20 Hour Transports

[spenac]

Glad you got a 3rd that will help. Don't forget to ask for diapers. Would you want yourself or family to have to lay in crap? Just because they put a fresh diaper on right before you leave does not stop them from crapping themselves 5 minutes out. If you cannot change a diaper you should not be treating patients. Is the patient able to communicate? If so could you not assist them onto a bedpan? During my 90 mile 911 transports we often have patients on bedpans or urinals. Or can you get them to put a foley in for the piss. Still need to deal with the crap. Sorry to be so blunt but I have seen to many elderly, or mentally or physically challenged left in there own urine and crap. It is not dignified, don't do it. Change them. It's not a big deal.

[WestSideBorderPatrol]

Don't forget to ask for diapers.

We plan on asking for a back-up diaper just in case. It's really not fair to the patient for me to stop to pee but have her pee on herself and just stew in it. Thats just gross. But we are in a van unit so it might take a little ingenuity to orchestrate a diaper change. lol. We're leaving from here tomorrow around 0600 and are to pick up the patient somewhere in Baltimore around 0700 and from there we're going to try to hit our destination by 1530. We'll then grab something to eat and be back on the road home by 1630 and get back home around 0130-0200.

I think that I'm going to bring my iPod and a DVD player for the trip home. But chances are i'll be sleeping if I'm not driving. lol. I'll let ya'll know how it went when I get back. Thanks for all your input.

[CBEMT]

GOOD FOR YOU for standing up!!! You just got a gold star. Proud of ya.

[WestSideBorderPatrol]

So here is a run-down of our trip:

We get to the station at 0600 to find our unit fully stocked with a cooler of drinks and a plastic storage container full of toilet paper, napkins, straws, plates, and diapers . We get a call dispatch saying that the facility that we're picking the patient up from isn't aware that she's leaving. So it takes an hour and her family member that has Power of Attorney to get them to release her.

We arrive, load her and her suitcases into the ambo and head out. I drove the 4 hours which got us into Connecticut. We made really good time on the NJ Turnpike. lol. Then we switched drivers and I went into the back with the patient. She was great all the way up and never needed her diaper changed!

So we finally made it to Cape Cod and enjoyed the scenery and town before we returned home. We really milked the return home, it took us 7.5 hours to get to MA and about 8.5 hours to come home. Some things that I learned on the trip home:

1) The clam chowder in New England is amazing

2) People are really nice in Cape Cod.

3) Rhode Island should not be considered a state. It takes about 15 minutes to drive through.

4) Connecticut is deceivingly large

5) Bronx traffic is a bitch.

6) Going to find a White Castle just for the heck of it is fine...but not at 1230am in the ghetto of Trenton NJ. :shock:

7) White Castle is amazing

8 ) Our ambo tops out at 95mph. 8)

Overall it was a great trip and I would definitely do it again!!!

[Scaramedic]

We were going to do a transfer from Portland to Reno, roughly 450 miles. The company was going to give us $75 each for a hotel room after we dropped off the patient. Our plan was to drop off the patient, change into civillian clothes, gamble away the money and sleep in the unit. Unfortunately the patient died about two hours before transport.

Peace,

Marty

[dahlio]

Glad to hear that the transport ran smooth. Now about this white castle business . Next time, get of at exit 9 on the turnpike, take route 1 south to Livingston Ave. Make a left on to How, and a Right on Route 27. White Castle on your right . If you end up in the middle of Robert Wood Johnson Hospital, you have gone too far. You'll see many patients from Robert Wood who just came out of the cath lab in white castle. Glad it went well.

[JPINFV]

White Castle?

1. Drive West till you hit California [ok, fine, there's one in Las Vegas, NV also].

2. Stop at In-N-Out.

3. Order the world's best hamburger.

4. ???

5. Profit.

[VaREMS1]

White Castle is the best.

Anyway, once upon a time, while working private service, I and my partner left Charlottesville, VA and drove to Yonkers, NY to pick up a patient AND her daughter and transported them back to central VA.

The only reason an ambulance was necessary, was because the patient could not be transported sitting upright...and I suspect that an ambulance was the cheaper option for the family.

720 mile round trip, give or take.

Speaking of burgers...I'll have to say, that "Jack in the Box" there in San Ysidro, CA, right there at the border, next to the trolley stop? Awesome burgers, especially after a night out in Tijuana.

[akroeze]

Unfortunately the patient died about two hours before transport.

Peace,

Marty

Pretty damned inconsiderate of them if you ask me

[Dustdevil]

Some things that I learned on the trip home:

1) The clam chowder in New England is amazing

2) People are really nice in Cape Cod.

3) Rhode Island should not be considered a state. It takes about 15 minutes to drive through.

4) Connecticut is deceivingly large

5) Bronx traffic is a bitch.

6) Going to find a White Castle just for the heck of it is fine...but not at 1230am in the ghetto of Trenton NJ. :shock:

7) White Castle is amazing

8 ) Our ambo tops out at 95mph. 8)

Overall it was a great trip and I would definitely do it again!!!

Good times! Thanks for the recap! :thumbright:

How's the weather on the Cape now?