Streetwatch: Notes of a Paramedic

I just finished reading a new EMS novel called Black Fliesby Shannon Burke, who also wrote Safelight. The novel is about a young paramedic in Harlem who, trying to fit in, falls under the influence of some seriously burned out medics. Black Fliesis a much better read than Burke’s first book, which while well-written, seemed…

Earlier this week I did a cardiac arrest at a nursing home. I arrived to find an elderly patient apniec and pulseless. The patient was quite large and had a lifeless face with a small amount of facial hair that made it difficult to ascertain gender. The nursing home staff had last seen her (she…

I’ve been precepting a new part-time intermediate. He needs 15 IV starts in the field. He may have five or so. (We only work together once a week.) He doesn’t quite have the hang of it yet. I tell him not to worry about missing because when you miss you learn what not to do…

The call is for a nosebleed. Person unconscious in a car. We get updated that the patient is now conscious, but still some bleeding from the nose. The first responder tells us the man has had a nose bleed all day and finally called a neighbor to drive him to the hospital. On the way,…

The AHA has issued a new Hands-Only (Compression Only) CPR advisory. The advisory applies to bystanders, not professional rescuers. When you see an adult suddenly collapse, use Hands-Only CPR: that’s CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. And it can help save lives. Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by bystanders who…

We’re called for an unresponsive at the movie theatre, but are soon updated that the patient is conscious and breathing. As we pull into the parking lot, we see a police car next to a green Oldsmobile, and the officer looking in the passenger door. The officer comes over and talks to me as I…

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…

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….

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….

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…