Call that turned bad quick!

[Craig Alan Evans]

Learning experience 101. The sounds of hoofs beats may not always be horses; rather it maybe zebras! Meaning, things may not always appear to be what they are.


A word of wisdom.. Any patient that is truly diaphoretic is serious.

R/r 911

These two sentences are golden nuggets. All that shakes is not seizures is another one more specific.

Did you have 12 lead capability? That's one of the first things I would have done with this guy.

He sounded like a critical patient from the start, but EMS education does not do a very good job of preparing you for a patient like that. Lessons like that are unfortunately the most difficult ones but also the most memorable. Study up on 12 and 15 lead EKGs, hyperkalemia, acute renal failure, fluid overload in acute renal failure, and that should give you a better understanding of what may have happened.

Pay very close attention to everything that is said and done in the ER when you bring in a critical patient like that. If you don't understand a treatment modality or anything that is said or done then look it up afterwards and study. Medicine is constantly evolving and you have to keep up. The education you get to become certified just scratches the surface.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Be aware this thread is from 2008 and none of the original contributors are available to answer any questions or provide further information.