Do you have a receipt for that?

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On Saturday, for some reason (what I lovingly refer to as) the 'Crappiest ambulance company on Earth' was really busy. I hate when that happens. Well, I don't usually mind, but weekends are usually slow. Calls were apparently stacked up from here to kingdom come and everyone was freaking out. Everyone, except for me. They make their own bed, so I won't lose sleep over them scheduling 5 calls when they only have 3 trucks available. But, ironically, I did lose actual sleep over it. Oh well.

My regular partner was shipped over to our sister company because they were understaffed as well. So, my partner for the evening was a CRT (I) who is a nice guy, but is partially deaf, and also a mumbler. Basically I couldn't understand a damn thing he was saying, and he couldn't understand a damn thing I was saying. I hated asking him to repeat himself, because I didn't want him to think I was making fun of him, so there were a lot of hanging questions, random polite laughter, and odd silences.

We were sent to a call, and when we got there, they paged us to a call we could do right after. Ooh, that makes me mad. We hadn't even made patient contact, and they're sending me another call.
We got to the next call, which was taking someone from hospital to nursing home; a simple discharge.
When we arrived at the nursing home, we were told that they don't accept new admissions that late in the day (11pm). Um, this is ludicrous, says I, the patient is right here, just take him! They refused, and I was unwilling to get into it with them. We called our already overwhelmed dispatcher who called the sending hospital. They agreed to take the patient back. Uh! I couldn't believe the idiocy! So, we drove all the way back, had to check into the ER briefly (where the charge nurse said "We can't take him back!") and brought him back to his room. Full circle.

This has never happened to me before, and if it happens again, I'm afraid that I will freak right out.

Future posts: adventures in kayaking and biking. Evil hills and rescuing canoeists. Oh, and glamour shots of the bike, once I get them online.

Comments

Anonymous said…
meow
28 August, 2007
EMS Mutt said…
Wow,
Now granted I feel slighty like a stalker having read almost all your posts spanning more than two years of your life. I only wish your journey through "documented" life was as enjoyable as my journey through your posts. I can't help but wonder what a snap shot of my life would look like in print. And if it could possible be as interesting to read. Thank you very much for sharing your life with the world. If your posts dont't directly help you, know that they most certainly have helped others.
Keep up the diary! Maybe someday you will earn the 5%-10% from it.
SAPPY QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Don't frown, you never know when someone's going to fall in love with your smile."
31 August, 2007
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