Please Leave A Message After The Bleep...
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"Tom is asleep right now and cannot come to the website. He was going to write about what has recently happened to JonnyB, however Zinnia has beaten him to the punch I believe the Americans would say, 'You snooze, you lose', although perhaps not as literally as has happened in this case. Please leave your message after the bleep..."
Bleep.
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 15, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Blogging
For All You EMS Types...
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...I have a new column up at EMS1.com.I'm putting on my Nomex skivvies in anticipation of the indignant howls of protest by Mr. Fixit, Detail Medic and others...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - May 14, 2008
One Major Milestone Down...
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...only a couple more to go until the finish line.Today, my lardassitude just took another kick in the crotch. Weight as of this morning, 299 pounds.I broke the 300 pound barrier, folks! That's 63 pounds lost in 3 1/2 months.I am made of win.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - May 14, 2008 Tags: The Incredible Shrinking Ambulance Driver
Utterly Fed Up
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I'm going to apologise, for this post is a complete moan. Nothing positive about it in the slightest.
I'm on night-shifts at the moment and they are hitting me particularly hard. Last night I was feeling nauseous, which lasted into the next day. My eyes felt as if they had been taken out and rolled around in hot sand before being returned to their sockets. At one point I had double vision.
I was in an incredibly bad mood, something that turned into depression for the next day. For much of the night my legs were 'jumping', both annoying and painful. It also meant that when I could try and grab a moment's sleep I could...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 14, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Life Imitates Art...
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...which imitates life, which in turns rips off stories from some guy named Ambulance Driver.I've just had my Major Caudill moment, although mine wasn't as traumatic as Marko having one of his better essays ripped off and passed around teh Intarwebz and attributed to someone else.Actually, I found mine rather funny.I was going through some conference evaluations that arrived in the mail today. Inside were the usual mix; 90% excellent evaluations, some beefs with the venue's sound system and climate control, a smattering of people who obviously wandered into the wrong session or didn't bother to read the description in the ...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - May 13, 2008
Shoelaces, Belts And Other Items Of Harm
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We have a number of hostels in our area, some are for young people, some are for people living with mental illness, some for alcoholics and others are for people coming out of prison.
For this latest call we were called for someone who was 'suicidal', we pulled up outside the house and realising that it was the same place that my crewmate had her bag stolen while we were inside dealing with a patient.
We walked in (after making sure that the ambulance was securely locked) and spoke to a member of staff. We had a bit of trouble making ourselves understood, but this is not really unusual any more.
The patient, who w...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 13, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Alone
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Wow, loads of people editing the holiday wiki - many thanks for all the ideas although if I were to take them all on it'd take me a year to see it all.
I've seen my future, well it'll be my future if I'm lucky and don't drop dead in my 50's.
It was a lovely day, one of the first sunny days we'd had all year and our patients were obviously riffing off the change in the weather, everyone was being really nice.
We were sent on a 'green' job, essentially a transport job with no blue lights or sirens. We were to pick up an elderly man from his flat and run him into hospital. No emergency, no stress, no worries.
One of his n...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 12, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Happy Mother's Day
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You'll find last year's ode to my mother on my left sidebar: A Love Song For Joyce.Aside from being a professional martyr, my mother also was a talented artist with a wickedly funny sense of humor.On a Mother's Day over twenty years ago, she presented all each of her children with an identical painting - five in all. The painting depicted a peaceful cemetery on a lovely spring day, fresh flowers colorfully adorning each headstone......and smack in the middle, one ugly headstone fashioned to look like a beaten, weathered outhouse. The inscription on the door read:Here lies Joyce Hazel Felts Wroten Grayson,Who lived without ...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - May 11, 2008
Observation Shift: 3 - Depressed
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Our third call was to the local council estate for a middle aged man who was, apparently, feeling depressed and suicidal. Now I like psychiatric patients. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit nuts too, but I seem to have a certain affinity with them and often find myself having long, drawn out chats with them on quiet night shifts.
We rang the intercom and Raymond, our patient, unhurriedly let us in. Silently, he beckoned us into his bedroom, flopped on to the bed and sighed. I wasn’t surprised he was depressed; his bedroom was one of the most depressing places I have ever been in. Walls stained nicotine brown, ...
Source: Nee Naw - May 11, 2008 Authors: Mark Myers Tags: Ambulances
5:1
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That's the ratio of patients I've seen to the patients the nurse has seen, over the past two shifts.You know, the nurse that gets paid 50% more than I do. The one who is actually supposed to be assessing and triaging these patients, rather than just affixing her signature to the charts as she flits through the department every few hours like a phantom.I think I'm about to go jam a pack of cigarettes up somebody's ass.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - May 11, 2008
Yes Folks, I'm Still Alive...
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...but my muse is on life support.What with being unwillingly single, overworked, stressed, impending job changes, and just plain being depressed, I haven't found much worth writing about. Everything that comes out just has no...flow.And for someone whose best writing flows straight from brain to keyboard without much thought, that just sucks.Bear with me, though. Go read my archives or something. I'll be back up and posting something worth reading in a day or so.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - May 11, 2008
Nothin' Doin'
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It's a fill-in night at the firehouse. I've asked Helga to cover for me in the past and I'm paying her back now.There's this kid. Her mom and my Mom went to Nursing school together. Her older sister is a doctor and she's thinking the same thing.In the interim, she's decided that being an EMT-B is a good idea as a start on her road to her MD. An application, background check and a physical exam (Ironic?) later, she's a member.Now, she's my problem. The only time we roll the ambulance tonight is to go get ice cream at 11:00 at night. Exciting times, no?She fits in so well that I feel she's been here all along. This is one of...
Source: MaddogMedic - May 11, 2008 Authors: --maddog
Observation Shift: 2 - Expect the Unexpected
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The second call was to the canteen of the local police station, for a member of staff choking on a fishbone. Great, I thought, a rare opportunity to watch a police officer get punched in the back without anyone getting in trouble! (I jest, of course I love the police. I couldn’t do their job, dealing with breaking bad news and horrible criminals all day long. It would drive me mad.)
Anyway, I was disappointed when we arrived because the patient, Alan, a) wasn’t a police officer, he was a handyman doing some work at the police station b) was standing up chatting to some other members of staff and it wasn’...
Source: Nee Naw - May 10, 2008 Authors: Mark Myers Tags: Ambulances
My Wiki Holiday
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OK.
Time for something stupid...
I have a holiday due in a few weeks, from the 16th to the 29th of June. No work for two glorious weeks.
This makes me happy.
The idea is that I get to travel around the UK visiting places that I've never seen. But how do I avoid just going to places that are hiding in the recesses of my mind?
I get you folks to write my itinerary.
I've set up a wiki (an website that anyone can edit), and I'll leave it up to you folks to edit in some interesting places to go and/or people to meet.
So please, go to this website, and write down some interesting places for me to go. I believe that this i...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 8, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Things That Amuse Me...
Observation Shift: 1 - Broken Hip
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A few weeks ago, I went on an observation shift with Steve and his crewmate. We had a touch of Observer’s Curse - only four jobs over the whole shift, about half what I’d expect for a busy station like theirs - but all the calls were interesting in their own way and I’d rather see four “real” calls than eight cases of flu!
There was also a rather amusing incident when we took our rest break at another ambulance station, and all the crews at that station, not knowing who I was or even that I wasn’t just another paramedic/EMT, decided to launch into a diatribe about how much they hate con...
Source: Nee Naw - May 8, 2008 Authors: Mark Myers Tags: Ambulances
Inappropriate
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After the last post Cookie left a comment asking if I still wanted to leave my job...
We were sent on blue lights and sirens to a young woman who had 'collapsed'. We arrived and found her writhing around on the floor. She wasn't too happy to talk to us, instead she kept pretending to be unconscious.
It transpired that she was having period pain.
My crewmate (who is female) asked her if she had taken any painkillers for it, after some grunting, groaning and flailing around she was told that, no, the patient hadn't taken any painkillers.
"Do you have painkillers?", asked my crewmate.
"Yes", said the patient and named a ...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 7, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Official Nee Naw Reopening
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Right folks, this blog is back in business! And what better way to get things started but with my favourite topic, a rant about care homes?
The call went something like this:
Me: “Nee Naw Service, what is the address of the emergency?”
Care home worker gives an address which is not the address the phone is registered to. This is not unusual for care homes as they sometimes go via a switchboard. But I can’t get a match for the address she gives me. Computer says no. Computer says address does not exist. I try to get her to spell it, but she just keeps repeating the address. Then she gasps, and says R...
Source: Nee Naw - May 7, 2008 Authors: Mark Myers Tags: Ambulances
Squeeze
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I'm covered in the urine from the five year old child.
Squeeze
We get the call as a child having a fit.
Squeeze
There is a solo responder there, he's giving oxygen to the child while it lies on the floor.
Squeeze
I look at the child's eyes, he's still fitting, his body isn't moving but his eyes are darting around in an unnatural fashion.
Squeeze
His chest isn't moving in the the way it needs to in order to breathe.
Squeeze
I pick him up, covering myself in the urine and race downstairs.
Squeeze
I kick the door release button to the block of flats, my crewmate jokes about me being able to get my leg up that hi...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - May 5, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
A New Job Title?
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I should have a new title added after my name. 'Professional waker-upper'.
Two calls in the space of one shift to people who are sleeping in a public place.
One person fell asleep in a magistrate's court, waiting for his friend to be finished in one of the courts. His friend must have been so excited not to receive a custodial sentence that he left his friend behind.
Smelling slightly of alcohol he'd bedded himself down and fell asleep. We were called by one of the security officers, no-one seemed too happy to shake him awake.
One application of slight pain from the nice ambulance man and the patient woke up, ...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 30, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance Things That Amuse Me...
I Feel So Relieved
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For the past eight years, I have held a terrible secret, one that has caused me no small amount of sleepless nights. On at least two occasions during that time, I've had the opportunity to level with the authorities, and neither time did I avail myself of the opportunity to cleanse my soul of its terrible burden.But now, as of this morning, I no longer feel like a hunted man. It feels as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. The monkey is off my back.That is, if the monkey weighed fifty-five pounds.You see, as of this morning, for the first time in eight years my actual weight has matched the number printed on my ...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 30, 2008 Tags: The Incredible Shrinking Ambulance Driver
Every Time I Try To Get Out, They Drag Me Back In
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This blog has been many things over the years, it's been a place to rant, a place to explain what us ambulance people do, a place to celebrate what we do well, a place to defend the service from inaccurate news reports and a place to criticise some of the planning that occurs.
The benefits of this blog are many and varied, I've met people I never would have otherwise, done things that I'd never have imagined and made some very good friends. Doors have been opened to me.
I enjoy writing this blog. I like having a place where I can write and people listen to me - I know that sounds egotistical but I'm not alone in liking a...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 29, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Further To A Previous Post
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Ambulance Nut works for the Trust mentioned in the last post and has a few important things to say, things not reported by the news story that I linked to.
It's important to see how media reports differ from reality.
(Thanks go to Ambulance Nut for drawing my attention to this).
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 29, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance News
Me Elsewhere
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For those that are interested, I was invited onto the Radio 5 Live show to talk about this very sad story. The BBC are lovely so I had a cab to a studio in London, while the presenter sat up in Manchester. Stephen Nolan the presenter obviously plays the devils advocate while I play the voice of reason.
As is normal with talk radio there are some… interesting viewpoints, although I'm quite sad that no-one surpassed the first caller in comparing me to the Nazis.
You can listen to it again here, my segment starts 1:08:50 into the stream. I don't think it will be up for too much longer.
I am grateful to the ambulance and ...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 28, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance News
My First Letter Of Thanks
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I had my first letter of thanks yesterday, the first one I have ever had.
It was a lovely simple job, one of those jobs that you tend to do a lot of. The call was to an elderly woman who had maybe collapsed. The problem that faced us was that she had collapsed behind her front door and no-one was able to gain entry.
We never really know what to expect from this sort of job, sometimes the person is fine, they've just fallen over. Sometimes the person is seriously ill and this is the reason behind the collapse. Occasionally the person will have died in the night.
The, also elderly, sister had gone to our patient's h...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 28, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
The 123 Book Meme
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Tagged by Expert Witness, and as it seems, I'm the last person in the blogosphere tagged with this one, so I won't tag anyone else.The rules of the meme go:1. Find the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!2. Turn to page 123.3. Find the first five sentences.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five other bloggers.Okay, the nearest book to hand was enthusiastically endorsed by LawDog, and loaned to me from his personal library.*It's a bit hard to read, what with all the dog-eared pages, notes scribbled in the margins, and passages of text highlighted in pink, but here goes......damn. Pages 118-123 are stuck tog...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 27, 2008
Groovy, Baby! Yeah!
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I scored a Far Out90% on theQuiz by SheGoddess:Probably because I grew up listening to my brother's music. It was a steady diet of 70s rock bands. Hell, the first song my own daughter ever sang was Drift Away.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 25, 2008
If Pounds Were Playing Cards...
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...I'd be down a full deck right now. Fifty-two pounds lost since February 4th.My friends have always described me as being a couple cards shy of a full deck. How little they knew...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 25, 2008 Tags: The Incredible Shrinking Ambulance Driver
Keeping The Worry Off My Face.
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His wife lets us in, it's one of those houses that are so clean I feel bad about traipsing my boots all over the carpet. Our patient is a man in his eighties sitting in a chair. He's spotlessly clean, wearing a shirt and a tie, hair brushed back.
He looks like a ghost, the blood has drained out of his face. As I enter he looks up at me and smiles.
We had been called from pretty much around the corner, the wife has already thanked us for getting there so quickly. She's called us because, as she describes it her husband had a fit.
He's normally fairly healthy, a bit of a cardiac history but no epilepsy or diabetes, nothin...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 24, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
A Press Release
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London Ambulance Service celebrates best year, but urges public to ‘use us wisely’
SERIOUSLY ill and injured patients in the capital are getting a quicker response from ambulance staff than ever before, but those who do not really need emergency help are once again being urged to use the 999 system wisely.
The 2007/08 year was the best in the London Ambulance Service’s history, despite a further rise in demand which took the number of emergency calls received up to nearly 1.4 million.
A total of more than 943,000 incidents were responded to, an increase of more than three per cent on 2006/07, and included 315,700 ...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 22, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance News
Child Not Breathing
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I've just had two weeks off work, two glorious weeks where I could maintain a reasonable body clock, could sleep and could be normal for a change.
The constant nausea that has crept up on me vanished and tension drained from my shoulders.
Then on my first shift back at work I suddenly get insomnia and that familiar nausea returns. I'm making an effort to eat some decent food and to get some good rest. Perhaps I may even have an attempt at exercise.
We were called to a ten year old who'd fallen down some stairs, nothing serious and on further discussion, the sort of thing my crewmate and I used to do for fun. W...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 22, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Bonnie Ames and Scott Millar...
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...are EMTs involved in a serious ambulance accident in West Nyack, NY on April 14th. They need help.I don't know them. I only heard of their accident through an EMS news feed.I also know that just recently I asked you to donate what you could to the family of another rescuer killed in the line of duty. And here I am asking again.One of their co-workers reads this blog, and asked me to get the word out.I also know that I've let many of my regular readers down a bit over the past couple of weeks. Pain, fatigue, work stress and plain old lack of inspiration have conspired to limit my posting here over the past couple of week...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 21, 2008
Dear Americans
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You may be interested to know that you can now get my book in the colonies without having to pay huge amounts of postage and packaging. My publishers over there are Andrews McMeel Publishing who I like a lot even if they won't pay for me to fly out and publicise it.
It should also be available in shops, so feel free to ask them to order them for you. While you are there ask them to order a few extra to put on the shelves.
It is also freely available under a Creative Commons License at Archive.orgThis lets you remix the book in any way you can think of as long as you don't charge for it and as long as you credit me.
So ...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 20, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance Da Book
Sunny Day
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It's the first beautiful day of Spring. temperatures creeping into the 80s. Lovely. Around 11 am, he puts his favorite lawn chair in a sunny spot, grabs a cup of coffee and has a seat in the sun. He's 93 years old. It's a beautiful day. Nine and a half hours later, we find him. Still sitting in the char, still holding his (now empty) coffee cup. From a distance, it looks like he just rested his chin on his chest and went to sleep. Up close, I see the signs. For him, I think this beautiful day never ended. For us on the engine and ambulance crews, we smile quietly and look inward. Passing is sad but, somehow, this one seems...
Source: MaddogMedic - April 19, 2008 Authors: --maddog
Knock Three Times
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The boiler in my place is knackered, so I'm typing this wrapped up and hoping that the laptop heat will warm my legs. Once I get going it'll be fine (for I am completely cleaning and rejigging my flat). Any typos are due to me not being able to feel my fingers.
On our data terminals we have a 'special information' section, often this causes more problems than it solves.
"Elderly woman, unwell, called by relative not on scene, ring three times so she thinks it's her relative calling or she won't open the door".
What?
Now, we don't have extended contact with patients, but what we do is try to form some sort of relationsh...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 17, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Leaving On a Jet Plane...
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...headed to Myrtle Beach for the South Carolina Emergency Care Symposium in the morning, due to return on the 19th.I know I've been light on the real posts lately, but I'll try to put something meaningful up here and on Star of Life in the next couple of days.God knows I'll have plenty of time between a gazillion plane changes and layovers.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 16, 2008
My Views On Comments
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Only a quick post today as I'm in an extremely busy part of my life at the moment.
Reading the comments on my last post reminded me that I haven't really commented on comments. Here is a rough FAQ.
I like reading comments, it lets me know that people are reading this site as I don't pay much attention to site statistics any more.
I value almost every single comment.
All comments, no matter how far back into the archives they stretch get emailed to me. I read every single one.
I delete all spam, just as a matter of principle.
I don't delete comments with three exceptions - If the person who wrote the comment emails me and...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 16, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Blogging
Announcements for you EMT Types...
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The National Association of EMTs is holding elections for Regional Board members. Voting can be done online, and closes at midnight EDT, April 27th.What's that, you say? You're not a member of NAEMT?Then today is a perfect time to join.What you may not know is, the recent bylaws changes allow for direct election of board members by the general membership. That allows you a direct say in electing the leadership of the biggest - and the only truly national - EMS advocacy group we have.Candidates from several regions have contacted me privately and asked for my endorsement. I won't go far as to use my blog for that, but I wil...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 15, 2008
Good Causes
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Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13I know it's National Buy A Gun Day, but if you happen to have a bit left over from Uncle Sam's gracious repayment of the money he extorted from you in 2007, consider the following...The Louisiana EMS Memorial Bike Ride, our state's tribute to our fallen EMS professionals, has extended its registration deadline to April 18th. Go read about it. If you're from Louisiana, you can still sign up to ride. If riding isn't an option for you, you can volunteer, or ask the organizers ab...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 15, 2008
Let Me Introduce Y'all To A Rembrandt
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After KatyBeth was born, and we came to realize that she'd have disabilities, learned all the twenty-five dollar words no parent should have to learn, we set about getting her the help she needed.We applied to all the various governmental programs that she was qualified for, and it didn't take us long to discover one thing: those programs aren't about minimizing a child's disabilities. They're about managing parental expectations so you can learn to deal with having a handicapped child.I can boil 'em all down to this: Sorry your kid's a turnip. Now buck up and learn to deal with it.A lot of wonderful therapists worked for ...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 15, 2008
Another Job
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The sun is going down behind the horizon, thick clouds overhead. I can feel the first drops of rain.
My knees, my back are screaming in pain, but I can't move, I have to hold my patient's head still.
Blood runs from his head pooling beneath my boots mixing with the puddles from that afternoons rain. The blood is red but as twilight approaches it gets darker in colour before fading to a sticky black.
Beneath my hands the patient twitches, I wonder if it is because he is cold and drunk or if it is because of a serious head injury.
Not for the first time I wish for eyes that could peer into his skull to see the damage. In...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 14, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Caught Out
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Maverick ambulance service managers risked patients' lives in an over-zealous drive to achieve the quickest 999 response times in England, the government's health watchdog disclosed yesterday.
The Healthcare Commission said Staffordshire ambulance NHS trust used poorly trained volunteers to act as "community first responders" to get to emergencies ahead of paramedics. They were authorised to drive at speed, using blue lights and sirens, without the necessary advanced driving training.
The trust supplied ambulance staff and volunteers with controlled drugs that they were not legally allowed to possess, including the sedat...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 13, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance News
Hey Everybody...
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...yesterday was Sedate The Head Injured Drunk But Not Control His Airway Day!Yeah, nobody told me either.But Dumbass Paramedic was celebratin' like a mofo.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 13, 2008
Yeah, But I'm Really Chewy
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Created by OnePlusYou I'd probably go really well with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.Just for perspective though, the 48 pounds I've lost since since February 4th could feed thirteen cannibals. Hopefully, by November I'll be little more than a decent appetizer rather than the Family Bucket of Deep-Fried Paramedic(TM) that I am now.Tuesday, I volunteered to be a guinea pig control study for the professional vampires in the lab while they were calibrating their equipment, and my lipid panel came back as:Total cholesterol: 167Triglycerides: 136HDL: 36.8LDL: 103HDL/LDL Ratio: .357 So apparently, I am also a heart-healthy ...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 11, 2008 Tags: The Incredible Shrinking Ambulance Driver
Celebrities
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I've yet to look after a celebrity in this job - while the chances aren't that high, we do occasionally find ourselves in the more central parts of London. There is also a rather famous heroin user who lives on the edge of our patch, although I suspect that they do most of their 'partying' in rather more salubrious establishments than can be found in my patch of East London.
The closest to celebrity that I have dealt with is the daughter of one of our 'pillars of the community'.
She was with her friend, working as a prostitute and had been hit when the punter had expected more or his £20 than a quick 'hand shandy' behin...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 11, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
Preach On, Brother!
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911Doc over at M.D.O.D. vents about JCAHO and Press-Ganey:JCAHO and Press-Gainey and 'core measures', I submit, are the health care industry's version of protection rackets. I stand to be corrected so all you fans of JCAHO and Press-Gainey please do comment here and tell me why I'm all wrong, but here's the essence of my case......JCAHO and Press-Gainey are parasites. They are solutions in search of a problem. With rare exception none of the JCAHO or Press-Gainey folks are practicing physicians. These companies have grown eighteen heads and can not be killed. They are feasting off the detritus of the piles of money that ge...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 10, 2008
Elsewhere
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Today's blogpost is elsewhere.
Little does the crew know that the woman has just told the call-taker that she has a knife and is going to kill the paramedic about to come through her door.
-----
The Guardian asked me yesterday to write about violence on ambulance staff, this was a strange coincidence as that was the exact subject I was going to write about today.
Here is another example of how Call connect is a danger to ambulance crews that wouldn't fit into the article.
It's nine a.m. in the morning, we have been sent to a young male with a 'head injury' in a residential property. WE have no details of how this occu...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 9, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance News
What I Believe
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Had occasion to think of that movie quote after an exchange of e-mails with Babs. The reasons why we broke up are not important, except to say that lack of love for one another was not one of them.A lot of our talking over the past couple of months has been at each other, and not to each other. She struggles to explain the changes in her outlook since discovering God, and I struggle to explain why it doesn't really matter to me that she's a very different person now, emotionally and spiritually. Lots of misunderstandings there, on both sides.We may never get back together. We may, but not anytime soon. No one can say right...
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 8, 2008
The Answer You're Looking For...
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...is, it depends.If you're really, really sick..I mean like, need an ambulance sick, you may only have minutes to live.But we EMTs are the ones most qualified to make that determination. We have hours years of training, and we make the determination that a person is really emergent based upon a finely honed assessment process, years of experience, and something we like to call prognostic indicators......the first of which basically states that if a patient begins a conversation with the words "I Googled it," they are unlikely to die any time soon.And that's a shame.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 8, 2008
I R an Anatomee Perfesser...
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I just entered a request into the computer for a hepatic function test, AP and lateral chest film, and rib views for a kid who had fallen onto a pipe. But the doctor didn't specify on which side he wanted the rib detail.So I trudged my sore knees all the way down the hall, poked my head in the door, and asked the kid's parents where his injury was. The mother thought for a moment, then pointed to an area in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, right at the rib margin.Like, right where the liver is.DUHR.I scare myself sometimes.
Source: A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver - April 8, 2008
Wasting Police Time
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In the LAS we have a thing called the 'high risk address' register - it's where we make note of any houses where an ambulance staff has been abused or attacked. We put addresses on it ourselves after the fact. It's something that will be part of a larger post sometime this week.
It was no surprise to see our current call tripping the alarm, I'd put it on there myself.
The woman who lives in the flat suffers from some pretty severe mental health problems, the flat is always a tip and she calls us for some rather strange reasons. I'd been to her when she had thought she was pregnant, about twelve months pregnant. I'd done ...
Source: Random Acts Of Reality - April 8, 2008 Authors: Reynolds Tags: Main Page Ambulance
