Standing By the Car

Worked eight hours with another medic. I thought maybe that would get me out of the transfer runaround -- that and it being a Saturday. Still ended up with three transfers, although one was ALS. I don't understand the posting and assigning of calls sometimes. We're a double medic car in an area covering two 911 towns, a car gets sent from the city to our post and we're sent into the city to do a dialysis transfer.

The other three calls were decent. A 23 year old with kidney disease, HTN and IDDM, feeling weak. She had a BP of 220/110 and a blood glucose of 390. She got admitted.

We had another diabetic not taking her meds with a high blood sugar.

The last call was for a rollover in the north end of the city. We were quite aways away when they gave it to us because we were the only car free. I have probably done 10 rollovers in this park of town. I told my partner it was probably a stolen car and there would be no patients. That's how it always is. But I was partially wrong this time. The fire department was reporting downed wires and a patient under them. Another car cleared up and was sent because they were reporting multiple patients. We got there just after they did. I went to the EMT and asked for a report as he was helping board a patient -- an older woman who was bleeding from the mouth. He said she was the worst -- the other two were minor. I said I'd take her then. I came back with the strethcer and got her on it, only then did I realize the EMT was a medic. He was wearing his baseball cap backwards like another guy at the company and when I was talking to him, I'd hadn't seen his face clearly. I apologized then for stealing his patient. He was cool about it.

The story I got at the scene showed I was partially right in my impression. The car that rolled was a new car and its occupants had fled the scene. Same as always -- they steal a car in one town, then come barrelling down a residential street into the city, roll it, and then flee. The fire fighters told me the woman was standing by the car. I thought it meant she had been standing by her car that was hit by the other car when they got there, but as we were en route to the hospital and I was interviewing her, I finally figured out she was standing by her car when she saw the car speeding down the street out of control, and the car had struck her car and rolled over it, striking her. She had a smashed up face, broken teeth, and was somewhat confused. She ended up in the trauma room.

I got off an hour late.