# Do we ever forget our first patient? I DID!



## mycrofft (Jul 15, 2008)

All guys think about that "damsel in distress" like they see on TV or the movies. I was a fresh EMT-A graduate and had my brand new self-made kit in an ammo box, was off-duty from the FD, we were sitting down for supper when there's a knock on our aptartment door. A young lady in jeans and workshirt was very concerned, said "Can I use your phone?", called home and said "She must have stepped into some barbed wire, her leg's bleeding and we might need a ride home". My ears were wiggling, I went and got my kit with big red crosses on each side and whe she hung up in said "Maybe I can be of help? I'm a firefighter EMT". 
"EMT?".
"Emergency medical technician".
"OK, come on down". 
Her companion was bleeding slowly but actively from just below the knee from a 1 cm lac. I needed something for a compressing dressing, the young woman handed me her sock which I rolled and fastened to her horse's leg with my elastic bandage. Her father showed up on his horse, approved the job and they rode off together.

Well, my first patient DID have big brown eyes, bangs blowing in the wind, and shoes from U.S Steel. And legs from the ground to her haunches...and withers.

So who/what was your first patient?


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## mikeylikesit (Jul 16, 2008)

my first patient...i had an animal to. the owner decided to "get rid of his pit bull" because it attacked his other pit bull puppy. when the guy went to do it he got soo drunk that he missed the dog with both shots point blank with a .38 special. well the bullet grazed the dogs head and it took me a while to find the dog. after i found it...i applied a butterfly (after shaving his head a little) and put an occlusive dressing on it to keep it sterile after applying some anti-bacterial.


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## gradygirl (Jul 17, 2008)

Darn, my first patients aren't nearly as touchy-feely.

First patient as a vollie: One of my friends from school who had taken about 12 shots of vodka. She kept puking on herself and tried dragging herself into her room. Medics got there and she cold-cocked one of them; he, in turn, grabbed her and pinned her to the floor. Just not a nice scenario overall.

First patient as paid: 750lb man c/o 10/10 ABD pain. It took 12 men to drag him out and we had to take off all of the doors from the door frames. (This is the guy who had an industrial sized tub of gravy next to his bed with a spoon sticking out of it. :blink Turns out he died 5 days later secondary to septicemia due to a rupture intestine.


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## yowzer (Aug 10, 2008)

I really can't remember my first patient. Odds are good that it was a hospital to nursing home transfer, though.


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## NJN (Aug 10, 2008)

8 y/o female. Possible fractured had, fell while playing on the playground at school. Nurse had already packaged her up so we just transported to the ED.


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## Buzz (Aug 10, 2008)

~70yo male patient found laying in bed complaining of passive onset of pressure and an aching chest pain and shortness of breath over the past 20 minutes. He wasn't diaphoretic, lung sounds were clear, no point tenderness, no labored breathing, and no hypertension. Patient was AOx3 and said the pain was only 4/10. The patient also stated he had a history of SVT with the last episode a few years ago but he'd never experienced chest pain and shortness of breath with previous episodes. He took ntg twice prior to our arrival and we gave him aspirin as soon as we got him on the truck. We put him on O2, a medic got an IV established, and we got him hooked up to the monitor. En route, he said had total relief of chest pain and that his shortness of breath was entirely gone. Transported to the hospital without incident. 


First patient where I was the tech? Routine transfer: Nursing home to dialysis center. Patient had paralysis secondary to to cervical spine injury (was still wearing the c-collar). Nice easy transfer.

First 911 call I was the attending technician on was dispatched priority 1 to a man with a diabetic emergency. We showed up, he was tachycardic, Kussmaul breathing, decreased LOC, diaphoretic, and vomiting uncontrollably.


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## emt19723 (Aug 12, 2008)

my first pt i had after getting my cert, i ended up delivering a baby breech! talk about baptism by fire!!!   lol


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## flhtci01 (Sep 29, 2008)

My first as a basic - man down in a manure pit.

My first as a medic (while doing orientation) - a code.

Kinda hard to forget those.


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## nightstar22 (Sep 30, 2008)

*im not sure i remember... (well not paid, but do remember volunteer)*

i had only had my first reponder license for a few months..and rode along with ambulance to get some experiance.. tha main one i remember is the 80 yo male we do cpr on that when we walked in, the nurse was doing compressions on his stomach... of cousr he died, but if i wAS Him i would want to be dead.. his skin stuck to the backboard.. his eyes stayed open as we pronounced him dead... i had also just joined the volunteer fire department..  we get called to a wreck and i assist ambulance, well , the medic kept saying (my name) hand me this.. and hand me that .... pt yells "my name is not........ " medic says no this is who is helping me... about 6 hours later get called on another fr call and it is horrible, but i think all wrecks are like this... its one of the first i seen.. they all try to keep me away from the blood.. tell me to go take care of this guy.. well when it is time for him to be loaded into ambulance... no one can figure out how to get him across the bridge.. (4 car pile up on 2 way bridge) well i have not yet devolped tunnel vision, so i say, lets hold him above truck so we dont have to take him over edge.. and all of them are like yeah thats a good idea... everyone made it through that wreck except for the drunk who caused it.... how weird is that... usually the drunk lives...


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## EMTCop86 (Sep 30, 2008)

I will never forget my first call. I was 17 and an explorer fire fighter. It was my first time out on the engine and fresh out of my first responders medical class. We had a MVA 7 patients. Car flipped off the freeway and came to rest on a side street. 3 ended up being air lifted and a 4 y/o female was DOA. She was Hispanic with brown hair. She was wearing white shoes but I don't really remember what she was wearing. Before I could really get over the shock of seeing what I was seeing a medic threw me a blanket and told me to cover her up. Nice way to break in a newbie huh, seeing brain matter on a 4 year old isn't fun. Bothered me for a bit but I got over.


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## imurphy (Sep 30, 2008)

Yep! Vividly!

During my ambulance hours for my course, dispatched to a burning car with family trapped inside. After the fire was out, the paramedics I was with send me to the car to check the pulse on them. I think they did it to make sure I was up for the job! Fingers went through where their radial pulse site should have been! I'll NEVER forget my first call!

And people wonder why I don't want to tell them about my "worst call" over dinner!


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## mbcwgrl (Oct 16, 2008)

I was still in EMT school... I was doing my first ride along... I was at the station for about 5 mins. Enough time to hear my medic's name once and a cup of coffee shoved in my hand. The tones went off and here I was standing at the back of the ambulance with no clue even where to sit. We went (what felt like 100 mph) to a diff breathing. When we got there it was a 60 something male sitting on a couch in tripod pos and blue... When I say blue I mean smurf blue... The tips of his ears were blue! Of course the medic thought that since I was an EMT student the best thing for me to carry in would be the O2. Good idea until I froze on scene and dropped the O2 tank. The one they needed I couldnt give them... I was just frozen in place... I did get to see alot however... He was intubated and rushed to the hospital. From that day forward I have never been shy to talk or act upon anything on a call... The medics I work with always shove me in first knowing that I can talk an aggressive drunk down or do compressions on a 3 month old baby without batting an eye.... I love this job!


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## ClarkEMS (Oct 17, 2008)

*Finger injury*

First call was a laceration to the finger down to the bone. The patient was prying off a top to a bottle when the knife slipped and cut his finger down to the bone. An off duty EMS already responded by the time we got there and the bleeding had stopped, we bandaged the wound and sent the patient in a taxi to the ER.


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## LaurenAlyssa90 (Nov 11, 2008)

*I have to do WHAT?!?*

My first day doing clinicals / ER Time as an EMT B student was going good. Took some vitals in the hospital triage area. Ended up having to help bring down 9 ER beds that someone put on the second floor because they were causing a "fire hazard" being in the hallway where they were suppose to be. ugh. lol but anyways.... i was scheduled to be there from 1 to 5. around 4:30, the ER Tech I was following around, who is also my instructor's son, said that they just got a call saying they had a full arrest coming in on an ambulance. as we were bringing a pregnant patient up to the OB Unit, he continues to tell me that I will be the one preforming CPR. My first day out of the classroo. I was like... you're kidding right? lol ^_^ funny. he wasn't joking though. so i mentally prepared myself, ok, i can do this. prayed a little. and when we arrived back downstairs in the ER, the pt had already arrived. we stepped in the room and it happened. I did successful CPR in the ER. I mean, she never regained consciousness or anything. we brought her back two times and the family said if she goes again, just let her go. I left there that night so proud of myself. At the time I left, she was still alive and I found out a few days later she had died a while after I left. But it was such an experience and I'm so glad I had it. given, CPR in a hospital is slightly different than on the ambulance or in real life with no tools, I'll still panic when I have to do either of those. lol but, that was my first patient and, it was a good one.


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## mycrofft (Nov 11, 2008)

*LaurenAlyssa90, you failed to panic.*

Good on you!
I just remembered my FIRST -first -first aid pt. First hour on the job as a life guard/first aid/dockhand in the San Berdoo mts, eleven year old walks in with a trolling spoon hook stuck into the joint capsule of his left index finger's DIP. Poured on iodine, immobilized it, sent him to Lake Arrowhead Hospital.(yikes!/CRINGE)


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