Thank you (2)

When I got up this morning, I checked the post that had arrived the day before and found a note from HQ.

Always impending sense of doom when you get written to directly by HQ at your home address.

This was the best thing to wake up to though, as it was a copy of a card sent in by a patient, thanking us for our efforts a few weeks ago.

I have attached a picture, but in case you can't read it, the text is as follows;

"Thank you does not seem anywhere near the gratitude I have for the 2 gentleman who came to me two weeks ago.

I was rushed in for emergency surgery following a ruptured ectopic pregnancy (unknown to me at the time).

Your men saved my life and as I was unaware of the danger I was in, kept me reassured and as comfortable as possible.

Please ensure you pass my thanks to the 2 Paramedics who's skill, compassion and professionalism, helped to save my life and the same time keep me calm"

My first thank you card. I was touched beyond belief and now know I have the best job in the world!

Thank you (1)

Has been a great day for thank yous today.

We took a very nice lady into hospital today who had fallen in a shopping centre and dislocated her hip.

My crew mate had been out to her before and treated her for the same problem.

We loaded her into the Ambulance and arranged for her daughter to meet us at A&E.

When we got there, we got presented with a box of chocolates from the daughter stating how grateful she was and that we were 'Heroes'

Left that job on a high!! We don't do this for thanks, as we very rarely get any, but when you do, boy is it nice!

101

Met my first patient over 100 years yesterday!!

Grand old chap who just had a touch of pneumonia.

On gaining his history we asked him what medication he was on and he produced this small packet of pills and said he has recently had to start taking these for his blood pressure!!

That was it!! Fab

He also seemed to smile at everything, despite the obvious effort he had to put into breathing, I wonder if that had something to do with his longevity?

The only disappointment was as he was quite poorly with the pneumonia, we had to rush him in to hospital quickly and I did not get chance to see his telegram from the Queen.

Blackeye! Sorry

Call was to a young diabetic patient that was non responsive.

It was 2am and the traffic was non existent so the journey time was short. I pulled up outside the block of council flats and made a mental note to ensure that I locked the Ambulance whilst we were at the address. It looked the kind of place where there would be a local market stall selling medical equipment the following day if I did not.

I didn't bother to turn the vehicle around for ease of egress as with this type of patient the treatment at home is usually exactly what the patient having a hypo needs and they often do not want to go to hospital. This would prove not to be the case! Me and my assumptions!!

On entering the flat we found a young woman on the floor surrounded by a group of her mates, all stating that she was a known diabetic and they had been trying to force feed her sugary drinks.

A quick check of the BM levels revealed that her blood sugar levels were fine, so it's not a diabetic coma. Given the state of the flat and assurances that she had only smoked a little weed! we assumed drugs and started our treatment protocol based on that.

The Paramedic I was with gained IV access for the Narcan drug to reverse any opiate effects, whilst I secured her airway. Now on checking for a response, I tried the never fails sternal rub with the full force..........nothing! She must be out or have a seriously high pain threshold.

Next thing was to ensure the airway was maintained. In comes the Nasal Airway. Now, unless you are unconscious, you don't really want to have one of these put in. They are measured against the size of your little finger. So I duly opened the airway bag and pulled out a medium and large size.

The problem seemed to stem from the fact that this girl had very chubby fingers combined with a small nose. Despite a fair bit of KY and a lot of twisting and pushing the number 7 would not go in. It did however wake her up slightly for a limited period, now starts the doubt as to her true consciousness levels. Needing the skill signed off anyway, I aired on the side of caution and went for a No6. Given the pathfinder route ploughed through her nasal cavities by me using the No7 initially, this slightly smaller one went in without fuss.

We carted her down the stairs and off to A&E where they managed to finally wake her up. Appeared she was faking it and did seem to have some serious pain threshold!!

She was also sporting a rapidly developing black eye on the same side the nasal airway was inserted, a good demonstration of the close relationship that exist between the sinuses and the eyes.

Ooops Sorry!

Here 10 mins and it feels like a lifetime!

And can you believe they have not even got around to naming me.

Damn Them!

I am suing McDonald's for future obesity and heart disease.

Have just been into the local McD's on the way to shift and ordered my meal. When I came to pay the guy undercharged me!

Being the honest sort of chap I am, I queried this only to be told that they now offer Emergency Services a huge discount!!

How am I going to kick my junk food habit with that kind of bribery? I have only so much willpower!

Seriously - Thanks Ronald x

Friday night is abuse night!

This entire shift consisted of people putting their bodies through the usual Friday night round of abuse.

The first job was a little different, he did not willing abuse his body, although it did go through a little trauma. 18 month old baby fitting. Gone from being freaked by this event to now being the voice of calm. They are very rarely still fitting when we get there and the scene resembles the usual pub on a weekend night.

A young female in hysterics and vomit everywhere!

We did the usual and calmed Mum down and assured her the little chap would be fine. Checked the baby over, who was now coming round from being post ictal, administered 100% oxygen and whisked them both off to A&E for a quick check up.

Then we got called to a pub fight, where a chap had been hit over the head with a car jack. Got there to find a young lad, pissed and a little hyper active????? took his pulse and he was tachycardic at around 135bpm and talking at 100mph!

On enquiring what he had taken, he quietly told us he had been doing a little cocaine, all this while keeping his finger over his mouth as if it were a secret! He had a nasty gash to the back of his head which needed stitches and I finally persuaded him to go to hospital to have it seen to, although his main concern was would he be let out before the pubs closed.

He got a wake up call at hospital, when he kicked off after being told he would have to wait 2hrs to be seen. The nurse proceeded to explain the effects of cocaine on the coronary arteries and the likelihood that he would be about to have a heart attack. This seemed to scare the crap out of him and kept him compliant for the ECG.

Then got called to the 'rough' end of town with the Police for a violent patient who had taken a methadone overdose, along with diazepam. Not sure why we needed the Police as with that many chemicals on board the guy was hardly rousable, yet alone a problem.

And finally the drunk and 'unconscious' 15 year old girl at a party! Do I need to add anything to that one?