# "Uh, dude, he's breathing. Don't do that."



## fm_emt (Jul 29, 2006)

Last night (Friday) I went to a concert in Santa Cruz, CA with a coworker. We were over there to see Social Distortion. Sold out show in an average sized club. We were being wallflowers near the back of the club not too far from the door because we could see & hear better. So I'm standing there with my friend and we're watching the crowd and watching the band. Next thing I know, there are 3 people dragging this skinny guy towards the door. I look over again, and I see that the guy is out cold. I told my friend "Oh, I gotta see this." and went outside to see what was up. It's probably a good thing that I did because one of the random bystanders had just said something along the lines of "What do we do? Oh yeah, CPR!" By the time he kneeled down and was about to do a compression, I had located the victim's radial pulse and opened his airway. The guy had a pulse and was breathing on his own. I told the helpful bystander "Uh, dude, he's breathing and has a pulse. Please don't smoosh him." I didn't tell him that he was about to do CPR the wrong way either. Compressions with one hand on the stomach won't help much anyway.  
So, Out Cold Guy is breathing on his own and has a pulse. I try to see if he's coming around, and sure enough, he opens his eyes slowly and starts to talk a little bit. I gathered his LOC and checked him for broken stuff, bleeding, etc while another bystander held c-spine. After about 30 seconds he was alert enough and was A+Ox4. Pupils were equal & reactive. (There was a county Sheriff deputy that happened to be doing a foot patrol, so I used his Maglite.) He denied smoking anything. I had asked him what his last meal was. About an hour before the show, he had a burrito from the burrito place down the street. I asked him how much alcohol he had to drink. "I had one burrito." was the answer. "Uh, I meant how much did you drink." I said. "I told you, I had one burrito. With no sour cream." Ok. "Must have been a good burrito." I said. "I only had one burrito!" he says. I chortled. No history of seizures. No medical history. He was 21, no health problems. He didn't just pass out. A witness said that he collided with someone much much larger and just knocked himself silly.
By this time, Santa Cruz FD had arrived and I gave them the information I had and then kept the guy talking. He had no shoes at this point. He lost them somewhere in the mosh pit. FD put a collar on him and said they were going to wait for AMR to come get him, and the crew chief said "Thanks!" and to enjoy the rest of the concert... which I did. 

The morals of the mosh pit: 
* Wear shoes that won't come off.
* Watch out for people that are 3 times your size.

As for the bystander, I talked to him for a moment and in the conversation I mentioned that the CPR standards had changed and that now would be a great time to take an updated CPR class. He didn't know about the changes. 

In case anyone is wondering, Social Distortion is a great live act.


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## Chimpie (Jul 29, 2006)

Santa Cruz... You gotta love the downtown vibe.  

Beside alcohol, I'm surprised he was on something else.  

Great job!


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## fm_emt (Jul 29, 2006)

He denied being on any illicit substances. I told him "Dude, I'm not a cop. I'm asking you because it's important to know as the paramedics will need to know so they can treat you appropriately." He still denied taking anything else. It's a non-smoking club (which is actually really nice) and he didn't have any visible evidence of substance abuse. I'm guessing that he really was just ETOH. 

And man, that fog there is nasty sometimes. Yikes!


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## Chimpie (Jul 29, 2006)

I miss Santa Cruz County. I only got to spend two months there, Jan-Feb 2005, but it was nice. I crew up in the midwest so the downtown vibe kind of scared me at first. Our office was near there, but we lived in Rio Del Mar in Jan and Capitola in Feb. I'm not sure if I could live there full time, but I know my g/f, who grew up there, definitely could.

Ok, I know - 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





. Sorry. :sad:


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## MMiz (Jul 29, 2006)

I always had a feeling that:
1.  Bystanders often do CPR was often done when the patient actually had a pulse, but they can't find it.
2.  People mean to do good, but not knowing CPR just isn't acceptable these days.

Good story!  Back in college we'd often go to a club/bar... but now I'm no fun.  I miss those days.


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## Stevo (Jul 29, 2006)

i wonder if there's any mosh pit stats out there?

i'd wager they'd be much more notable than burrito related incidents....

~S~


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## Jon (Jul 29, 2006)

I love the "we'll wait for AMR" line... How do you spell TAXI? A*M*R!!!

Yeah... off-topic, still 


Great story.


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## fm_emt (Jul 30, 2006)

MedicStudentJon said:
			
		

> I love the "we'll wait for AMR" line... How do you spell TAXI? A*M*R!!!
> 
> Yeah... off-topic, still
> 
> ...



hah, I didn't think they meant it *that* way - but that particular FD doesn't transport.

The dude ended up missing the rest of the concert. Tickets were like $30 too!


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## Tincanfireman (Aug 1, 2006)

It's OK, he probably has a souvenier (sp?) ambulance bill for about 500 bones that will make him forget all about those $30 tickets...lol


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## fm_emt (Aug 2, 2006)

Tincanfireman said:
			
		

> It's OK, he probably has a souvenier (sp?) ambulance bill for about 500 bones that will make him forget all about those $30 tickets...lol



In that county, I think the minimum bill he'll see from AMR is around $1,200. Damn Bay Area costs!


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## Tincanfireman (Aug 2, 2006)

fm_emt said:
			
		

> In that county, I think the minimum bill he'll see from AMR is around $1,200. Damn Bay Area costs!


 

But we don't have Starbucks outlets in the back of our units...lol


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## fm_emt (Aug 2, 2006)

Tincanfireman said:
			
		

> But we don't have Starbucks outlets in the back of our units...lol



you don't?! You poor hillbillies! How do you guys survive down there?

Ah, but you have the places that I like.
Dunkin Donuts
Steak N' Shake
Caribou Coffee
White Castle

damn California. All there is to eat in Santa Cruz is cheezy organic foofy stuff.


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## Jon (Aug 3, 2006)

White Castle... Wow...

I did a transport from the airport for a UAB fixed-wing flight crew, and they wanted to grab some food on the way back to their plane. They asked if there was a "white castle" around.... We offered to take them to Pats/Genos in South Philly... They decided to give the "real" philly cheesesteaks a shot instead...


As for concerts - I'm starting to think about a new job with the "other" special event medical group around here.. the one that does the "cool" concerts (OzzFest, FarmAid, you name it, they do it).


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## fm_emt (Aug 4, 2006)

MedicStudentJon said:
			
		

> White Castle... Wow...
> 
> I did a transport from the airport for a UAB fixed-wing flight crew, and they wanted to grab some food on the way back to their plane. They asked if there was a "white castle" around.... We offered to take them to Pats/Genos in South Philly... They decided to give the "real" philly cheesesteaks a shot instead...


 
Hey, White Castle rules!  They're not cheesesteaks there anyway, they're ghetto burgers. They have good fries too. 



			
				MedicStudentJon said:
			
		

> As for concerts - I'm starting to think about a new job with the "other" special event medical group around here.. the one that does the "cool" concerts (OzzFest, FarmAid, you name it, they do it).



That would be cool. We get a few concerts, but AMR usually gets the bigger ones. Or the folks from RockMed (part of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in SF), who I shall refrain from speaking about. (My experiences with them have been less than impressive.)

But generally AMR gets to staff the bigger shows. Bummer.


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## Jon (Aug 9, 2006)

Around here, AMR has the "WelcomeAmerica" events (10 days leading up to the 4th of July), and also many of the parades and other large street festivals orginized by the city.

AMR also is the primary provider for the convention center in the city.

AMR does some smaller music events, mostly free or low-cost concerts.

NES (National Event Services) has the large sporting venues, and the MAJOR concert promoter (ElectricFactory)... they do all the "cool" concerts.

So, I'm thinking about leaving my current job and working with NES... the pay is poor either way, and NES has cooler concerts.


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## ffmedic (Aug 12, 2006)

"I always had a feeling that:
1. Bystanders often do CPR was often done when the patient actually had a pulse, but they can't find it.
2. People mean to do good, but not knowing CPR just isn't acceptable these days."

I have thought of writing an article for one of the journals. Over the years I have found an astonishingly missed CPR success scenario. 

Drunks performing CPR on other drunks has had a 100% success rate. 

Might be that we need to start iv etoh on both victim and rescuer for better results. Mostly it couldn't hurt right?


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## Chimpie (Aug 12, 2006)

ffmedic said:
			
		

> Might be that we need to start iv etoh on both victim and rescuer for better results. Mostly it couldn't hurt right?


I'll volunteer for that study.


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