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I just returned from a call that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
We were paged to unknown trauma with law on scene. We're further updated that it originated as a weapon offense, or pedestrian vs. car, or assault with a bat, but that the pt. is unresponsive. We arrive to a crowd of 30 people standing around our pt. so we order them to step back. As they step back, we get our first look at our pt., who is sitting upright with the assistance of two bystanders. We were shocked to find that the pt. is one of the members our our own department. :sad:
Long story short, pt. is unresponsive to all stimulii, Pupils equal but not reactive, HR 120's, RR 30ish, cap refill < 2sec. NO obvious signs of injury (raccoon eyes, battle sign, fluid in ears) but he does have some minor bleeding from the back of his head.
We do full C-spine, PUHA to ALS intercept, 15 lpm O2 via NRB, IV x2 NS (18ga & 16ga) and follow the ALS unit to the hospital. Pt. is still unresponsive during entire transport so ALS does an RSI intubation. Hospital puts him on vent and sends him to CT.
About an hour later, hospital pulls the tube and he regains consciousness. We were allowed to visit him before we left, and he recognized us so that is a good thing.
Please send your prayers to his family for me, and thanks for letting me vent.
We were paged to unknown trauma with law on scene. We're further updated that it originated as a weapon offense, or pedestrian vs. car, or assault with a bat, but that the pt. is unresponsive. We arrive to a crowd of 30 people standing around our pt. so we order them to step back. As they step back, we get our first look at our pt., who is sitting upright with the assistance of two bystanders. We were shocked to find that the pt. is one of the members our our own department. :sad:
Long story short, pt. is unresponsive to all stimulii, Pupils equal but not reactive, HR 120's, RR 30ish, cap refill < 2sec. NO obvious signs of injury (raccoon eyes, battle sign, fluid in ears) but he does have some minor bleeding from the back of his head.
We do full C-spine, PUHA to ALS intercept, 15 lpm O2 via NRB, IV x2 NS (18ga & 16ga) and follow the ALS unit to the hospital. Pt. is still unresponsive during entire transport so ALS does an RSI intubation. Hospital puts him on vent and sends him to CT.
About an hour later, hospital pulls the tube and he regains consciousness. We were allowed to visit him before we left, and he recognized us so that is a good thing.
Please send your prayers to his family for me, and thanks for letting me vent.
