Waterview
"Squad 22, from a phone in. Respond to Waterview Villa, patient with abnormal labs."
My partner, Ant, a guy I went through EMT school with keys the mike and tells our dispatcher we are responding.
"Abnormal labs, thats the most blanket fucking statement in the world. What were the abnormal labs? Is it a high white count with a fever? What the fuck, if its triponin thats even worse but they never fucking tell us.." Ant bitches as we skid and slide on the fresh black ice left behind by a fast moving front.
I knod, telling him I agree as I try to enjoy an Italian grinder I bought up on Federal Hill. Venda, a great little Italian shop threw about four tons of prosciutto, provolone, capicola, salami and some other Italian cold cuts on to a loaf of bread and covered the whole thing in oil and vinegar along with peppers, tomatoes and some huge palm trees of romaine lettuce.
There is some kind of sing along play the piano and dance thing going on when we get to the nursing home. Little blue haireds sit in their wheelchairs and sway while a few ancient Greek guys do a glacially slow oompa dance.
We push through the throng and go to a small but well kept apartment in the back of the living center. Her daughter and son are there making nervous jokes and small talk with her as we turn on the monitor and do a quick peripheral look (leads on the wrists and ankles.) She's tachy at about 135 or so. Vitals are unremarkable with a corresponding pulse, though weak and thready, her BP is at 130/80, not bad considering the heartrate and her respirations are at 18 with clear and equal lung sounds.
"Can you stand up?" Ant asks and shes tells him that when she does her BP drops and she feels faint. Orthostatic vital signs, usually indicative of something potentially bad. So we scoop her by knees and armpits, depositing her easily on the stretcher and leaving quietly.
Since she is doing fine we start to drive toward RIH with no lights or sirens. She's yammering away with Ant in the back and stayed pink warm and happy the whole time I drove us in.
Wedging the truck between two Providence rescue ambulances, I hop out and bring the stretcher out. As soon as the wheels kiss the ground she starts to look worse, she starts to gray up a bit, her eyes seem to go in and out of focus as she mutters something about her arm and back.
At that we start to run toward the ED doors. I find that they have been diasbled because of the cold weather, RNs wanting to keep warm. So I pry them apart and shout.
"Got a cardiac room open?"
A nurse looks startled as a Providence firefighter pulls his stretchered drunk out of the way and we come careening in. On the way to the room the overhead sounds with a medical/trauma team to room four on a stat priority. We give our report about negative and non diagnostic findings and about how the patient shit the bed in the ambulance bay. The doctors and nurses take over and start their own procedures, bloods and 12 EKGs, an aterial blood gas and so forth. I stick around long enough to spike a few IV bags for them and then get out of the way so as to let a CNA orientie get some experience.
While finishing up paperwork in the EMS room, we watch another NEA truck come in, this one with lights going. I finish off my ice water and go out to help them unload the stretcher. In the back a new EMT is trying to calm a man who is missing half his hand. The vetran Cardiac in the back with him looks up at me and says simply:
"Snowblower."
We unload the now fingerless man, the new guy carrying a bag of blood soaked ice and snow almost at arms length. Again the overhead chimes for a trauma team. I go and wash my hands while my partner finishes his paperwork.
My partner, Ant, a guy I went through EMT school with keys the mike and tells our dispatcher we are responding.
"Abnormal labs, thats the most blanket fucking statement in the world. What were the abnormal labs? Is it a high white count with a fever? What the fuck, if its triponin thats even worse but they never fucking tell us.." Ant bitches as we skid and slide on the fresh black ice left behind by a fast moving front.
I knod, telling him I agree as I try to enjoy an Italian grinder I bought up on Federal Hill. Venda, a great little Italian shop threw about four tons of prosciutto, provolone, capicola, salami and some other Italian cold cuts on to a loaf of bread and covered the whole thing in oil and vinegar along with peppers, tomatoes and some huge palm trees of romaine lettuce.
There is some kind of sing along play the piano and dance thing going on when we get to the nursing home. Little blue haireds sit in their wheelchairs and sway while a few ancient Greek guys do a glacially slow oompa dance.
We push through the throng and go to a small but well kept apartment in the back of the living center. Her daughter and son are there making nervous jokes and small talk with her as we turn on the monitor and do a quick peripheral look (leads on the wrists and ankles.) She's tachy at about 135 or so. Vitals are unremarkable with a corresponding pulse, though weak and thready, her BP is at 130/80, not bad considering the heartrate and her respirations are at 18 with clear and equal lung sounds.
"Can you stand up?" Ant asks and shes tells him that when she does her BP drops and she feels faint. Orthostatic vital signs, usually indicative of something potentially bad. So we scoop her by knees and armpits, depositing her easily on the stretcher and leaving quietly.
Since she is doing fine we start to drive toward RIH with no lights or sirens. She's yammering away with Ant in the back and stayed pink warm and happy the whole time I drove us in.
Wedging the truck between two Providence rescue ambulances, I hop out and bring the stretcher out. As soon as the wheels kiss the ground she starts to look worse, she starts to gray up a bit, her eyes seem to go in and out of focus as she mutters something about her arm and back.
At that we start to run toward the ED doors. I find that they have been diasbled because of the cold weather, RNs wanting to keep warm. So I pry them apart and shout.
"Got a cardiac room open?"
A nurse looks startled as a Providence firefighter pulls his stretchered drunk out of the way and we come careening in. On the way to the room the overhead sounds with a medical/trauma team to room four on a stat priority. We give our report about negative and non diagnostic findings and about how the patient shit the bed in the ambulance bay. The doctors and nurses take over and start their own procedures, bloods and 12 EKGs, an aterial blood gas and so forth. I stick around long enough to spike a few IV bags for them and then get out of the way so as to let a CNA orientie get some experience.
While finishing up paperwork in the EMS room, we watch another NEA truck come in, this one with lights going. I finish off my ice water and go out to help them unload the stretcher. In the back a new EMT is trying to calm a man who is missing half his hand. The vetran Cardiac in the back with him looks up at me and says simply:
"Snowblower."
We unload the now fingerless man, the new guy carrying a bag of blood soaked ice and snow almost at arms length. Again the overhead chimes for a trauma team. I go and wash my hands while my partner finishes his paperwork.
posted by Nick Stabile at 12:42 PM
2 Comments:
Good luck with the career....I rmember when it sort of clicked that it made NO difference what the pager or dispatch said, because it's usually wrong anyway. You just reduce every call to either a breathing problem, cardiac problem, or trauma. That about covers it except for OB/GYN stuff. Your paramedic cert will open lots of doors. Just get a reputation for always providing good bedside manner even when everyone else is burned out/frustrated. I always got every position I wanted, not because of some high profile rescue but by holding patient's hands on calls. The thank you letters pile up, and staff pays you back with choice assignments
Also---if you have a choice, go with the biggest department you can. They always offer more cool stuff to get involved in like HazMat, rescue, bombers, tactical teams, investigations.....
I hope I taught Ant well enough that he got a 12 on her.
I'm also dying to know who had the snowblower guy.
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