I had a patient stop by the firehouse the other day

[Epi-do]

She wanted to thank me, and make sure my supervisor was aware of how well I treated her. The run was a month or two ago.

We had been dispatched to her house for a diabetic. When we got there, she told us she had had two syncopal episodes, and one near-syncopal episode. Her blood sugar was WNL, as were her pulse, RR, and BP. She also told me she was feeling slightly dizzy, and prior to each episode she became diaphoretic. Her skin was pale, cool and dry when I was with her. Four lead on the monitor looked sinus, but given her complaint I did a 12 lead. There was ST elevation in two of the V leads, although I do not remember exactly which ones now.

We loaded her up and headed to one of the area heart hospitals. She never complained of chest pain, so I didn't give nitro. She did get ASA, O2, lock, a repeat 12 lead, and continuous cardiac monitoring. She was in good spirits throughout the transport, and talked and joked with me the entire time.

She said they did "something" the day I took her in, but she couldn't remember what it was called. I am sure it was some sort of testing, although I am not really sure exactly what. She met with the cardiologist and they scheduled her to go back in two weeks later and placed a pacemaker. She hasn't had any more episodes of near-/syncope and says she feels great.

We so rarely get to see how alot of our patients fare after dropping them at the ER, so I thought it was neat that she stopped by to let me know how she was doing.

 

[MMiz]

That's awesome, and had to make you feel good. Good job!

 

[tydek07]

That is cool! It is always fun when you are able to "catch up" with a pt later on.

tydek

 

[Medresponse44]

That is great, the ultimate satisfaction is knowing that you have made a difference in someones life.

 

[PapaBear434]

Yesterday, I had an old lady say that her grand kids were going to hunt me down and kill me because we kidnapped her from her home and they would know that she's missing. We'd "never get away with it," she said, and told us that she'd fight us to the end when (not "if," but "when") we tried to rape her. We were actually taking her from the nursing home hospital, she had a fever of 104 degrees and she was altered, so I didn't take any offense.

We got her to the hospital, and they worked their magic on her while we did a couple more calls. By the time the end of our shift came up, she called us over (she was in one of the hallways beds) and apologized for everything she said, and she claims she remembers everything that happened and felt horribly embarrassed about it. Told us over and over again how we took such great care of her and how we did so great considering all the craziness she was spouting. We were apparently SO nice in the face of death threats, she even offered me and my partner (in the most stereotypically grandmotherly way possible) a hard candy from her purse.

Felt good, and the candy was quite tasty. In retrospect, however, I shouldn't have taken it. She might have just found a better way to kill me than sicking her grand kids on me, and instead gave me some poison candy.

 

[NEMed2]

Don't you know better than to not take candy from patients? Maybe the grandkids are cute.

Responded to a lift assist, patient uninjured but generally in nasty spirits. The health aide had called the patient's family to let them know the situation. After a few choice words were offered at us for "barging into her apartment" and "asking stupid questions" about why she was on the floor, we assisted the patient to the couch and made a quick assessment. We were heading out the door when the family arrived, we gave a quick update and told them we would be happy to come back if anything changed. The family then offered to buy us pizza if we stayed, since the call came out right as we were about to sit down (no surprise there).

... Damn, should have just taken the $20.

 

[mycrofft]

Way to go, Epi!!

Congrats and kudos to your pt!

 

[Tincanfireman]

In my past military firefighter life I cared for a seizing, apneic 18 month old with a temp that was off the charts. Mom met us at the curb at 11:00 at night with the kid wrapped in a bedspread, crying and pleading with me to "please save my baby". Kid was transported by local EMS and kept for a couple days with no reoccurance. Months later, I'm out in the yard on base, (cutting my grass) and a car pulls up. I walk over, thinking they need directions, and out pops the dad of my patient. Mom's in the front seat, and Junior is in his booster seat in the back. Dad tells me that they are being transferred and are leaving the base for the last time, but that they couldn't leave without stopping by and thanking me. Mom gets out and plants a smooch on me, Dad shakes my hand and hugs me, and Junior is in the back seat yelling "thank you for saving me, Mister Fireman!!!"
Best. Call. Ever.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

I had something like that happen to me once. It is a great feeling to know that some people really do appreciate what we do for them.

 

[sabbymedic]

She wanted to thank me, and make sure my supervisor was aware of how well I treated her. The run was a month or two ago.

We had been dispatched to her house for a diabetic. When we got there, she told us she had had two syncopal episodes, and one near-syncopal episode. Her blood sugar was WNL, as were her pulse, RR, and BP. She also told me she was feeling slightly dizzy, and prior to each episode she became diaphoretic. Her skin was pale, cool and dry when I was with her. Four lead on the monitor looked sinus, but given her complaint I did a 12 lead. There was ST elevation in two of the V leads, although I do not remember exactly which ones now.

We loaded her up and headed to one of the area heart hospitals. She never complained of chest pain, so I didn't give nitro. She did get ASA, O2, lock, a repeat 12 lead, and continuous cardiac monitoring. She was in good spirits throughout the transport, and talked and joked with me the entire time.

She said they did "something" the day I took her in, but she couldn't remember what it was called. I am sure it was some sort of testing, although I am not really sure exactly what. She met with the cardiologist and they scheduled her to go back in two weeks later and placed a pacemaker. She hasn't had any more episodes of near-/syncope and says she feels great.

We so rarely get to see how alot of our patients fare after dropping them at the ER, so I thought it was neat that she stopped by to let me know how she was doing.

Congratulations on saving a life. I am sure that the pt felt the same way as well.

 

[Airwaygoddess]

Golden........

What a great Kudo!! I know in this profession we will never get rich with money, but it is that kind of reward that will always be golden....... Awsome Epi-Do!