911 this morning

"How old are you ma'am?"

"I'm 69."

"Are you allergic to anything?"

"No."

"Are these your medications?"

"No, they are my mom's."

"Mom" was 91, the woman said, "Please don't wake her up."

Wait a minute, who was the 911 call for?

Oldmarine wrote:Wait a minute, who was the 911 call for?

The 69 Y.O. had vomiting and diarrhea, always a fun call.

Last night was the night of the big ones. It started yesterday with a 400 plus pound woman, fell and couldn't get up. Then a 250 plus woman diabetic emergency, blood sugar of 204 which isn't real bad but slams some people. Then a 350 plus cardiac patient with pumps and tubes hooked up, transferred to another larger city. Got 2 hours sleep, I'm worn out.

My oh my! I used to be real hard on fat people, because I never could understand how a person could let themselves get so big. Now that I'm 60, I'm up to 200 pounds and can't seem to drop any weight. I was 170 to 180 pounds most of my life, and could eat like I had a hallow leg. Now it's a different story. That being said, I have managed to stay quite healthy for an old devil dog my age.

I do feel bad for people with over weight problems which contribute to more serious health issues. Bullfrog sees that every day.

One of my large patients Monday night was a woman, she was very big, maybe 275-300. My partner is 118 pounds and about 5'3". We walked into the room and her daughters standing at her bedside looked at us, "Are you two going to be able to handle her?" one asked.

I walked to her bedside and assured them we could. I looked at the central line going into her subclavian artery and the tubes coming out of it. She was suffering a heart attack and this small hospital isn't equipped to handle that, they have no cath lab. She was on a heparin drip and a nitroglycerin drip. The heparin is an anticoagulant and the nitro is a vasodialator, it keeps the vessels dialated and lowers the blood pressure, thereby lowering the preload on the heart. They were running through two pumps.

I hate these pumps, they are notorious for malfunctioning. I looked at the heart monitor, she had a normal sinus rhythm but would throw a pvc occasionally. This is a wide, abnormal beat from the ventricles not trigger by the normal conductive pathways. Enough of those and you go into cardiac arrest. A nurse walked in, "How are the batteries on those pumps?" I asked.

"Don't get me to lying>" she quipped.

"How about unplugging them so we can see?" I replied. She did and within 20 seconds it alarmed. The digital readout said "Plug in." this flashed for about 10 seconds then read "Error". The pump stopped, no more drugs that she needed. We plugged it back in and waited for an inverter to be sent to the hospital by another one of our units. It was really unnerving knowing that her life depended on something that plugged into our cigarette lighter. I prayed a lot on the one hour trip.

Yes, she made it there but she is also on dialysis. Her outlook isn't good. I look at these people and realize that some of them are just a little older than me. Genetics can deal a cruel hand at times. I hauled a man who was 57, just 2 years older than me, he looked 80. He had non Hodgekins Lymphoma, cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis B. His wife looked like his daughter he had aged so much. It makes me realize just how blessed I am, considering the abuse I have done to my body.

I really think that God wanted me back on the truck. Maybe he wants to show me something, or maybe I have something to give someone. I'm not bragging, but I am good at this. It doesn't take a brilliant person to make a really good medic, just someone who really cares. I don't mind holding their hand on the way to the hospital. A little kindness goes a long way.

I do get attached to some of my patients. One woman reminded me of my mom. I would pop in and check on her whenever we took another transfer back to that nursing home. I bought her a bird feeder and hung it outside of her window. There is a new facility opening up there, large and nice. I'm going to go and try to get a contract with them.