Riding with the "Big Boys"

Ride time with my preceptor has been very useful. When I have more time I’ll fill in more details, but calls I remember include:

Major house fire. My first chance to see second degree burns in the field.

Mutual aid for a call in the boonies. Pt complaining of severe abdominal pain in a house set back from the road. Driveway unplowed. Took the county plow to make it so we could get the pt out (I don't know how the local fire chief got his 4-wheel drive Ford F-250 unstuck, but it was in up to the axles when we left...).

Person younger than me having severe sub-sternal chest pain that was non-reproducible and began on exertion. This guy had NO previous cardiac history. He does now – AMI confirmed via 12-lead. They used thrombolytics and took him to the cath lab. This made me wonder what the insides of my arteries look like…

Saw my first obviously fractured nose. Very obvious. Nurse fought a wheel chair and the wheelchair won. I also got to splint her wrist and apply ice to her patella. Tough job, nursing.

Call came in as full arrest. Long-term EtOH abuser out cold on bathroom floor. His heart and lungs, however, were doing their best to keep him perfused which is good for him, but means I have yet to work a code.

In general: I am starting to like medical calls more than trauma calls. Don’t get me wrong, I LIKE trauma, but for me, at least, the medical calls challenge me more as they are (in general) more of a puzzle.

I have more thoughts that I can’t get down due to limited time right now, but I’ll be back…

DJ