now the other geek part takes over. Time to check the gear.
I’ll be away all weekend with an elite mountaineering unit as their medic. That means a horrible trudge from the base to the top, keeping up with, but out of the way of, a bunch of highly fit and motivated people, some of whom are (this pains me to write soooo much) half my age. (oh lawd! Hopefully it gets easier after that first time.) And while they hike in their gear, I have my own stuff along with many pounds of medical supplies. Every time I’ve done it so far with this group, it has rained. Cold, wet, muddy and struggling with the terrain: friends, you know that means I’m probably in heaven. My mind focuses. I no longer am thinking about the minutiae of spec sheets, coordinating vendors, handling employee issues, keeping up with the reports and requests from all over the place. Remember my motto: The man at the top of the mountain did not fall there. I love it when I get to put that into play literally.
But one or two nights before embarking it is time to lay out all the supplies, run through checklists, charge batteries, check expiration dates, gather pogie-bait, clean snivel-gear. These are my weapons. Like a child on a particularly good Christmas afternoon, I like to display all my stuff and revel in its quantity, even though I am too bored to play with anything.
The really bad part about the whole trip is only self-imposed. I don’t get to climb. It’s not that I am afraid… I am, actually, but that just makes me want to do it 
even more. It’s that on these trips I have a responsibility. What happens if someone is injured while I am on the ropes and it will take me a while to get to the victim? There are CLS (Combat Lifesaver) certified people with us, but a certificate does not replace experience in a crisis.
Often they apologize that my weekends tend to be boring. They aren’t at all, and if I do my job right, I prevent any serious injury or illness while still witnessing them push themselves beyond their perceived limits. Struggle, trudge, strain all you want until muscle exhaustion, but I will be right on top of you if it looks for a moment like you are not hydrating or are walking with poor form, hoping to “accidentally” twist something and be out of action for the rest of the weekend. Fear my wrath. My IVs don’t hurt… unless I really want them to.
Safety tip #16: Be afraid of angering experienced paramedics and E.M.T.s. They know EXACTLY where to go on a body to make something really hurt since they’ve all screwed up and poked or prodded that spot on someone else and/or seen the effects of a seatbelt/steering wheel/fast-moving tree on it. That means fights can be nasty even against one who is a good bit smaller than you. Just sayin’…
So you are supposed to make a career out of what makes you the happiest. Many friends point to how happy I am doing things like this or chasing the adventure racers across the Canadian frontier. Why is it I am not making a career out of wilderness travel and medical support?
Maybe it’s because of a realization I had around the third paragraph of typing this post: I’m happiest supporting men and women like these in testing their limits, protecting and encouraging them in the quest to become stronger, sharper, and better leaders. For that, I am right where I need to be.