Robbyemt Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) Well for those of us who want to make a difference every shift/tour, this deffinitely wasn't one for the books. We started off with a trouble breathing that upon arrival update was "fire is working a code". WTF! Who was on the other end of that phone call....the 80 year old wife. She wasn't even near the guy. She was kinda watching him from accross the room and luckily had a phone near her. All went well and we actually got pulses back for almost 2 hours. The guy had a poor EF (25%) so he wasn't long for the world anyway. We also have the Auto Pulse form Zoll. If anyone hasn't seen these things, you might want to look into them. They work awesome and I highly reccomend using them. Those of you "old school" people that think your compressions are as good as any machine, are absolutely in denial. We would leave the thing running and the guy was moving with eye movement and breathing on his own. Once we would shut it off, the guy woud go in the toilet. It was working like an LVAD. They tried doing manual compressions but they just didn't compare. The unit lasted almost 2 hours with same battery, which I was really surprised at. He eventually succomed. Second call was OD that bought a room at CPEP in the county ER. After trying to settle down for a little nap, we got banged out for an MVC/rollover. Now, we go second unit in because the "dingers" have it set up so if they don't want to be bothered with transport, they turf it off to us. YES, you guessed it, this was a "glory call" so they were out in full force. Funny thing is, they never cancelled us because we weren't sure how many patients we had. Upon arrival we see one vehicle on its roof and first on scene is giving conflicting reports as to number of victims. As you may noticed, I changed from patients to victims. We had one body still belted and mostly concealed in the wreckage but their head was exposed as well as part of an arm. There was significant trauma to the skull with open fracture and a good portion of fluid was draining. You didn't have to look hard to notice some pasta looking material kinda splattered on the portion of the collasped roof that was next to the head. As I climbed under to check for pulses, which I was pretty sure there wasn't a chance, I could look through the car at a tunnel which was formed from them striking the pole roof first. This was absolutely amazing. The roof collasped down on the occupants and completely separated the interior of the car into to separate cavities. I explained this to the fireman that this was no accident or should I say, this was an act of stupidity gone horribly wrong. Looking over the rest of the scene/car, we had a compound fractured forearm exposed with a hand dangling from another location on the opposite side of the car. At this point you couldn't see any other part of a body and you couldn't tell if this belonged to the other occupant or if this was a second victim. I used my CSI experience and determined that we had two diffent colors of nail polish and they didn't match. Victim number 2 had a warmer extremity but no pulses. The fire department was setting up for extrication but I knew we weren't transporting anybody...or any bodies. After about 20 minutes they popped both doors and we exposed a cavity that encapsullated a body that had it's life come to a horrible end. Severe head trauma to corresponding side of where the roof got displaced and multiple angulated fractures to every extremity with a rotated pelvis. This was our priority victim and they were no better off than victim number 1. Both victims were left on scene for medical examiner and we got out of there in less than an hour. I find no reason to hang around on these scenes. Get your ass back in service so your cover cars can get back to their perspective posts. Two hours later we got another call for the "unresponsive with pre-arrival instructions being given". You have to love the dingers that will do CPR on a washed up piece of driftwood. Come on poeple!! When were they last seen? Body warm or cold ? If they're warm, can you open the jaw? I don't expect the vollies to be that in depth but if you don't check these things you really aren't doing your job. 4 of 5 patients deceased. What a shift so far. We ended up taking another transport for 10 day long "illin". I had my partner babysit that one and I was 10 and 2. As fast as the shift went, it wasn't very rewarding to say the least. We did make it on the local news coverage because one of the dingers let the news through the road block. They actually had footage of the extricatoin which was not supposed to happen. Somebody got their ass chewed off for that. Well that ended my tour and we had to get right back at it in 12 hours. Don't anyone worry about me or say they're sorry...I don't get that. Why do people that have nothing to do with a situation, appologize for it???? Life goes on and we just fix what we can and thank people for their stupidity. Afterall, That's our job security isn't it?? Have a good day and stay safe out here. Rob Edited July 25, 2009 by Robbyemt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 And your point? Why you doing all the whining if you don't want peoples sympathy. Should I send some cheese to go with the whine? Thats life in EMS. Some days more die than others. Enjoy. Goodbye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbyemt Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 You obviously have some issues.....how do you interpret my post as "whining"??? I thought it was a good shift. The point was exactly that Genius! Your not going to make a difference everytime you take a call. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Your not going to make a difference everytime you take a call. Speak for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenac Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 You obviously have some issues.....how do you interpret my post as "whining"??? I thought it was a good shift. The point was exactly that Genius! Your not going to make a difference everytime you take a call. Rob Did you read what you wrote? Glad you enjoyed it. You must have issues if you get pleasure out of suffering and death. Thank you!!!!! I am a genius. I make a difference just by showing up. Oh and welcome to the city. Look forward to more productive discussions later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher.Collins Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) This is where I do my Nick Cage, "Bringing Out the Dead" impersonation. "There are no good fires, people get killed in fires." IMHO, the only good shift is a quiet shift. Is it hard to keep up with skills if your not using them? Yea, absoloutley. But as I tell everyone in my fire dept who keeps begging for calls... if we go on a call someone is having a bad day. Ok maybe thats cliche but who cares. I come from an area where call volumes are on average 2,000+ a year (which is much compared to many others) and am now in a department that makes maybe 200 a year. Im deffinatley not complaining. As far as not making a difference every call... ummm define making a difference. Perhaps you should say your not going to save every patient? Im generally not cocky or arrogant but I consider every attempt I make at helping someone to be making a difference. Not trying to chew you out or give you a hard time brother... just throwing my perspective in. Edited July 25, 2009 by Christopher.Collins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyM83 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 If you redit your post to include paragraphs and separations, I'll take a read. As it is now, way too much jumble for my eyes to handle. Busy shifts can definitely be good shifts. I'm here to gain experience and get good at running different types of calls. If someone doesn't make it, I see it as experience and opportunity for refinement in skills that will help the next person who actually might have a chance. There is such thing as a good shooting. Just depends on what the "good" part is referring you. I wouldn't take it to refer to the fact someone was hurt (it goes without saying that's not good). Saying it was a good shooting doesn't change that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) Your not going to make a difference everytime you take a call. I can't let this one go. I know you probably didn't mean it the way it is being taken, but I think we need to go with this point. This is the equivalent of Osama Obama showing up and voting "present" on all those senate votes, rather than actually taking a stand and doing the job he was paid to do. If you don't make a difference, it's because you didn't try. Win, lose, or draw, you can always dig deep to give your very best effort on every run, every shift, and even in-between runs. Professionalism doesn't wait for the tones to drop. Professionalism is what drives you to continue your formal education. It's what drives you to study and research during your down time instead of playing X-Box. It's what drives you to do things the right way, instead of whatever way you can get away with doing them, or whatever way everyone else is doing them. It's what motivates you to always be searching for that better way. It's the pride that makes you wake up half an hour early to iron your uniform instead of looking like a slug. You can and should make a difference every time you put on the uniform. You should make a difference in the way the profession is presented to the public. You should make a difference in the way medics are viewed by the medical professions. You should make a difference in your organisation by raising the bar in the level of professionalism that is expected of your co-workers. You should make a difference in the life and perception of each and every human being you make contact with. And, as an employer, I have no use for any employee who does not have that level of commitment. Edited July 25, 2009 by Dustdevil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher.Collins Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Im sure thats not how he meant it either but Dust, damn! Your last post was very nicley put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HERBIE1 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I can't let this one go. I know you probably didn't mean it the way it is being taken, but I think we need to go with this point. This is the equivalent of Osama Obama showing up and voting "present" on all those senate votes, rather than actually taking a stand and doing the job he was paid to do. If you don't make a difference, it's because you didn't try. Win, lose, or draw, you can always dig deep to give your very best effort on every run, every shift, and even in-between runs. Professionalism doesn't wait for the tones to drop. Professionalism is what drives you to continue your formal education. It's what drives you to study and research during your down time instead of playing X-Box. It's what drives you to do things the right way, instead of whatever way you can get away with doing them, or whatever way everyone else is doing them. It's what motivates you to always be searching for that better way. It's the pride that makes you wake up half an hour early to iron your uniform instead of looking like a slug. You can and should make a difference every time you put on the uniform. You should make a difference in the way the profession is presented to the public. You should make a difference in the way medics are viewed by the medical professions. You should make a difference in your organisation by raising the bar in the level of professionalism that is expected of your co-workers. You should make a difference in the life and perception of each and every human being you make contact with. And, as an employer, I have no use for any employee who does not have that level of commitment. The only thing I will take exception with here is that you are referring to an attitude you project. I don't disagree about having a proper attitude and doing your job to the best of your ability. Whether or not you "make a difference" is highly subjective and dependent on what the patient and/or their family is expecting. Their perception of your actions may be completely different than your intent- good or bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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