The Picture of Health

Did my second CHF is just a couple days. When I first started in EMS, CHF was an extremely common call, but it has been increasingly rare over the years. Someone said it was because of Ace inhibitors. I don't know. I just don't do as many as I used to. This gentleman was on dialysis when he started having a hard time. Nitro and Lasix fixed him. I had my preceptee with me today so it was good for him to do a CHF.

The other three calls today were for a woman with abdominal pain, a young woman feeling light headed and an eighteen year old who fell from ground level and was "in and out of conciousness." The call was at a local distribution warehouse with hundred of young employees where we have been often in the past for similar calls. The guy said he fell because he was dizzy. He had no injuries or marks on his body. His skin was warm and dry and his vitals were the picture of health. They had a house EMT on scene who seemed horrified that we didn't c-spine the kid. He was fully alert, but told me he was too weak to wiggle his toes, but when I pressed against his feet, he had plenty of strength. When we went to pick him up, he sat bolt upright. The call came in at crew change so the night medic met me on scene. He said later the patient talked on his cellphone all the way to the hospital. At the hospital, they put him in the waiting room.

The other notable thing from the day is the nurse at the business where the woman had abdominal pain refused to let the first responders have access to the patient or to share medical information with him. I talked to her about it and told her it was their job and their legal responsibility. She said it had never happened to her in any of her clinics that first responders got to interview one of her patients. She was new.

I spent a good part of the day working on collecting information about capnography for a project I am working on.