# Stupid things you did on your first few calls



## vienessewaltzer (Jun 28, 2010)

Well, I've run three calls so far as a second medic, one of which got cancelled.  So, technically I've physically run two calls.  The first call wasn't bad, I was just the "go get this"/"go get that" guy.  The second call, I was actually asked to perform various tasks which I feel I struggled through.  Looking back, it's kind of hilarious how everything just piled up on me.  First, I couldn't get a BP on this PT for the life of me (but neither could the first medic so I didn't feel too awful).  We then were attempting to backboard the pt and I was asked to secure the PT with straps to said backboard.  Well, I screwed that up by putting a strap on her knees (doh!).  Then once we got to the hospital and were going to put the PT on the bed, I brought the gurney in the room the wrong way.  Looking back this stuff makes me laugh, and it will most likely help me in the future to not run into such silly flukes.  I can't help but thinking that the trainer I had on that call is back with his first medic buddies having a good laugh at my blunders.  I hope I'm not the only one, so what were some of your flukes/screw ups on your first calls?


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## MMiz (Jun 28, 2010)

Welcome to life, we've all been there.  Hopefully you continue to take each call as a learning experience.

Things I've messed up the first time around (and maybe the fifth)
1.  Not disconnecting the O2 from the main when taking a patient out of the rig.
2.  The stair chair.
3.  Forgetting an O2 wrench and needing to start a new tank.
4.  Leaving stuff behind.  O2, pager, prep, etc.
5.  Grabbing the wrong mic (we had three) and yelling into it "MOVE TO THE RIGHT" on my first RLS call.  Turns out I grabbed the dispatch microphone, not the one for the PA, and he couldn't move any further right.
6.  Writing patient vitals on gloves.
7.  Getting lost... many times.  Finding my way quickly... most times.
8.  Not asking for help soon enough.
9.  Suctioning a trach.
10.  Getting disposable backboard straps wet with mud.  They stuck to everything but what they needed to stick to.

I got better every time, and you will too.  Good luck!


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## LucidResq (Jun 28, 2010)

MMiz said:


> 5.  Grabbing the wrong mic (we had three) and yelling into it "MOVE TO THE RIGHT" on my first RLS call.  Turns out I grabbed the dispatch microphone, not the one for the PA, and he couldn't move any further right.



Nice!!! 

In one of my ED clinicals we had an unconsc. kid - ETOH OD. There were several people in the room doing a number of things. I was getting a NRB ready, inflating the bag when I got distracted. It popped and was so loud everyone jumped... the patient even jerked a bit.


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## Shishkabob (Jun 28, 2010)

I still leave the O2 tubing on the truck supply at times, thankfully my partner notices.  Really, 9 times out of 10, if I have a patient on O2, I'm busy doing other things as well 

And never say "Oh" when doing something near a patient, they freak out, even if it was totally harmless.



Also, anytime you THINK you checked every little thing on the rig, and ended up missing something you needed on a 911 call.  You don't ever miss it again, and you go back to using the physical checklist.


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## A36 (Jun 28, 2010)

MMiz said:


> 6.  Writing patient vitals on gloves.



Sadly, this is still SOP at one of my old services.


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## clibb (Jun 28, 2010)

A36 said:


> Sadly, this is still SOP at one of my old services.



I've seen a lot of medics do that. Our instructor even told us to do it.


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## MMiz (Jun 28, 2010)

clibb said:


> I've seen a lot of medics do that. Our instructor even told us to do it.


Lots of medics I know do it, and it works great for them.  Me, I write down all of the important information, and then toss my gloves.  I learned to just take a second or two to record the information on the run sheet, even if I have to do it on a scrap piece of paper on the clipboard.


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## adamjh3 (Jun 28, 2010)

Notes on the gloves is nasty. Try a piece of tape on the pantleg or shirtsleeve, works pretty well for me. 

Asking questions that are too open ended get me. "What's your history like?" "Well, my grandparents migrated here from..."


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## thegreypilgrim (Jun 28, 2010)

Jeez, probably too many list. 

However, the most embarrassing thing I think I've ever done was when I was a paramedic intern. I had a patient hooked up to the monitor, and the monitor's batteries were low so I also had it plugged into the RA's inverter to charge it. Well, when we went to take the gurney out of the back I failed to unplug the monitor; and, when the tension on the charger cable inevitably exceeded the electrode's ability to stick to the patient's skin they all ripped off and our unit's Lifepak 12 plummeted back to the earth. Luckily, it just crashed into the tailboard making a deafening sound before ricocheting off the tailboard and coming to a gentle (actually, it seemed like the tailboard did nothing at all to break its fall) rest on the concrete ground of the ambulance bay.

I'll tell you what though, those Lifepak's are tough. My preceptor (bewildered that this just happened) picked it up and there wasn't a scratch on it. It didn't even shut off - I had expected its internal machinery to resemble a bucket of bolts and metal shards after the thrashing it just received.

Anyway, I received a bit of a talking to after that little episode.


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## Aprz (Jun 28, 2010)

On my ride alongs as an EMT student, I did two stupid things I regret. The first one was I was asked to take a blood pressure several time on the same patient while we were transporting and I kept taking on and off the sphygmomanometer, which I eventually figured out that was redundant thankfully before my third patient contact, and even beneficial to keep it on. My third patient contact was a heroin OD who was combative. He wouldn't sit still even though he was already restrained and strapped down to the gurney. Kept trying to get a blood pressure, but he kept jerking around when I tried. I left the cuff on him, and even though it wasn't me, when he finally stopped for just a few seconds, my instructor who was also my teacher quickly swooped in to get a blood pressure. 

On that same patient though I made another mistake although I would like to blame it on someone else even though in the end it is my fault for listening. On my first two patient contact we did everything in the ambulance. We'd pretty much arrive, load the patient in the ambulance, and start assessing in the back of the ambulance. So after the second patient contact I asked the EMT FTO (we always had at least four people in the ambulance at a time, haha, an EMT (who was the one being supervised since the company required that all EMTs get 911 experience on an ALS rig occasionally), an FTO for the EMT, a paramedic, and me so essentially we were a clown car) if it was even worth bringing my stethoscope on scene/outside of the ambulance since we kept putting the patient in the back of the ambulance anyways. That wasn't communicated to the paramedic/my teacher so when we arrived on scene for the third patient, she immediately asked me to take a blood pressure. Damn I felt like an idiot. I said "I left my stethoscope in the back of the ambulance. What should I do? Get it?" She was like "Nah, borrow it from one of the firefighters" so that's what I did. She's my teacher so now she always jokes about it with me "Andrew learned his lesson to not leave his stethoscope in the ambulance" in class.


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## jjesusfreak01 (Jun 28, 2010)

Spiked an IV bag on a ride along and didn't close the regulator so when the medic grabbed the end to attach to the catheter, it sprayed on the patient, medic, and the floor.


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## Melclin (Jun 28, 2010)

God..I've done heaps of stupid s**t. Mostly through fatigue, but also newbie-ness.

Put a nasal cannula on backwards and for some reason it just didn't click when I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stick...I was paralytically tired that day :blush:

Very nearly cut through the defib cords at an arrest. Almost had a bloody stroke when I saw. 

I've put the blood pressure cuff on backwards...about 12 times. In a hurry, nervous, tired. Not the end of the world, but its embarrassing as hell because the supervising medics instantly think you're the world's biggest idiot.

Our stretchers when being unloaded require a second person to make sure the legs click into place...a fact I was unaware off when first unloading a patient....my wheels did not click into place. 

Put the monitor dots on backwards on a very attractive patient. I was so worried about making sure she didn't think I was having a perve, that I put my dots on arse-up. 

Probably heaps of other stuff. Don't worry about it mate. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you'll be right.


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## feldy (Jun 28, 2010)

Aprz said:


> On my ride alongs as an EMT student, I did two stupid things I regret. The first one was I was asked to take a blood pressure several time on the same patient while we were transporting and I kept taking on and off the sphygmomanometer, which I eventually figured out that was redundant thankfully before my third patient contact, and even beneficial to keep it on.
> 
> ive done this before too on my ride alongs. Also it took me three or four tries to get a pts blood pressure because the driver thought it would be funny to take a detour down a cobblestone street (historic part of the city i work in). He told the pt before hand and the pt agreed it would be funny, she was one of their frequent fliers. I was quite embarrassed but thought it was still funny.


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## thegreypilgrim (Jun 29, 2010)

I remembered another episode of stupidity from my past.

As an EMT I was in the back of the ambulance with the medic and a rather hypotensive patient who was receiving IV fluids. As the time to change out the IV bag neared, I grabbed a new bag and, while the old one was still hanging from the hook on the ceiling I foolishly pulled the tubing out of it causing the remaining fluid to spill out everywhere. Most got on me, but the patient received plenty of it, and it was bumpy enough in the back to even spray the medic who was sitting directly across me on the bench seat. So yeah, that was pretty stupid.

A friend of mine also told me one of his stories. Apparently they got called to a cardiac arrest at a nursing home, and when they went to draw-sheet the patient to the floor from the bed he noticed that there was a large tear in the sheet the patient was on. After fruitlessly trying to warn the engine crew that there was a tear in the sheet, they went ahead with the draw-sheet anyway....well, I think you can see where this is going....the tear got a whole lot bigger and the patient fell through it and onto the floor. Problem solved I guess.


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## MSDeltaFlt (Jun 29, 2010)

vienessewaltzer said:


> Well, I've run three calls so far as a second medic, one of which got cancelled. So, technically I've physically run two calls. The first call wasn't bad, I was just the "go get this"/"go get that" guy. The second call, I was actually asked to perform various tasks which I feel I struggled through. Looking back, it's kind of hilarious how everything just piled up on me. First, I couldn't get a BP on this PT for the life of me (but neither could the first medic so I didn't feel too awful). We then were attempting to backboard the pt and I was asked to secure the PT with straps to said backboard. Well, I screwed that up by putting a strap on her knees (doh!). Then once we got to the hospital and were going to put the PT on the bed, I brought the gurney in the room the wrong way. Looking back this stuff makes me laugh, and it will most likely help me in the future to not run into such silly flukes. I can't help but thinking that the trainer I had on that call is back with his first medic buddies having a good laugh at my blunders. I hope I'm not the only one, so what were some of your flukes/screw ups on your first calls?


 
As Miz said, welcome to life. Dude, I've been doing EMS for 15 years, caring for critically ill/injured for going on 20. I've forgotten more of my past dumb stunts than you could possibly pull in your lifetime. And the thing is I'm not done yet. Stories of me are legendary.

1. Gone on calls and forgot my kit.
2. Gone on calls and forgot my stretcher
3. Helped deliver a baby and thinking I was forgetting something.  I did.  Forgot to cut the cord.  Thank God APGAR never dropped below 9.
4.  9 yo female hypoglycemic radioed PMH of gestational diabetes, not juvenile diabetes.
5.  Transported a pregnant rollover MVC after pronouncing her husband dead on scene.  Forgot to leave a sheet over him with his head still hanging out of car.


These are just a few.  I'll leave the rest out of this picture.


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## Lt.Col.Warren (Jun 30, 2010)

*Foot in mouth*

This was about my second or third ride in EMT school and we had a stable pt who was talking with us. She was complaining about the bad economy, and how she lost her job, and this, that, and the other thing. So then I turned to this pt that was lying on a stretcher en route to the ER and said, "At least you have your health." It funny now, but wow did I feel stupid at the time.


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## fma08 (Jun 30, 2010)

BP cuff on backwards... It'll get ya every time


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## Naota_X (Jul 1, 2010)

i did the bp cuff backwards a few times i was really embarrassed<_< i got it like once out of 3 patients the first try lol


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## octoparrot (Jul 5, 2010)

1. saying "umm" "uhhh" way too many times on the line with cmed
2. Pushing the stretcher sideways on grass/uneven pavement loaded with a pt. thankfully my partner SLAMMED home to me that this was frowned upon. 
3. Saying i knew where someplace was where i had absolutely no clue because i was afraid to say i didnt know.
4. Like someone else said...NC on backwards...and on like 10 LPM. Brainfreeeeeze 
5. Leaving portable O2 attached the whole length of call...and never replacing it for the next one!

Since i've been out of EMS for about a year and just coming back in, its been interesting working with newbies...i'm learning a new area with (slightly) different protocols and i get to work with some brand new guys and i love it. The biggest complaint I have is they hate asking for help. When you dont know know where you're going or what your doing ask us!!!


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## EmtTravis (Jul 5, 2010)

most memorable for me is we went to fuel up our rig and one of the other trucks pulled up to talk to us and when they was leaving i went to honk at them and i had no idea the sirens were hooked up to the steering wheel horn and everything started going off.. scared the :censored::censored::censored::censored: out of the people around us lol..


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## Frozin (Jul 5, 2010)

When I first started I made a lot of mistakes.  I no longer make most of these mistakes.  Its just about learning from them. 


1. Forgetting essential equipment I.E Clipboard, pen, steth, bp, pen light
2. Forgetting to write down important information to give a proper PT report
3. Putting restraints on incorrectly
4. Forgetting to remove my BP cuff from PT (still do this at least once a day).
5. Forgetting PT'S belongings (oops)
6. Telling dispatch we need to service due to house tank being empty.  Then finding out the house tank was just not turned on. (hehe)
7. Taking a BP on an A/V shunted arm. (whoopsie)
8. Getting lost (mapping sucks! hehe)
9. Not eating before a shift (doesn't sound to bad, but when you are on your 5th straight call and 10 hours in with no break you'll wish you ate something)


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## reichera (Jul 5, 2010)

*How about getting lost?*

Second call was for an elderly lady.  I could not find a pulse on here, but she was obviously with us.  I was concerned that it was me... until both medics had the same trouble.  It was NOT me!  

On my third call, a night call in a very rural area, we were third to arrive.  I was told to bring a backboard with me.  I pulled the backboard, turned around, and started up the hill (the direction all the trucks were pointed) and found myself in the middle of a bunch of livestock sheds!  Got back to the trucks to my waiting officer who asked if I'd had a nice hike, then pointed me DOWN the hill, into a ravine, to a small house that was not visible from the parking area. :blush:

Gotta watch those sneaky otherfolk!


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## firetender (Jul 5, 2010)

*Only if you ask nice!*

If ten people are interested and you promise not to freak out on me, I'll tell you about "The Baby Under The Bench Seat."


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## ffemt8978 (Jul 5, 2010)

firetender said:


> If ten people are interested and you promise not to freak out on me, I'll tell you about "The Baby Under The Bench Seat."


You can't tease us like that and not deliver...h34r:


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## firetender (Jul 5, 2010)

that's One! I'll do as I said.

(Let me know, though, if I'm really breaking a rule here please; thanks!)


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## Simusid (Jul 5, 2010)

firetender said:


> that's One! I'll do as I said.
> 
> (Let me know, though, if I'm really breaking a rule here please; thanks!)



Two!


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## DAC6838 (Jul 5, 2010)

firetender said:


> If ten people are interested and you promise not to freak out on me, I'll tell you about "The Baby Under The Bench Seat."



three


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## lampnyter (Jul 5, 2010)

firetender said:


> If ten people are interested and you promise not to freak out on me, I'll tell you about "The Baby Under The Bench Seat."



4,5,6,7,8,9,10

ok tell us now


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## firetender (Jul 5, 2010)

...this is deeply personal stuff. With ten people I'm sure to find one to come to my defense.


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## foxfire (Jul 5, 2010)

firetender said:


> If ten people are interested and you promise not to freak out on me, I'll tell you about "The Baby Under The Bench Seat."


 
#5 here. 
And I promise not to freak out.


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## ClayZB (Jul 5, 2010)

foxfire said:


> #5 here.
> And I promise not to freak out.



6 here
*holds hand over heart* I solemnly swear I will not freak out about the baby under the bench seat story. :r


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## katgrl2003 (Jul 5, 2010)

firetender said:


> ...this is deeply personal stuff. With ten people I'm sure to find one to come to my defense.



Not me! #7


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## firetender (Jul 5, 2010)

this is kinda funny...I just finished writing the story and am sitting here waiting for #10. Tells you about MY life, doesn't it?


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## Scout (Jul 6, 2010)

9 



Come on


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## Miss EMT (Jul 6, 2010)

#10


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## Trayos (Jul 6, 2010)

#11, it's storytime again!


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## firetender (Jul 6, 2010)

*The Baby Under the Bench Seat*

Disclaimer: This is the first time I’ve written the story out  so certain details may have been mis-remembered, but the essence is true. 

      Back around 1974 when I got my first paid ambulance job (EMT), with a private company, the contract included hauling dead bodies when funeral home hearses were not available. The company was a “livery service”. It was also a medical supply company whose stores were located in each town’s satellite ambulance quarters. Yes, we were shopkeepers as well, selling commodes, kidney basins and trusses! 

  This took place in a two bedroom cottage, in a sleepy beachside retirement town on the Florida coast. I lived there with two partners. We were responsible for 24 hr. a day 7 days a week coverage of our assigned area along the Intracoastal  Waterway. That meant two of us worked five 24 hr. shifts a week and the third only four. As it stood, one of us would ONLY work the four day shift, so I did the five-day shift for a good year; all for $600 a month! (This may account for my absence of sympathetic tears for your suffering today!)

  One of our most important functions was to deliver “H” tanks of oxygen (“H” if I remember right; the BIG ones like inboard on the rig) to aged emphysemics in our primarily retired, rural town of 10,000. We knew every one of them; their lives depended on us, and yes, you guessed it; we delivered these tanks while on duty, using our Dodge low-top ambulances!

  The scenario would often be that the aged sufferers would lose track of their flow levels, use up their O2 tanks real fast and they’d find themselves gasping on the phone to the company for immediate delivery. Any time of the day or night, we could be called out to “save” them. It was truly pitiful work to see people who could barely breathe sit stationary in front of their T.V.s, sneaking in cigarettes in between gasps for months at a time; opened rotting cans of God knows what scattered on the floor around them.

  One morning we had one delivery on schedule and a second last minute emergency. We strapped one tank on the gurney and one on the bench seat. On the way to our first desperate customer we got a call for an “infant in distress”.  Pulling off the side of the road where the weeds were high (Yes, we had gone through this routine before!) we jettisoned the tanks and sped off to the emergency.

  We were led in to an unusually posh house for the area by a 30 year-old woman who was clearly stunned. In a huge bedroom, in a little antique crib was an infant, lying face down. Examination showed the baby was obviously dead; blue and with morbid lividity. We stayed with the parents, doing the best we could to calm them, called their Doctor, who called the Coroner who called the funeral home to transport (no Coroner’s cars available to that part of the rural county) who then called our Dispatcher to assign us the transport to the hospital where the Coroner would examine the baby.

  We carefully wrapped the baby up, placed her on the gurney and headed for the hospital. On the way, we got a call from Dispatch saying the emphysema patient called back in deep distress. We had almost forgotten! We diverted to where we had stashed the tanks, grabbed one (the other could wait!) and hauled butt to the house. Just as we were finished replacing the used tank and carrying the old one to the rig – just barely getting to the poor old guy in time before he gumped out! -- the unit’s radio went off for a vehicle accident five minutes away. There was no one closer than a 25 minute response. We laid down the tank alongside the man’s driveway and took off.

  When we got to the scene and I, the “patient man” went to the side door of the rig to take out the trauma box, there I saw the baby on the gurney! I jumped in, grabbed a blanket, wrapped the baby up carefully and then lifted the bench seat up and placed the baby securely in the compartment on another blanket and closed the door and then ran to the scene.

  Of course, the MVA was major. We treated and hauled three seriously injured people, brought them to the hospital, then immediately transferred one of them to the Neuro unit in Daytona Beach, 30 miles away. Then, on the way back, we got diverted to no less than two other emergency calls. The last thing we did was go to the old guy’s house, pick up the earlier discarded “H” cylinder, and deliver it to an even older Lady, now at wit’s end!

  And there we were, exhausted at about 7 p.m. back in the two bedroom house that was our headquarters and the neighborhood medical supply store when the phone call came in; it was the Owner of the livery service I worked for…

  “What the living **** did you guys do with that Baby!!!”


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## emtannie (Jul 6, 2010)

My worst was when I was doing my hospital portion of my EMT practicum... I was to spend a day in day surgery, starting IV's on all the patients that came in, so our medical director would ok me to start IV's in the field... 

I was assigned to the endoscopy clinc, so all my patients that day were getting either an endoscopy or a colonoscopy.  

In the early afternoon, I was caught up, all my patients had IV's, and the doc was a little behind (no pun intended) in getting patients through on their procedures.  One of the nurses asked if I would like to come into the OR to watch.  Of course I would!  Anything is a good learning experience, right?  

So, she gowned and masked me, and I followed her in.  The doc was completing a colonoscopy on a male, late 40's, and removing some large intestinal polyps.  I was watching the screen, amazed at the dexterity of the doctor who was maneuvering these tiny tools inside the patient's intestines. 

As the doctor snared a very large polyp, removed it, and cauterized the area, a thought popped into my head, and I got a terrible case of the giggles..  I was trying not to laugh out loud, and my eyes were starting to tear, so I left the OR.  One of the nurses followed me, thinking that I was having difficulty watching the procedure.  

She asked if I was ok, and I apologised profusely, telling her that something had popped into my head and I got the giggles.  By this point, I was sure that I was never going to get signed off, and that the staff would tell the medical director that I was the most unprofessional person they had ever met.  

She asked me to tell her what I was thinking, and very embarassed, I told her "You know when the doc snared the polyp and removed it, and then cauterized it?  All I could think of was - you know you are having a bad day when smoke is coming out your ***.."

She laughed SO HARD... and ran back into the OR to tell the doctor.. who, thank goodness, thought it was funny too... and I did get signed off that day... 

Now, 13 years later, every time I pass that doctor in the hallway of the hospital, he still says hi and smiles, and I know he is remembering my completely unprofessional episode in his OR.


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## lampnyter (Jul 6, 2010)

man fire thats intesne. so you left the baby in a cabinet in the ambulance?


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## legion1202 (Jul 18, 2010)

LOL great thread.


One of my best friends precepted (spelling)me so I got a little extra hands on then most people did. My buddy showed me how to put a 12 lead on (somthing we didnt go over in school) and so I wanted to do it all by my self on the next pt. So the next call rolls around and its a older lady that is very over wieght with c/c of sob. I start putting all the leads on and i go to put on lead 5 and 6 and I start looking for her breast to put it under. 10 mins later my buddy asks whats wrong and I explain to him i cant move the breast its stuck. The lady was very dirty and her breast had stuck to her side. He seemed to fix the problem.. I was two embarrassed to try lol B)

Second we where rolling to the hospital with a hypertensive pt. Again my buddy let me do all the hands on and report taking. As I was monintering the EKG the EKG went into V-tach with a pulse.. My heart droped, so did my buddies in the driver as I go to move out of the way we find out he has a pace maker.. We all failed to get this info from the nursing home.


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## MrBrown (Jul 19, 2010)

Melclin said:


> As long as you learn from your mistakes, you'll be right.



That is what the Coroner keeps telling me 

I have done a few dumb things; 

- Nobody taught me how to take the stretcher out
- Opening standard tubing instead of a nasal cannula (they do look alike!)
- Not being able to hear a blood pressure
- Leaving 12 lead ECGs and rhythm strips in my pocket 
- Not having a swipe card for ED and realising I could have used the side door

Oh then there was that time I got the syringes full of clear liquid mixed up, do label your suxamethonium people


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## ZVNEMT (Jul 19, 2010)

- apply at american ambulance
- accept the job at american ambulance
- left the lights on, but turned the engine off.... killed the battery
- listened to the Senior MFR... who I thought was an EMT.
- trust that my partner was not as stupid as he looked, discovered otherwise.
- continue to work at american ambulance for 2 1/2 years


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## ExpatMedic0 (Jul 20, 2010)

on my first paid EMT-B call I put the blood pressure cuff on backwards, inflated to maximum capacity and it poped right off the patients arm.... I did not hear the end of that one for a long time.


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## MusicMedic (Jul 20, 2010)

Things Ive done and sometimes do: (i work for an IFT Company)
1. Get Lost
2. End up at the wrong Pickup address and realize it 10 min before pickup time 
3. End up in the wrong Drop off address (done this once)
4. Trip over my own feet
5. Lose Pens (always will do and still do)
6. Try 10 times before getting a Bp reading
7. Feel like an Idiot (always)


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## MMiz (Jul 20, 2010)

Anyone else ever take the wrong patient?


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## mcdonl (Jul 20, 2010)

MMiz said:


> Anyone else ever take the wrong patient?



Matt, last night I approached the wrong patient... there were 4 or 5 people with the same demographics in the house... they were all frantic so I just picked the sickest looking one... 

I was wrong.

Forgetting to ask for med control and asking permission to assist with a drug to the ED phone triage.
Forgot to strap patient in stretcher.
Copy and Pasted one of my first narratives so I would remember everything and reported a 41 year old male with a past history of miscariage.


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## Prophet (Jul 20, 2010)

I am still in the "first calls" but the first thing I have had to learn not to do was treat SAMPLE and OPQRST like a checklist.


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## vienessewaltzer (Jul 20, 2010)

Prophet said:


> I am still in the "first calls" but the first thing I have had to learn not to do was treat SAMPLE and OPQRST like a checklist.



So do you have any allergies, sir? (ssAmmmm) Oh right, what about any medication?  (sssaaammmppp) right!  Any pertinent medical history!?  

Haha.

I'm terrible at this.  Though I have been practicing my patient assessments, this phenomenon still occurs with most of my classmates and I.  Also, it's kind of silly to ask "Is there any pertinent medical history?".  On some of my recent transports ,some ALS technicians have been very helpful in providing me with profound inquiries patient medical history.  One I recently learned was in asthma patients.  You can ask them if they've ever been intubated before to assist their breathing due to asthma (then specifying what you mean by intubation, of course).  One lady that the paramedic worked with had been intubated 6 times previous to the asthma emergency they responded to which can provide some foreshadowing in the patients condition.  I just thought that story was interesting considering generally while practicing these patient assessments we're doing exactly as I stated above...."do you have any pertinent past history?!"


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## Shishkabob (Jul 20, 2010)

Ask if they've been intubated, and if they say yes, ask if this attack is as bad as that previous one.


Hearing a patient who is actively having an asthma attack, and stating that they have been intubated before, is one of the most scary things you'll hear as a provider, along with "I'm going to die" and "We don't have any chicken nuggets left".


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## mycrofft (Jul 20, 2010)

*My first run code 3*

I let my crew chief talk me into driving too fast for conditions and spun out a few yards from pedestrians and a guard shack on an ice-glazed reverse-banked (banked the wrong way) turn.
His comment " Think you was drivin' fast enough there?".


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## vienessewaltzer (Jul 22, 2010)

Well, I had a call for a patient that went down yesterday.  In order to stay brief, we'll just say CPR was initiated and this was my first call where this has happened.  I had a few silly blunders, but for the most part it was because I didn't understand the flow of the call.  Normally when these scenarios are played out in classes it's only a few people performing the skill, which was different here because fire, ALS, and a couple units from the ambulance were on scene.  Therefore, most of the important things were being taken care of until we began transport where I was placed in charge of respiration.  This was fine, as I was being coached doing the standard breath every 5-6 seconds (which I knew but was in the heat of the moment and was counting my "mississippis" a little fast).  When we got to the hospital is where the biggest blunder was.  We rolled the patient into the OR, and were still performing CPR.  He did an ultrasound on the patient's heart and checked their pupil reaction.  He then looked up at the clock and announced the time.  I'm watching him, completely enthralled as to what he's doing (especially the ultrasound) while the whole time in my head counting...1 mississippi....2 mississippi..etc.  Well, I didn't realize he was pronouncing the patient, and after he spouted off the time, I squeezed.  The doc looked at me and kindly advised me that I could discontinue assisted respiration :blush:.  Woops!  Not too shabby for the first call like that, though.  I definitely won't make similar mistakes when it happens again.  I was pretty much the help on this call, but it was a really good learning experience!


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## Fbarba123 (Jul 22, 2010)

I work for a BLS ambulance company ( In a dual medic system).

- Grabbed the radio mic instead of the pa mic and yelled stay back!

-Drove a few miles with an the extension cord from the shoreline still hooked up, Won't let that happen again! ahah

-Forgetting to charge gurney batteries, (we have power gurneys) then getting stuck using them manually which sucks because we have to work against all the hydraulic fluid in the lines

-ALMOST put gas into the diesel rig.. that would have been bad. We have gas and diesel rigs

-Gurney didn't lock in place (no patient). Hear it rattling moving all over the place, when I pulled over to lock it in, it locked itself into the latch...

- Going to the wrong hospital, residence, room, for a pick-up (Dispatch, not us)

-Setting off the Siren when locking the rig, the crew before us sets the siren to auto when the horn is activated.. yea I always check for that one now.

- Forgetting to turn on O2 and yelling and going crazy because i think we zero! (No patient on board)

-Not me, but forgetting to turn lights off after a call, radios were blocking out sound of the strobes. wondering why everyone was moving aside, figured out that one quick...!


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## MMiz (Jul 22, 2010)

Fbarba123,  I've done quite a few of those.

Anyone else leave the parking break on while driving?


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## medic417 (Jul 22, 2010)

MMiz said:


> Fbarba123,  I've done quite a few of those.
> 
> Anyone else leave the parking break on while driving?



Nooooooo.   And we are letting you drive emtlife why? :blink:


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## Bloom-IUEMT (Jul 22, 2010)

Started CPR on a guy that had been dead for some time.  He had obvious livor and rigor mortis.


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## Bloom-IUEMT (Jul 22, 2010)

Annnddd....once forgot to put the Lifepak on the ambulance.


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## EMT-IT753 (Jul 22, 2010)

This didn't happen to me directly, but on a call I was on. Our fire/first responder group was called to a person with difficulty breathing. We arrive on scene before the ALS service and start doing our assessment. Patient is a COPD'er and having a real hard time breathing. I went out to the ambulance to get the cot while the medics were starting a neb treatment. Imagine my surprise when I open the doors and there is no cot 
I walk back in and try to be discreet and let the lead medic know that they didn't bring a cot. She had a new employee with her that night and they were running ragged all shift. The new guy who was in charge of getting the rig ready after the previous call left it at the hospital that was a 30 minute drive away. 
Talk about embarrassing


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## Stephanie. (Jul 22, 2010)

It has never happened to me- but I know of many crews that leave bags and equipment at the patients house.


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## JPINFV (Jul 22, 2010)

A few that I'm kinda of surprised that I either didn't see mentioned or missed. 

First critical patient outside of field training (acute pulmonary edema) and I absolutely had to finish my assessment before loading and expediting transport. Yea, tunnel vision. 

Underestimate the turning radius of a type 3 ambulance (van front, box back). 

Didn't realize the entire flap thing that had to be put down on c-collars to make them rigid and form the proper shape. 

Using the argument "protocol" to justify placing a patient on a NRB (The only time I've ever been truly ashamed about my treatment). 

Got lost because I was 100% sure I knew where this facility off the beaten path was that I'd only been to a few times was.


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## EMT-IT753 (Jul 22, 2010)

I also found out that when loading a patient in the back of the ambulance and you are using a power cot, keep your finger off the button once the legs are all the way up. I couldn't figure out why the patient was tilting sideways


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## ZVNEMT (Jul 22, 2010)

Fbarba123 said:


> -ALMOST put gas into the diesel rig.. that would have been bad. We have gas and diesel rigs



my partner did that.... filled it up with gas from half a tank.... twice....


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## katgrl2003 (Jul 23, 2010)

ZVNEMT said:


> my partner did that.... filled it up with gas from half a tank.... twice....



My partner too. 45 minutes out of town, transporting 2 hours away, almost 30 gallons of gas in a diesel engine. We made it about another mile. I never let her touch the gas cap ever again.


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## MasterIntubator (Jul 23, 2010)

Marrying my EMS partner.


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## lightsandsirens5 (Jul 23, 2010)

MasterIntubator said:


> Marrying my EMS partner.



Woah! You married your crew partner after the first few calls? 

Lol


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## lightsandsirens5 (Jul 23, 2010)

Stephanie. said:


> It has never happened to me- but I know of many crews that leave bags and equipment at the patients house.



Ha ha. Left a c-spine bag on scene a while ago. We were re stocking and my partner is like, "Hey! Where is the other c spine bag?" We went back to the scene and as we rolled up, there it was. It was cold and snowing and the poor bag had an inch and a half of snow on top and was frozen to the ground.

Almost put diesel in a gas rig once. A looooooong time ago. Now all of our rigs are diesel. And my truck is diesel, so I never go to the gas pump any more which makes it a little easier.


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## MMiz (Jul 23, 2010)

I've seen the gas in the diesel rig routine.  The worst part was the Critical Care crew had to take a ride back to the station in the back of our BLS van.  No one said a word the entire ride back.


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## EMT11KDL (Jul 23, 2010)

try running out of gas while transporting a pt code to the hospital.  than having to figure out who is going to call dispatch to tell them we need either another unit or a helicopter.  

Lets just say when we came back on shift, we had plenty of gas around our truck in 5 gallon gas cans...


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## Simusid (Jul 23, 2010)

Driving away from the scene and I'm cleaning up in the back.   *SPLAT* goes a 1000cc bag to the floor because I left the overhead open  :blush:

That was 20 minutes ago.


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## Sassafras (Jul 24, 2010)

lightsandsirens5 said:


> Almost put diesel in a gas rig once. A looooooong time ago. Now all of our rigs are diesel. And my truck is diesel, so I never go to the gas pump any more which makes it a little easier.



We have a guy that put Kerosene in the deisel tank (it was his first time and we use a special fill up station for the local large trucks and apparently kerosene providers LOL).  Guy still hasn't lived it down...we actually call him Deisel now.


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## 94H (Jul 24, 2010)

forgot the paperwork....twice


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## reaper (Jul 24, 2010)

Sassafras said:


> We have a guy that put Kerosene in the deisel tank (it was his first time and we use a special fill up station for the local large trucks and apparently kerosene providers LOL).  Guy still hasn't lived it down...we actually call him Deisel now.



A Deisel will run on Kerosene just fine. Basicly same fuel, Kerosene is just cleaner.


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## Bullets (Jul 26, 2010)

riding with a squadmate who is a fulltime medic, but was riding as a basic. dropped an o2 bottle on the pt's head. that was great

my most embarrasing moment was when i caught the front bumper of a parked car on the lip of the rear gunwale, popped the bumper right off, still havent lived that down. 

Doing a water rescue, my first on our new jet ski, approach the pt, reach down to do the scoop and wasnt balanced right, she pulled me and the jet ski right over. i flipped it back and made the save, but i was pretty embarrassed


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## TraprMike (Jul 26, 2010)

*should call him Mr.Clean*



reaper said:


> A Deisel will run on Kerosene just fine. Basicly same fuel, Kerosene is just cleaner.



yup, just cost more


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## Sassafras (Jul 26, 2010)

reaper said:


> A Deisel will run on Kerosene just fine. Basicly same fuel, Kerosene is just cleaner.



I learned that later when I asked the cheif *gasp* "what did you guys do?!" and he laughed at me. I guess it's much more expensive around here though LOL


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## TraumaNerd (Jul 27, 2010)

1) drove off with the clipboard on top of the fly car
2) forgot the streatcher
3) dropped the streatcher on my foot...
4) accidently pulled out an old ladys foley...almost quit after that one!
5) locked my partner and myself in the back while trying to keep a phsyc pt from running naked on the expressway

My nickname at work was bad kitty for the first few months...lol


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## cristianb36 (Jul 28, 2010)

Ask a violent 5150 to take their vitals...jus don't do it, let them be and take down the vitqals taken at the departing and receving facilities by the guys with the demarol injections.


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## Amycus (Sep 12, 2010)

Shameless bump since this thread helped boost my spirits.

I forgot to put O2 on a chest pain call today and got a strong "WTF" look from the medics...felt like an idiot for quite awhile (been doing this a couple months now and it somehow totally slipped my mind in trying to get some kind of a PT history). This thread helped me feel better =X


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## slb862 (Sep 19, 2010)

*stupid things*

This didn't happen to me, but had an ambulance service respond to an "elderly unresponsive pt." at a nursing home, they placed the pt. on the cot and whisked them to the hospital, only to have the pt. wake up, in the ED, and yell at everyone, that she was only trying to sleep.  That was funny.

Myself, 
I learned never to ask an obese pt. when the baby is due.

I have also left the cot at the hospital.  oops!!

I also learned that you don't let a newbie/trainee, push Morphine, slam dunk, 10mg.  Had to get the Narcan out. 

And I learned to never, never laugh when a guy/yes, a male, tells me that his vulva in his throat is swollen.  

And never ask "you put what where?" then snicker 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## firecoins (Sep 19, 2010)

MMiz said:


> Lots of medics I know do it, and it works great for them.  Me, I write down all of the important information, and then toss my gloves.  I learned to just take a second or two to record the information on the run sheet, even if I have to do it on a scrap piece of paper on the clipboard.



I write the vitals on the gloves and don't toss them before writing them down.  Or I simply remember them.


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## ERMedic (Sep 19, 2010)

Left the clip board on the diamond plating on the back of the truck, and it somehow stayed there the entire ride, which had ALL the patients history, demographics, etc. 

Forgot the stretcher

Put our first in bag on the floor of a house (a not so clean crack house)

Slam an entire milligram of narcan on an overdose, gets a little messy haha

I'm sure I'll think of some more later on.


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## rhan101277 (Sep 19, 2010)

ERMedic said:


> Left the clip board on the diamond plating on the back of the truck, and it somehow stayed there the entire ride, which had ALL the patients history, demographics, etc.
> 
> Forgot the stretcher
> 
> ...



It must have been a carpuject.  Our narcan comes in .4mg single dose vials.


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## ERMedic (Sep 20, 2010)

rhan101277 said:


> It must have been a carpuject.  Our narcan comes in .4mg single dose vials.



Indeed it was a 1mg/2ml capuject. Was a newer medic (still new, a year now) and it was the first chance I had to push narcan. It was a heroin overdose and slammed it instead of pushing slowly .4 at a time. Long story short, we had the patient projectile vomitting in the back of the rig. I'll never make that mistake again!


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## Trip (Sep 27, 2010)

slb862 said:


> This didn't happen to me, but had an ambulance service respond to an "elderly unresponsive pt." at a nursing home, they placed the pt. on the cot and whisked them to the hospital, only to have the pt. wake up, in the ED, and yell at everyone, that she was only trying to sleep.  That was funny.
> 
> Myself,
> I learned never to ask an obese pt. when the baby is due.



Yup on both counts... the first was on prescription sleep aids...




slb862 said:


> And I learned to never, never laugh when a guy/yes, a male, tells me that his vulva in his throat is swollen.
> 
> And never ask "you put what where?" then snicker



My partner reported a strong irregular throb in a "dorsal penis" on the radio med report, PCR and when he updated the nurse at the ED.


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## johnrsemt (Oct 2, 2010)

KatGirl can vouch for this,  (and Probably Epi):   I have left the clipboard in more places than I can remember; and my partners had to start  threatening  to hit with it.    that would work til I got a new partner then I would start leaving it again


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## yotam (Oct 2, 2010)

*Great thread, very reassuring (for us, not patients)*

Here's a frew:

1. Didn't lock the legs of gurney (pt. included). twice.
2. My paramedic inserted an needle application on an evident pneumathorac patient with a 14G I/V needle (as requested in our protocols), but separated the needle from the polithilan (the catheter) as if he was administering an IV and not pushing it in as needed. Catheter just folded. 
3. Not mine. after a pretty hard MVC me and my paramedic started triage. After another crew came with a paramedic, my paramedic asked her to take a look at a couple of kids. All seemed fine, except complaint of slight abdominal pain on one of the kids. She decided they can be transported to the hospital with a BLS unit. Day after We took another patient to the hospital, and bumped into the driver who took those kids. I asked him how they were doing, and he said that about midway to the hospital, kid with ab. pain rolled up his eyeballs and collapsed. Internal bleeding, it sucks.


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## dhaage (Oct 2, 2010)

ERMedic said:


> Left the clip board on the diamond plating on the back of the truck, and it somehow stayed there the entire ride



You would be amazed at the stuff that never seems to fall off that little ledge, no mater where ya go or how fast you get there.


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## katgrl2003 (Oct 2, 2010)

johnrsemt said:


> KatGirl can vouch for this,  (and Probably Epi):   I have left the clipboard in more places than I can remember; and my partners had to start  threatening  to hit with it.    that would work til I got a new partner then I would start leaving it again



Yes, I can vouch for that. I didn't threaten to hit you with it, I smacked you upside the back of the head more times than I can remember.


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## Rob123 (Oct 2, 2010)

dhaage said:


> You would be amazed at the stuff that never seems to fall off that little ledge, no mater where ya go or how fast you get there.


 
We were standing outside of our truck shooting the breeze with another unit.

A call came in. We jumped in and sped away. It was a great feeling when I found my large cup of coffee waiting for me on the step. I was sure I lost it.


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## EMS/LEO505 (Oct 3, 2010)

Another student and I were riding with AbqAmbulance, anyway when we arrive to an unwitnessed collapse at the mall and he snaps in to AHA CPR check sheet and yells at someone to call 911. The emt,paramedic, and me plus everyone in the food court just stared at him until he realized what he said....which was about a second after he said it haha


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## fortsmithman (Oct 3, 2010)

One time I forgot to put the o2 tank back in the trauma bag I left it at the ambulance bay we keep 4 spares in the rig.  Another time I forgot the trauma bag at a pt's house.  I haven't done anything like that since then.  Because my fellow service members did not let me forget about it.


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## CAO (Oct 3, 2010)

EMS/LEO505 said:


> Another student and I were riding with AbqAmbulance, anyway when we arrive to an unwitnessed collapse at the mall and he snaps in to AHA CPR check sheet and yells at someone to call 911. The emt,paramedic, and me plus everyone in the food court just stared at him until he realized what he said....which was about a second after he said it haha



Haha, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep my composure with that one.


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## johnrsemt (Oct 3, 2010)

Yes Kat you did;   I just didn't want people to think that you were abusive to your partners


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## jjesusfreak01 (Oct 3, 2010)

CAO said:


> Haha, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep my composure with that one.



I don't think anyone would fault you if you didn't for a second.


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