A patient with Alzheimer’s and an unsteady gait falls and has a small bruise on her nose. The doctor wants her evaluated even though there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. A 21 year old woman at a minimum wage assembly plant feels dizzy and has a headache – a common complaint at this plant….
Month: October 2006
Routine
Routine. Routine. Routine. Twice in just a couple weeks I have been saved by routine. Here’s what happened this time. First, a little background. The first responders in one of the towns I work in have decided they will no longer respond to lift assists without injury. It was argued to the high-ups that well,…
What Harm?
Four more chapters of the novel Mortal Men are posted at the following site: Mortal Men *** It’s been a typical day in the suburbs. A nursing home rectal bleed, an elderly man from home with pneumonia, a lady with hypertension and a nose bleed, and a call from our most frequent flyer — Hazel,…
Understand
Understand The call is for a sudden death; mother took her last breaths according to the son, and does not wish to be resuscitated. They send us in a non-emergency mode. I tell my partner we should probably be going lights and sirens until we know what is going on. He radios dispatch and they…
Bagdad
We are sent for a man with lung cancer difficulty breathing. Visiting nurse on scene. We’ve been going to this house a lot recently. Small one story house in a lower middle class neighborhood. The grass in the yard is mostly dead, the driveway cracked. The house needs painting. The stink hits you from the…
Too Busy
Writing about the daily life of EMS always creates a tension for me. On one hand I want to write about the nobler aspects of the job, on the other, much of the job is so frustrating you just want to scream. I try to avoid whining so most of the time I ignore it….