Alcoholic

I started precepting a new medic today. He is a nice young man who has already been cut loose in Massachusetts, so I don't expect it will take long. He seems to have a good handle on the job.

Dispatch was great today -- we got four decent calls -- no transfers in the eight hours he was with me.

We did a a syncope in the park, an unresponsive that actually was just a drunk, an abdominal pain, and a dsypnea.

The drunk was a guy I have done before. A couple years ago, he set his apartment on fire, by falling asleep smoking a cigarette. He had some serious smoke inhalation by the time the fire department pulled him out, but he was so hammered he was just laughing at everything going on. A year later we were called for an unresponsive on Main Street in an office building. We pulled in at the address along with the fire department. Eight of us all heading toward the main door. Standing outside an exit door about twenty yards from the main entrance is this guy with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and one eye open, watching us, all the time, he has penis in his hand, urinating against the side of the building. I remember talking to him the first time. The guy is like a computer whiz, but he is just a serious alcoholic, who can't stay away from the bottle. He has been in and out of rehab, and he will eventually drink himself to death. He looks like crap. Today we found him laying on his side in front of the library.

After our preceptee left early -- he had a meeting he had to go to, we did another five calls -- two where there was no medical emergency -- a lift assist and a mother who's son had seizures, but hadn't had a seizure. She called because she thought he was about to have one, but he never had one and by then she had already called us. We did two psychs and a transfer back to a nursing home.