Well, Dani delegated the blog update to me this week. Tuesday was the last day for my EMT course, and we did patient assessments in preparation for our upcoming state test on Friday. We also got to practice delivery/neonate skills with a slightly disturbing OB/GYN dummy. Yep, complete with male and female dolls, umbilical cord, and placenta. The lower torso of the mother is on the table to the right of me. Weird.
On Friday we all traveled down to SLC for our state practical exams. We were told from the state Bureau of EMS that it was going to be at 8am so we left Logan bright and early to get down there in time. When we got to the campus there was nobody there and the people we asked had no idea what we were talking about. So we called the Bureau and they told us it had been rescheduled for 5:30 that evening. There was no way all of us were going to drive back to Logan and then drive back down that evening, so my buddy/classmate Payton and I spent the day visiting outdoor retail stores, Naomi at the Olive Garden, the Masonic lodge, and touring the State Capitol in SLC. It was a good time, despite being tired and frustrated that no one had told us about the time change.
For the state test that evening we were tested individually -- we had two patient assessments to do. One trauma (fall, motor vehicle accident, etc) and one medical (allergic reaction, heart attack, difficulty breathing, etc) with nine minutes to complete each of them. I finished each of mine with confidence. I should hear back this week with my final grade, but I think I did pretty well.
Dani has been busy with work, she's worked almost every day this week with it being USU's spring break and every college student is out of town. She's feeling pretty burnt out and looking forward to a couple days off starting tomorrow. Next week I have the last written part of my EMT exams, I start my CNA class (certified nursing assistant, we do all the dirty work), and continue with my regular USU classes after spring break.
This morning for breakfast I made candied bacon. It's incredible. If you haven't tried it, you've got to.
1lb thick-cut bacon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tbs rice vinegar
4 tbs maple syrup
Crushed black pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix brown sugar, vinegar, syrup, and pepper in a small bowl. Place bacon slices on a metal cooling rack over a cookie sheet (you can put tin foil over cookie sheet to make clean-up easier).
Bake for 10 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 5 min. Remove bacon, brush with mixture, and bake for 5 minutes. Pull them out, flip them, brush with more mixture, and bake for another 5 min. Repeat until brown and crisp, about 30 minutes.
