Tuesday, December 16, 2003

So, I realized today that all the bad days I've had were not really that bad. I learned that because I actually had a really bad day today.

During homeroom, one of my students had a grand mal seizure...complete with blood coming out of her nose and mouth. Because I have First Responder certification, I was officially the most highly trained medical staff at my school. Due to budget cuts, we only have a nurse on Wednesdays.

She stopped breathing for a couple of seconds and I was faced with the realization that I was going to have to give mouth to mouth. But luckily, she started up again. The ambulance took a long time to arrive.

One positive was that the rest of my students were really great. They didn't laugh or take the opportunity to go nuts. They sat quietly and showed a lot of empathy for the student, later. I'm still waiting to hear how she is doing. She has no history of seizure, so the paramedics thought that maybe she had a high fever due to the flu.

This flu thing is hitting a little close all of a sudden. Another one of my students went to the hospital yesterday with a 107 degree fever. She didn't have the dramatics of the seizure, but she very well could have. I have a bit of a fever myself and am considering just staying home for the rest of the week.

I am very ready to have a vacation and not be responsible for the lives of others. It was very heavy to feel like it was up to me to save this girl. I don't feel trained enough for that. I am very angry that we don't have a nurse on campus at all times. You would think we could get the money for that somewhere. ¶ 6:10 PM