Things you have had to do on a call that were out of the Norm

[Happiness]

Read this artical http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43849394/ns/local_news-orange_county_ca/

And the part that states the Medics removed the body part (dont want to give the artical away) from the garbage disposal it made me wonder what have we as medics had to do in their career that were out of the norm.

Myself There was an elderly man in the last few years of his life. We would be called for general sickness and everytime we got there this man would be in the worst hygenic condition. (remember family does alot (or not)with our elderly) Anyways after a few times having to clean him up (as that stink was not going in the ambulance)it was soon apperent that maybe the family just didnt get it. The next time we were called I asked the daughter to get me a warm basin of water, soap, towel and freash jammies. She did and I proceeded to show her how to do this in a professional and dignified way. From that date on we never had a stinky old guy, he was always in freash jammies, she pulled me aside and thanked me as no one had shown her how to do this properly...not a exciting story but true. Any one else

[DwayneEMTP]

I can't remember if I mentioned that I once started an I/O for a diabetic coma...?

I once sutured a head laceration with the patients hair, that's cool, right? I couldn't get permission to use sutures as it was an Afg national and they didn't want to create an OSHA recordable event, and I was still a big enough pussy to ask before I did the right thing. One of the guys had a Special Forces field guide so we looked it up in there and..... Walah!

He wasn't a happy camper...But he has a nicely closed laceration.

Dwayne

[tcripp]

Hmm...my "outside the box" duties aren't as cool as that. I changed the battery in a hearing aid and set up a refusal with ice cream and a spoon so he'd quit falling when trying to get it himself from the fridge.

[tcripp]

Hmm...my "outside the box" duties aren't as cool as that. I changed the battery in a hearing aid and set up a refusal with ice cream and a spoon so he'd quit falling when trying to get it himself from the fridge.

Did I mention we got called out twice in the middle of the night for that last one? I wised up on the second call.

[Emtpbill]

Years ago I got a call for someone who had been bouncing on a trampolene, while intoxicated, had smacked his face on the outer metal rim. Normal this would have been an uneventful call except that the man had braces, and some kind of retainer or palate expander.

So when he hit, the metal and plastic broke off partially and was rammed half down his throat.

The patient remained calm, I don't think he realized his peril at that moment, and allowed me to use magill forceps and manipulate the plastic and metal back up his throat and used tin snips to cut the mangled mess away.

He said thanks, I will go to my orthodontist tomorrow. I advised him against this. , but it was his party and there was no way to get him to leave. Called command had them talk to him, signed him off and was offered beer and cake to take back to the station.

[WolfmanHarris]

I've taught a COPD Pt. (rapidly developing into a new frequent flier) how to properly use her advair diskus and provided her a spacer for her aerosol MDI's.

I've cleaned up the excrement of a lift assist Pt. to make sure they didn't try to clean it up themselves and then fall again or make them wait with that mess until home care came in later that day.

We also have access to a Community Referral by EMS program. We call the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) which is a government service that provides access to various health resources. We provide them with information about the call, the Pt's chronic issues or situation and the help we think they may need and they're assigned a Case Manager social worker who attends the Pt.'s residence and gets them resources they may need. I use that fairly regularly for various Pt.'s including those needing post-incident care, frequent fliers, fall risks, failure to thrive, nutrition issues, smoking cessation (for COPD'ers). It's a great program and allows us to do more than repeatedly transfer the same Pt. for their chronic condition. They may need the transport, but there are better options than ED.

[akflightmedic]

I am a total rule breaker!!!

Was taking a bed bound elderly man from the hospital to LTF an hour away. He had no family, he was it and aside from whatever illnesses would strike him in the future, his days of being outside were limited.

En route we chatted quite a bit and he started saying he missed going to McDonalds, had not been in years and had no one to ask to bring him this request. When I realized he was serious and saw how deep in thought he was about McD's I told my EMT to pull over at the first one we saw.

My EMT was petrified he was going to be fired but I told him I would take full responsibility.

I took the man's order, went inside and got the food. I then offloaded the stretcher, lowered it to the ground and he and I sat at the rear of a truck while having Big Macs, fries and milk shakes. Everyone was looking but we were people watching just as much as they were staring at us. He smiled, laughed, chatted and then we were done.

Back on the road to the shit hole and that is where we left him...with a smile.

[ShockDoctor]

^^ That brought a tear to my eye.

[Katiebug]

Had a lady that had an allergic reaction to her sex toy. Her husband had gone out of town and bought it for her before he left. She refused to go to the hospital. A little epi, benny and wash off and out the hoo hoo, and she signed the refusal AMA.

Had another guy that inhaled a small screwdriver. He was holding it in his mouth when he inhaled to cough.

The guy was in no distress whatsoever. I literally did nothing for him en route. He was joking about it.

[Happiness]

I am a total rule breaker!!!

Was taking a bed bound elderly man from the hospital to LTF an hour away. He had no family, he was it and aside from whatever illnesses would strike him in the future, his days of being outside were limited.

En route we chatted quite a bit and he started saying he missed going to McDonalds, had not been in years and had no one to ask to bring him this request. When I realized he was serious and saw how deep in thought he was about McD's I told my EMT to pull over at the first one we saw.

My EMT was petrified he was going to be fired but I told him I would take full responsibility.

I took the man's order, went inside and got the food. I then offloaded the stretcher, lowered it to the ground and he and I sat at the rear of a truck while having Big Macs, fries and milk shakes. Everyone was looking but we were people watching just as much as they were staring at us. He smiled, laughed, chatted and then we were done.

Back on the road to the shit hole and that is where we left him...with a smile.

Now thats awsome you really are a big soft marshmellow inside that turtle shell