Lot of Abd. Pain calls lately...

[AnthonyM83]

Anyone else seeing this? Is it a certain sick season or just a coincidence?

5 out of the 5 emergency transports we did yesterday involved abd. pain & N or V...two of my friend are sick...and both my partner and I feel like we're either going to be sick or we caught something minor enough to not show symptoms, but still feel fatigued as if sick. I swear these things come in streaks.

Anyone else getting streaks of calls?

(This thread is mainly a conversation starter...I'm insomniac)

[awing06]

we've been getting a lot of abd pain calls too. 3 of our medics have gone down with it this week alone. i dont know what it is, but its goin around

[Redcell19512]

We started getting the nausea,vomiting, diarrhea calls towards the end of October but haven't had any employee victims yet, lol. We go through this every year though. Last year there was an "outbreak" of Norwalk virus at our main hospital. The media blew it all out of proportion and made it seem like this was some devasting plague. We noticed a number of 911 calls from patient's who read the articles and were worried that they had "it". From what I read on CDC website Norwalk is a common cause of the pukes and poops and like most viral illnesses it's usually no big deal. We've probably all had it at one time in our lives.

Last bad outbreak we had at work was 4 or 5 years ago. 2 or 3 people a day were calling off or leaving early with it. It's no wonder. People just refuse to wash their hands. Me, I'm nuts about keeping my hands clean at work while I'm eating. If I'm having lunch and stop to answer the phone, I wash my hands before I resume eating. Guys think I'm nuts but I haven't had as much as a cold in almost 2 years now.

Time and time again I've watched nurses and doctors go from one patient to the next without wearing gloves or washing their hands. It's no wonder people get sick in the hospital.

[windsong]

Apparently in Calgary here, we have several cases of the Norwalk going around, some of the ppl are in Isolation at the PLC.

Peter Lougheed Centre (hospital).

[Shelbmedic]

I have also come across alot of ABD pain calls lately 6 in last 3shifts 4were N/V/D calls and the other 2 were AAA.

No one has gone home from the station yet.

[Dustdevil]

Has this inspired you to put your nose in the books and start learning the subtle differences in presentation between appendicitis, cholecystitis, diverticulitis, pancreatitis, peritonitis, hepatitis, salpingitis, gastritis, and PID?

Don't blow it off. When something catches your attention long enough to ponder it, pay attention to that little voice that is telling you, "Hey, maybe I ought to learn more about this!" Do it while it is fresh in your mind. That is how you become better than the average medic.

Good luck!

[AnthonyM83]

Yes, it has...now only if my EMT book actually covered all of these...internet research it is.