Leaderboard

After reading all the posts, it seems as though I best be doing some more reading, and try to understand more on how SOB can be caused by chest pain and vis versa. As stated before, we do not have ALS available in our community, so I best learn and understand the complications of someone having SOB along with chest pain. Over the weekend I was called out for a lady with SOB, and we arrived and the lady did not look as though she was having any problems breathing, and was outside waiting for us. When we pulled up she walked over to the ambulance and just said that she had taken her puffers that day and they did not seem to help her. I had her get into the ambulance where I got my hx from her and she was very calm, and just stated that she has been short of Breath all day, and that she has some chest pain as well.( Hmmm I thought to myself I just posted a question on this exact scenario what are the chances eh!) The end result was I decided to give her Ventolin and transport her to the hospital based on her signs and symptoms from the questioning I did I felt her chest pain was because of her taking her puffer 4 times that day, and that the B1 effects had caused the chest pain. Later that night, I was back at the hospital with another pt. (Another story for later. It was a good One!!) I spoke to the Dr. and he stated that "Yes she was having a mild Asthma attack, and that her EKG was normal, and the chest pain was due to the effects of her taking her Ventolin." I felt good as that was my first SOB call as a licensed PCP and my first shift at my new station Now that does not mean I am going to treat every SOB call with chest pain as though the chest pain is being caused by the B1 effects of Ventolin, as I know that this is not allows going to be the case. One thing I learned from this call over the weekend is that, pt. do not present the same as they did in class with the classic signs and symptoms when they are experiencing SOB. My pt. was talking in full sentences, was not using any excessory muscles to breath, had good skin color, SPO2 reading was good, and when I auscultated her lung sounds they sounded clear. ( But I am still learning how to diagnose the different lung sounds, so maybe I thought she had clear lung sounds, when the matter of fact she did have some mild wheezes. All and all, it was a good call and I got her to the hospital where she could be taken care of and was able to go home a few hours later.

Dwayne nailed it. The discussion he had with his wife about listening sounds like similar conversations I have had. Part of the problem is the male/female thing. I am constantly trying to be a good listener and resist the ingrained male urge to fix everything. Because of what we do for a living, that urge is even stronger. Is that what's going on here with EMT155? I don't know. Although my wife works full time in education, the trials and tribulations of her day are no less stressful than mine- just in a different way. She tried to tell me once that I did not feel her line of work was as worthwhile or important as mine. I understand the idea, but in fact SHE felt that way, not me. I have always maintained that anyone involved in education should be well compensated and deserving of far more respect than they get. She admitted that this was actually the case. Regardless, I still try to be a good listener, but I admit it is not an easy thing to do sometimes. As Dwayne mentioned, sometimes we have a horrible shift, horrible calls, and talking about Oprah or "Can you believe what Tina said to Jessica at the office!" is the last thing we want to hear. Patience, take a breath and LISTEN. Unless specifically asked, do NOT offer a solution- let her vent her spleen. Again- this is about understanding ourselves and being honest. Are we the type of person we want to be? Have we changed in some way? How do others perceive us, and is this perception different than what we think about ourselves? Am I being a good partner, friend, or parent? How can I be better? Unfortunately I have major family issues going on right now, so these concepts are all too fresh in my mind.

Yeah, I found the above telling, as it appears Herbie did as well, that you said that you have a new job, and you have a new schedule but you think that perhaps it's her that's having a hard time adjusting? I have news for you brother, any time you make a change in your life, you change too. Sometimes you change little, sometimes you change a lot, but you are not the same person you were, not 100%, then before you took the job. Listen to her and find out what it is that she wants and needs and then see if you want to give it to her. That's what relationships are about, right? When my wife Barbara (Babs) tells me that something in our relationship is broken, or that she is unhappy for some reason, I immediately stop what I'm doing and listen, and believe her. She sees me much more clearly than I see myself at times, despite what my penis would have me believe, and she tends to be THE expert on what makes her happy and not, see? So it pays to listen to her... Babs mentioned to me gently a few times that I seemed distant sometimes when we talked. I didn't feel any different, yet decided to pay more attention and see if she was noticing things I wasn't. And she was. I remember one instance in particular, (My wife is a homemaker, caring for me and my 14 year old autistic son who is home schooled) where she suddenly stopped talking and walked quietly away saying, "I'm sorry, I can see you're not interested in this, I shouldn't be trying to cram it down your throat." The reason it sticks out in my mind is that she was telling me about a tv show, like Oprah, or some such, and the thought going through my mind at that moment was, "Good God! Please! I've been puked on, pissed on, spit at, told a family that their baby is dead and going to stay that way, will you please stop yapping about Oprah!!" I've never felt, and in fact may have never been, a bigger asshole in my life than I was at that moment. And I've been a pretty big asshole at times. She was good enough while standing by me throughout medic school, she's good enough to shoulder all of our home responsibilities while I run around playing macho medic, but I'm suddenly too good to hear about her day if that involves something interesting she saw on television? Bullshit, right? Do I now want to hear about what's happening on Oprah? Actually I do. Babs is smart, and kind, and sexy, and funny, and the things she wants to talk about are most times smart and interesting. Plus, she needs my time, and even more important, she needs my attention. The world tells our mates that we are something different because we're in this profession. That we're somehow braver, and more competent than meer mortals. Not Godlike like hosemonkeys of course, but somehow better than most. And our mates need to know that we're not buying into that hero bullshit. That we're still husbands, fathers, boyfriends and fiances first, and the rest is work. Is our job different? Sort of. In most jobs if you had to work 60hrs/wk to make a living you'd tell them to go and fuck themselves. In EMS for some reason most are willing to give up a lot to stay. Me included of course, as I type this from my little FEMA trailer at the end of the world. Is it more stressful? No, I don't believe so, and we need to stop telling ourselves that it is. Even when I've been bloody, or running to the ER with my sphincter chewing big chunks of styrofoam out of the seat Ive not found this job to me worse than many others. I've stressed harder wondering how I was going to get hay up before a big storm, or get a roof on a house before it snowed. And just a few assides. First, I think that sex makes an awesome barometer for a relationship. If you are spending more time 'working' on your relationship than you are spending getting naked and sweaty, then it IS time to sit down and figure out what's broken. Stop what you're doing right now. Go in and screw your brains out, and THEN talk about what's going on with this new job...You'll both be less defensive, more receptive, less rushed..(.and besides, by the time she's done yapping about all of that you'll be ready to hit it again! Ok, so maybe that was insensitive.) And with that, I swear to God, I have made my one and only incursion into your sex life... Second, isn't 7 years a long time to be engaged? Isn't it time to shit or get off the pot Mr. Heroic life saving EMT guy??? That's what I've got brother. Like most of my opinions it's likely mostly bullshit, but if you're able to find something in there that resonates with you then maybe it will help. Dwayne

OK I dont know wtf is going on in my world but everytime some new funky topic comes up here I seem to get it. We didnt have a crew but I told dispatch I would respond to a code 3 and my ff husband would be my driver (Big Mistake on so many levels) 19 year old (called code 3 for a fall out of a bunk in cells). Get there are and the RCMP are looking at me funny as they said it was abd pain that they said. hummmm I will have to look into that one. Get into cells and sure enough there is my pt drunk, stoned on something deny's everything. It hurts where they took out my apendix, really now thats the wrong side then comes out "OHHHHHH my left nut hurts", Ok well since your pants are off your ass and your hand is down your pants please explain to me what happened. He dosn't know (surprise) this pain just started to happen (Hummmmm it dosnt have anything to do with the fact your going to jail does it). Did the vitals everything is fine now from experience if your in extreme pain your BP will be elevated to some degree, did a verbal exam for example so since YOU already have your hands on your testical can you tell me if it is bigger than your right testical. Ohhhhh ya it's 10 times bigger than the other one. Hummmm I can see your testicals through your undies and nope its not 10 time bigger than the other one. Ok pal can you walk to my stretcher Up he gets and hops on not even a squeek of pain.......Now if a man's testie is in pain wouldn't he be doubled over or gimpy in some sort of way? So I did vote today on this topic and I said NOOOOOOOOOO to expose (in this case anyways) PS When I called Dispatch back, I said to HIM you know apperently your idea of code 3 is way different than mine and HIS response was "Did you cut and expose" have a happy day