Vtach1

The sad thing is we sometimes forget to start from the begining...it's that tunnel vision thing. Worst enemy of the EMS provider. But it really would have been nice if the concerned wife would have let us know ALL of his medical history! I don't think the shade of red that mine and my partners face turned occurs in nature, it's reserved for times such as that.

Dispatched to a emergency call for a 58 year old male experiencing numbness, slurred speech, and generalized weakness. Upon arriving we were greeted by a very concerned wife...who of course quickly ran down the patients medical history, current meds., you know the whole sha-bang. Patient has substantial history of prior CVA's...not a good sign. We finally get to our patient do our assessment and upon doing pupil response my partner became very alarmed. The patients right pupil was constricted and fixed....no response. Well, of course we thought that we had this one in the bag...no question. We treated for CVA...rapid transport. Get the the E.D. and are in the middle of giving report, with the concerned wife still ever present, when we came to the part of the constricted and fixed right pupil....all of a sudden the wife ruptures with this almost maniacal laughter....this is the point the good wife decides to inform us that "But girls, he has had a glass eye for about 20 years now!!!" DEAR GOD!!!!! Ever have those days when you really just want to find the deepest hole and crawl right in....or wonder how you even made it to see an EMT certification???? Don't forget kids...always ask about that glass eye.