White Cloud goes on her first ride-along

[*ofLife]

So last night was my first ride-along. lol, I jumped up from bed so fast when my pager went off that some picture frames and such fell from the top of my TV stand.

When I got into the bus, I asked them what the call was and they said the usual. Meaning it was a call from Tyrol Basin, our local ski hill.

We got there to find a 28 y/o m with a 1" laceration on his chin and a concussion. He lost consciousness for about 2 minutes, but was doing fine by the time we arrived. My crew pushed him to take the ride to the ER, but he said he didn't have insurance and reassured us his buddies would take him (yeah, right!)

So after signing some forms, we were on our way. The most boring first call I could imagine. Didn't even get to transport.

My crew says they either get "white clouds" or "grey clouds" for the newbies, depending on if all your calls are alpha vs. delta or worse. I guess this makes me a white cloud.

Had to share.

 

[TheMowingMonk]

might not be a bad thing, i think it would be nice to have an easy call for a first run, makes things easier to ease into. My first couple calls i got thrown right into it. First call was a 18y/o female who over dosed on diet pills (medically she was fine but she was having a panic attack cause she took twice the recomended dose), then my second call was a sexual assualt victim. slaps some stuff into you real quick but i guess a good way to jump into the field.

 

[*ofLife]

Yeah, easing in is good...I guess I was just looking forward to learning more about the entire routine instead of driving a few miles, checkin a guy out, and driving back home. Oh well, I'm sure that'll be my next call.

 

[ffemt8978]

Yeah, easing in is good...I guess I was just looking forward to learning more about the entire routine instead of driving a few miles, checkin a guy out, and driving back home. Oh well, I'm sure that'll be my next call.

Don't kid yourself...this is the majority of our calls in EMS.

Gotta love a job where you're paid to be bored all of the time. :beerchug:

 

[Airwaygoddess]

You learn something new with every call, keep your eyes wide open and enjoy the down times. They do not happen as much as you think! Stay safe and well!

 

[Outbac1]

White cloud, I wouldn't worry about it. The calls will come. I worked with a new medic the other night. Her 2nd shift, she'd been skunked on her 1st.. About 4 hrs in we get sent to a witnessed cardiac arrest. We had another crew come by so it was easy to work with four sets of hands. She said she will never forget the grey color of the pt when we got there. She also saw how the pt. pinked up with effective bagging. A good learning call. We had a pulse back twice but the pt. stayed dead.

Later we got sent to an upper GI bleed. 80/m had been up for a few hours not feeling well and family was going to drive him over to hosp. When the stood him up to walk to the car he vomitted about 500-1000ml of bright red blood on the white kitchen floor. Thats when they called us. The man said he could drive himself to the hosp. he felt well enough. We and the family talked him out of it. I think she thought I was going to attend but I got her to. Not much you can do for that < 10 min from hosp. Nearest ALS was 15min away. I was just hoping he wasn't going to spew again all over the back of the truck. Better her than me (I know thats mean, but I had been puked on by our other pt. already). She lucked out he didn't vomit. The call went well and she's eagar for more.

Maybe I'll call her "Black Cloud".

 

[ccems644]

I helped teach an EMT class several years ago and one of the male students in the class went to work for our Ambulance Service when he graduated. His very first run was a 75-80 y/o male in cardiac arrest. We ran a full code on the guy but he didn't make it. on the way back to base the new guy said he wasn't sure this was for him. That was his first and last run. I often wonder if it would have been different if he would have gotten an easy call for his first run??????

 

[*ofLife]

ccems644, its interesting you say that. I was originally suppose to observe last weekend, but I'm grateful I didn't. The chief told me all about half a dozen screwed up calls they got...one involving a nasty collision of two snow mobiles...one guy didn't make it.

In the back of my mind, I sometimes worry that this isn't for me...that I'll see something screwed up and wish I had never done this. But for the most part, I'm confident as all hell. I became really passionate about it quick, and I've always been a toughy...not to mention been through/seen a lot of fckd up stuff already in my lifetime.

Wish me luck.

 

[firetender]

The longer you stay with this gig, the more likely it is you'll find that you got through stuff that you never imagined you could get through. It's not so much like a progressive thing where things get more and more bizarre, it's more about the subtleties, like boredom.

 

[ccems644]

I know this sound kinda twisted but I think having peace with your own mortality and a strange sense of humor helps you get through some things. Some of the things I have seen have done things anywhere from make me cry to make me laugh. Talking with people that you work with or do the same thing you do, helps a lot. If you stay in the biz long enough your gonna mess up something how big it will depend on how much continuing training you do. My EMS department trains every other Tue. Hang in ther don't sweat the small stuff and try to enjoy as much about the job and life as you can.

 

[*ofLife]

thanks again, "buck", I appreciate the input.

 

[Pamela]

When I did my ride-outs last year for my basic I never got more than 3 calls per shift. And most of them were bs. Haha welcome to EMS. But I ran with the same guy like 4 times and he called me his white cloud because nothing happened when I was around no matter what station we were at. I ran with one station that covers a stretch of central texas highway that ALWAYS has wrecks on it and not one happened while I was riding out. Blah. I'd go to class and get to hear about everyone else's calls and I'd be like yea... I uh watched movies and ate. Haha oh well. I'm excited for paramedic school in august.

 

[*ofLife]

So, I guess I'm still White Cloud.

I was on call again Tuesday @ 6. My pager went off TWICE only minutes before my shift started, but because my crew wasn't in yet I couldn't respond.

However, I was paged again at about 10:30. I was so excited/nervous that when I went to jump in the ambulance, I opened the door to a storage compartment instead of the ACTUAL door :lol::lol: (Luckily, my crew mates didn't notice...they would've given me hell for that one)

Well, the call ended up being for a toddler with a temp of 103.3. The mother was young and unsure of what to do, so we called the on-call paramedic @ the hospital and they said to just keep a good eye on him.

Once again, not even a transport.

Till next weeks adventure!
~Becca

 

[*ofLife]

White cloud indeed.
Still haven't transported yet.
The last call we got, we didnt even make it to the scene before they dismissed us.
LOL.