No More

A little more than 2 years ago I arrived here in Naples, Italy. I knew where I'd be working before I even got here because I specifically requested it. I was immediately placed in the Emergency Department where they sent me to various classes to become an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and an EVO (Emergency Vehicle Operator). I must admit that living in such a controlled environment with pretty healthy people, I never really saw any trauma. I responded to a couple car accidents nothing ever major. I did a few transports but once again, nothing ever critical. Actually being in the ambulance was just a very small aspect of the job. Most the time was spent in the ER itself seeing patients. These patients, for the most part, really had no reason for being seeing in the ER. I've seen more than my fair share of week old cold, 3 month old rashes, flu symptoms and other pretty stupid stuff. This people may indeed be sick, but they didn't normally have stuff that needed to be seeing in the emergency room. But because it is free and on the base they live in, I bet they thought.....why the heck not? I specially hated the Sunday after church crowd, and the late Sunday night "I'm feeling sick and I have to work tomorrow"s. I guess no one likes to work on Mondays. Neither do I.

While I have complete sympathy for people who are genuinely sick or in need of emergent care, I have none whatsoever for bullshitters. This may come from the fact that I saw stuff in the Gulf that no human being should ever have to endure so things like colds, small cuts, etc are absolutely trivial. Obviously I never let the patients realize I thought they were complete halfwits and that they weren't really welcome. In case you are wondering, if you go to the ER for stupid stuff the staff does talk about you and make fun of you, so think about it twice before you make the trip or don't get offended if you over-hear them.

I endured that all this time, and I hated every minute of it. I hated the system, I hated the bullshit, I hated the hours I worked. You name it, I probably hated it. It wasn't always so bad though. We also covered shifts at two other locations where we would be on a call basis. We just hung out in a room for 12 hours waiting for a call to come. Most of the time it never came, only once in a blue moon so we pretty much slept all day, watched tv, went online, played video games, etc. I loved those days!

However, everything, good or bad, must always come to an end. Today I worked my very last shift....ever. Thankfully, it was at one of the other sites, not the hospital. I cannot express how relieved I feel. No more 12 hour shifts, no being called in when someone else gets too drunk the night before to go to work, no more dealing with malingerers, no more ambulance rides, no more having to shove my food down my throat because there is an angry patient with a cold that requires my immediate attention, no more stupid staff meetings on my day off, no more shift work, no more stupid bright orange jackets. No more.

I'll still be here for another 2 weeks almost and I do have to check in by phone every morning, but I already feel liberated. Now I just need to get things ready for the move because I am nowhere near ready......and they are coming on Wednesday.