Adrenaline

Ok....day two of my blog.  I tried to make changes and updates and so forth.  I guess I will learn more about what it takes to have a good blog but until then......

Today I am on Alert.  Alert means I sit around and wait for my phone to ring. If there is a Priority or Urgent patient that needs to be moved, I am the one they call.   If called, I have to report in 1 hour so my leash is pretty short.  If I do go someplace of distance, I will usually take all my flying stuff with me.  What really sucks is when I go into the black cement holes they have on this island.  You know...the places where you cannot get phone reception???  Even grocery shopping brings about terror.  As soon as I get outside, I flip open my phone in panic to make sure I didn't miss a call.
Being on Alert is pretty important.  Although most of us look at it as a day off from reporting to the office, it is another opportunity to help our fellow soldiers/sailors/airmen/marines.  It is exciting to have the feeling that someone needs you.  I guess we, all medics, have that sense inside.  I know as a Nurse, we have that innate feeling to assist others.  Maybe because I am a mother too.  Running to help the crying child with the scraped knee is no different than running to the plane to take a wounded troop to more definitive care.  I also think it is that adrenaline rush we all get as well.  Ask any ER nurse.  Ask any paramedic or combat medic.  They will tell you about the rush and the thrill that responding to a crisis gives them.  They can relive many memorable accidents and interventions, catastrophes and life-saving-events.

I think I was always prone to this.  When I was 8 years old, I played on a boys baseball team.  (back then, they didn't have girls softball yet) THANK YOU TITLE IX !!  Anyways, I have played ball since then and ALWAYS hit better with a full count.  When you HAVE to hit the ball, you really buckle down and show what you are made of.  Maybe that is what it is all about?!?!  Maybe when calamity manifests itself, you just really want to show who and what you are made of.

Is it stress that drives us?  Or the exhilaration of performing under the stress???  How do you perform?  Do you like to show others what you are made of?  Does it happen when someones life is on the line?  How catastrophic does it have to be for you to execute and accomplish?