Straps

50 year old male insulin diabetic found by staff with blood sugar of 53. Given glucagon, still out of it. He is still cool and clammy when I get there. I know the patient, having transported him many times over the years including this past Thursday. His sugar is 63. I give him an amp of D50. He wakes up, but is still groggy, almost postictal. He does also have seizures so maybe that is also involved, although no one saw him seizing.

He is alert enough to open his eyes and mumble some answers. We put him on the stretcher and take him to the hospital. On the way, he complains of back pain, which was bothering him earlier in the week. I undo the straps so he can can turn over. I go to call the hospital, and as I am giving the report, the triage nurse suddenly hears me shout "Hold on!" as I watch my patient do a sudden violent log roll, right over the side rail and down to the ground between the stretcher and the bench before I can reach him. Since my partner can't lift, and the man has no legs to grab, I have to reach under his arms and lift up, squeezing his chest at the same time he is grabbing the stretcher with both his hands resisting my lifting him. I finally get him back up on the stretcher and strapped down. I have rechecked his sugar and it is 300, so I am thinking he is maybe still postictal. Either that or he did too many pain meds or maybe even got some street drugs as has been known to happen at his particular nursing home.

In the hospital he thrashes around, calls the nurses "bitches" and the security guards who restrain him hogtying his stumps, "cop wannabees." The doctor ends up having to give him ativan to sedate him.

We are supposed to place three horizontal straps on each patient, and off the top strap, attach two vertical straps. In the suburban town the other medics had tied those straps under the stretcher so they are out of the way. While at first I was resistant to them, I do sort of like them, as they are not in the way too much and do hold the patients in better, particuarlly c-spined patient's (when the driver stops too suddenly) and stroke patients ( who tend to lean toward one side). This is the first time I have ever had a patient flop off my stretcher. I will try to be more vigilant with the straps in the future.

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Brought in an old woman with weakness in her legs, having increasing trouble walking.

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A man hit by the side view mirror of a passing car in a parking lot. He was more outraged than hurt.

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A man with high blood sugar.

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A woman with abdominal pain.

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Another woman with abdominal pain.

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After that one guy, none of the others hit the floors. I had them strapped tight.