Times 3

Isn't it strange that you can do days without using a piece of equipment and then suddenly you get a run of calls that need the same item each time, last night was like that, the first three calls of the evening were all lower limb trauma, all requiring pain relief (Entonox only)and stabilisation using a box splint. Now this may not seem too strange, but it meant that I spent most of the time at hospital trying to find replacements for the box splints (which at times proved interesting). Oh well only got two more shifts to go, wonder what it will be tonight?

Survival

Well there we go I managed to survive working with G, we were kept busy but nothing too challenging. The night was fueled with Alcohol and was propelled along with feelings from the old firm game that had taken place earlier in the day. We had our usual run of the mill assaults, interspersed with patients fitting in the street and patients who were basically PAFO (Pissed And Fallen Over). I think both G and myself are not the bad luck when it comes to eventful calls, but our colleagues who we sometimes work with during our 16 week shift pattern. I have also managed to survive being on call for the SOR Team (Special Operations Response) and have been paid on call money for basically sitting watching TV and drinking lots of tea, coffee and red cola!

Oh well I am on 4 nights this week so will keep you all updated with anything of interest, think I might arrange for an observer or two to come out with me!

He's gone and left me

Well for those of you who actually read this I have to let you know that Kal (my BF)has left me........... yes it finally happened on Thursday morning, but don't be too upset for me as he is only on holiday. I promised him that I would blog more to keep him up to date with what is happening whilst he is off eating chocolate and swigging buckets full of beer (and that is before breakfast I think!) Well unfortunately I have not done much to blog, therefore I can only appologise to him and you my readers as well. I will try and keep you informed if there is anything of interest over the next 48hrs (I am working tonight then on call for the Special Operations Response Team) so hopefully there will be something exciting!

Working with G

Well here we go, I am working with a colleague tonight who on the last two occassions I have worked with her we have been involved in some traumatic job or another, it always goes the same, I attend for the first period of the shift and she drives, we get the usual run of the mill calls, then when we swap over and she sits in the attendant seat all hell breaks loose. The last time we worked together we ended up with a car that had rolled whilst slowing from the reported 100mph (Police Traffic Sergent estimation) to 40mph to pass the speed camera and both occupants of the car were treated for potential spinal injuries and luckily walked out of hospital a few hours later.

Now tonight is the same shift that we worked (1800 - 0200hrs) and it is a full moon, so we will see what happens to us tonight.

Think I will drive first tonight!

The curse of the observer

Well I have been working the last two days at a different station and have had an observer out with us for both days (same person). Now any of you who know about observing will be bored with this bit, but for those of you who don't sit back and relax. Observing is when a third person rides along on the vehicle to gain either clinical experience or exposure in relation to pre hospital care. The observer we had with us had been out before on the RRU (Rapid Response Unit - single crewed Paramedic vehicle) but had limited experience on an AEU (Double crewed Accident and Emergency Unit Ambulance). Now observing shifts are one of two things, you are either sitting on stand by all day waiting on the phone/ radio to go or you are non stop with quality calls.

Well on the first day (I was attending = looking after the patients), we started our shift at 1500hrs and were due to finish at 0100hrs. We were dispatched to an urgent call (This means a Doctor has assessed the patient at home and allocated a timed response to get into hospital). En route to this call we were diverted to a Red call (Emergency response which has 8 minutes for us to get there), we arrived within 4 minutes of the call and treated the patient and transported him to hospital, and this is how it went for most of the evening, being sent to one call and getting diverted for a more serious call whilst en route. One of the more interesting calls was a call roll over in a busy city street, the car had struck two pedestrian's before ending up on its roof. When we turned up as the 3rd crew we were greeted with fire engines, police cars and two ambulances, our observer was amaizing (now she is a first aider so is used to dealing with patients, but not like these ones) my colleague and I would bark out our requests and she would go off and get what we needed. We eventually managed to get our first meal break at 2230hrs (supposed to have been at 1830hrs) We get our final call to the other end of the city at 2345 for a patient with difficulty in breathing, and are told that the RRU is also attending, when we arrive the RRU is as we were told in attendance and had stabilised the patient and we continued his treatment and transported him to the hospital.

The second shift started with much the same, check the vehicle, try and grab a coffee......no thought of kettle on = phone ringing, and off we go again lights and sirens going for a patient fitting on a bus, now I am driving today so the observer is sitting up front with me as my partner quite happily sits in the back so that the observer can get a full rounded experience of going to calls and seeing the traffic issues faced by responding crews. Once again our observer slotted in well and was back and forward fetching equipment and setting things up etc, we passed a standby (Requested a resus team be waiting in the Emergency Department) to the hospital and set of with the patient and mother in the vehicle, lights and sirens going again. The rest of the shift was uneventful, but fairly steady and we managed to get finished again on time......very unusual for a 1am finish.

So all I can say is that the curse of the observer may not always be the case!

A nice evening for a walk

Picture the scene it is a a lovely summer night, the weather is mild and the moon is out. I had bought some red bull and chocolate to have when I get back and suddenly "Doodle-oot" the radio springs into life and my partner and I are responding to a 999 call for a "21YOM with Chest Pains" now this sounds like a normalish type of call considering that it is 0130hrs and the pubs are clubs are closing, so we weave our way through the night traffic with lights flashing and arrive on scene within 5 minutes. Upon our arrival the radio starts ringing and my colleague answers it to be told the Dispatcher that the patient is actually walking along a path about 5 minutes away from the original location and is in the woods!!!! Yeah so now picture the scene, One high powered torch, Two Ambulance Technician's and a wooded area that is used for skateboarding etc. Now this place has lots and lots of tracks leading into the deeper undergrowth which my colleague and I searched, we decided that it would be easier to split up, so with maglite in hand off I went. I eventually found a pile of clothing folded in some bushes and relayed this to my colleague, now we were told by the Dispatcher that the patient had gone quiet on the phone, so we were now more concerned. We were eventually joined by two of L&B's finest who helped us search and eventually find the patient (who was actually fully clothed). I went back to the Ambulance to bring it closer to the patient, who by this stage was exhausted as he had been walking around and around the various paths and roads trying to get from the club to his home. Now we had the patient safely in the vehicle, he was anxious, hyperventilating and still c/o chest pains. We transported him to A&E and he was monitored en route by my colleague, upon our arrival we handed him over to the nursing staff and we thought that would be it, no that was not the case however. Now this 21YOM needed to pee, and he was quite vocal in this, but unfortunately the staff were concerned that he would collapse if he stood up and there were no male staff in the department..........Yes you guessed it, I was asked by one of the nurses if I could stay with him as he used a bottle, now I have changed from SMM Ambulance Technician to SMM Clinical Support Worker. So there we are just the two of us standing me trying to calm him down (still hyperventilating and worried about his chest pain) and my patient talking about how he doesn't think anyone is listening to him and how he really needs to go.......... After about 5 minutes he is more calm, but still not able to pee, a hand pops through the screens and flicks the tap on...... Still not able to pee he gives up and sits back on the bed, thanking me for my help as he plonks down. I walk out the cubicle smile at the nurse and she tells me the coffee and chocolate is on her next time. Oh well back to my red bull, which I am now drinking some 12 hours late!