As a new EMT, your gong-ho about getting emergency calls aka "E-Calls". You buzz around the station doing extra this and extra that, fully prepared for a surprise emergency call, of which my specific company gets few. I work for a private company that is focused mainly on transporting patients between medical facilities whether for doctors appointments or between nursing home facilities. So when E-Calls are paged out to us, its a sudden rush of excitement like none other. With stethoscope around my neck, 2 pens(incase one kaputs), pen light, notepad and trauma shears, i marched around the base prepared for the worst. As the days went buy, the E-Calls were not coming my way. I guess everyone in the Northwest Indiana region was eating right and exercising until a little old sweet grandma at a local nursing home had the home call us for a stroke. During the time, i was working the night shift, and this call came in while i was fast asleep in wonderland, so after hearing the call, myself and my partner jumped up and dashed to the Ambulance. I was so disoriented myself from dashing up with a dispatcher screaming in your hear over the radio while you jot down times, addresses, and name. the print on those run reports can look so microscopic at odd hours in the morning. So after i managed to chicken scratch all over the report, we were on our way. Boy 0 Boy the joy of speeding through the traffic is just as one imagines. playing with the siren is for me one of the reasons i chose this profession - yes yes i know the part of Patient care and emergency assistance is great, but come on.. the flashing lights and noise we make is one of the very few perks we get at the job. so call it a childhood fixation if you must.
We arrive at the nursing home to be greeted at the door by an elderly 72 yr old woman and her nurse. after assessing her, she showed no signs or symptoms of stroke so we loaded her up and away we went. during transport its hard when people are telling you their life story after your ask a simple direct question i.e.{ Are you on any medications}.
Upon arrival the lady told us she was having a headache, so i proceeded untangle a Non Rebreather Mask in order to put her on oxygen while my partner elevated the womans feet which i later told her that was about the worst thing you could do for a stroke patient due to the clot floating around in her veins that could potentially cause an aneurism or stroke again by rushing more blood to the head.
The most difficult part of the job is speaking on what is called and IHERN where everyone can hear you call in over the radio as you speak directly to the hospital, and you dont want to sound like a newbie or better yet a straight out idiot. at the hospital their is always a nurse their ready to chump your head off like a hungry crocodile over the radio if you fail to do things according to that they think is best. But today was my lucky day, even though my IHERN Sucked like a leech, when i got to the hospital noone said anything unless the woman on the IHERN was in the bathroom sharpening her teeth for my arrival. finally the pt was delivered to the ER where she was transfered to the hospitals care without and incident.
Not very eventful but i got to play with the siren, so i felt complete excitement.
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