Gillien Barre

Did a call for a guy who had developed Gullien Barre Syndrome. 31 yrs old, he went from a healthy strapping guy to losing almost all his strength in his legs, starting to lose strength in his arms. Looked it up after getting back to the station. Most people eventually recover but still have residual effects. A lots of victims are put onto vents because of the rapid degredation of the the nervous system. I havent added anything in such a long time I canty remember anything else that happened. Oh well. They say the mind goes first.

Moving

Well.. it's official. I got the call I've been waiting for so I'm heading to Atlanta. Everything is falling into place quite nicely. Already have a place to stay, have met some cool folks down here, and my family will soon also be living a short distance away. The department that I got on with is very busy, and my time between the engine/ladder will be balanced well between the rescue.
I'm in the process of changing everything over to GaFFmedic so some links on other pages may take a little while to get all updated.
I start the department's academy on a fast-track in 3 weeks. Will be down here permanently in 2 weeks. I'm excited for all the challenges that I'm gonna have down here. Well, I'm heading back to Cincinnati... gotta get on the road before it gets to late. I hate rain.

Standard

Had a few days off due to my hockey schedule, picked up some overtime on the BLS transport... did a call for a 9 yr old heading home from Children's. The transport was across state lines so they needed to make sure that the whole crew was Ohio certified. Child was non-verbal with mental retardation due to trauma received at 5 weeks old. Apparently she was picked up by her legs and thrown several times. She now has daily multiple seizures and has had numerous hip surgeries.... now the enlightening part of all this was her caregiver who rode home with us up front with my partner. The main road off her street was under construction and she had no idea how to tell us to get to her house. What should have taken an hour took us 2 hours. I can hear my partner up front asking this woman, "Are you SURE this is the right road?"... "yes... yep, this looks familiar".... 10 minutes later I hear my partner, "Nope, this isnt the right road... its a dead end!" I think we might have passes the Clampets house somewhere along the way. I get paid by the hour, not the run... I didnt care.

Did a call for a drunky-poo who fell down and go boom. Call came in as a man being drug down the highway. We happened to be calling county for something else and they were asking us if we had seen anything since the area we were at was where this call was coming from. We hadnt. But 2 mins later we were dispatched to head back to the area, the PD had someone. Guy has only been in the country for a week.. no visible signs of trauma, and the only english he can mutter is "Drink Tequila". Apparently him being "drug"... was his buddy who also spoke very little English was the one dragging him OFF the highway. LOL

Did a call for chest pain. Guy self-administered 2 Bayer so he was a step ahead of me.

Tubing

Did a call for a 3yr old on a vent to go to his weekly chemo treatment. Also took him and mom back home a couple of calls later. I would venture to say that most EMS folks would agree that peds patients make us the most apphensive. And its just a matter of exposure. We dont get peds patients a lot so when we do get them, its a really new scenario each time it seems.
Did a call for a stat transfer from one hospital to another due to location of his cardiologist. He was on Heparin and Nitro drips, stable with chest pain still at a 3/10 after multi-doses of morpheine. My partner and I got him loaded and the trip was fine. We talked, yada yada yada... We're pulling into the place, and I'm disconnecting him from my monitor and I notice that his tubing is filled with blood. Not a completely unusal site except for the fact that both of his drips were on pumps. I happen to look down and sure as shit notice about 30cc all over the floor. My partner opens the back doors with this priceless "What'd you DO?" expression on his face. Apparently the tubing had gotten crimped in between the pump and the frame of the cot and had gotten sheared in half. What a mess. There was no way to avoid the wheels of the cot going through the mess.
Later on, my partner was in the back and almost the same thing happened. It was just a saline drip but this time the tubing got all wound up in the wheels and was spliced in half. Jeesh.
Helped another crew with a lift assist. Guy post-mva a week earlier still complaining of neck pain going from TCU to MRI. We see a c-collar just sitting on his bed. No one can tell us if his neck has or has not been cleared. The guy took it off himself because it was uncomfortable. We put it back on him. He wasnt a happy camper to begin with and my partners' "its my way or you're not going with me" presentation was enough to make him sulk. Funny.

Hockey practice went well. I only did drills, didnt stay for the scrimmage. Ankle was killing me and its been tight all day today. We have 3 games this weekend. One Friday and 2 back-to-back on Saturday. Hope we have a good end to the season and stay alive through the play-offs.

Everything's... possible

Got dispatched for a possible full arrest.. enroute are advised CPR is in progress. BLS squad is on scene and disregards us and calls the coroner in. Found out later that the patient had been gone for a good hour or so... I'm guessing chest compresisons might not have been to compliant.
Later we got called out for a CO overdose / possible suicide. We met the squad enroute to the hospital. The only working hyperbaric chamber is across the river so off we go. I seem to be having a run of brain-farts today. Jaws clenched - nope, not doing an ET. Started the Neo and dilating the nares for a NT and WHOA... patient is awake. No oriented.. but not uncon anymore. The word combative just doesn't do her justice. Her first sugar was 38. We had the EMT stick her again.. the other medic I was with had heard something about hypoglycemia coinciding with a CO OD. I had already drawn up the Glucagon and the Narcan was already on board. Her 2nd sugar, not more than 45 seconds later was 199. I need to do some of my own looking into this.
Still have another 15 hours or so before I am off. Have hockey practice tomorrow and while I shouldnt be playing, I miss it way to much to not go... It'll be good to test the ankle out.
In the middle of our ritual poker game on this shift we get called out for an MVA with multiple injuries on the highway. Remember passing by an SUV that looked like it had lost the war but everyone had self-extricated themselves. One refusal, one minor and one kinda of an iffy. Other squad took the minor, I took the other guy. Couldnt remember if he was restrained or not and found out enroute that it was a multi-rollover. He got the full work-up. He had a nice doozy of an abrasion on his shoulder which after putting everything together his shoulder was a contact point with the asphalt mid-rollover. Lucky his head didnt follow.
After tagging him with 2 large bore IV's.. I told him the real medics would be on board soon... we just stayed at a Holiday Inn the night before. He would probably be out of the trauma center within a few hours but with his mechanism, but who knows what's possible these days.

stand-still

Well once again I have managaed to bring one of the busiest medic units on the street to a screeching halt. Had one call all day and it wasnt even until 2am that we got the call. Ran a bunch of errands and got a decent poker game going with some of the other crews. Got called out for a possible allergic reaction but ended up being the flu. Woman was tach-ing away at 160, vomiting like no tomorrow... she had woken up with chills and uncontrollable shaking.. husband put her in a hot bath... I dont like treating wet patients who you cant tell if they're warm because they're feverish or because they just got out of a hot bath. After we got her into the ER, she was the 20th patient that night who came on with sudden flu-like symptoms.
Am working at the firehouse today and we've been pretty quiet here too... just a few of the standard.. WalMart sheered off a couple of sprinkler heads this afternoon.. a couple of MVA's... nothing noteworthy.
Doing another 24 tomorrow...

Such is life....

Its been a little while since I've posted. And a lot has happened. Had to take care of some issues in Florida so I was gone for a week. Stopped off in Atlanta on my way back since just getting through downtown took and hour and half. aahhh... ATL traffic. Uncle Don was as sweet and generous as ever letting me crash at hisplace with short notice. Meet up with some friends for a couple of drinks and had a good time. The next morning rushed home to try and make my hockey game... seems I'm always racing home from Atlant to make a hockey game. LOL. Peels Palace burned to the ground Friday night and had a several good alarms going on in the area all at once.

Worked a 36 starting on Sunday and finished off with breaking my ankle last night right before getting off shift. Such is life. I am hoping the ortho looks at the xrays and sees something else as I really cant afford to be off work for 2 weeks. Not to mention just sitting around doing nothing will drive me insane. I'm saying my prayers that the ortho will see it my way. I can hobble for a bit... According to the ER doc I fractured my calcaneous.. right in the core of the ankle where the tib-fib meets your heel. Its only unbearable when I'm sleeping for some reason. Am hoping I can go back to work SOON.

On Sunday all of runs were noting extraordinary. All of them were out in boo-foo, so transport times were up there, but just basic ALS assessment type of runs. Did a woman with general weakness who had a diabetic hx, a fall that turned into a witnessed seizure, another fall with diff breathing... OT shift on the last part of my 36 was steady but again nothing challenging.

So now begins my time off until otherwise notified. At least tomorrow we have a mandatory protocol review class and Thursday is a UC Air Care Conference.

Pull to the Right

I am finally home after a long shift. Worked a 24 on the medic, then a 24 on the BLS side for some what should have been easy OT. Ha! The first 24 was fine... nothing challenging. Got called out for an asthma attack and when we get there a guy is sitting outside a strip mall looking pretty upset. He had recently had some abdominal surgery and apparently him and his wife got into it and she punched him in the belly and elsewhere. Parts of his story sounded dramatized but the cops on scene sure did not have any sympathy for him. "What, you're wife beat you up?"

Got called to the grocery store for an in custody with a laceration. The guy is shoplifting some goods and he just cant figure out for the life of him why the store security might tackle him in the parking lot after he starts running. He knows the complaints to have, even though he is still hopeful for some reason that its actually going to delay jail. No such thing as a smart ciminal.

The second 24 hours were a completely different story. We ran our butts off. Everyone seems to be out sick lately so dispatch was short on crews. We left the station around 10am and didnt get back til 12:45am. And there was no sitting under a tree somewhere hiding out. I had a really good partner. We laughed and made the best of being beat to death with calls. Plenty of goofy sound effects over the intercom as we're going down the street in the hood. We finally quieted down about 1am, but then got called out at 3:40am this morning to head down to an outlying hospital for a transfer back into the city. Its a good 35 miles each way. I was booking it in hopes of getting back into bed faster. Joe got to sleep the way there, I wanted to mess with him... If I have to be up, HE should have to be up! I kept my thoughts on Tim and Austin to keep my brain focused and trying to keep my eyes from crossing and then subsequently closing. Sleep.... mmmm.. precious, precious sleep. It was 5am before we got back... The next few days off will be nice. Enough OT for me.

Hold'em

Worked last night and didnt do much. Got called out and then disregarded for a possible stroke at a dialysis center. Patient complained of tinlging in her hands and feet. Once we got there, found out that the nurses apparently waited until her dialysis was finished before they called 911... which at first may seemed shocking.. but then again, after getting some history from the patient, she ALWAYS has this tingling and she had no other impairments. The EMT's took the call.
We got a good game of Texas Hold'em in around 10p. Held on for a couple of hours and then gave in and went to bed. Middle of the night got a resp. distress but again got disregarded enroute. Oh well. This week I'm working non-stop save for a 4 hour break right now.

Time

I've done so much overtime lately that actually being off the last two days feels like I'm playing hooky or something. Tuesday (Valentines Day) had lunch with a friend and helped him get his house ready for a showing that evening. I think I only had a brief 20-second pause as to "...hhmm.. I dont have a Valentine" but that was about it. Now mind you I certainly had someone in mind... but we wont go there.
I was looking forward to drill Tueday night at the firehouse.. hoping to get some energy out and tear something up, but no... ugh, coporation meetings are such a waste. We all talk about and dare each other to raise a motion to disband the corporation but its such a tradition that no one ever does it. Yesterday I went and had lunch with some friends that I used to work with in corporate america. It was great to see them, and we all updated each other on life and I shared my news about moving. I know the next 2 months will fly by.

Today I am at a station that is way out. Took about an hour to get into work this morning and that is with no traffic. Closest hospital is 25 miles away. If you get some good calls, its a good opportunity to practice skills since you have a lot of patient contact time. So far we've had nothing all day. Just sitting here watching men's hockey on the olympics. ....
Finished out the day with 2 chest pain calls. The first one seemed legitimate, the 2nd one, not so much. The first one, the other medic I was working with knew him personally, so that always adds a little pucker factor.
Working at this outpost is a good refresher. Maxed out the protocol just short of Morpheine with still 10min to go, I thought about giving 2mg of Morpheine but my guessing game got the better of me. At my normal station we're barely through the the 2nd round of NTG and we're pulling into the ER. I know confidence comes with time....

911 vs taxi?

Well after today I may not be a wheel chock, just an ALS wheel chock. My partner calls the runs butt-ache runs but its just the standard BLS stuff. Seems everyone liked the floor today as most of runs were for falls. A cook @ the elementary school fell, an older lady at an assisted living place fell trying to get to the toilet. Seems she couldnt wait for us to get there as there was poop everywhere. We helped her up, cleaned her up and went on our way.
Another call for ab pain, ... then a possible structure fire... its funny how when its freezing out and people are in their backyards looking around and they see smoke coming from a chimney and then they call the fire department for possible structure fire. Hmmm... brilliant. I've got a ton of energy lately and I'm wanting to get out and do something. I will hit the gym tomorrow.. I can feel myself getting weaker lately and its frustrating.

Tug

On a chase car today covering about 8 cities and as usual I am the wheel chock. Only 1 run all day, but at least it an unusual run. Got called to join the city BLS unit to meet a boat at one of the river docks. It is not a dock any of us are familiar with. The FD have also been dispatched to help cut the locks off a gate in order to get to the dock. Call is for a woman unconscious on a tugboat pushing a barge down the Ohio River. We're meeting up with another tug to take us out there.
She is the "mom" of the ship and the cook. Elderly woman with only known history being diabetic. She is only responsive to loud voice but after briefly fixing her eyes on us, is content to go back to sleep. Sugar is fine, and since she is on the floor of a tug, cant get a rythm. Packaged her pretty tight for the trip back to shore. Am guessing that its an ischemic stroke as her CT shows clean.

City appreciation party is tonight so I'm clocking out early to join in the festivities. Its always a blast, everyone dressing up... good meal and fine spirits on the city tab. We hit the chief's house afterwards as per tradition to continue the party in the hottub. Anything else that happened, I do not claim to remember.... what happens at the chief's house... stays at the chief's house.

Traveling woman

Well the last 3-4 days have been quite a whirlwind. There has been excitement, nervousness, soreness, and tiredness. I went to the Atlanta area to test for a department. I have been trying to test for as many depts as possible since getting my medic. My chances may not have always been great, but the more experience the better. I had heard about this department on a fire job page and started researching it. It's big, busy, and has good opportunities to advance the career. They have a good special ops division. and well.. it just looked attractive. The time to come down and test was this past week. I went down a day early to ride a shift with a station. A great friend of mine knew someone on the dept and hooked us up.
It was good. Was able to ride both the squad and the quint. First out the door after being there only 10 minutes was a GSW. Apparently the police were called for an animal complaint and while on scene it became necessary for the officer to draw his weapon on the animal. Our patient, brilliant as it was, leaped in front of the officer and took the bullet for the dog. Story/Video Now thats love.
The rest of the day stayed busy making butt-ache calls. Had dinner with the guys and then headed to my uncles place. Had to be at the Health Dept by 0800.
Got a full range of a physical (3 hours worth) and got fitted for uniforms and gear. The next day was the written and physical agility.
There was only 7 of us doing the testing so we were able to get to know each other and move along pretty fast. Aced both and then headed off to the airport to try and make an earlier flight. We had a hockey game that I am was hoping to make.

Now flying standby is an experience. I used to work for American so I know how the process works and you'd think that flying on Delta between their two main hubs would be easier. mmmmm.... No. I checked in for the first flight with 10 open seats available. By the time I got to the gate, there were 57 standbys and I was #32. 3 missed flights later I decided to fly to an alternate airport, spend the night in the airport, and then take a morning flight into home. Rummaged through a bar that was closed for a coke, swiped some airplane blankets and crashed in a corner. I made it in @ 0730 and made it into work on time @ 0900. It was rough but fun.

Home... at least for the next 2 months.. is so sweet. I got the job in GA. I am estatically happy. I am ready to head across that bridge.

A stretch

I've been ignoring this thing lately... I suppose the whole point is to be able to go back and remember patients that I've encountered and skills that I may have used but once a year. A lot going on on the personal side of life that I am trying to stay distracted from. Getting dumped is never any fun. I am flying to Atlanta tomorrow to test for a county fire dept. I really hope I get, but on the other hand, staying in the place that everyday more becomes my home sounds pretty good too. A lot of things have fallen into place if I move South... a lot closer to my family, a nice place to stay, a fresh start, a good hockey team to play, and a good FOOLS chapter to hook up with.

But I will also be closing a chapter on a place that has been the birthplace of the last 12 years of my life. This is where I came to college, met my now ex-husband, started in the fire service, got my medic, and have some of the closest and dearest friends. Now, dont get me wrong... I'm not scared of moving. Just happy-sad. Hell I dont even have the job yet, but the antipication of it all makes it hard to keep everything balanced. I've moved 7 times since leaving home after high school. Whatever God has in store for me, I know He knows where I should be.

As for the last week or so of patients and calls... the one that sticks out in my mind is last night. She was a transfer back from the ER to her nursing home. 87 years old, hx of CVA, came in by squad with chest pain, and severly dehydrated. Doc wanted a line in her before we took her back. One of the ER nurses had been trying for a bit before we got there. A 22... a 24.. it didnt matter. You could see them pretty well thru her thin skin, but she couldnt hit any of them. Now like all medics and nurses out there.. you're watching someone trying to get an IV and you think, "Ah, come on... I could hit that blind-folded..." and you want to jump in and get it.. until you realize that you miss it too. This poor woman was stuck and restuck. We needed the line and this woman could do nothing but grunt and moan in pain as we kept trying to get the line. Her feet were an option but I do everything I can to avoid it. We finally get one above her AC. Dehydrated old veins suck. What made her prominent in my mind was her eyes. She understood that what we were doing was a necessary intervention, and she wanted to be anywhere than there, but if she had the strength and where-with-all, she probably would have clocked us and given us hell for sticking her so many times. I may go visit her next week in the nursing home. She had fire in those eyes... a spunk that was forced to be contained to her mind because of a stroke.

I've had my share of partners the last week. Mostly all good. I will just leave it at the ones who were frustrating... were "let me beat you with the clipboard" frustrating. But.. its only 12-24 hours. Nothing I cant live through. Well I am off to pack and square everything away. Have to go back into work for a short 6 hours later and have some running around to do.

I am standing on a cliff with a bridge that goes out across a chasm into a fog to my left and solid ground that is clear to my right. I've always been one for going out on my own and adventure. This will be fun to see where I go.....

A-B-C's

In the middle of working a 72-hour tour. OK.. so its not a true straight 72 hours. I had a 10 hour break in between where I ran home, showered and jumped into bed only to get up and come back into work. Anyways.. it hasnt been bad. When we've needed to get up and get some energy we had runs that kept us busy.. but when we were finally done, we were quiet for long enough to get in some zzz's or catch a movie.

Did 2 calls back to back for cellulitis in the exact same spot on the patients. One of the patients was non-compliant on her depression meds and it showed. She insisted that we lock all the doors on the ambulance on the way to the hospital but half-way didnt like her level of care and was trying to bolt. I was driving and while I could hear the conversation between my partner and her, I ignored the flashing lights he was beeping to get my attention to drive faster. Had security meet us in case she was going to bolt from the cot that was 5 feet up in the air. Once we had her on the floor, she wasnt even in her room yet and was adament that the nursing staff was not providing her adequate care. She finally agreed to stay but only if I helped her get into bed. I'm looking around like, who am I? I helped her, and asked her nicely to please let the nurses do their jobs and help her. She grunted a bit and martyred herself to receiving treatment.

I've rotated through several partners since the beginning of this shift. I think I should stop by the post office and get a change of address form.

My narratives are all starting to look the same. I sit on the seat staring at my patients sometimes.. almost pleading with their bodies to need something.. anything from me. But for now.. I will take the monitorings and keep on the lookout for anything else that might arise.

I have another 23 hours to go and then am off for a few days. Need to catch up on laundry and re-introduce myself to my roommate. Will hit the gym for a few days to catch up on that too. Want to present a good showing for my physical agility test.

Rain

A nice leisurely 24 shift on a Sunday. I like Sundays. There's the weekly checklist of all the squads and we take our time in the mornings.. everyone manuvering gingerly with their checklist on a clipboard in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. My partner and I criss-cross 3 counties to hit all the other stations to pick up the weekly time sheets and outstanding run reports. We dont get a run til 12:30pm. Considering I played my butt off last night at our hockey game, I'm not to disappointed that we dont get out first run til 12:30pm.

It's dreary and cold and I wish it would just snow already. No such luck. It rains. And rains. And rains some more. We have an evening transfer into hospice for a sweet old woman who has no complaints, nothing hurts, but yet her family says they cant care for her anymore. We wrap her up like Mother Theresa to keep her as dry and warm as possible. Down a set of steep stairs on a hill that is her front yard.. we lift and carry her like the Egyptians did royalty. Its the least we can do.

I got to watch my show Grey's Anatomy without interruption. Sweet. Hoping to pick up some more shifts throughout the week. I'm poor. But who isn't these days. Gotta make it to the gym tomorrow. Have a week before another game and have some pent up energy.

There she goes....

Friday night got toned out for a working structure fire in the city. My roommate who was off duty came with me anyways.. can never have to much manpower. 4 of us on the first engine in, I was engineering along with DT as officer and DA and SB in the back. JB and the rook took the 2nd engine right behind us. We were a good 1/3 of a mile away and could see it was already fully involved. Could see by the way it was cooking that mutual aid was in order. Quite nicely the house had a plug in its front yard... which was nice until we had a couple of lines laid and the other companies pulling off the plugs upline. Wind was blowing against us about 20mph, zero visability of the structure... which after hollering at the rook to keep on air he looked at me and said what about you? LOL.. well.. I guess. Roof collapsed with 7-10 min of being on scene. Heard a few reports of some Nitros Ox tanks being the garage. Homeowner did confirm there were dragster funny cars in the garage but no NOX tanks. About 4-5 min into the operation, my supply line looked like a piece of spaghetti. Had a whopping 10psi of residual on the intake. Good times trying to keep from cavitating the pump. Not a hard job, just cant get a lot of other things done when you're trying to listen to the pump while running around to hear if its winding up.

Mind you.. I'm not complaining... who doesnt like to have a job? Temp was about mid-40's when we got on scene.. dropped to the low 30's after being there for 4 hours and snowing. But we had it good compared to CSVFD. Those guys laid 2k feet of supply and relay pumping to the scene. Walking out 2k feet of supply would have sucked. Thanx guys for the help. There was no loss of human life, but the family did loose the family dog. And everything they owned. We really did feel so badly for them. Cause was still undetermined last I heard.

Broomstick

It was a very light day today... its still considered a holiday by a lot of the Doctors' offices and labs, etc so.. while we didnt do a whole heck of a lot.. it makes the day drag. Got called out for a pnemonia patient to go back to the nursing home. Now I have some very solid opinions about nursing homes, I wish I had a bigger soap box but its one of those institutions in our society that lacks so much consideration and administration because no one cares enough for our parents but they sure do care enough about the almighty dollar. Now, I have seen some nice nursing homes. They are VERY few and far between, but when you do see them... you see a markedly different patient profile. The all to often under-certified, under-paid, under-staffed nursing home with patients who are given the bare minimum care is the norm. I have to say it is the saddest part of what I see.
I love old folks. I love the cranky ones, I love the sweet ones, I love the perverted ones who still have that spark of life in their eye. Reminds me of my great-gram. That woman walked at least a mile every day up until she was 97. She danced twice a week til she was 98, and drove her own car around (and did it well) until she was 95. When my ex-husband and I moved to FL to take care of her... as we were tucking her in for the night and getting her settled, she used to grab his arm and tell him to go make love to his wife. Ha! She was a hoot! Its usually the cranky ones who are just so bored with life and so frustrated with all the good-intentioned people of their world that have taken away their indepenedence. That is one of my "personal" rules... I try to give my patients every ounce of independence they want. All to often we hurry our senior citizens to either move to the cot, or sign paperwork, or whatever. These are smart, talented people who were living life just like we are now... but age or diease or bad luck has dealt them a hand that no longer permits them to live unaided. And to top it all off... they often get stuck in a foul-smelling room with no visitors and here we come... I will leave this blank for you to fill in how the medical community in general treats these patients. I am not saying all or even most EMT's and medics are calloused... but it does happen and it just plain shouldn't.
So what to do about this issue that infuriates me and saddens me.... I do what I can to affect the people around me in hopes that it will have a ripple effect.

Back to the patients I had today and how this tirade got started. Our first patient of the day was in the hospital for pneumonia and was in the hospital for 2 weeks (over Christmas and New Years) and we were transporting back to the nursing home. She cried most of the way to the nursing home... because she missed it. It was her home, and they were good to her. It truly made my day.. knowing that when we left her there, she was happy. She was home.

The other calls were for a routine transport back from the hospital to a nursing home and a inter-facility transport to behavioral health.

Storms have been a brewing all afternoon and we had some awesomely wicked weather move through the area. Wished I had been at the firehouse today.. I was listening on the radio while I was at work.. we had a car fire in the middle of a torrential downpour with a tornado warning. In my demented way.... sweet!

Starting new medic job

Well I've started as a medic with a new service here in town. Have to do several protocol tests and shadow time before getting cut loose. I'm sure I'll have more to update now. Hope you had a good Christmas and hope you have a good New Years. I have to work tonight at the station and its supposed to snow... maybe a snow/rain mix. Who knows what we'll get. So far the radio has been pretty quiet with chatter....

until next time.... laugh til your belly hurts.

11/18 @ 10:19pm

It was SO AMAZING ! ! ! ! ! It was AWESOME! It was a great! It is such a cool story too.. everything that could have gone wrong did.. but yet everything still worked out great. My partner and I were scheduled for the ambulance that night. Well we had a fire call for an alarm at one of our corporate buildings. No one else showed up for the run so my partner and I took the engine. We were doing our investigation (the building is just a hop straight off the highway)... and I went outside to check on the sprinkler pit and (another engine crew with 2 guys from a neighboring dept were on scene with us too) another FF and I are walking back into the building when this van comes tearing into the parking lot with a guy hollering out the window. I'm thinking, this guy sounds drunk. LOL... We finally decipher "my wife is in the back having a baby". Now, normally when people say that.. mom is in labor.. yelling, all that.. but not this one... we opened the doors and mom pulls at the waistband of her britches and the head is already out!!!! Woo-Hoo!!! My adrenaline shot up like I cant even tell you! I grabbed the head and neck, had per push one time and out she came. Didn't have time to put gloves on or anything and I had my fire turnout gear on. She was SO tiny! I'm talking to mom trying to get some info on her... baby is 2 weeks OVERdue.. and they're traveling from OH to TX. yeah... I know... crazy decision there. This was baby #5. Baby is not breathing. Now.. since we have the engine and not the ambulance (and even though we've asked for one for a while, we also dont have a basic jump kit either on the engine)... so now.... we have a newborn.. and we have NO blankets, no suction, no O2, no OB kit.. no nothing! AND.. its 17 degrees out! I'm huddled up in the van with mom (since we're still attached).. and the other FF says "Do you want me to call your ambulance?" Ha!!! I'm like NO!.. WE"RE THE SQUAD crew.. you cant call us... call (dept down the street)! LOL! !! ! ! So, they're in route... Mom is a little lethargic.. I'm trying to keep her with us, I'm having her massage her own belly to help with the pain and stop the bleeding... the guys are rifling through their first aid kits trying to find me ANY airway, mask so I can help this little start breathing. She had meconium all over her.. pretty bad... it was very dark since the only light we had was a parking lot light but you could still tell... She was taking a half breath maybe once every 5-10 seconds or so... I'm hollering for anything to wrap her up into.. Dad throws me this dirty crusty old sweatshirt. It was bad but better than nothing. The other ambulance shows up with their medic and I'm telling the medic I need suction now. He starts to get his stuff out then says lets just get going and he takes off to get in the squad. LOL.. I'm hollering for him to come back.. I need him to cut the cord! I couldn't go anywhere yet! ha ha ha ha... by this time her cord is ice cold and her feet are so cold too. So the medic grabs the OB kit and cuts the cord.. meanwhile Dad is asking why cant HE cut the cord! oh Jeesh man... you should have thought about that while she was in labor and deciding to drive to TX!!!! We found out later that mom's water broke at 10:30 that MORNING! this is 10:30 at night! So... we get baby in the squad and take off to the hospital. We call another ambulance to get mom since mom is pretty stable. Enroute do all the normal stuff to warm her, get her O2 and suction her. We took her straight to L&D and they put her in the special care nursery immediately. Now.. for the stats... I thought she was tiny.. but ya know sometimes we misjudge things in the heat of the moment. Baby was in fact 2 weeks overdue but only weighted 5 pounds even. We were VERY close to losing her... her core body temp when we brought her in was only 91.7!!!! Yikes! But I can tell you I will always remember Nov. 18th, at 10:19pm. I went by and saw her Sat and Sun.. and by Sun she was off the oxygen tent and had her eyes open and looking around. the nurse is going to try and get a picture of her for me for my EMS scrapbook.
As far as mom and dad... the hospital got social services involved immediately. Their story kept changing as to how and why and all that. They seem very happy about the baby.. but its sad that they dont seem very capable of caring for her.
It was just amazing... they just happened to see our firetruck lights from the highway and pulled off and came to us!