Friday night I had a level 1 trauma. This is bad in any situation but to make things worse it was my grandpa and I was one of his care givers.
Friday night around 2100 my uncle was taking my grandfather home in his van. When they arrived there my grandfather, who is 75, got out of the van, said "I cant see", fell backward and hit the back of his head hard on the pavement. I was near by and my uncle called me in a frenzy. I was there in about a minute. Right away I realized he was unresponsive and I checked for a pulse. He was breathing what sounded like agonal respiration. My uncle was already calling 911. I shouted at him tell them class 1 trauma unresponsive person(class 1 being lights and sirens with a paramedic in our region). I made sure the airway was clear and felt for pulse again and felt it. I released his shirt and sweater. I got my cousin to maintain his airway, because his tongue kept falling toward the back of his throat, with a comb he had in his pocket. I asked a nurse on scene to check blood sugar because he was diabetic. She did and it was 42. I got the only thing I could find, thick maple syrup.... I know no oral glucose. I put some on my finger and put it in his cheeks, making sure to prevent it from going down his throat. Still unresponsive. Blood pressure cuff was available but no steth. Palpated at 160. We watched as his pupils went from constricted and equal to the left pupil blowing. Put a towel under his head carefully to control the bleeding. EMS arrived about 12 minutes after calling 911. Paramedic was there in 14 minutes. We had him boarded and collared as the medic got set up in the ambulance. We went class 1 to nearest trauma center and arrived there in 32 minutes. They had him in CT and intubated within 5 minutes of arrival at hospital. Total time from fall to hospital was about 50 minutes.
He is now still in coma and doctors give him less than 1 percent chance of survival. They operated to release the pressure in his brain right after CT scan.
any suggestions how this call went. I found out how much harder it is to work on a close family member.
Friday night around 2100 my uncle was taking my grandfather home in his van. When they arrived there my grandfather, who is 75, got out of the van, said "I cant see", fell backward and hit the back of his head hard on the pavement. I was near by and my uncle called me in a frenzy. I was there in about a minute. Right away I realized he was unresponsive and I checked for a pulse. He was breathing what sounded like agonal respiration. My uncle was already calling 911. I shouted at him tell them class 1 trauma unresponsive person(class 1 being lights and sirens with a paramedic in our region). I made sure the airway was clear and felt for pulse again and felt it. I released his shirt and sweater. I got my cousin to maintain his airway, because his tongue kept falling toward the back of his throat, with a comb he had in his pocket. I asked a nurse on scene to check blood sugar because he was diabetic. She did and it was 42. I got the only thing I could find, thick maple syrup.... I know no oral glucose. I put some on my finger and put it in his cheeks, making sure to prevent it from going down his throat. Still unresponsive. Blood pressure cuff was available but no steth. Palpated at 160. We watched as his pupils went from constricted and equal to the left pupil blowing. Put a towel under his head carefully to control the bleeding. EMS arrived about 12 minutes after calling 911. Paramedic was there in 14 minutes. We had him boarded and collared as the medic got set up in the ambulance. We went class 1 to nearest trauma center and arrived there in 32 minutes. They had him in CT and intubated within 5 minutes of arrival at hospital. Total time from fall to hospital was about 50 minutes.
He is now still in coma and doctors give him less than 1 percent chance of survival. They operated to release the pressure in his brain right after CT scan.
any suggestions how this call went. I found out how much harder it is to work on a close family member.
