The last 72 hours
Last week I had a 72 hour work week. I haven't decided yet if this is good or bad. I'm sure that when my paycheck comes it will be a good thing. As for now, after working seven days straight I'm not so sure it's a good thing. In just under 12 hours I'll be finishing up my last pottery class and then flying home to test for a job.
In the last week after 48 hours of 911 and 24 hours of interfacility and I've had what seems to be a ton of calls.
We had a lady who had chest pain for four days before she decided to call 911. When we got there it was radiating to her left arm, and she had prolonged Q waves and inverted T waves in some leads. So she could have had a heart attack or was almost having one. Oddly, she was someone who should have called who didn't.
I've had several people fall down and not hurt themselves. A lot of our nursing facilities here aren't allowed to pick their residents up when they fall, so we have to go do it. Also, about two or three car accidents, none of which were terribly exciting.
One night we were called for cardiac arrest at 3am. Historically, that will turn out to be nothing, or someone who is too far gone to be helped. This was a young man who had gone to the methadone clinic earlier in the day. I suppose he took too much methadone, which caused him go unconscious because he was breathing about 6 times a minute. It was the first time in a long time that I got to give narcan to fix the overdose, one of my favorite things to do. You can take a person who is unresponsive and barely breathing and wake them right up, right as rain. He, as with almost everyone who gets narcan, woke up really mad and nearly throwing up. A good time was had by all.
We also had a chest pain call where the lady was classically clutching her chest, sweating, pain down her left arm. She has ST elevation in several leads, and depression in almost all the others. She too had had pain all day, and called us in the evening. Sometime we will find the balance between people who should call and people who shouldn't. Well, maybe we will. Until then we can have some excitement and save some heart muscle.
In the last week after 48 hours of 911 and 24 hours of interfacility and I've had what seems to be a ton of calls.
We had a lady who had chest pain for four days before she decided to call 911. When we got there it was radiating to her left arm, and she had prolonged Q waves and inverted T waves in some leads. So she could have had a heart attack or was almost having one. Oddly, she was someone who should have called who didn't.
I've had several people fall down and not hurt themselves. A lot of our nursing facilities here aren't allowed to pick their residents up when they fall, so we have to go do it. Also, about two or three car accidents, none of which were terribly exciting.
One night we were called for cardiac arrest at 3am. Historically, that will turn out to be nothing, or someone who is too far gone to be helped. This was a young man who had gone to the methadone clinic earlier in the day. I suppose he took too much methadone, which caused him go unconscious because he was breathing about 6 times a minute. It was the first time in a long time that I got to give narcan to fix the overdose, one of my favorite things to do. You can take a person who is unresponsive and barely breathing and wake them right up, right as rain. He, as with almost everyone who gets narcan, woke up really mad and nearly throwing up. A good time was had by all.
We also had a chest pain call where the lady was classically clutching her chest, sweating, pain down her left arm. She has ST elevation in several leads, and depression in almost all the others. She too had had pain all day, and called us in the evening. Sometime we will find the balance between people who should call and people who shouldn't. Well, maybe we will. Until then we can have some excitement and save some heart muscle.
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