Gut Feelings?

[emt217]

PLEASE don't tell me the medic spent 20 minutes sitting at the rendezvous point. :?

Sorry, should have explained better. I waited around for 20 minutes AFTER reaching the ER. Once the medic saw the rythyms, we hit the road wide open.

As an update, ran into the same medic today. I respect him now. He apologized for the attitude, and said i was proving myself as a good provider by following my gut.

[Richard B the EMT]

Different call and situation:

While I was working the Dispatch office, a woman calls and states her husband is having a severe toothache. The call taker has a funny feeling about this, and asks if anything else is bothering the patient, or if the patient has any medical history.. The patient has nothing remarkable, per the wife.

Under existing policies the call taker enters the call as a "Sick", but due to the patient's age, also under policies, moves the call from the usual "Priority 6" to a "Priority 4".

The caller (the wife) then says that she is embarrassed to be making the 9-1-1 call, but then says, "It must be impacted or something, he says the pain is going from his jaw down his left arm.

Pain traveling from jaw down Left arm?

Upgrade again to "Card" for Cardiac, at "Priority 1"! dual BLS/ALS response.

The first arriving crew gets to the patient just as he collapses, and starts CPR, joined seconds later by the other crew.

I don't know if it was a good save, or veg-o-matic city, but the patient had spontaneous return of Circulation by the time the 2 crews got to the hospital.

[CBEMT]

Different call and situation:

While I was working the Dispatch office, a woman calls and states her husband is having a severe toothache. The call taker has a funny feeling about this, and asks if anything else is bothering the patient, or if the patient has any medical history.

http://fingersandtubesineveryorifice.blogs.../toothache.html

[Richard B the EMT]

The call referred to, on that link, was in the middle of the night.

I was the call taker on the one I referred to, and, as a mention, for a 1400 to 2300 tour, the call came in about 1730 or so.

I agree that if an elderly person calls in for what might otherwise be regarded as a BS call, it usually ain't a BS call. Have we all not had calls where the patient was an elderly, and, no matter what was the complaint they had, or what signs and symptoms are presenting, they are apologizing all over the place for troubling us to respond to them?

Oh, I also realize there are going to be younger folks who will have the same situation, and folks who we need to direct the "I'm here to save your arse, not kiss it" line. It is just a matter of sifting through the mess to find out which patient is which.

And one more thing: even the worst EMS system abuser you always seem to be picking up, can have real problems at any time.

[firedoc5]

Good call. Always follow your gut and listen to your patient. Something else that may occur is when assessing your pt. a spouse or someone else in the family is trying to tell you that there is nothing wrong, that they always have that complaint or think that it's nothing serious and to leave him alone. Take what they say in stride, but look, listen, and feel your pt. Even if you treat and transport and turns out to be nothing, at least you took care of your patient. Rather be safe than sorry.

Have fun in your new class. Keep us updated.

[chbare]

I find that "gut instinct" really is not so much a magic flash of intuition as identifying subtle findings that point to a possible problem. Even in this case, you were able to identify ominous findings; however, you were not quite able to interpret meaning, other than to realize something is really wrong. Good job.

Glad to hear the medic set things right. We all have our days; however, he/she too time out to apologize and set things straight. Now, off to nursing school with ya!

Take care,

chbare.