Lucky
For two nights last week, I was in the city on what I think is the 3rd busiest medic. We were pretty busy and I couldn’t hear the radio at all from the back, so we’d be returning to the station and all of a sudden, we’re going to a mystery location, lights and sirens, like “surprise! we have a call!” Whatever, I like surprises.
The calls I went on the first night sounded better as they were dispatched rather than what they actually were. For example, “Shot in the eye with a BB gun.” On the way out of the station, everyone was taunting: “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Little did they know, it wasn’t actually in the eye, but on the eye, therefore making it not so interesting. Also: “Pedestrian struck by vehicle.” True, she was hit by a car, but with no blood, no deformity, no crepitus, strong distal pulses, and no LOC PTA, in other words, very lucky.
The second night, I almost missed CHF, forgot charcoal existed, and missed 2 IVs, but, I got to give charcoal (gross!), morphine, and nitro. It’s good to be reminded of what mistakes are there for.
I also had my first encounter with a roach infested house. The call was for domestic abuse (no pun intended) and the police were already there. When we entered the house, one cop looked at us and made a significant face as he pointed to the walls. There, as you can imagine was a sight to behold. Having heard stories, I knew not to kneel to assess the patient, not to put the bag down, and not to lean on the walls. Also, the ‘cockroach shuffle’ is a handy tool, which basically reminds you not to stand still for too long. As we left the house I was advised to stomp a few times to ensure that well...I’m sure you can figure that out. I’m getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.
The calls I went on the first night sounded better as they were dispatched rather than what they actually were. For example, “Shot in the eye with a BB gun.” On the way out of the station, everyone was taunting: “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Little did they know, it wasn’t actually in the eye, but on the eye, therefore making it not so interesting. Also: “Pedestrian struck by vehicle.” True, she was hit by a car, but with no blood, no deformity, no crepitus, strong distal pulses, and no LOC PTA, in other words, very lucky.
The second night, I almost missed CHF, forgot charcoal existed, and missed 2 IVs, but, I got to give charcoal (gross!), morphine, and nitro. It’s good to be reminded of what mistakes are there for.
I also had my first encounter with a roach infested house. The call was for domestic abuse (no pun intended) and the police were already there. When we entered the house, one cop looked at us and made a significant face as he pointed to the walls. There, as you can imagine was a sight to behold. Having heard stories, I knew not to kneel to assess the patient, not to put the bag down, and not to lean on the walls. Also, the ‘cockroach shuffle’ is a handy tool, which basically reminds you not to stand still for too long. As we left the house I was advised to stomp a few times to ensure that well...I’m sure you can figure that out. I’m getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.
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