# The stars have realigned, karma is balanced, and all is "right" with the world again



## Epi-do (Feb 15, 2011)

Ever since I started medic school in Aug 2007, I have averaged at least one cardiac arrest per month.  There were several months where I had two per month, and even a few occasions where I had two in one shift.  Many of them were never worked, and of the ones that were, there were many that were never transported.  To my knowledge, none of them were a true save, leaving the hospital pretty intact, neurologically speaking.

My partner at work went to medic class last year, and was unable to pass pharm, so had to leave the class sometime around March/April of last year.  Once he stopped attending medic class, I stopped seeing dead people on a semi-regular basis.  Well, he recently went back to medic class.  In the last three shifts we have worked, we have had two cardiac arrests.  The first one we worked and transported.  While she didn't have a pulse when we handed her over to the ER, they regained pulses almost immediately after care was transferred.  That was a week ago.  She is still in ICU, hanging in there.  The second one was this morning, right before shift change.  The guy had been dead for several hours, so we did nothing.  It looks like I may be on my way back to seeing dead people again.  I think it's all my partner's fault...


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## MrBrown (Feb 15, 2011)

That is awesome, Brown is happy .... actually Brown is Brown


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## johnrsemt (Feb 16, 2011)

I was always a black cloud,  so I feel for you


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## abckidsmom (Feb 16, 2011)

I've got the biggest fluffy white cloud you've ever seen.  I haven't had a cardiac arrest in 4 years.  Seriously.

When I was working full time in urban EMS, I had like 5 a year.  How does this happen?


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## nakenyon (Feb 16, 2011)

I totally understand. I see at least one cardiac arrest a month. I had two in less than 12 hours last month.


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## MassEMT-B (Feb 16, 2011)

Wow, sounds like a lot of action for you haha. My company has a few 911 contracts but where I work now is all IFT. We have some SNF contracts and ever since I joined we have been getting a lot more emergent calls from the SNF. I am just finishing up my precepting time, and I wasn't there for it but the crew I'm with had an elevated temp call turn into a cardiac arrest in route.


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## bigbaldguy (Feb 18, 2011)

I volunteer as an EMT but my day job is a Flight Attendant. I'm rapidly developing a reputation as a good luck charm at my EMT job but on the airplane I've had massive strokes, heart attacks, a death inflight, women in labor the works. In short if someone who's about to drop out decides to travel from point A to point B by plane I'll more than likely be the guy that serves him his peanuts right before he does a face plant in the aisle. I feel for yah.


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## Epi-do (Feb 18, 2011)

In 12 years of working in EMS, I have never had to bust out the traction splint for a pt, until last night.  The thing was, it was something that I never would have thought would have caused that type of injury.

This guy was in his mid-40s and was teaching his kids some football fundamentals.  He was showing them how to make a quick cut, and down he went, feeling a "pop" in the middle of his thigh as he fell.  We get there and he is laying on the ground trying to move his leg. You could feel the top half of his thigh moving independently from the rest of his leg.  Between loading him up with fentanyl & placing the traction splint, his pain went from "at least a 20" to a 7/10 over the course of moving him & the 15 minute transport.


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## frankiemuniz01 (Feb 18, 2011)

There were several months where I had two per month, and even a few occasions where I had two in one shift.


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## phildo (Feb 18, 2011)

In 23 years on the job, I can think of 5 patients I worked in  full arrest who left the hospital on their own power and resumed their lives the way they were before.  1 was a trauma arrest that lived, despite the small community hospital's best efforts to kill him.


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## johnrsemt (Feb 19, 2011)

I averaged more than 2 a month:   had 4 in a week at the private service I used to work:  1 was a 100 mile transport basically going home to die,  1 was a 6 month old going back after being dx'd with URI.

   Had 3 back to back at FD in a 24 hour shift with 3 runs.   didn't even get back to station after the 1st one.   the 3rd one we hadn't marked in service, headed back to restock and got waved down by wife still on phone with dispatch


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## certguy (Feb 20, 2011)

I can relate to big bald guy.I drive a transit bus bus on my day job&over the years I've had siezures,neck wounds,panic attacks,an arrest revived by his implanted defibulator,and 2 gnarly accidents I came across.1 driver impaled in the neck by a piece of flying pallet,the other trapped in a burning car with am obvious neck fx.


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