Arrogant

Don't get me wrong.

A&E Doctors are great, they know a huge amount more about clinical matters than me. It's just nice not to have your face rubbed in it and when they do, it's nice to see them be taken down a peg or two!

Picked up this rather ill patient with heart failure today and as we were a double Technician crew, we arranged to meet a Paramedic on route to the hospital so they could give some additional drugs to help the patient during the transfer.

Once the Paramedic was on board, we drove under blue light conditions, to the hospital. Now a drive on blue lights to hospital is rare and is only used for really ill people. It is also a real challenge for the driver, as your crew mate (or in this case, crew mates) are trying to work on the patient, so throwing them around in the back is not going to help, especially when the Paramedic is trying to get a line into them (needle in the back of the hand for drugs).

Anyway, we got to hospital in good time but the Paramedic had not been able to get the line in during the journey, knowing he was a little nervous about his current run of luck, having only just qualified, I could see the disappointment in his eyes as we unloaded the patient.

Arriving in Resus, we handed over to the Doctor, who asked if we had cannulated? No we had not been able to, on the run in. Then came the dismissive, disapproving look!!

We all stood there for 10mins as three Doctors tried to get a line into this poor woman, who now resembled a pin cushion, without success. I turned to the Paramedic and in a rather louder than appropriate voice, enquired if they could not do it here in this well lit, calm and flat room, I wonder how well they would do in the back of a van at 60mph through town?

Another disapproving but slightly more humble lookthis time!