http://medicscribe.com/2008/03/my-death/ Peter Canning's EMS Journal Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:52:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://medicscribe.com/2008/03/my-death/comment-page-1/#comment-6892 PC Mon, 12 May 2008 10:21:00 +0000 http://streetwatch.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/my-death#comment-6892 In one of the towns I work, the fire department is the certified first responder. They send an engine to all priority medical calls. In some cases it is helpful having so many helping hands, in others it is overkill. My point in this story was we were dispatched on a priority, but the fire department wasn't dispatched at all, which meant that the dispatchers knew it was not a priority call so we should not have been sent lights and sirens.</></>Thanks for the question,</></>PC In one of the towns I work, the fire department is the certified first responder. They send an engine to all priority medical calls. In some cases it is helpful having so many helping hands, in others it is overkill. My point in this story was we were dispatched on a priority, but the fire department wasn’t dispatched at all, which meant that the dispatchers knew it was not a priority call so we should not have been sent lights and sirens.Thanks for the question,PC

]]> http://medicscribe.com/2008/03/my-death/comment-page-1/#comment-6891 Charles Pergiel Mon, 12 May 2008 00:43:00 +0000 http://streetwatch.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/my-death#comment-6891 Why call out a fire truck for a medical emergency? Why call out a fire truck for a medical emergency?

]]> http://medicscribe.com/2008/03/my-death/comment-page-1/#comment-6890 Rogue Medic Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:09:00 +0000 http://streetwatch.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/my-death#comment-6890 "The story was he had terminal cancer and the home aide who stopped by earlier discovered he was taking 3 morphine pills three times a day, instead of three morphine pills in a day(one morphine pill three times a day). He was taking nine pills instead of three, but he had no complaints and he wasn't having a hard time breathing. He wasn’t even slightly altered."</></>Sounds like a future problem. He is going through his morphine much faster than the prescription allows for. What happens when he needs more? The nurse, the one who called this in as respiratory distress in the absence of respiratory distress, is probably going to be saying "I told you so," and making refills difficult for him. His doctor is an unknown in this, but does not seem to have written a prescription for an adequate dose for this patient.</></>As far as the driving, I completely agree about the 5 - 10 MPH rolling stop being safer than the full stop. The full stop tells everyone else to start driving again - this is not safe.</></>I am very glad the outcome was not a collision. Kids are a great antidote for stress. “The story was he had terminal cancer and the home aide who stopped by earlier discovered he was taking 3 morphine pills three times a day, instead of three morphine pills in a day(one morphine pill three times a day). He was taking nine pills instead of three, but he had no complaints and he wasn’t having a hard time breathing. He wasn’t even slightly altered.”Sounds like a future problem. He is going through his morphine much faster than the prescription allows for. What happens when he needs more? The nurse, the one who called this in as respiratory distress in the absence of respiratory distress, is probably going to be saying “I told you so,” and making refills difficult for him. His doctor is an unknown in this, but does not seem to have written a prescription for an adequate dose for this patient.As far as the driving, I completely agree about the 5 – 10 MPH rolling stop being safer than the full stop. The full stop tells everyone else to start driving again – this is not safe.I am very glad the outcome was not a collision. Kids are a great antidote for stress.

]]> http://medicscribe.com/2008/03/my-death/comment-page-1/#comment-6889 PC Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:49:00 +0000 http://streetwatch.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/my-death#comment-6889 I may be incorrect on our policy as far as green lights. I guess it was clarified to slow and exercise extreme caution when going through intersections, but does not require a complete stop when the light is green. I may be incorrect on our policy as far as green lights. I guess it was clarified to slow and exercise extreme caution when going through intersections, but does not require a complete stop when the light is green.

]]> http://medicscribe.com/2008/03/my-death/comment-page-1/#comment-6888 Medix311 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:12:00 +0000 http://streetwatch.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/my-death#comment-6888 Same thing happened at my ambulance company to another crew, except they <>were<> hit in the intersection. The call they were going to: arthritic knee pain that was received as arthritic knee pain but coded as unknown medical. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, but it did change company dispatch policy.</></>I'm glad you and your partner came out of this in one piece. Too many responders die in near-preventable car accidents. Stay safe.</></>- Medix311 Same thing happened at my ambulance company to another crew, except they <>were<> hit in the intersection. The call they were going to: arthritic knee pain that was received as arthritic knee pain but coded as unknown medical. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, but it did change company dispatch policy.I’m glad you and your partner came out of this in one piece. Too many responders die in near-preventable car accidents. Stay safe.- Medix311

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