Air Freshener

Some days I love my job; others are tedious. Today was hot and humid, and we were steady without much of a break.

Day started with a chest pain and the fire department was there before us, and there were so many people in the room, I couldn't even get to the patient for awhile. They had to get a blood pressure, and it was taking awhile even though the guy was alert. I felt like saying, look I'm going to have to do it myself anyway because I'm going to give this guy nitro and I need to know the pressure is okay. I was getting so many different reports and the guy was being besiged with questions so I just told my partner to get the stair chair and I did a quick 12-lead.

He was a heavy guy and a tough carry down. My partner and I did the lift, although I have no doubt if I was working with a female, the fire guys would have helped me carry. Once we got out in the ambulance, I started my assessment from the top. The guy had a good story for an MI, although the 12 lead wasn't too bad. Basically he was having chest pain similar to pain he had when he had an MI a few years ago.

I was hoping to followup to see how he did, but we were too on the go. Every time we went to a hospital, they gave us a transfer coming out.

I guess the most frustrating part of the day was getting sent as we often do "Priority One" for "the sick" or for "the medical." They are supposed to have EMD. The call comes in, it gets sent to the dispatcher who gives it out as a 1 with little or no info, then once the calltaker further EMDs it, the update just doesn't get passed along. The priority one for the medical at the substance abuse center turned out to be a drunk with two week old fire ants bites that they wanted evaluated and medically cleared before they took him into their program. No way should that have been a priority one.

We did a baby who was dropped by his mom, but was asymptomatic. We were in the saem town, but at a far end so it took us awhile to get there. The address was just a few blocks from one of our posted city cars, but they still sent us. It didn't matter -- the kid was fine.

The last call was a medic alarm. We needed a key to get in the apartment. Lots of times when you get a medica alarm, it turns out there is no one in the apartment. We are walking through the place, when the cop goes in the bathroom, and we hear her call. "In here," she says. She sounds a little startled.

I go in the bathroom and see a lady white as death, laying across the toilet with her head against the sink, motionless. My initial thought is she is dead. I touch her head, and move it open her airway. She makes a sound, and that startles me as much as seeing the body startled the cop. She is very cool and clammy and has vomited. We get her on the stretcher, and she pukes again. She is alert, but her pressure is low. I give her some fluid on the way in. It turns out she was constipated, took a laxative, felt sick, went to the bathroom, puked, passed out, woke up enough to hit her alarm, then passed back out. When we got her in the room, the laxative really took hold and she lost her bowels in a big sudden way. When I brought my run form back to give to the nurse, the nurse was spraying the air with air freshener.

Four emergencies, four transfers.