Overdue Post
Night Work 2:
We started the second night in with a febrile seizure that was fixed with clothes off and some ice packs. Then we had a cool motorcycle accident where the patient had apparently performed spectacular acrobatics after losing control and accidentally hitting the throttle. He jumped away from the bike right before it became bike parts and just in time to miss the explosion. When we got there, the sad, burnt out shell of a motorcycle was on the ground with the handlebars and front tire about 20 feet away from the rest of it. It was soundly destroyed. The patient walked away with only minor cuts, amazing.
Later I got to experience the consummate Baltimore call. An absolute classic. The call came out as an unconscious person. What I didn’t know at the time was it was at an inner city Baltimore church. As we walked in, the singing, praying, and organ music continued. All of the women had on beautiful dresses topped with intricate hats that very few people could pull off. The men were in no less than three piece suits, and looking sharp. Paper fans were waving in all directions, especially in the direction of our patient. I caught myself enjoying the culture around me and taking in how different people worship the same Lord. I went to listen to breath sounds and all I heard was the base from the organ.
The patient had taken a nitro and dropped her pressure out, which is why she was unconscious. A pressure of 70 palp will do that to you.
We also had a car v. pole resulting in an obvious concussion. The patient asked the same questions over and over so many times that the hospital made a sign for him. “You were in a car accident, your car was totaled, we don’t know how it happened.” They instructed him to read it whenever he had a question.
After a while of hanging out at the hospital and at “DD” aka Dunkin’ Doughnuts (it’s nice to play into stereotypes every once in a while) our last call of the shift was a GI bleed. The patient had lost so much blood that he was decidedly pale and the conjunctiva (red under part of your eyelid) was completely white. IV fluids abound.
As for my last two day shifts, the highlight was administering Narcan via nasal mister, and later discussing the effects of drugs on your life with the receiver of the Narcan. Other than that, nothing entertaining happened.
We started the second night in with a febrile seizure that was fixed with clothes off and some ice packs. Then we had a cool motorcycle accident where the patient had apparently performed spectacular acrobatics after losing control and accidentally hitting the throttle. He jumped away from the bike right before it became bike parts and just in time to miss the explosion. When we got there, the sad, burnt out shell of a motorcycle was on the ground with the handlebars and front tire about 20 feet away from the rest of it. It was soundly destroyed. The patient walked away with only minor cuts, amazing.
Later I got to experience the consummate Baltimore call. An absolute classic. The call came out as an unconscious person. What I didn’t know at the time was it was at an inner city Baltimore church. As we walked in, the singing, praying, and organ music continued. All of the women had on beautiful dresses topped with intricate hats that very few people could pull off. The men were in no less than three piece suits, and looking sharp. Paper fans were waving in all directions, especially in the direction of our patient. I caught myself enjoying the culture around me and taking in how different people worship the same Lord. I went to listen to breath sounds and all I heard was the base from the organ.
The patient had taken a nitro and dropped her pressure out, which is why she was unconscious. A pressure of 70 palp will do that to you.
We also had a car v. pole resulting in an obvious concussion. The patient asked the same questions over and over so many times that the hospital made a sign for him. “You were in a car accident, your car was totaled, we don’t know how it happened.” They instructed him to read it whenever he had a question.
After a while of hanging out at the hospital and at “DD” aka Dunkin’ Doughnuts (it’s nice to play into stereotypes every once in a while) our last call of the shift was a GI bleed. The patient had lost so much blood that he was decidedly pale and the conjunctiva (red under part of your eyelid) was completely white. IV fluids abound.
As for my last two day shifts, the highlight was administering Narcan via nasal mister, and later discussing the effects of drugs on your life with the receiver of the Narcan. Other than that, nothing entertaining happened.
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