Gotta love the old folk

[yowzer]

Scenario: A woman in her 70's is out hiking, and miles down the trail trips and injures her ankle -- fracture or bad sprain. A bystander splints it, and she and her husband try to walk out, can't. SAR gets activated, which is where I come in. An uneventful evac occurs.

As we're getting closer to the trailhead, we start to discuss transportation with her. She wants her husband to drive her to a hospital. We want her to go by ambulance, since it's obvious she's in more pain than she's admitting to, and it'd be a lot better for her to be moved rather than have to get from a car to triage on her own. She wins, and we end up picking her up out of the rescue litter and into the back seat of their car, and send them on their way with orders to the husband to get a wheelchair at the hospital instead of her trying to walk in.

Two major things crossed my mind. First... I hope I'm still able to get out at that age. She'd been doing this for a long time -- her pack was covered with patches from mountains and hiking trails overseas she'd been on trips to, and was in awesome shape. Second... the injured but apologetic "I'm sorry all of you had to come out here, I hate to be a bother, save the ambulance for someone who needs it, you're great for doing this but I wish I hadn't ruined your Friday night" type patient is so... refreshing compared to the typical stuff I see in town. They're not made like that any more.

 

[VentMedic]

It is sad to think her hiking days may now be over.

Slightly off topic but:

The apolgetic manner in which she spoke is why you have to be careful about telling people not to call 911 and what you define as an emergency. For an elderly person, an ankle sprain can be an emergency with the risk of clots, infection and cellulitis. They will also be the ones that will listen to you and take your message to heart. Those that abuse the system probably aren't going to be listening at all. The elderly will also deny chest pain because it may not feel as intense due to the aging process and loss of sensation. They will also not want to be a bother to those "nice young EMTs and Paramedics".

 

[emt19723]

i had one of them the other night too. little old lady that was SEVERELY dehydrated. she insisted that she wanted her daughter to take her in, but we got her talked in to it so that the medics could get some fluids in her sooner. she was a sweet little thing!! B)

 

[Epi-do]

My favorite "old person" run has got to the the guy we picked up that was in his 70's and was complaining of hip pain. Everything had been fine until he fell off the ramp he was riding on to jump his bike like the neighborhood kids.

 

[apagea99]

Haha! I love strong seniors! My wife's grandma is like that. She broke her wrist 3 years ago and tried to brush it off. When the ambulance went to pick her up, she told them she didn't need to ride in the back....she wanted to ride up front.

I hope I'm not a weakling when I get old......-_-

 

[PapaBear434]

Jeez... The old lady I had last night just had a minor cut on her leg last night. A bandaid and some antiseptic cream would have fixed it up. But she DEMANDED she be taken in immediately, and that if she wasn't in the ER in less than twenty minutes she was going to sue us for malpractice and "have our badges."

At one point, she even threatened to have her son, who was in his upper fifties, show me "...what happens if I step out of line and get fresh with her again." Why she said this? Well, because the cut was on her mid thigh, she thought I was trying to see her naked.

I seem to have poor luck with old people, and it's the younger ones that tend to be much nicer on me. But I also work in an area with a lot of retirement homes full of a lot of old Military folks, and they as a rule can be a very crotchety bunch. Very angry about being old and frail, and willing to take it out on anyone that they feel makes them feel old and frail. EMT's mere presence kind of signifies this condition, so they let us have it.

So, yeah... The old lady was completely competent. Just really angry.

 

[MtJerry]

A few years ago I was doing some pre-hunting season hunting the mountains. I am several miles (10-15) off the main road when I come across an elderly gentleman riding an ATV.

He had an O2 bottle on the back with a nasal cannula on his face. He had a cane in the front gun rack with his trusty rifle.

I stopped and chatted with him a while (he was hunting mountain grouse) and I learned he was 86 years old.

I asked him if he had killed any birds, to which he replied, "No, they took out my shooting eye last month, and I ain't got used to shooting with the other one yet. :blush:

Elderly male with COPD...
Limited mobility ...
One eye ...

.... Hunting birds alone MILES away from any civilized area.

That's what I want to be when I get old.

 

[Airwaygoddess]

Live to learn so much.

I have always enjoyed taking care of the older generation, I have learned so much through the years from these folks. " Life's lessons and the path that we have taken to start our journary, will never be written in a textbook." There is something to be said about the wisdom of our elders.

 

[yowzer]

Elderly male with COPD...
Limited mobility ...
One eye ...

.... Hunting birds alone MILES away from any civilized area.

That's what I want to be when I get old.

That's even more awesome than the bike-jumping (Or at least trying to) guy.

Well, except for the ATV bit. I don't like those things... buggers turn perfectly good hiking trails into miles-long mudpits. Should have had a horse instead.

 

[MRE]

My dad (61 this year) has told me more than a few times that he wants to go when he is sitting in his treestand hunting deer.

He has some friends who are in their 80s and still go ice fishing and stay in a cabin with no electricity or running water, and one guy who still hunts deer at age 86.

A few years ago I was doing some pre-hunting season hunting the mountains. I am several miles (10-15) off the main road when I come across an elderly gentleman riding an ATV.

He had an O2 bottle on the back with a nasal cannula on his face. He had a cane in the front gun rack with his trusty rifle.

I stopped and chatted with him a while (he was hunting mountain grouse) and I learned he was 86 years old.

I asked him if he had killed any birds, to which he replied, "No, they took out my shooting eye last month, and I ain't got used to shooting with the other one yet. :blush:

Elderly male with COPD...
Limited mobility ...
One eye ...

.... Hunting birds alone MILES away from any civilized area.

That's what I want to be when I get old.

 

[PapaBear434]

So I'm the only one with the angry old coots, eh?

 

[emt19723]

So I'm the only one with the angry old coots, eh?

oh...not by far. lol i had one that i picked up some time ago who thought he was Mohammed Ali and he caught me in gut....twice!! lol its not like it hurt, but after the second time, i assured him, tactfully, that if he throws one more punch at me, that i have these nice little fuzzy bracelets i could give to him to put on. lol guess he thought the idea sounded too girly and he stopped. but yeah, there are definitely some hateful old-timers out there.

 

[katgrl2003]

I had an old guy that was upset because we backboarded him - alzheimer's and dementia, such fun. He ripped his c-collar off twice, and I told my partner to just get us to the hospital. I didn't even realize he ran us in L&S until we were halfway there. Pt managed to sucker punch me in the jaw at one point, and quieted down once he realized how pissed I was. Old patients are so much fun.

-Kat

 

[BossyCow]

I have a neighbor in her 90's who still runs her farm and greenhouse and sells her plants, flowers and veggies on the side of the road. I don't think she's changed much in the 12 or so years I've known her. She moved from her native Germany to New York where her late husband was a professor at Cornell. She learned English there. So her accent is a combination of German and "New Yawk". If I can be half as active in my 70's as she is in her 90's.... I'll be happy!