911 today... so far

As soon as I got here we got a call, unconscious and unresponsive at a dialysis center, that ain't good. We arrived on the scene and my partner, the junior medic asked what I wanted. I asked for a glucometer, a pulse oximeter and oxygen. Any unconscious and unresponsive is immediately suspected as a blood sugar problem. I was right, the staff did a blood stick and the patient had bottomed out. They administered D50 and the patient was conscious upon our arrival. We transported her without incident.

The next call was an older paralyzed black man. I was in the back and it was a pretty long ride on the way back home from the hospital. We talked a lot and he was laughing hard, I was really on a roll. As we were leaving the hospital, he asked for a urinal because his bag may fill up before we got him home. I placed it between his feet and said, "You should be able to reach it from here, you know what they say about black guys." That set the stage.

But the conversation soon turned to God, he said that he had walked around for a lot of years and hadn't learned anything, but his paralysis had taught him a lot. We talked about hunting as he was raised in these woods. I told him about roasting a raccoon in a pan with sweet potatoes covered in foil. He smiled and shook his head, "You know how to do it. We arrived at his house and had to wait for his home health provider to show up from down the road to help lift and carry him.

He spoke of God some more. I told him that I had recently rededicated my life and started going to church again. i then said that considering the life I had led, there must be something that I was yet to do, something that God was saving me for.

He looked right at me and said, "It's what you are doing now." a simple man, but I think he was right. I'm not the best or smartest medic on the streets, but I have a way with people especially when they are in fear or distress. He asked for my phone number when I left, he wanted to talk to me some more. Days like today make up for days like Monday.

Clifton has been paralyzed from a wreck for the past 20 years. The reason why he called is he still has sensation in his legs and has been getting cramps in his thighs that are now spreading down into his groin. I immediately asked him if his family members had been flexing his legs several times a day and they hadn't. I advised him that he needed to keep the circulation up to keep the blood from pooling. Sadly, Jasper Hospital is little more than a Band Aid Station and they told him that he "had a bug" which is crap, gave him Vicoden and booted him out of the door.

I called him this morning and he said, "Man, I thought about you all night." I told him that I had thought about him too. I reminded him to have his wife flex his legs several times a day and slowly increase the movement. He said that he loved me and I told him the same. We promised to keep each other in our prayers.

I'm picking up some lawns to mow on my off days, it pays really well. I will go to Newton Sunday after church to look at one of four doctors offices. They pay around $600.00 a month now and it's only about 6 hours work for all of them, not counting the driving. I'll stop in on Clifton and visit with him. I'll also keep my eyes open for a raccoon and shoot it with my bow, skin it, chill it and get some sweet potatoes if one walks out in front of me. Maybe we can dine on some fine raccoon soon. You can't buy them in the supermarket and to black people, the older ones here in the south they are a delicacy. Really some fine dining when slow roasted, covered with foil and surrounded by sweet potatoes, stuff an onion in the chest cavity and it is a fine meal.