05/01/04

Thursday I had a fair amount to do and left my pager at home so I would not be tempted to go on any calls. I was in my office talking to a student about research opportunities for the summer. We were almost done when he slapped at his waist. Given he rides with the ambulance (in fact he is one of the student coordinators) I took this as a clue that he had his pager set to vibrate and that we had a call. When I asked if he was going he explained that he had class but that he knew the board was a little light (this is the last week of classes and finals start Monday) and that I should head down if I wanted. Down I went.

Call came in as a 93 y/o female with injuries from a fall. When we entered the apartment we see a 90+ woman sitting on the floor, next to her bed, looking a tad white but AOx3. She is complaining of pain in her left hip. Pain? My hip hurts just THINKING about what her’s looked like. I could see the head of her femur, dislocated from the hip joint, jutting out at an odd angle. This lady was tough! We gingerly collared and boarded her and got her to the hospital ASAP (we were BLS). Our patient had been stuck on the floor for over 3 hours.

When we asked the patient questions about her medical history she reported being fit at a fiddle. No Hx of: cardiac issues, hypertension, orthopedic problems, etc. Stunning that one can live to be over 90 with no health issues what so ever. With a little extra prodding, however, she did mention that she had been in the hospital in the last month. What for? TO HAVE SCREWS PUT IN HER LEFT HIP. Gee, you think that is pertinent?

I’m off to a 9-4 EMT class (ambulance operations, extrication, etc.). The end is in sight!