I rise early in the morning. I shower and shave. I put on my working clothes and lace up my black boots. It is dark outside. I drive through deserted streets to the ambulance base, where I punch in — always fifteen minutes early (even though I don’t get paid until the top of the…
Month: March 2008
Removed
We get called for a medic alarm. “Eighty-year-old man having a problem with his aneurysm.” Odd. Just before we get there we hear the first responder call for backup saying “There is a lot of blood here.” I make certain to grab a pair of gloves before I enter the house. The door is ajar….
Mistakes
The hospitals have been really overcrowded lately. I had two calls the other day that are becoming increasingly common.* The first was for a woman with a low oxygen saturation called in by the visiting nurse who was concerned the 90-year-old woman’s oxygen saturation was at 90, her heart rate 100, and her BP 180/90….
LINGUAL NITRO
Received a fascinating comment on my 29 Ways to Lift Your Tongue post. “Check into this but from what I was just told by my mentor is that Nitro Spray doesn’t have to go under the tongue. You can just spray it like breath spray or aim for a cheek. I haven’t checked but it’s…
Medicine for Paramedics
I think I am finally getting over my illness, although I am still dragging a bit. Since going most of the winter without being sick, this one has hit me hard. I think I may in fact have been knocked down by one bug and then been dinged by another on top of it. Here’s…
29 Ways To Lift Your Tongue
We can’t use digital cameras on the ambulance, which if you leave aside the patient’s important right to privacy, is a shame because I could really post interesting pictures about this line of work. I was thinking yesterday while trying to spray some nitro under a patient’s tongue about doing a photo montage/art exhibit called…
Ten feet tall Again
Rick is standing against the wall of the EMS room when I walk in to write my report. “My hero,” he says. “No, you’re my hero,” I say. Rick has been a medic a few years longer than I have, but he has been in EMS way more years. He started as a boy and…
"I Want the Wide Stretcher"
I had an interesting scenario this weekend that I think could be a harbinger of things to come in EMS. With the growing obesity in the population, ambulance companies have started putting bariatric ambulances on line. The ambulances come equipped with special wide load stretchers that more comfortably accommodate the larger patient. Years ago before…
The Cat that Didn’t Move
The patient — a forty-year-old man — says his back is killing him. He has sciatica. He is on Oxycodone, but his vial is empty and his doctor won’t give him a refill. I look at the vial. It was filled six days ago. You should still have pills left, I say. “You won’t believe…
Whispering Old Ladies, Kleenexes and Placebos
I had a patient a few days ago who I found very annoying. She was a woman in her late sixties with cold and flu symptoms. What was annoying to me was she refused to speak in anything but a whisper. I can’t hear you, I would say. But she would keep whispering. I asked…
Does EMS Need to Call 911
I am a big fan of Men’s Health magazine. I often read it in the ambulance. I also get emails from them almost every day with workout, diet and other fitness tips. Today I clicked on an article called How to Break Through a Rut: Reach the Next Level. A sidebar on the page happened to catch my…
Damsels in Distress
I grew up reading books like King Arthur and His Knights. Thus when I was a young boy watching EmergencyI imagined a paramedic as a sort of knight errant rescuing people in distress. The job of a paramedic seemed like noble work with the added reward of being thanked by rescued damsels – whether the rescue was saving…
I Almost Died Today
I almost died today. As we approached the intersection I looked up and I saw my death coming at me. It was a large box truck. I quickly calculated that at its rate of speed eastbound on Park and at our rate of speed southbound on Broad, there was going to be collision. The box…
You Don’t Have to Put on Your Red Lights
The hot line rings. Two-thirty in the morning. The dispatcher says, 80 Dorchester. That’s all. Just the address. That’s all we need to know. Calvin. I don’t work the nights as much as the other guys, but I know Calvin. We take our time getting up. Take a leak. Walk out to the ambulance. Drive…
Rusty
My preceptee got cut loose so I am back at work having to carry my own gear again. My rhythm is a little off, but I think I’ll get it back soon enough. Not much interesting so far – just the meat and potatoes of EMS in this town. 1) An old man with pneumonia…
Ethical Question
Baby Medic just posted about doing three codes in two days. He includes this snippet: Thirty-nine years old, the family said, and they thought she was alive this morning but they couldn’t be sure. Someone thought they heard her get up and make coffee. “The lady deserves a chance at that age,” the doctor said…