Off Duty emergency

kymtgpro

kymtgpro

Forum Probie
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I have spoken to some emt's that have had to deal with emergency scenarios while not on duty... while shopping or at the lake, and was wondering what some of you have encountered and how you used your skills to deal with the situation.
 
Totally depends on the situation. The few times i've encountered people who needed an ambulance while I was off duty they weren't serious, so it was mostly keeping the person/people calm until the ambulance arrives. I did have one Pt that was a 16 year old ETOH OD that I held his airway open on until the amb got there, but that is about it.
 
While on duty, I hardly ever get traumas. All I get are medical patients, most of them old and crotchety. Off duty, however, I seem to be a magnet for car accidents. If they weren't happening in front of me, I'd say I must be causing them.

I had to start keeping flares and one of our station's old reflective road vests in the Stow-&-Go of my van, because I didn't like being out there with no visibility. I also always make sure to park my car as far off to the shoulder as I can in front of the damaged vehicle, to prevent it/me from being hit, and of course if I have my kids in the car (often) I don't stop unless the wife is there too.

Most of the time, people aren't too bad. I show up, I toss down a couple flairs, make sure everyone is ok and makes sure 911 is called. There were a couple times when I took C-Spine, or had someone else take it while I assessed them. Only once did it get REALLY bad, when a small truck rolled over and left the guy upside-down and hanging from his seat belt. He was ok, some neck and back pain that turned out to be whiplash. I tried to convince him to just "hang out" until I got some help to get him down (pun intended) but he insisted on undoing his seat belt and falling on his fool head. I barely caught him, which was really just slowing his decent, and eased him down by sliding his shoulders across the passenger side ceiling with a piece of cardboard a passerby laid down for us off the back of his trailer.

Had the guy pull the cardboard out while I held the patients head, got him out, made a temporary collar out of a travel pillow and a couple belts, and made sure to tell him not to move another muscle until some help arrived and I took his vitals. He was a little tachy, but not bad otherwise.

Otherwise, I helped an old lady that broke her hip and femur outside the supermarket. Walking along a curbed sidewalk with a grocery cart full, got to close and the right side of the cart fell off and tipped over. She, being old, frail, and uncoordinated, didn't let go of the cart and fell off the curb with it. Upper portion of her hip was fractured, and upper right thigh had a nice protrusion sticking out laterally from the femoral break. Luckily, artery was not severed and it didn't managed to break the skin.
 
Aidey said:
I did have one Pt that was a 16 year old ETOH OD that I held his airway open on until the amb got there, but that is about it.
Click to expand...

Have a pretty funny story, so please indulge me.

My then future brother-in-law was 16 when it got completely blasted at the 1999-2000 New Years party. I show up from work after midnight (I was working club security at the time) and he's unconscious on the floor in the bathroom doorway. People are just walking over him.

Keep in mind, I have no medical training at this point besides CPR. Me and my then future wife drag him upright, notice his breathing is raspy and shallow, and he can't regain enough consciousness to respond to us for more than a second or so. We figure he's on the fast track to alcohol poisoning, so we decide he needs to vomit.

There we are, doing drunk triage as the only sober people in the house, and he is coming around a little more each time he pukes. But after a while, he doesn't want us sticking that Popsicle stick down his throat anymore, and he doesn't' seem to have anything left to puke. We try to get water in him, but he doesn't want any.

My wife, ever the genius, decides that no, he's NOT done puking. Goes to the fridge, gets the concentrated lemon juice in a squirt bottle. Shoves that nozzle between his lips and gives him a mouth and half a sinus cavity full of citrus lovin'.

He doesn't respond well to this, and proceeds to puke up everything but his kidneys. Strangely enough, though, he starts to come too and sober up a bit. Seems lemon juice shooting out your nose is a real buzzkill.

Two morals of this story:

Lemon Juice is almost as good as ipecac in come situations.

Don't get drunk and pass out around my wife. She knows how to make due with what's on hand, and God help you if all that's around is a jug of Tropicana.
 
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That story both made me cringe (aspiration risk and all) and laugh my arse off.

That seems like it would be a good way to check level of consciousness in Pts who are working on their Oscar performance.
 
Turn around and walk the other way.
 
Aidey said:
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That story both made me cringe (aspiration risk and all) and laugh my arse off.

That seems like it would be a good way to check level of consciousness in Pts who are working on their Oscar performance.
Click to expand...

He later reported that he didn't remember much of the night (surprising no one) but he does remember THAT part before he went back into blackout land.

He described it as a painful enema of the sinuses.
 
I was at an Iron Maiden concert and a 40 year old male who was EDP stumbled down the steps and fell pretty bad I held C Spine and got as much info out of him as I could while EMS was on the way and was able to give them a good assesment when the crew they there.
 
The only times "off-duty" that I saw someone who needed medical assistance, I wasn't an EMT yet so I couldn't do anything other then call 911.

Except one of my employees has status epileticus and had an episode at work while I was still in training... so I did all I could do. Keep everyone and everything away.


Back in Janurary, I was literally 15 seconds from a big accident when it occured... I beat FD there by 5 minutes, and the ambulance co by another 3.

If I had actually be closer to it, and not a quarter mile back, I might have gone to check it out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Why does everyone feel the need to get involved?
 
CAOX3 said:
Why does everyone feel the need to get involved?
Click to expand...

It's why I wanted to be a cop, and when that didn't work out, I decided to become an EMT. I wanted to help people.

Like I said, though, if my kids are in the car or they already have personnel on scene, I'm not going to go running in there with a cape and a big "EMS" on my chest.

To be fair, though, I did this before I even thought of being an EMT. It's just the guy I am, I guess. Idealist to the end.
 
CAOX3 said:
Why does everyone feel the need to get involved?
Click to expand...

99% of the time, I would also just go about my business. If it happened to be something like someone choking in a restaurant I happen to be at (which would seem really douchey of me if I did not act as most of the patrons of the place I frequent the most often see me in uniform as I get off duty--unhealthy and greasy food, but it sure tastes good!) or see someone drop in public and no one else doing anything, I'd act. It all depends on the situation unfolding.
 
trevor1189 said:
It's kind of a shame that people who are trained to help people are afraid to do so when off duty because of the fear of litigation.
Click to expand...

Good Samaritan laws cover us too. So long as we don't go over our training or scope of practice, it's not an issue. But honestly, even if you ARE a fully trained medic, what are you going to do out there without your gear? Unless you carry an IV and a drug box in the back of your pickup, you're sticking to BLS interventions until the on duty guys show up anyway.
 
PapaBear434 said:
Good Samaritan laws cover us too. So long as we don't go over our training or scope of practice, it's not an issue. But honestly, even if you ARE a fully trained medic, what are you going to do out there without your gear? Unless you carry an IV and a drug box in the back of your pickup, you're sticking to BLS interventions until the on duty guys show up anyway.
Click to expand...
Well BLS is better than nothing, I understand your point but even without equipment they have the knowledge that exceeds the general public about medical emergencies.
 
trevor1189 said:
Well BLS is better than nothing, I understand your point but even without equipment they have the knowledge that exceeds the general public about medical emergencies.
Click to expand...

Oh, I didn't mean that in a derogatory way. As I am technically still an EMT-B (working on my ALS internship right now), I'll be the last to denigrate the efforts of Basics. As far as I'm concerned, Basics are the life blood of EMS. Yes, not much training involved, but they/we pick up a lot just being around the system, and learn more than you could imagine.

And let's face it: Becoming a medic is tough. Not everyone wants to do it. Thus, there is no way to support an EMS system with only medics. You have to have "ground troops" to take care of the mundane stuff and help the medics in gathering information and setting up their drugs.

And besides, even ALS does BLS stuff when they first arrive on scene. It's the basis for everything we do. Just because you add an extra layer on it doesn't mean the foundation is any less important.
 
I was at a big family dinner about a year ago. A young boy, around 10, shoved too much food in his mouth and was choaking real bad. I FLEW out of my seat and heimliched him twice. All the food came up the second time, he started breathing and crying. I then went back to my dinner.

Sorry, but I can't "turn around and walk the other way" was a 10 year old boy is going to die from choaking. Maybe you, but not me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top