uglyEMT

Most were Ruff. We are far inland so no evac orders were issued thus alot of shelter in place folks. We had a pedi unresponsive, DOB, labor pain, traumatic amputation, possible electrocution, and finally a CO call. Thankfully all had good outcomes: pedi was a syncopy episode with hx of seizure, DOB was a bad asthma attack that their inhaler wouldn't correct, labor pain was probably from the stress (still hasn't delivered), amputation made it albeit without an apendage, electro wasn't that bad RMAed (still don't believe it was an elctro), CO spent 24hrs in the hyperbaric chamber an made a full recovery. Most in my area made it fine without assistance, we are still cleaning up though, but I will say it was a hairy day and night riding out the storm in a fiberglass box but brought a whole new perspective to my patient care.

Being a responder during this hurricane I can relate. We had ALOT of "judgement" calls during those 48 hrs. This was definatley a trajedy to say the least and my condolences to his family. It is easy to arm chair quarterback but unless we were there I don't think we can accuratly surmise the situation. With the rapid raise of flood waters during this storm it is easy to assume when they arrived on scene with the SWR team (which according to the article he was part of) they surmised it was a "go" for a rescue and in the course of said rescue the waters overwhelmed them. Be it a real rescue or the car was moved there by said flood waters they recived the call and answered it albeit to a tragic end. I personally witnessed the rapid rise of water during this storm. Answered a call to a residential home for DOB and parked in the driveway which was dry, entered stabilized for transfer and by the time we left the residence had ankle deep rushing water between us and the rig. Went "upstream" and worked our way to the rig, grabbed one of our recovery lines and were able to transfer w/o incident but made us realize how dangerous this storm was. BTW I am part of an SWR team so I did have training to go and get the rope so did my partner. For those that worked during Irene it definatley was an experience. One I think may change some training and protocols in the future.

Sorry for getting to the party late folks. I was on duty this whole weekend and this is the first chance at a comp. We faired OK (family that is) town had some issues with flooding, even today, For those in the Northeast that know Route 287 it was completley washed out on the northbound lanes in Booton. I mean its gone!! I passed it twice running patients to the trauma center and today on my way to work it was gone. Amazing the power of water. Had a ton of calls during the storm. I will NEVER again complain about the 3am toe call. Try answering a choking call in 45mph winds, blinding rain, and in a home with no power at 11pm. We did not stop running, my service that is, we answered all calls that were reported to dispatch. Hopefully everyone else on here faired well or were without much disruption.

Lets see if its still there after this wekeknd

Yup everyday at work I deal with Forest Gumps. Sometimes I just want to scream or punch someone. Usually just go home, work out a little to burn off the steam, then go and drop a line in the lake with a cold one in my hand.

Benign Positional Vertigo Ruff the Pt woke at 0340 to pee and doesnt remember getting back to sleep but awoke at 0710? Umm sleep walk much? Sounds like a bad dream, RMA and go back to sleep LOL OK this is my bad post of the month guys and gals.. long shift.

All real good responses. Take them to heart and remember them. You asked if coming from a "religous" background made it any different.... I grew up in a strict Catholic household, went to Catholic school from preschool until I graduated High School, became an EMT and realized I can look at someone in the field and not see them as human but rather a doll or a training aid. Its was awkward at first thinking along those lines but eventually you realize that is what needs to be done. Also depending on your faith it may actually help to be religous because you can come to terms with the death on a spiritual level as well. God takes everyone so if you start from there it will make it easier. Also being you are just starting out in the education here is a great tip to remember that i haven't seen anyone say yet. YOU CANT HURT DEAD! What this means is that during CPR or other interventions you will not be hurting the person so do what you have to do. I would rather have a CPR patient come back and sue me for breaking a few ribs then not. At least if he made it long enough to sue me that means he is alive and made a recovery. What is it like to have someone die in your arms or in the back of your rig? It sucks! When you are busting your butt to save this person from whatever befell them and it was just not enough (for me anyways) fell like crap. You second guess yourself, what you did, what you didn't do, ect. But you know what happens? In the end you come to realize that if you did everything you thought was right and still lost the patient then it wasn't your patient to begin with, it was already out of your hands you were just delaying the inevitable. One thing I have found harder to deal with then the dead body is the body's loved ones. Sometimes you will be on a call where there was nothing you could do and the family memebers start getting emotional and asking question and such. Sometimes THAT will get you more then the body. How to cope. Here is some really good advice I am about to give you... FIND SOMETHING AWAY FROM EMS!! Find hobbies or places to go or things to do that have nothing to do with EMS or with your EMS buddies. Yup thats right even your buddies on the job, get away from them too. If you surround yourself 24/7/365 with EMS you will burn out faster then a B.L.E.V.E. Me, I go out on my boat fishing or take my wife out on the lakes for some alone time. If you feel like it is all coming in on you and you need to cry, do it, we are human in the end and not machines. Take a look at some of my stories I put up on here in the personal section. Big bad me has broken down on more then a few occasions and I haven't been afraid to tell these guys and gals here about it. It happens to us all. And if after all that it seems like nothing helps... go seek professional help!! Don't be afraid to admit you need help. As far as learning how to cope, nope not taught in the class I was in. How to see if you can deal with a body in different states of decomp or injuries is ask to do a clinical rotation in the morgue. I did and it really helped me. Wait till you are actually in class though, usually you need an official document to be able to go. Hope anything I said helps you in your endevors as either a Basic, A Medic (hopefully), or a hosemonkey.

Yea I think all us First Responders and Hard Hats should show up on Bloomberg's door step for a reunion. Hows that for space limitation you arogant asshole When I read what Bloomberg did I went freaken ballistic. I understand about the construction and all but why cant we stand outside the service or in the surrounding area? Let me stop before I get banned.....

In one of his stand up routines he talked about how he met a women from Africa and tried keeping her at home. It was once she met girlfriends that she learned if she divorces him she gets half of everything. So anytime Eddie would "act up" she threatened him about half of everything. I bet its on boobtube somewhere.

In the imortal words of Eddie Murphy "Half Eddie I get Half Eddie!"

2 things. First, GET MORE SLEEP. I know sometimes you just can't but trust me you need to find a way to get it. Even if it is just a cat nap after the call while they do the paper work or on the ride back on the cot. Talk to some of the nurses and Doctors that do 24's or longer shifts. Some find that even just closing their eyes for 5 minutes revives them. Sleep depervation can lead you to nasty things. Besides feeling like your drunk (research has shown sleep deprived folks act like they have had 3 strong drinks) it can lead to real health effects. Heart Disease, Stroke, High Blood Pressure, Obisity, Mood Swings, Irritablity to name a few. Second, it goes to show just how ingrained your training is. Without recollection of the call everyone said you acted normal which means, at least to me, you did a good job. Your knowledge is so ingrained it is now second nature to you. You can perform your duties without having to think about them. I would want you on my rig. I have not had it happen to me in my EMS years but have had it happen before outside of my duties. I once woke up, got dressed, drove the hour to work, and finally "woke up" and wondered what the hell just happened. Freaked me out a little.

LOL and the photo collection and you can have my magazine collection as well LOL Nope doesn't happen my wife tells me when I am wrong and apparently I always am

No not really. Wackers tend to get in the way on scene.

Deer running across the road caused the accident. He swerved to avaoid it, got into the soft shoulder and lost it. It was a pretty drastic incline off the shoulder so I could see where he wasn't able to maintain control. From what we discussed he steered into the slide once he realized what was happening to avoid rolling the car.

Concidering the bafoons we have as elected officials now are supposedly highley educated and some have law backgrounds and don't sem to be doing any good I say why not! Have the average Joe run for office why not. I see normal everyday people be able to balance check books, keep their family on a budget, weather storms and thrive. Just like that movie where the president was gravely ill and they grab a shop owner to replace him so noone would know and he actually did some good because he was a good person and a good business man. I think we should give it a shot. Can't be any worse then the way its done now.

Going on protocol alone in my area PD is the only people that can forceably enter a residence. The one caveat is if imminant danger is present, ie house fire w/ a pt trapped then anyone can make entry. My squad SOP is if we can make verbal or visual contact and are requested enterence we can do what is necessary. The halagan in the rig is our master key Usually we have PD with us so normally not a big deal. Personally I have pushed in a window A/C unit to gain entery so no damage (well cosmetic to the unit) and opened the front door for my team. The PT was spoted unresponsive on the kitchen floor with the phone near the hand through a window so we knew we HAD to get in quickly. My far to ambitious grasshopper wanted to through a chair through the back sliding doors I stopped him then used his back to reach the window. I guess it all boils down to what is happening at that moment and what resources are available to you. Remember we are in a dynamic situation field so cut and dry answers sometimes can't be found.

Hey all. Don't know if I put this in the right forum but anyways... Was a good samaritan yesterday and had the best providers I have ever worked with. Driving home I notice a woman waving her arms franticly at passing motorists so I flip on my warning lights and pull over. First thoughts as I am doing this is pedi choking, husband having a heart attack, sick child, ect.. I get out and ask, "Mam I am an EMT what seems to be the problem?" I am then told she witnessed a MVA and pointed into the hollow. I look and see nothing except under brush but do notice what appear to be tire tracks leading into it. She says she witnessed a car veer off the road, hit a telephone pole and then disappear into the brush. I say, "Ok Mam stay here, let me get my bag and take a look." Grab my jump bag and start bush wacking. I come to a BMW sunk to maybe 1/4 way up the doors in muck and mire so I realize opening them will be tricky if not impossible. I notice the driver slumped over and not moving. I think to myself is he unresponsive, had a heart attack, just pissed? Get to the window and tap on it. He looks at me all doey eyed so instant relief comes over me. Apparently he was texting his wife to say he was alright. OK so I try and get the doors open, not happening. I ask him to roll the windows down so I can gain access. No good, apparently power was cut during the accident. OK I inform him I am going to break a rear window to gain entry and he says OK. Walk around to the rear passenger side and hit the window with my window punch. I enter the car and notice the airbag deployed but no spidering of the windshield or cabin intrusion. Male mid 40s moving around well no complaints or visable injuries. I ask him to remain still while I preform a rapid assesment. Quick once over and all seems wel. I am glad for this because being in a good sam position I don't have to follow my arcaic MVA protocol from my squad and have full C-spine taken. Its at this point the "other providers" show up. Apparently while I was doing this they noticed my lights and stopped. Anyways... I look up and coming through the window was a guy in full BDU's. Army Medic!!! just coming back from the sand box and said he noticed my lights and wanted to help. I let him know what I found and he said OK let me check just to be sure. We switch positions and he does his thing. Agrees with my assesment and asks if the guy wanted help getting out of the vehicle. Guy refuses the help and all of us climb out the window. Its just then I notice another man in a suit coming twords us. I let the person know we don't need him down here we are coming up. Get to the road and the guy was still there. He tells us he is a trauma surgeon and wanted to make sure all is well. LOL hows that for a good sam incident. You have an MVA and get an EMT, Army Medic, and a Trauma Surgeon all to stop and help, if needed this gentleman had probably the 3 best folks on scene anyone could wish for. By this point PD is on scene and I hear in the distance the distinct noise of fire monkeys. 2 pumpers, heavy rescue and a chief show up. I do have to say this though, I don't know about your local volly fire units but this one actually had a girl (I say girl cause she looked young, maybe 18ish if that) jump out of the pumper with her turnout pants on and a bikini top! Apparently she was at the local lake and decided to come on the call. Guess a T shirt was optional or at least putting on your turn out jacket. Talk about unprofessional. All the usual goes on and I stay and chat with the Army guy and surgeon. After a while everyone is starting to leave and I get a chance to talk with the guy in the car. After some minor chit chat the cop asks if he has a ride coming. He says no but he doesn't live far. I ask where he lives figuring it would be the right thing to do. He tells me where he lives and I am shocked, 3 blocks from MY house. This guy is a neighbor of mine and I had no idea LOL So when I tell him where I live we both start laughing. He calls his wife and at first she is reluctant to have her husband get into a strangers car. He calms her by telling her that the ride he is getting is by one of our local EMTs and if she trusted the EMTs to take care of people in the neighborhood he should be OK getting a ride from one. I drop off the guy off to his waiting in the driveway wife and inform both of them that if anything changes or starts hurting to give 911 a call and we will come no problem. So there you have it stop for an MVA, get provided with 2 of the best qualified other good sams, and drive the patient home personally

I never would believe anything that airheaded blond bimbo said period. sorry couldn't resist. BTW I have nothing productive to add to this thread because I have absolutely no knowledge of the disease other then knowing it is a disease. So back to your regularly scheduled thread..............