Two shifts, one post.

It's been that slow, the two night shifts are going to be combined.

50?F - Air Ambulance to hospital for urgent CABG.

80?M - Seen by householder to have been lying on the footpath not requesting an ambulance. They called us anyway, he wasn't there. I believe if they had gone and asked he just had a case of 'Wobbly Leg Syndrome' (alcohol induced) and needed a hand up.

43M - Sudden, sharp, spasmodic chest pain. Axilla, scapula regions. Chest sounds equal and clear, no trauma no deformity no history of anything similar. Still being investigated at the end of shift, x-rays had cleared pneumothorax renal colic, I never thought it was colic but that got thrown around by others. 20mg of Morphine to take the worst of the pain down to manageable.

77M - Chest pain and tachycardia episode, fully resolved by our arrival. Hx of an episode yesterday, while sedated for a procedure, of sustained SVT. Urgent appointment later today with a cardiologist, while asymptomatic with us lets go to hospital a bit early.

The next night.

47F - Hx of brain tumour that presented with limb numbness, surgery was successful.
Guess what happened at work,,,,, it was more of a decreased sensation not a total loss of and our role was really only transport and supportive.

17mthM - Big hospital to Specialist hospital, sustained SVT post administration of care fully measured ventolin (salbutamol or albuterol for you off shore) for respiratory wheeze. 240 beats a minute, resolved by immersion in cold water, similar episode in vitro and was on beta blockers for the first six months of life.

53M - An angry IP.

703 jobs /96 shifts = 7.32 average

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Monday.

61F - Simple stumble fall while walking to work, small lac on her forehead.

75F - Aphasia, second presentation in three days, she left before examination the first time and the symptoms have been present for three to four hours now.

38F - Floppy Russian Syndrome, similar to Floppy Asian Syndrome but sounds different and makes more noise.

86F - PR haemorrhage.

78M - Transfer to hospice.

27M - Claims vomiting for the two weeks.

49M - IP with a glue-able lac on the crown of his scalp.

65M - History of NHL and persistent infections. Sounds like a chest infection now, rattly chest and 39.1 degrees C.

696 jobs/ 94 shifts = 7.40 average


See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

A slow Sunday.

Coffee and a chat with other crews for an hour and a half before our first job.

75F - Says she has been vomiting all night but if looked more like saliva and an inability to swallow all the time. Short of it was she refused to go to hospital.

74F - Chest pain, has a big cardiac history but this appeared to be more to do with her COPD, Anxiety and Hyperventilation.

34M- Nob Nut in the local cells pulling the 'oh my back hurts' from the trip in in the cage truck. We caught him out with his story, he knew it and refused to have anything to do with us.

83F - Fell in the street just walking and did a NOF.

91F - SOB slowly increasing, facial bloating slowly happening and the most cyan0osed I have ever seen a living body. Might follow her up.

Late finish to match the start and a very wet ride home.

688 jobs/93 shifts = 7.40 average of jobs.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.Taz

Something worth a read.

One of the writers I follow has released his second book of anecdotes and wisdom about ambulance work. Tom Reynolds blog Random acts of Reality has been insightful, humorous, sad and disturbing.

The book, More Blood, More Sweat plus another Cup of Tea shows that it's the same work everywhere.

Visit his blog and follow the links to the free down load sites or if you would like a real hard copy it is available at Amazon books.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Oh boy what a slow night.

Our local had increased staff levels.
Had opened up a ward upstairs to try and reduce waiting times.
But we just kept bringing in sick old people and clogged it up.

67M - Post ictal and very pissed, also a nasty piece of works. We'll get you a tissue or a drink of water but neither of us really want to talk to you.

85M - Transferred from rehab to hospital because he was,
In AF - not that we could see on their 12 lead or on our three lead.
Febrile - not by our tympanic or oral thermometers.
Confused, not that we could find allowing for the tiredness of being in the glare of the A&E at 2200hrs.
And we waited four hours to unload.

29M - Intoxicated driver, aggressive with Police on scene, first crew wouldn't touch him. We got called to the cells were he was bunging on a fit, we wouldn't touch him also because of his aggression. Police transported him to hospital where again his aggression made him a totally unacceptable risk to other patients, family and staff.
Yes he had an epistaxis, a kind of head injury but the level of his verbal, cultural, religious, gender and moral tirade really pointed out that he was just a twat.

86F - Small hospital to bigger for angioplasty.

No overtime these days off We have a work social function as well as I have a few medical things to take care of for myself.

683 jobs/92 days = 7.42 average per shift.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Well it was Sunday night.

So you wouldn't expect anything too busy.

34M - Lives alone, tried to catch the dropped glass just as it breaks and gives him a half decent lac.

48M - Dizszy, at midday, and again at 1700hrs. Regular caller per the hospital.

22M - Broke up with B/f and cut his wrists.

19F - Assaulted.

29F - Collected from one hospital and transported to another to receive her gift of a recycled set of lungs.

89F - Epistaxis, resolved with simple treatment from us. Instructions left with pt on how to self manage.

679 jobs/91 days = 7.46 average.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.Taz

New Roster, New Partner.

A peer so it's a relaxed crew doing our best.

46M - Had three full syncopal episodes at home. Normally fit and healthy apart from type one diabetes. BP was not getting over 100mmHg even with posture, transported.

45M - IP, wanted transport to a mental health facility, went to the ED waiting room instead, just like he did yesterday.

25F - Domestic assault. Thankfully no serious physical injuries.

70M - SPC trauma and haemorrhage.

49F - Fell over a tree root in the park, who would have thought you would find such a thing there!!!! Probable fractured tibia.

31F - Four days post partum with heavy haemorrhage. Unsure if it is PV or PR.

80F - Big drop in BP at a birthday function, 60/40. Posture and fluids got it up but hospital can determine why!

78F - Bowel blockage, got called off in transit to attend,

48F - Parkinsonian like tremors, just started half an hour ago. Yes the schizophrenia meds she takes may in rare cases cause such but they weren't very convincing to me.

673 jobs/90 days = 7.48 average.



See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Slow start but it got busy.

Sat on station for over two hours before we got a job a on the last day working with my current partner. He's off to the station I started at as a Probie.

81F - Slipped in her bathroom after having a bowel motion after a vomit. She's been sick and it was all an accident but her husband couldn't pick her up. We arrived assessed her as well enough to be assisted up and helped to shower off and put back to bed were she had been for the last day trying to get over a bug.

73M - from little hospital to an bigger one.

84F - Simple fall at home with no injury assessed and left at home.

35F - Cancer of the GIT. Acopic at home with meds.

71M - Discharge from hospital to fly home.

81F - Fly in from a country town with AF needing a pacemaker.

62M - First ever seizure presentation, two additional ones witnessed by us.

63M - PFO, facial injuries from the glasses that he was wearing.


664 jobs/89 days = 7.46 average


See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

O/t over the Iron Cove Bridge.

This station sits on the border of three different areas and crews can get dispatched to many different locations and we felt that we were last night.

22F - From a small hospital to a larger one for assessment of abdo pain and persistent haemorrhaging post a TOP.

29M - Watching the latest Predator movie and suffered an anxiety attack (maybe too much blood and gore), he recognised it and employed his own techniques and it resolved however his friends panicked and we got called. Left him alone after a quick check up.

53M - Social issues, Police called us. After I checked him out they took him home which is all he wanted.

18M - OD, IP and called a friend and said he wanted to die! Well of course the Police and us turned up and having stated similar to us he lost any option of staying at home and had to accompany us to hospital.

38F - Claimed she was having an asthma attack in multiple long and abusive sentences. She hadn't called us and continued to abuse me so we left. I'm not getting thumped again for a while anyway.

13F - Transfer from a different small hospital to the same larger one for treatment of pneumonia and an abscess on the lung.

63M - 100% blind, having a shower and slipped over smashing a hole in the shower screen safety glass. I guessed there was a good 400mls of blood in the bathroom but his main concern was his very painful right hip that he couldn't move (?NOF). Had to call on some extra hands to get him out of the bathroom and the only wound I found was a 3cm lac on his head!
They do bleed like stuck pig those head lacs.

84F - Pressed her vita call button and her son who lives across the road came over and called us. Dysphasic with left sided deficit. CVA by the looks of it but she was in hospital within an hour by the quick actions of her family and a FAST diagnosis by us.

30F - Rolled her car in an MVA, just onto it's drivers side, self extricated and refused transport.
45M - Same accident, unrestrained driver it appears he hit the sun visor, a beautiful crescent shaped laceration of his scalp about 8cm or 3 inch in length. My partner had to catch an international flight and it was knock off time and we were 100m from station.
Thanks very much to the day shift that took over our pt for us.

656 jobs/88 days = 7.46 average.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Thanks Squeezy.

Message to a reader.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

That's the way you do it!

Money for nothing and your chicks for free,,,,,,,

Thank you Dire Straights.
This has nothing to do with the night really.

48F - Vertigo and vomiting. Anti-emetic helped with her transport and she was admitted for investigation.

52M - Bystanders found him slumped against the steering wheel on the horn. Pt was drowsy on our arrival, a 'fit kit' (sharps container and storage box given to IVDU's ) still in his hand, denies taking any illicit drugs. Track marks on his arms, GCS = 15, says he's going of to the Pub to meet a friend, nothing we can do.

36M - Found by Police face down in the park behind their station (common OD spot, even with it's close proximity to the law). He's up walking, talking and not lying to us about his drug use. He has money on him and a plan to get home, again nothing we can do and off he goes.

20M - Had an incident in the workplace, he was pushed too far and snapped. Transport for evaluation by Mental Health Team. Appeared to be a really nice young fella who's life history was just one sad story after another.

76F - From ambulance bay at hospital to a location 10km away, normal speed a 30 minute drive for a SOB. Lights and sirens about nine minutes if you know the alternate routes to avoid the traffic. 'I've had this pain here for the last three years and I think my BP's high and can you check my sugars?".
Stop,
Breath,
Smile.
'Thank you, Oh no I don't want to go to hospital, now where do I sign?'

18F - King Hit in a Pub, offender caught by security staff who state pt was knocked out. Collared and transport for Neuro Obs.

21M - SOB or Rib pain or anxiety anyway he walked out of hospital after we dropped him off.

??M - Unconscious, call from someone who walked past him and thought someone else (me) should help him (pt). Problem was no-one told the pt this and he had walked off himself before I arrived.

21F - Sitting at the bus stop outside a Kebab Shop!!!!!! IP++++

27M - ? a fractured jaw.

Busy, funny and what a night shift should be in the city.

646 jobs/ 87 days = 7.43 average


See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Assaulted again!

92M - Diarrhoea and possibly some blood in it too?

81F - IP, so was her daughter who thought she was unwell. Not the case they were just both Intoxicated and didn't need me or a hospital.

61M - Very IP, escorted out of a hotel because of this and when security let go he fell, haematoma and lac to occipital region. Step in to say 'Hi my name's Taz, I'm a Paramedic, etc, etc and bamm up pops a fist and hits me in the face.
I'm fine I thought I was outside of his reach but the shot didn't have much power just caught me off guard, a small cut and a localised fat lip. No one had clear vision of it so it's really my word against his and some wishy washy court would diminish his responsibility due to his intoxication. Notch another one up to experience.

20M - IP, absconded.

93M - Febrile @ 39.1 degrees.

74F - Type 1 diabetic deceased.

20M - Phoned from a club because he had freely taken GHB ( Gamma Hydroxybutyrate) and now felt funny. His friends took him home before we arrived.

24M - ?? food poisoning, not what we are called for, it's the four cm lac on his chin from the toilet bowl he hit on the last vomit.

636 jobs/86 days = 7.4 average.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

An extra crew on station, someone's going away!

And I answered the phone.

Chivalry and courtesy dictate that I therefore go, nobility is a lofty burden.
Anyway I'm working with one of our 'reduced hours' employee's today and we drive down to the 'Bra' (local surfing beach) for the day.

Assist load and transport for another crew.

53F - Anxiety to the point of syncope.

79F - At the hairdressers, syncope and chest pain.

80Fell this morning and the swelling of the elbow made me fearful of the very likelihood of Compartment Syndrome. X-rays confirmed a fracture .

33M - thought he had food poisoning, and we were all out of our TTFU injections or suppositories (Toughen the Fu*k Up). The only saving grace for him was that he wasn't a sook like 'man cold' suffers but just ignorant of the processes of eating something that disagreed with you. He was totally asymptomatic.

70M - Looked like it was just a public assistance call to help off the floor but as soon as he was up there was no way I was leaving him home, acopic, ataxic. The aged care team had knocked off when we arrived but I have done my time, paid my dues and the nurses at that hospital accept when I say this one does need real help with social issue jobs like this.

628 jobs/85 days = 7.39 average.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Now this was a busy day.

71M - His peg tube had a hole in it and the nursing home didn't have any. Neither did the A & E and it was too hard to get one from a ward so the Dr showed us how to patch with some glue and an ob-site.

71M - Same fellow back to the nursing home! It counts, it was a transport job.

MVA - UTL

98F - SOB, a beautiful lady with a chest infection.

Vital Call activation, family members got there first and cancelled us.

47m - Cyclist clipped by a motorist open their door without looking in their mirror. Injury to a finger only, very luck, more so than the boys in the tour.

50M - Allergic reaction, has a probability to develop to anaphylaxis and used his own Epipen and we gave him some more adrenaline for good measure.

60M - Tired and clammy found in a reception area of a business. Got cancelled as we arrived.

77F - Abdo pain, called off en route.

77M - Haematuria and abdo pain. Hx of CA bladder.

26F - Currently having some hormone therapy and suffering palpitations.

62M - IP, stumble/fall and suffered facial injuries that were going to need some sutures.

A very busy day and I'm hungry so I'm off to eat.

622 jobs/84 days = 7.41 average

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Education Evening.

Just got back home from a evening presented by Area Health and the Institute of Trauma & Injury Management.

Maxillofacial Trauma,
Penetrating Trauma,
Damage Control Resuscitation,
Penetrating Torso Trauma,
Trauma in the Future,

My local nurses look even prettier in normal clothes than their uniforms.

The content of the evening was very good also.

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

Tour de France in three days.

It took us three jobs to find a pt!

M - alleged assault, had absconded by our arrival.

M - SOB, poor address instructions, UTL, we think it was one our regulars off the street.

34F - Randomly punched in the face. Seen at the police station, no obvious injury, seemed to be a very innocent victim. Left with Police to complete statement.

79M - SOB, X-ray showed a R pneumothorax post a coughing fit.

29M - Randomly assaulted, witnessed by police, no obvious injury, Refused Tx/Rx.

28M - Scooter rider who glanced the side of a car, very lucky due to the angle. C/o L hip/thigh pain no obvious deformity, I reckon the handle bars have whacked him, and a few really good road rashes.

610 jobs/83 days = 7.35 average

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz

No drugs used here!

Might as well have been the sign on our ambulance last night.

27M - Known epileptic, witnessed seizure, sustained a laceration that was going to need sutures.

21M - Currently being treated for drug induced psychosis and thought he was dropping a heap of speed yesterday but it actually was an antipsychotic med and he now is suffering extra-pyramidal like symptoms or tardive dyskinesia - an iatrogenic disorder of involuntary repetitive movements of facial, buccal, oral, and cervical muscles, induced by long-term use of antipsychotic agents, sometimes persisting after withdrawal of the agent.

47F - Work function celebration EOFY, big cut on foot while dancing barefoot in a Pub!

Male - Assaulted, UTL.

19F - I don't know how many times I'll say this girls but breaking up with us fella's is not a worthy reason to ingest a heap of Paracetamol. In fact there is no good reason to ingest lots of Paracetamol, it's a very nasty, slow and painful way to die. The hospital introduced her to activated charcoal,,,,,Yuk!!!!

?30M - Thought he would catch a few minutes nap time on Pitt Street Sydney!!!!!! And then I come along and bother him when someone rings in for a dead person lying on the footpath from the other side of the road. Told me to bugger off and jumped into a passing taxi.

25M - Found by Transit Cops, very developmentally delayed, taken to regular Cops to wait for us to come and assess but by the time we arrived they had contacted his group home from where he had absconded nine hours ago. Cops SNR'd us and took the young fella home.

37M - Very minor facial injuries after a fist fight on a bus, he was the victim, the aggressor got Tazered for his dickheadedness.

604 jobs/82 days = average 7.37

See you at the Big One and you be careful out there.

Taz