This week´s memorable call

[harold1981]

Maybe not your first call of the day, but certainly this one particular call that´s worth sharing with us. Maybe because it was a though one, or maybe beause there was a suprising turn of events. Or maybe it is the nature of the call that triggered a WTF moment. Maybe there is another reason why it became one of those calls that you´ll remember twenty years from now. Or you or your colleagues saw something unusual that we can all learn from. Please share it...

 

[akflightmedic]

Can I get back to you in 20 years and let you know then....I mean I might not know if it is a memorable call until then.

 

[VentMonkey]

A 5 patient shooting, 3 of the 5 were innocent kids, 1 being mortally wounded in utero.

Why memorable? Because it taught me never to wish a “good call” for your own selfish reasons. It was utterly humbling, chilling, and left that true sense of mortality deeply embedded.

There’s tons more I’m sure, some funny, but all have been enlightening. IMO, if—in general—a “cool story” is all you walk away with after these calls, that’s unfortunate.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Every memorable call is one that taught me something. Don’t be fooled by the obvious stroke until you check a blood sugar. Don’t ever turn your back on an emotionally disturbed person. Don’t push Cardizem too quickly. Know where the TQ is.

 

[VentMonkey]

Every memorable call is one that taught me something. Don’t be fooled by the obvious stroke until you check a blood sugar. Don’t ever turn your back on an emotionally disturbed person. Don’t push Cardizem too quickly. Know where the TQ is...

...don’t assume the priority-3 ambulance-only “sick/ ill” won’t be a full blown RVMI.

 

[NomadicMedic]

...don’t assume the priority-3 ambulance-only “sick/ ill” won’t be a full blown RVMI.

...don’t think the seizure is just a seizure. Always bring the monitor.

...don’t think the choking call will be BS, even though most are. Keep a Mac 3 on the handle and Magills handy.

 

[VentMonkey]

...don’t think the seizure is just a seizure. Always bring the monitor.

Yup, nothing like a full arrest precipitated by a “cardiac seizure”.

...don’t think the seizure is just a seizure. Always bring the monitor.

...don’t think the choking call will be BS, even though most are.

Been there as well. Lol, @harold1981 this thread has potential for war story lore, but also underlines the importance of one consistent theme: preparation.

 

[NPO]

Today I had a "memorable" call. Not because it was trauma-rific or anything like that. It was an emergent transfer.

Woman came into the ED with chest pain. EKG looked like a proximal LMCA occlusion or three vessel disease, and she had a disecting AAA. Her severe nausea had me concerned when she started spitting up dark liquid... Has me worried about an aortoenteric fistula.

Now, if she's got even one of those things going on, it's a bad day. But 2 or 3 of them is just a nightmare.

Memorable because the EKG was so clean and clear cut, I've never seen it in person before... But also because the call made you think.

EDIT: Oh, and one of the IV pumps failed, so I had to remember where the dial-a-flow was

A 5 patient shooting, 3 of the 5 were innocent kids, 1 being mortally wounded in utero.

Why memorable? Because it taught me never to wish a “good call” for your own selfish reasons. It was utterly humbling, chilling, and left that true sense of mortality deeply embedded.

There’s tons more I’m sure, some funny, but all have been enlightening. IMO, if—in general—a “cool story” is all you walk away with after these calls, that’s unfortunate.

Jesus Christ man. We're you on MV1?

[QUOTE="NomadicMedic, post: 659759] Don’t be fooled by the obvious stroke until you check a blood sugar.[/QUOTE]

Ive made that mistake. It wasn't a stroke though, oddly it was cardiac. I learned my lesson!

 

[NPO]

...don’t think the choking call will be BS, even though most are. Keep a Mac 3 on the handle and Magills handy.

Thank you. I'd check my airway bagy and daily have to remove the MAC 4 and put a MAC 3 on there.

 

[VentMonkey]

Jesus Christ man. We're you on MV1?

Years ago, on the ground.

Thank you. I'd check my airway bagy and daily have to remove the MAC 4 and put a MAC 3 on there.

I never remove any of my blades. I keep a Mac 4 as my primary followed by a Mac 3 and Miller 2, both tucked together in a pocket visibly next to where my primary DL set up is.

It’s sort of my reminder to visibly inspect the patient’s airway as one size doesn’t necessarily fit all. The Bougie goes without saying.

 

[Lo2w]

Learned to leave the jump bag w/ the OB kit in the house when fetching the cot on an OB call the other week.

 

[Tigger]

Thank you. I'd check my airway bagy and daily have to remove the MAC 4 and put a MAC 3 on there.

The right blade is the one that works for you.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Grandview. It’s like intubating with a snow shovel.

 

[CALEMT]

While certainly not this week's or even this months memorable call but its one that'll stick with me for the rest of my life. Getting ROSC on a 30 week pregnant female.

(I was in my internship for medic school) Mom was putting to bed her 3 yo daughter when she collapsed. Daughter got dad who started high-quality CPR. We were the second engine crew in and I walked into the room and the crew was working her. The company officer looked at me and gave a brief synopsis, pretty much 30 weeks pregnant, CPR PTA, 1 defibrillation if you're going to run the call do it now.

Delegated the IO, gave epi, I got the tube, defibrillated again and got ROSC. Initially SVT at 155 and after a bolus went to ST at 120-130. Measurable vitals on scene and off we went. Last I heard mom was discharged doing fine and the baby was in the NICU (they flew her to a specialty center and induced labor).

I learned two things on that call. This was my 5th or 6th working full arrest so needless to say I had found my "groove". As soon as I heard 30 weeks pregnant I got tunnel visioned and scatterbrained. I took what felt like an eternity, but was really a couple seconds, took a breath, cleared my head, and focused on the task at hand. The second thing I learned is CPR PTA and good team dynamics drastically improve the call.

I'm extremely glad I got this call and the outcome of the call, but kinda bummed at the same time because I got the call so early in my career. It'll be one of those calls where I reflect on at 3am after taking some belligerent drunk or drugged out person to the hospital and I question if I still want to do this. These calls while extremely rare, make this job all the more worth it when you remember that euphoric feeling that you had.

 

[VentMonkey]

The right blade is the one that works for your patient.

Fixed it.

Grandview. It’s like intubating with a snow shovel.

Gawd yes, what I wouldn’t give to trial these.

 

[Lo2w]

Pretty sure the scavenger hunt in the abandoned building for the body is going to be mine for the week.

 

[DesertMedic66]

Male high on meth trying to break into a house with a woman armed with a samurai sword. The male lost.