Just Plain Ruff

they didn't look at her bun and creatinine when the gave her the scans. Did they give her any dye?

yep yep yep

add the potassium level to this and we need to get her to dialysis if I am guessing right. sounds like acute kidney failure

CHBARE, any crystals on her skin? Is her skin covered in a crystallike sheen? I'm leaning towards complete renal failure with significant neuro involvement.

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement. The FIRST patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.The SECOND sees his family doctor after waiting 3 weeks for an appointment, then waits 8 weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which is not reviewed for another week and finally has his surgery scheduled for a month from then. Why the different treatment for the two patients? Question: What kind of patients do you think I'm talking about? This is a true story - this happened to my family over the past 2 years. Two different patients - 2 different outcomes. I am sure that this has happened to many many others too so it's not a isolated incident.

my grandmother is severely allergic/susceptible to the smell of smoke, perfume and any strong smelling odors(yes poop is one she doesnt do well around too) One day a resp therapist who just got finished smoking one or a pack of cigarettes came in to give my mother a resp. treatment. My grandmother started to wheeze, cough and get short of breath. She needed some pretty significant treatment before she got back to normal. I for one do not like the smell of smoke but my grandmother is a severe example of this. The smell of cigarette smoke is terrible to me and I agree with the hospital/clinic for going this route. I do not think it is discrimination. If you don't like it you can work elsewhere. The research proves that smokers have a higher than average rate of absenteeism, associated medical problems that go along with smoking. Nicotine is useful to schizophrenics but it's nicotine and not the cigarette that is useful to them. They can take the nicotine out of the tobacco but you can't take the smell out of the smoker. sorry if it sounds harsh but my grandmother suffered due to someone who smoked.

vent there was no offense taken. Please don't think I did. And Kyle, keep up the good work. Hope you realize that many here are proud of you for what you are doing. Me included

What's her current white cell count? How about her urine test? We know her sugar level I too would not take this person until someone on duty can give me a better report.

Ventmedic the answer to your question - working full time at the movie theater, was volunteering at the American REd Cross as a disaster action team member, responding to house fires and disasters etc. I was also pulling a 3.25 gpa at school and also helping take care of my grandpa who was unable to care well for himself. did that answer your question??? And I wasn't knocking kyle, it's great he's doing this but he specifically stated he did not like driving and didnt' want to in the future. So I told him exactly what many others here would have. Get to medic school and the majority of ems systems might not require him to drive or he coudl get on with one that had an EMT as a driver. I sincerely was not knocking Kyle. Kyle, I hope you don't think I was slamming you? That was far from the truth.

Now terri, you know you called me out. Bring it on. and no not for one second do I think you are innocent.

I'm sorry I don't understand. Your shift is 36 hours long? What exactly will you be doing during your shift?

If you do not want to drive the ambulance then medic school is your best bet.

well let's look at the legal ramifications - you lose in court which means you didn't have the proof to win in court so now you go out in public, saying that your condition or poor outcome was caused by the hospital and the surgeon. They sue you for slander and libel and they will win because you didn't prove it in court. you need to take em to court, I would if I was in your situation but if you lose you have to be willing to say, hey I gave it my best shot, but I just didn't have enough evidence to prove that malpractice or negligence occurred. Or you might be able to prove it and get some money but you will never see that money based on appeals. I believe that a hospital has deeper financial pockets than you do and they can appeal for 20 years. Good luck seeing your money I feel for you but coming here and crying about it instead of going out and doing something about your situation reeks of the "Oh poor me syndrome" There is nothing anyone of us on this site can do for you to help you in your case. We can of course listen to you rant and rave about how terrible your care was but I will bet my next paycheck that for each bad situation or poor outcome that you can cite, the hospital and doctor can cite 20-30 positive outcomes. so in essence I'm telling you this, stop whining on this board about how bad you were treated, how poor the education that your providers who took care of you have and get off your tail and do something about it. I think that we've had enough of your bashing the entire industry based on your single experience. so like I tell my son, "rub some dirt on it, walk it off" and get back in the game and do something constructive instead of crying here.

Yep I believe I might just be preachin to the Choir Ventmedic

I do agree with all the subsequent posts past mine an inservice does not a good paramedic make. on the other hand- an inservice also does not a good nurse make. It's the overall level of education that you get rather than all the subsequent 1 hour and 2 hours classes taught by people who have little more education than the learners they are teaching have.

links don't work

I was just kidding, I've seen some who had The guy with the sickle next to their beds and he was reaching out with his bony hand ready to take them and they turned around.

So Terri doesn't feel left out

actually the Missouri nurses association has been consistently against using medics in the emergency room. I know they have come out publicly against it but I don't have any documentation of what their statements are. When medics were given the ability to spike a bag of blood after going to a education class on how to do it (blood admin wise) the nurses association was against it. They have and always I believe will be against medics in the Er working as primary patient caregivers. I used to do that and there was never any question as to whether the care I gave versus the care a nurse gave in the ER was questioned. All our care was overseen by at least 1 if not two nurses and we were in a 16 bed ER so there was always a nurse available for assistance or what not. The nurse was in charge and we never questioned it. In fact, we relied on the nurses for education and help but they also relied on us. It goes both ways and I think we can work together harmoniously but the missouri nurses association does not hold my views. If you put a medic on the floor to take care of patients then that's a different story.

all I did was a pre-emptive strike against her so she would have to retaliate.

armed at home yes, on duty No Fricking way. Armed in my car - sometimes.

Tinman, I believe that the type of call you were referring to is affectionately known as the "Samsonite Call"

Pre-emptive strike Terri

Wide QRS Complexes look at lead 1, V1 and v6 whew She's a goner for sure

grrrrrrrrrr I hate you for showing me that game here's another one for you http://www.candystand.com/play.do?id=17995 If you can get past level 85 you will have beaten me.