the 100% directionless thread

Jim37F

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Assault patient with abdominal pain, rigid lower abdomen, hospital is busy so they have us take him to the CT scan while still holding the wall.....little while later, after the CT, still holding the wall the doctor comes up and says we need to put him in an observation room by himself because the CT showed he has TB...oh and that we might wanna mask up BTW (this was about 2 hours after arriving at the hospital....) yay so now we're sitting in the Supe's office doing an exposure report -_-
 

TransportJockey

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52f53076462c4c351bb64c15fcce5d90.jpg

This is probably the most expensive flight of beer that I have ever bought. $17, but oh so very good.

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EpiEMS

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we need to put him in an observation room by himself because the CT showed he has TB...oh and that we might wanna mask up BTW (this was about 2 hours after arriving at the hospital....)

Thanks, Doc...oof.

Wait, so they made you take him to CT, then take patient care back *after* CT? That seems crazy to me.
 

Jim37F

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Thanks, Doc...oof.

Wait, so they made you take him to CT, then take patient care back *after* CT? That seems crazy to me.
They didn't have any beds available even after going to CT, unless he was going to be on the machine all day lol, it wasn't until they decided his scan showed TB that they shuffled things around to get him into an observation room (this ED is mostly one big bay with only curtains between the beds)
 

CALEMT

The Other Guy/ Paramaybe?
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They didn't have any beds available even after going to CT, unless he was going to be on the machine all day lol, it wasn't until they decided his scan showed TB that they shuffled things around to get him into an observation room (this ED is mostly one big bay with only curtains between the beds)

No bed=not my problem. There's a reason why APOD exists. BLS patient with no ALS treatment/intervention and a report to a nurse with a wait greater than 30 minutes we have the ability to sit that patient in a chair and leave. It's not our job to hold the wall because there's no beds available.
 

StCEMT

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No bed=not my problem. There's a reason why APOD exists. BLS patient with no ALS treatment/intervention and a report to a nurse with a wait greater than 30 minutes we have the ability to sit that patient in a chair and leave. It's not our job to hold the wall because there's no beds available.
Preach.
 

DesertMedic66

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No bed=not my problem. There's a reason why APOD exists. BLS patient with no ALS treatment/intervention and a report to a nurse with a wait greater than 30 minutes we have the ability to sit that patient in a chair and leave. It's not our job to hold the wall because there's no beds available.
We do have that ability per the county however per our company that is not allowed. We will still be on delay for 2 hours with a BLS patient.
 

DesertMedic66

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Good lord. If I'm at the hospital more than 20 minutes, I get questions!
We have a couple of hospitals in our county who will very frequently hold ambulances on the wall (bed delay) for ~6-8 hours.
 

EpiEMS

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Is California just bad at using resources? It sure seems this way. Like the almonds...
 

DesertMedic66

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Is California just bad at using resources? It sure seems this way. Like the almonds...
Not enough hospitals per population, abuse of the ED, abuse of the 911 system, CA law of all ambulance traffic has to go to an ED and not an urgent care, no EMD, no provider initiated refusals, not the best pay for EMS, and paramedic shortages.
 

Jim37F

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Pt was non ambulatory, wouldn't have been able to tolerate sitting in a chair, couldn't even tolerate sitting Fowlers, was laying left lateral, and was one of the very few patients I truly believed when he said 10 out of 10 pain just seeing him try to roll to supine so the nurse could get an IV and a Foley started while we waited for a bed.

As Desert says, simply too many patients, not enough ER space, even though from my station I have about 5 or 6 hospitals within a 20 min drive (3 of those being Level 1 or 2 Trauma Centers) they are routinely all filled to capacity and then some. Sometimes we can come right in and get an open bed right away and be done in 20 min....sometimes we have a 2 hour wait for a bed. You'll remember a couple months ago, I set my PR for wall time of 8 hours at one those trauma centers waiting for a bed for a BLS patient. (They told us they had 80 some people in the waiting room alone) Fortunately that is still extreme wait for us...but not unheard of either.

Basically like Desert said, here if you call 911, doesn't matter what the complaint, we are legally obligated to take you to the Emergency Room (and can not legally take you anywhere else)....add to that that it seems like (anecdotally at least) most people around here treat the ER like their Primary Care Physician....don't feel well? Go to the ER.. Need your prescription renewed/refilled? ER doc can do that..I can't afford a PCP or they can't book me for 2 weeks or (my favorite) they said yesterday if I don't get better or start feeling worse to go back to the hospital to get checked out, so since I'm feeling worse, I should call 911 to go to the Emergency Room....
 

EpiEMS

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It sounds practically post-apocalyptic!
 

RocketMedic

Californian, Lost in Texas
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"Hey Rocket, do you want to overnight before your birthday?"

/Internal: No, it's my short week and I'd only gain around $300 from that.

/external: "No, I've got plans. Sorry!"

Staffing challenges are not my problem, and as much as I like money, I like time off more.
 

NysEms2117

ex-Parole officer/EMT
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The decision, go out to the bar with "the guys" or watch a chick flick with my fiance... Just kidding that decisions been made for me already lol
 

TransportJockey

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I'll have many beers for you tonight.

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