The Older women were after me today.

One patient only under 72 all day.

89F - Weak and lethargic. She has a pacemaker and it doesn't appear to be doing it's job.
81F - Dislocated her false hip bending down to put on sock.
90F - From yesterday with the gastro, wasn't better so I told her there was no choice today I was taking her to hospital.
40F - Complex emotional problems.
72F - Sudden onset of diarrhoea in a public place with a near syncope, helped her home and gave some self care advise.
75F - Mechanical fall and hip or femur #.



Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

Taz

Tried not to transport anybody today!

Unless they needed it, the hospitals are choked up with some sick patients and unless you need to be there I will try to talk you out of it with simple and common sense solutions.

49M - Needed a psych ward badly.
92F - Accidental alarm activation.
44M - Been feeling off, unwell for a few days, last time he felt this way about two years ago the gave him two cardiac grafts, Him we took.
74M - Respiratory Hx, slowly increasing SOB, he got a ride too.
45M - Known condition of AF but multiple rhythms today including ventricular.
90F - 30hrs of gastro, doesn't want to go to hospital but an after hours Dr said she should. I disagree. I can give IV antiemetics and fluid in the home and see how that goes. All parties happy.
35M - Been drinking and now sleeping, in a park. Moved him on.
86F - Respiratory distress, cause unknown but I called for backup.



Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One! Taz

My last shift before Christmas.

43M - Withdrawing form Methadone, feels unwell but I think there were other issues undisclosed
Called off someone fallen
Called off a Psych
30F - Anxiety, calmed and left
Called off another person fallen
30M - Who thought that one of the 15 large beers  or 5 vodka shots he admits to drinking (and the rest please) must have been spiked because he felt ill!!!!!
There was no talking him out of it, I felt so ashamed to be a man.
Called off an intoxicated person
25M - Overseas backpacker who was pissed and wouldn't rather than couldn't talk, so I had his phone, I called his parents for details.
25M - Aggressive drug effected with whom we needed to have Police assistance, transport for Mental Health reasons, he was a danger to the public and himself
78M - Abdo pain.

And that's me I'm spending Christmas in the country with family and relaxing before the NYE fun starts, and yes I'm working that night by request.

Have a safe and pleasant break.

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

First night shift before Christmas.

??M - A graze of his forehead, someone travelling past in a car called it in
42F - From a Medical Centre to hospital for assessment of a deep lac
40M - IP who appeared to be having absence seizure activity for the first time??
30M - Standing funny at a Pub (I shit you not) again someone else made the call and he decline examination.
73M - Anxiety
27F - Hypogastric pain
70M - Odd thoughts, he was certain he was dead, I couldn't persuade him otherwise
20M - Punched in the neck, he'll live
20M - Failed the work Xmas party and was found lying on a footpath to pissed to walk. Points to him however because he did provide a phone to call a cousin to come and collect so we just waited for him to arrive.


Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

Last day shift before Christmas

I should have posted these sooner because I've had too much turkey, ham and the works and can't work up the energy to do more than list them.

54M - alleged assault
35F - SOB
31M - Opiate OD
58F - Abdo pain
84M - To a hospice from home
48M - Angry - can't fix that
46M - Minor scalp wound but it happened at work so we transported.

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

The city is buzzing with shoppers.

But not all of them need us.

70M - Going home from hospital in time for Christmas.
85M - Who felt weak in the humidity but didn't want to go to hospital.
52F - With abdo pain for three days and couldn't bear it today.
40M - Near syncope event, the second recently but everything looked ok.
76M - A Scheduled patient from his own home for his welfare, sad.
46F - With her first every ankle sprain.
33M - Dislocated shoulder.

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

To help a brother.

One of our own was found to have Corrosion in the guts as one Wit put it or Cancer as we call it.
He seems to have been around for ever.
Known to all and Loved by all.
When he was on the radio in Co-Ord it was his own private radio station with word of the shift, weather forecasts and other gems to make you laugh and forget about the grind of each new job he gave you and you worked hard just for him.
It was found late and the going's been rough and bills where stacking up so some of us challenged our workmates to sponsor us on a bike ride.
150km

 It was bloody cold at 0600hrs

Seven left on this 150km trek.
Five did the lot.
We by physical force showed our love for our Brother.

Be strong Andy

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

A STEMI a day,

Keeps you on your toes.
If only they were all STEMI's

56M - 2 witnessed LOC, no radial pulse sitting up, sweating heaps, pale, C/o dizzyness, nausea, numbness in neck, admits to lots of alcohol, 2 lines of Nose Candy and a little Mary Jane but that's not out of the ordinary for him and ECG confirmed STEMI but it wasn't that clear to see. Ran the job on presentation and transmitted to the hospital the ECG and their ECG returned a negative STEMI. Waiting on a followup on this pt.
81M - Advanced Parkinsons suffered a fall without injury. A bit close to the mark this one because he reminded me so much of my Pop.
28M - At a Music Festival thought dancing on a chair seemed like a good idea. Dislocated shoulder with a # humerus proved otherwise.
1M - Febrile convulsion transfer from small inner city hospital to Kids hospital.
79M - From dialysis centre to nursing home.
Cardiac Arrest - First crew called it before we arrived.
16F - with abdo pain and 25 weeks gestation.
23M - Drug effected.
25F - No official diagnosis but sounds like the way she has felt over the last six months it will be depression.

And that will be me for the week.
Another short one as I'm taking the last night off so I can participate in a charity ride for one of my own Ambo Brothers.


Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

The sex was more even today.

Yes I am a big child at times and I do laugh at fart jokes etc.
The title should of course read the sexes were more even today but what the heck..

30M - Sad really, I talked quite a bit to his parents, currently suffering a severe paranoid delusion for the first time and from unknown causes. Hx of depression and they are seeking treatment privately and so are unknown to the local mental health system. Today he has kicked out the first floor wind jumped out, got caught by the roof gutter on the rib section similar to where a chest tube would be inserted but looking like it was done with a chainsaw. Come off the gutter landed on a fence and then slid of landing on the ground before running into the neighbours place. To the best of our knowledge no major damage other than the chest and that didn't penetrate but was a massive wound.
33M - Work incident, slipped and drove the whole weight of his body down on one knee that caught the edge of a piece of metal plate on the medial aspect of the joint. Large three sided penetrating wound but he could bear weight and move it some what.
64M - Sweating like a leaking tap, pale, nausea and vomiting, witnessed syncope, inconclusive ECG but treated as cardiac of course.
56M - Chronic Hx of nausea
64F - A very nasty bed sore that is not responding to home care nursing visits.
3/12F - Opiate baby, foster Mum says that while she has been fully weaned off it she has apnea events and today she felt the need to provide rescue breaths and chest compress ions. One brave and emotionally strong lady that.
69F - With Catheter issues.
30M - Who chose a public park bench to sleep is off.
Really the Cops and I don't mind but Mr & Mrs Average walking past you will call us to come help you. Yes we know you don't want any help but they who pay our wages have this expectation that you do.
He decided to move to the grass next to the napping office worker.

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!


 Taz

One Male Patient All Day!

81F - LMO had seen her a few days ago and written a letter to the A&E then for her admission then but they had not acted on it until her birthday had been celebrated, yesterday. A good family that don't want her assessed for assisted care placement but just to get better and then come home to them. Not that common in Australia.
74F - I can't begin to describe how cluttered this tiny backyard was other than to say we were in danger just trying to walk in to her. She's tripped (Dah!) and landed on some pot plants and can't get up. That was it in the end, she just couldn't get herself up so with a shovel and sweat I cleared a path and also around her (thought my landscaping days were behind me) and then helped to her feet. She still wanted to go to hospital so we took her.
48M - The bottle has it's hooks into him and he was doing well but had a moment and we're transporting him to a detox from a clinic.
37F - with Law enforcement to whom she stated that it was difficult to breath. It is also 30hr + post her last heroin hit and really she is doing the withdrawal well so far. There's nothing I can do and they have an RN at remand who can give Valium so that was my recommendation.
68F - prolonged near syncope episode for like 20 minutes, BP remained very low (never better than 95 sys) denies pain of any kind and the ECG is very good unless you looked at it tilted slightly and maybe , just maybe there could have been a small square of ST elevation. Asymptomatic when we arrived and while with us. Troponin levels indicated otherwise and she went straight to the Cath Lab.
96F - Doesn't fall but has three times in the last 24hrs. No injury but to have this sudden drop of independence it needs to be followed up in a safe environment with 24hr care.

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz

Only one night shift this week.

Got some personal stuff to attend to.
Ambowife and I are taking a train trip with our bikes to the country to attend a double christening of a pair of  8 mth old boys. Close friends from the first year I was here from interstate and important people to us, so a shift swap was done leaving just this for the one shift.

38M - Yep you have been punched in the face and I guess there is a bloody good chance that orbit (eye socket) is fractured, better come with us for an x-ray.
42M/F - Drunk, wounded by a similar, no idea about 'indoor voice' or stop flapping your lips will I'm trying to look at the size of the wound. It needed stitches anyway.
34F - Fainted twice. Everything came back fine so we discussed it an agreed that it must have been the alignment of the stars that caused it and she went home.
41M - Cyclist without a helmet (yes he did cop a serve from me) who face planted over the handle bars. Concussion, transported for observation.
26M - Sick, like really sick. Febrile, nausea and vomiting, been going on for more than four days, weight loss because of the nausea and decreased appetite. Not a well lad at all.
39F - who claimed to have been randomly drugged and released.
86F - Regular dialysis pt.  

Be Excellent to Each Other and See You at the Big One!

 Taz