welcome to another follower!

G'day to Firefighter/Paramedic.

I hope you find my ramblings of some interest, I guess you do otherwise you wouldn't have signed up as a follower.
As with all readers if there is something you don't understand (most likely from the way I wrote about it) or if you would like me to go into more detail, drop me a line or make a comment.

See you at the big One.

Taz

Got to love the Friday/Saturday nights double.

Can the fun continue on the second night?

(I'm not short they just had Killer Heels on)
While enjoying a coffee on Oxford Street early into the shift I was recognised by one of these lad-ies. I had apparently provided assistance to one quite some time ago and they just wanted to say thanks and pose for a picture.

67M - Dementia pt at a nursing home who had recently been transferred there for higher restrictive care. He didn't understand this and had been doing his best to escape to return to his hostel. It's a booked transport so whilst I know that there is nothing the ED can do and really it's more a management problem for the nursing home, I can't refuse to take him.

F - ?? fainted with head lac, hoax call, two other units responded to the same address during the shift with less and less urgency. It's a Hungary Jacks restaurant so a note has been put on the system to ring if this address is ever used again.

75M - Public assistance to his feet and then bed.

80F - History of episodes of rapid AF that usually self resolve. Tonight it hasn't after three hours. Several hours later it still hadn't responded too well to meds either.

25M - Tragic job. Pt fell five meters or more to a concrete slab landing horizontal. GCS=3, visible injuries haemorrhage from nose and mouth nothing from ears, haematoma to occipital region, one pupil dilated, strong radial pulse but decreasing heart rate.
ICP arrived at same time along with ten or more Cops.
Stabilise spine, maintain airway, scope and run, active treatment en route was a 16G cannula and some metoclopramide from me, spinal care by one ICP, my partner did suction and bagging the other ICP drove, it was maybe a whole kilometre transport distance. Second pupil dilated by arrival in Resus. CT showed a huge midline shift and the family are flying out with small hope.
He'd been in the country a day, just one day and was sky larking around drunk at a backpackers.

35M - Social workers could see the pt but couldn't get into the premises due to a locked screen door. Pt may have been dead they thought. We carry crowbars in the side locker for just these jobs. Pt was dead, dead drunk. Rescue arrived as we were leaving.

20M - IP. Two inebriated older gents approached us and didn't ask if we needed help or offer to assist they just pushed into our treatment area and said 'we're Doctors'. I told them he was just drunk and again they swelled their chests and stated they were doctors. With restraint, I informed them, that was nice but as this wasn't a hospital and there were no nurses around to do their work and as we were Qualified Paramedics they could move on.
I have a very good relationship with my ED and local clinics doctors but if I was drunk outside a Goth/Emo club in Sydney identifying myself a a doctor is not something I would do, twits!

20M - Also IP.

Multiple pt at a brawl. Cops didn't find it and neither did we.

21F - IP.

76F - Vertigo, a little hypertensive. No one single whole symptom more like a collection of half symptoms. Transported.

That's 931 jobs in 123 shifts for an average of 7.57 jobs.



See you at the big One.


Taz

A day off for a course and Bam!

An introduction to Emergency Management.
No assessment, good presenter and I got paid to do it.

Come back to a night shift and what a shift, just like the ol' days.

9M - Up here for a soccer camp just with Dad. Coughed the wrong way and Dad panicked. The young fella was ok and Dad decided to self manage.

32M - Heroin OD. Easy job pt didn't want to come to hospital with us.

24M - Cut on the tip of the thumb. He asked us what we thought. Now I didn't say he should visit Bunnings (hardware store) and buy some cement and toughen the F$%k UP. But my partner might have. He stayed at home.

Called to an UNKNOWN job, got called off.

54M - SOB, speaking in full, complete, lengthy and rambling sentences. Maybe just a bit pissed and anxious. Stayed at home near his booze.

MVA - Two taxis nil injuries.

20M - IP, got called off.

30M - Assaulted cousin when they both got on the grog big time and then passed out. An ED won't do anything for a simple broken nose but GCS under 10 vomiting boy needed a trip for observation. When he woke up he didn't remember a thing!

36M - Abdo pain, got called off this one too.

38M - with Police, had been escorted out of a hotel and then appeared to start fitting. More like drug induced dystonic twitches. Cops found heaps of different gear on him and his presentation made us think that he may have been in the K hole (ketamine - a rapid-acting general anaesthetic).

26F - Had got bumped on the hear by a door. Hotel security called for an ambulance even if she didn't want us because it was nothing, which it was.

40M - Homeless dude in McDonalds with busted apart trousers, no shoes and a bad smell. Who are they gonna call. Small hospital in the middle of the city was the right place for him tonight.

50M - IP who can't walk,,,, Amazing how a good accidental wedgy can fix that. For public safety and even his own we transported to a waiting room.

24M - A member of our fine Constabulary who was sprayed by a co-worker while taking down a bad guy needed us to de-contaminate him. Don't know if the bad guy needed some too,,, don't really care from the abuse coming from the back of the cage truck.

85M - Asthmatic. You can really do some good by recognising a proper asthma attack. Three nebs and some adrenaline started to fix him up but a trip to hospital was needed too.

15 jobs in a 12 hrs shift!

920 jobs/122 shifts = 7.54 average.




See you at the big One.

Taz

14 in 12 hrs!

Of course not all were transported or even found.

72M - Currently being treated with chemotherapy for leukaemia. Febrile and weak.
80F - Fall at home assistance required - Called Off.
A person unconscious on a train, arrives in five minutes - Called Off when someone woke them up.
46M - Motor scooter rider racing a truck off the lights and cuts in front. Clips the truck and gets stuck under the front wheel until the truck stops. De-glove of the leg with no vascular injury, fractured pelvis and abdominal haemorrhage. Stabilise, package, scoop and run. He needs surgery.
40M - Anxiety and sore legs requesting transport to hospital.
81F - Transport for palliative care - Called Off.
45M - Chest pain at a sports ground - Called Off.
72M - Haematuria in his SPC.
55F - Ankle injury, positive Ottowa examination and x-rays later confirmed.
80M - Social work required, he walked into a clinic for tests he had months ago. We tracked down his LOM who said he had been showing signs of cognitive degeneration and confusion.
??M - Cancer Hx now with leg pain - Called off.
92F - Not feeling herself, not sure who she was feeling so we transported.
??M - Called from a payphone demanding transport to have a plaster cast removed from his leg. Didn't stick around for us, UTL.
85F - Long Lie, had been on the floor for nearly thirty six hours. Luckily for her it was a nice warm dry apartment with thick carpet and she had been pulling herself around to try and reach either the phone or the Vita Call pendent she wasn't wearing. Transported.

905 jobs/121 shift = 7.48 average

See you at the big One.

Taz

Now for a complete WANK!!!!!

I've just had a quick look in the ACAP Shop site for some thing else.

They have off to the side a Ten Most Popular list!

Guess who's book is number six!!!!!!!!!

Ambowife and I are pissing ourselves laughing.

On a more serious note there are no immediate plans for book signings.



See you at the big One.

Taz

A long weekend in the bigsmoke.

We have the Grand Final of two different codes of Football and numerous dance parties.
On previous occasions Ambulance services have been stretched to near breaking point.
Operational management appear to have taken note and are calling in overtime crews to be,,, floaters or area resources. Not assigned to any one station but an extra crew to help the regular rostered crews.

I got the call to be on one of these crews at my local station with a senior officer from a very far away sector who made for a very interesting and delightful shift.

19F - Going to the dance party but peaked way too early, probably a bottle of vodka consumed prior to getting to the venue and she never made it past the entry point. That's $145.00 in ticket price gone up in smoke or down the drain like vomit. Which ever you prefer.

48M - SOB, got called off halfway there for,

35M - Motor bike V Car, the details said high speed but on scene it was more like under ten km speed. The rider got clipped by a driver pulling away from the curb. Maybe a fracture in one of the small foot bones but nothing else. Transport for an X-ray.

22M - Facial injuries from the airbag deployment in another MVA. An abrasion on the inside of each forearm and he was wearing glasses so a very small lac lateral to the eyebrow. Everyone was cleared and not requesting hospital assessment.

72F - Pet cat had killed pet bird. Had been interviewing tenants for a rental property and thought she had taken her night time tablets too early. After spending some time on scene the pt decided that she was going to go to bed and have a nice sleep rather than go to the hospital. We were happy with this also.

68M - SOB with exertion. Hx of CCF, obese, actually asked for the injection that would make him strong again. What can you do? We transported for a review of his meds and re-evaluation of accommodation from hostel to maybe higher care.

74M - SOB and then chest pain. Rapid AF. Symptomatic for around three weeks and hadn't seen LMO yet. Knew his history quite well and had never been told of AF so it may have been a new symptom. Doesn't matter really he was always going to be transported.

33M - IP after celebrating the Dragons win and fell over backwards. A good lac on the occipital but the booze sealed the collar and spinal precautions.

84F - Anxiety, decreased mobility, incorrect analgesia for ?? arthritic issues, not coping at home. Hospital on a long weekend is not the place for her to be but like so many other health care service we don't have the resources to deal with her otherwise.

Knocked back another shift because I have an order for some more of my Trainee Question books for the Aust College of Ambulance Professionals bookshop.

891 jobs/120 shifts = 7.43 average

See you at the big One.

Taz

Working with someone half my age.

Who finally likes to stay out all night too!
Shame there wasn't the work to go with it.

91M - Has been a semi regular caller with catheter blockage problems but he tells us he goes out each day to the cinema, shops, malls, places of interest because he doesn't like sitting in the retirement village (not a nursing home) waiting for the Grim Reaper so for my money he can call whenever he wants.

39M - Abdo cramps and pain. Initially regular vomiting but the gun's empty now and no diarrhoea yet. Is very embarrassed about ringing us but the pain was really bad. Shame that while with us the pain had stopped so we gave no analgesia which is included in the cost of our attendance, just transport. The diarrhoea started soon after we were triaged.

27M - Outside a strip club with a shoulder injury. The gentlemen on the door didn't know anything, we couldn't find anybody so we left, UTL.

60 males brawling at Australia's most well known beach. Yeah right!
The cops cancelled us five hundred meters from scene.

70F - Did one of those 'foot on the accelerator instead of the brake' type accidents in a multi level carpark. The barriers had stopped the car which is lucky seeing as it was five levels above ground and the airbags had deployed but neither had sustained any serious injury. We were called as a second crew the passenger was complaining of chest wall pain and the driver knee pain.

37M - Sleeping outside a pub in an old hospital gown and track pants. Social services at the little hospital in the city would be just right for him and could also fix his scabies infestation.

18F - IP, friends had left her. Lovely polite young lady who appreciated our efforts and concerns. Must have been from the country!

46F - Head lac. Was in a convenience store being emotional/drunk, store owner called us and the cops. This is the story we got from her, doormen and independent witnesses.
46 mother of three went into a strip club for a QUIET drink??????
Starts chatting up some bloke and ends up throwing punches at him which brings the show girls into the story as they jump her and attempt to break up the fight (throw some jelly in there too and I'd watch,,,, naaa just joking, I'm in uniform I can't)! And that's how she got the injury.
Does she want us, no.

57M - Central Heavy Chest Pain. Too simple, even had a significant family history.

And I'm stuffed. The two extra day shifts straight back from holidays that's what did it.
I slept well into the evening and missed a farewell drink with a colleague.
But that's the way it can go.

882 jobs/119 shifts = 7.41 average

See you at the big One.

Taz