I’m assigned a paramedic student. And while I love students, I’m not too happy to be precepting this one. She is as close to clueless as you can get and still be allowed to ride. I precepted her a couple weeks ago. She talked a good game so I figured it would be an easy…
Month: November 2004
In the Dark
We’re called for a stabbing. Its dark and when we pull up on scene, we can see officers with guns drawn. We stage and wait the word to go in. It’s hard to tell what’s going on, then another cop comes running out into the street right for us. We step out. “You’re going to…
Codes
“Wife says patient stopped breathing.” I know this one is going to be a code. Just yesterday we were dispatched to a “Cardiac arrest,” but it wasn’t a code. It rarely is when it comes in like that. People don’t know their terminology. Every time we get dispatched for a cardiac arrest and it turns…
Behind Every Door
I’m standing in triage with my patient when I find myself looking at a man standing unsteadily by the entrance to the ER. A security guard has his hand on the man’s upper arm, both holding him up and keeping him from walking away. The guard tells the nurse. “I found him outside. What room…