Just because you can...

DEmedic said:
Ahh, Tukwila.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I've had patients drink an amp of D50 or dumped it in a glass of diet soda, I've also used jellybeans, cake frosting and an ice cream that I purchased from street vendor.

If I can, I'll always feed someone before sticking them and giving them an amp of D50.

Interestingly enough, when I was working BLS in King County, we rolled to an unresponsive diabetic at a nursing home. The guy was really obtunded and couldn't swallow. We didn't have glucometers on our truck, but the nursing home staff did. Guy's sugar was like 22, so I called for medics. The medics got there and berated me for calling. Then they sat him up with a bunch of pillows and proceeded to pour orange juice into him, Even though he couldn't swallow and was responsive only to really loud verbal stimuli or sternal rub. Classy, Huh?

That's a case I would have started a line and pushed the sugar...
Click to expand...

Oh, hayle yess. GLucometer of 22, he could have seized any time.
 
DEmedic said:
Ahh, Tukwila.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I've had patients drink an amp of D50 or dumped it in a glass of diet soda, I've also used jellybeans, cake frosting and an ice cream that I purchased from street vendor.

If I can, I'll always feed someone before sticking them and giving them an amp of D50.

Interestingly enough, when I was working BLS in King County, we rolled to an unresponsive diabetic at a nursing home. The guy was really obtunded and couldn't swallow. We didn't have glucometers on our truck, but the nursing home staff did. Guy's sugar was like 22, so I called for medics. The medics got there and berated me for calling. Then they sat him up with a bunch of pillows and proceeded to pour orange juice into him, Even though he couldn't swallow and was responsive only to really loud verbal stimuli or sternal rub. Classy, Huh?

That's a case I would have started a line and pushed the sugar...
Click to expand...

So finish your story. Did they have to put a line in and give D50?
 
I mentioned earlier about "superior" diagnostics. Blood sugar and gulcometry is pretty basic and easy. How about a basic EMT with only cuff and scope and hands and brain, pt is obtunded with BP of 90/50 and an irregularly-irregular, variable strength radial pulse of 78 (apical ausc of 126)?

Basic: O2, monitor, prepare to do CPR, and gogogo.
Advanced: EKG, treat per protocols.

Or ANYTHING in the abdomen?

In those cases knowing the basics is good, but pursuing the advanced path sooner is better. A huge and unacknowledged part of the Basic material is knowing when : to act, to hold off, or when to go Advanced (as in Paramedic and hospital).
 
KingCountyMedic said:
So finish your story. Did they have to put a line in and give D50?
Click to expand...

Yeah. They tried to get the guy sitting up enough drink the juice, it wasn't happening. So, they eventually stuck him and pushed the sugar, *****ing all the while.

FYI, this was 2009, at Renton Nursing and Rehab.

And you know as well I do, an EMT complaining about a KCM1 medic's care when you work for a private is a quick trip to a pink slip.
 
Where I worked, the bosses had a cordial loathing of nursing home care, with rare individual personal exceptions.
 
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