Week 8: Day 2

Today was my first day (of two total) for ride-a-longs in the County. I was staffed on an Advanced Life Support (ALS) Medic. In all, it was a great learning experience. I was finally about to see some of what we have been learning put to real use, rather than a book form and "scenario" format where things are obviously staged a bit. Doing things in real life and with real "emergencies" add something that you cannot find in the safe environment of an Academy.

Shift starts at 0600...but if you are on time, you are late. I reported at 0530 to perform gear checks, equipment checks, and assist in checking out the unit.

Call #1: 0625

76 y/o/M with difficulty breathing

Pt was having trouble breathing. After taking vitals, he had a rapid pulse and a somewhat lower BP. We administered a breathing treatment and the pt stated his breathing and chest felt better. Nothing else pointed to a major problem. After admitting him to the hospital, they ran their own tests. Later in the day we found out he was most likely having a heart attack. It was a "silent" MI (Myocardial Infarction). All of our tests did not show any flags to indicate that it was a heart attack, and he was not complaining of the typical symptoms associated with a heart attack (crushing chest pain, pain in the jaw, shooting pain in the left arm).

Call #2: 0845

9 y/o/F with difficulty breathing and limited speech

Pt was having trouble breathing. After taking vitals, we found NOTHING wrong with this girl. The girl was in school and was pulled down to the nurse's office. Her grandmother arrived and we gathered some information from her about the girl. It seems that the girl likes to try and get attention, and this may have been an anxiety attack/need for attention. The grandmother did not want to seek further care

Call #3: 1240

(I was in the middle of working out when this call came in. I quickly stopped what I was doing, grabbed my station boots and jump suit since I was in my PT clothes, and jumped in the rig)

56 y/o/F with pain in the back and left leg

Pt was bed ridden with pain that started 2 days ago.....(my question is why are you waiting 2 days!!!) After taking vitals, we had to transport the pt to the hospital. She was diagnosed with a bulging disk, among other problems..so this may have been part of the issue. We put her into a flexible stretcher, carried her downstairs, and loaded her onto the cot. While en route, she was drugged up with some morphine. I'm not quite sure the final outcome of this lady...

Call #4: 3:15

62 y/o/F possible stroke

Pt walked up to the Fire Station (not ours..but we reported to it since it was an ALS call) complaining of tingling and numbness in her right fingers. After assessing the woman, we noticed some facial droop (typically seen in stroke victims) but not much else. The woman was disoriented and kept asking "Is it really 3 o'clock?".....to which I assured her it was. We dropped her off at the hospital since there wasn't much we could do aside from take vitals and monitor the patient to make sure she was ok until we transferred care to the hospital.

It was a good day......I got to meet some of the career firefighters out in the County and run some calls. They showed me around and were very patient/helpful. They let me assist as much as possible, without creating a sense of urgency and making me nervous. I was also included in lunch...which was great!!! For $3, I had 2 chicken breasts, a salad, bread rolls, and green beans and potatoes. They were also VERY appreciative of the bagels and cream cheese I brought in for breakfast.

Hopefully tomorrow steps up the pace a little bit.....