First Name

At first I thought the woman laying on the Persian carpet was a teenage girl. Turns out she was in her sixties -- the wife of a rich man. Well cared for, pampered, probably some surgery too.

She lay down because she was feeling lightheaded. Her heart rate was 170.

Out in the ambulance I explained to her that I was going to give her some adenosine and what the side effects were: Although lasting only 6 seconds, she might feel chest pain, short of breath, headache or a slightly other-worldly feeling.

She got very nervous and asked for her husband. I talked it over with him and decided to give her Cardizem instead while he held her hand. It worked like a charm. Slowed her right down to the 70's. She felt much better.

At the hospital her husband asked for my name and shook my hand, and introduced himself, using his first name.


We took care of an adorable six year old with Down's who used sign language and signed energetically all the way to the hospital with her mom interpreting. She wanted to know everything from mine and my partner's names to what the buttons on the wall did. Very cute.

Took a nursing home patient in for a bone scan and went to another nursing home for the ankle fracture.