CPR, Collapsed Lungs & Tour Guides

Well there is plenty to anecdote about yesterdays 24 hours. The usual 911 abusers are always there and when dispatch is rattling off the address my partner and I can always look at each other and know what we're in for.

We respond to our frequent flier who is a 25 yo kid who lives with his mom and sisters. He is a hypochondriac who is always afraid that if we don't rush him to the hospital he's gonna die. We haven't been to his house in a month or so, but the other 2 shifts have. We get there and he's complaining of a cough. Yes, a cough. He's been congested and coughing for 4-5 days. He has no medical hx and has taken nothing OTC. It kills me how some people refuse to go to the giant local Walmart or Kroger and pend the $5-8 for some decongestant and stay at home. Anyways... his ribs hurt. He's called 911 because he's afraid he has a collapsed lung. O2 is at 99% with all vitals w/in normal limits. We educate him a little and we leave. Oh yeah... and tell him if he wants to go to the hospital, the 7 cars in the driveway can take him.

Later in the night we get dispatched for a man w/ diabetic problems. Its an address we got to very often. Very non-compliant diabetic on dialysis. Normally we get there, give him an amp of D50 and leave. We walk in and he's supine on the floor. Still. Calm. Initial assessment... sternal rub... talking to the family to get an update... MM (my partner) says is he diaphoretic? I look up and say Is he breathing? Damn. We call a cardiac arrest as the engine company walks in. It goes as well as any cardiac arrest can. The family has absolutely no clue what is happening and start calling other family members to come over. As we're doing chest compressions I overhear a family say on the phone, "They're trying to wake him up". Well, yeah I guess you could say that. We keep working. Unfortunately, lots... let me rephrase that... a plethora of vomit showers us while getting the tube. Mmmmmmm.... keep working. You force yourself to keep working. His glucose reads HI. He stays in Asystole throughout. We call him. While we have the family's consent to call him, all hell breaks lose when it hits them. PD really is needed to help maintain the scene. Lots of decon, laundry and showers later we're back in service. I can't write yet the rest due to legality issues... maybe another day.

And lastly, our tour guide at the county jail. We respond usually once shift. Our patient is an "A" patient who seems to just want some fresh air time outside the four concrete walls. We always just have to take them. They know the key words that get them transported. Anyways, like I said we're at the jail almost every shift. We walk in and get a detention officer who is like Mr. Rogers and gives us *literally* a play-by-play guide of our trip up to the 3rd floor medical sector. This is the elevator... We'll be getting off here... We'll be curving to the left here... (mind you there are no other options but the turn here or there) MM and I start eyeing each other and giggling. This guy's funny. He totally means well and is just so happy to be at his job. ...And this is the door we'll be going into... LOL. Stay safe out there!