My last day

Today is the last day of freedom; medic school starts tomorrow morning at 0800.

My last shift at OAC was surprisingly wacky. Busy, to the point where I almost didn’t get all my PCRs written. I mean, I like it busy, but when the dispatcher is screaming at you to get in service for a pending call while you’re unloading the patient from the truck, well… that’s a little much. The triage nurses were unsympathetic to our plight, and we were backed up in the hallway, sometimes 3 or 4 crews deep.

Aside from the regualr “ill person”, “ill diabetic” and “man down/possible intoxicated”, we did several diff breathers, mostly just sniffles and snot. It’s a matter of course, when the weather changes, people get congested. I wanted to tell some of these people, if they just blew their nose, they could save a trip to the ER.

One interesting call came in as an “unresponsive male, possible CVA”. When we arrived, we found a mid 60s year old male, outside an assisted living facility, sitting in a lawn chair, with a fixed gaze, non-verbal. When we arrived there was a Charlie Foxtrot of firefighters working him up. At least 6 or 7 getting in each others way. And, true to form, just as the the dispatcher told them, they were tunneled in on that CVA idea. Well, okay. Let’s let the fireguys do their thing, while I try to hunt down some details. I learned from an aide that this patient self medicated, so I peeked at his med list, then looked at his pupils and thought, “overdose”. I told the lead firefighter that it didn’t really present as a CVA and I thought the patient might be gorked from too much Oxycodone. The firefighter looked at me with disdain and said, “Uhh, this is a CVA. He has a history of past CVAs. Just put him on your stretcher and go red to the hospital.”

…So, we put him on the stretcher and went. It was a short ride to the ED and while en route, I patched and told them what I thought was going on. We rolled into the trauma room, the Doc did a quick exam, took a look at his pupils and said, “How ’bout some Narcan.” He got 0.4 and woke a few minutes later looking pissed and asking why he was at the hospital.

When I saw the fire crew at another call later that night I made it a point to tell them that it was indeed an OD, not a CVA. I think the fact that he had pinpoint pupils was the first clue. Second clue was the almost empty bottle of Oxy in his jacket pocket.

Some people just get tunnel vision.

Anyway, I think I’m set for school tomorrow, and anxious and ready to get underway.