I am a volunteer EMT-B with an ALS Fire Rescue Department. I am normally pretty good at what I do. My last shift was with an EMS Instructor who I was determined to impress. We get to a call around dinner time. an 85 y/o unresponsive, but breathing male. We go in and he has 3 family members there. He is a solid V on the AVPU scale, but not very cooperative. I decide immediately to get a 4 lead before doing vitals. I had surveyed everything, just like I was taught, and even noticed what I will reveal in the end, and applied the electrodes. Turn on the Lifepak, and nothing. I adjust the upper leads that my medic said was loose. I simply cannot figure this out. I finally ask the senior medic (the EMS Instructor) for help. He walks up, and says nonchalantly, "You will have a hard time getting a reading from a prosthetic leg." OMG, it wasn't bad enough that I had looked like an ass to him, but the grandson pipes in with "I saw that, but I thought he was checking for termites."
Well, I was the laughing stock of the receiving ED staff, then the station guys, finally the volunteer dept training group who was at the station waiting. To make matters worse, I am the training coordinator and a First Responder Instructor.
I will be adding my new nickname to my helmet soon, Woody. :? :oops: