Cold and Rainy

Cold and rainy again.

Three calls right off the back again this morning. 1) A woman hit by a car in the parking lot of a doughnut place. Never knocked off her feet. She has leg and arm pain. 2) A woman who has thrown up at a fast food restaurant, and then 3) a woman who slips on water at the grocery store and has severe pain in her Left tibia. She cringes when I touch it and I can see some deformity above her ankle. I try once for an IV, but have no luck and can't see anything to stick. Her pain is 10 out of 10, so I give her 5 mg SQ, and while she says her pain is only down to a 9, when my partner accidently hits her leg with the buckle on the stretcher strap, she laughs at him even though the pain has caused her to cry out. I tell her about the time I walked up to the guy who had broken his leg slipping on ice, when I hit the same ice patch and end up kicking his broken leg as I wipe out too. That has her in hysterics. Chalk up another satisfied customer to Sister Morphine.

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I have been researching lights and sirens protocols to the hospital on the internet today. Some very interesting items.

1. The National Association of Emergency Medical Services Physicians (NAEMSP) Position Paper on the issue. Use of Warning Lights and Siren in Emergency Medical Vehicle Response and Patient Transport

2. A Merginet Article: Curtailing Emergency Driving Saves Money and Lives

3. A Pennsylvania Regional Council's Newletter Discussing Issue and the new PA regs.Lights and Sirens Use: It is a Big deal to EMS Services!

4: A PA Service's Policy/ Foxwell EMS: (PA): Emergency Response Policy

5. A disccusion group arguing merits/drawbacks of transport AMI patient's lights and sirens. Lights and Sirens Transport of AMI Patients


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End the day with a rollover. They sent us no lights, no sirens. The accident was up on the mountain. When we got to the foot of the mountain, the traffic was backed up a couple miles already. We asked if they still wanted us low priority. They said yes. We crept up the hill. Five minutes later, a cop came on and asked dispatch where we were. Dispatch said we were coming on a low priority. He shouted for them to step us up -- there was a patient entrapped. We pulled out of the line and were up there in no time. The car was on its side in the middle of the road. The driver was unhurt, he just couldn't get out by himself. The fire department cut the windshield out. I leaned in and checked him out, then we pulled him out. He wouldn't go to the hospital. He signed the refusal.

On the way back I bought two slices of pizza. It has been raining all day again and the cold weather just makes me feel like eating some hot food. I want to start eating healthier again, but it has been hard lately. And now tonight, I am faced with the same dilemna. Its cold, its rainy. Its dark out. Last night I got at a vegetarian pizza, at least. I guess tonight maybe I should cook a chicken.

My computer still isn't ready. If it were I might play some online poker.

I should probably just go home and clean the house. I've got some long working days coming up, starting with 16 tomorrow.