One day...

One day you’re gonna want that girl. that girl that knew she wasn’t perfect, but tried to be perfect for you. the girl that believed the scraps of you she was given were worth it, because something was better than nothing. that girl who wanted nothing more than to be there for you, and loving you was the only way she could. the girl who sees your flaws, but values them as much as your strengths. that girl who still can’t bring herself to hate you, even though sometimes you probably deserve it. that girl who saw past your pretty eyes and treasured parts of you that no one else has ever appreciated. the girl who realizes she may never have your heart, but will carry the image of you in hers forever. the girl that sees this and still loves you.

what would you do? interesting case...

Had an interesting call this shift. Got dispatch Class 1 for an ill person (gotta love those!) Pt wife states pt was sitting in the recliner after dinner and was fine she went outside for a little bit and came back in and found him "sleeping" in the chair and then she tried to wake him and was unable to do so, so she called 911, stating he was unconscious for 5-10 min before we got there. Upon our arrival pt was awake and sitting in chair, pt appeared to be aware of what was going on but was unable to talk. Pt had a pituitary tumor 5 yrs ago and recently the doctors found another mass this time to his left frontal lobe, took a biopsy last week, pt still has sutures in from biopsy procedure, suture site looks healthy. Pt VS are all WNL and I worked out communications with pt by asking yes/no questions and having him squeeze my hand once for yes and twice for no and again he seemed like he was aware of what was going on but just couldnt talk! Blood sugar was 143, no facial droop or arm drift, pt could stand and pivot to stairchair and then again to stretcher with a steady gait. So I took the pt 50 miles (telling my driver I wanted an easy ride, but not to fiddle faddle around either, to use lights and sirens if needed) to the hospital where his biopsy was done instead of the local hospital.
I dont know if I didnt sound sure of myself or what but the triage nurse seemed to focus on the fact that he couldnt speak and the onset time of that and immediately jumped to stroke, and she completely ignored the fact that they had drilled into this mans brain a week ago...so she called a stroke team member in who performed the same tests I had done in the field (looking for facial droop, arm drift, or weakness in extremities and checked his pupils/gaze) and stated "this is not a brain attack". Seriously? If I had compelling evidence this was a CVA I would have flown him instead of taking him an hour by ground considering he was almost an hour and half into the episode. Maybe Im in the wrong here, maybe I was being egotistical, but I did comeplete my assessment, several times, in the field and assumed this was an issue with the mass/tumor they had found recently.  Upon arrival of the hospital the pt could answer "yeah" and "no" to questions but was still unable to even state his name.

What would you all have done? Taken him an hour by ground or flew him?

weigh in #4

Weighing in at 294 this week....Im starting to slack....a lot....and to top it off Im not having a good "mental health" week either....

I was having a conversation with a long time friend of mine that I met in the very beginning of my EMS career and I have to say I got very defensive for the first time in a while. I started in EMS in a very rural, small town. My hometown consists of a town of maybe 6000 folks in the city and thousands more in BFE. The average time for a call can be anywhere from 20 min (in town) up to hours long in the country. The nearest trauma center is an hour and half from town by ground on a winding back road or 2 hours on the straighter main road (depending on where in the county you are) while the local ER has a grand total of 6 beds, the next closes hospital has a 3 bed ER...you get the picture. From there I joined the local FD where I went to college, and while the pace was a littler faster it still wasn't much, we averaged 700-800 EMS calls a year and the local hospital had up to 12 beds and the local trauma center was only 45 min by ground. Now I work for a hospital based medic truck that averages about 3000 calls a year and well, I have to say I have tested the waters with city EMS, I did practicals in school in big cities, and did some ride time with my part time job in the city and it's just not me. I enjoy having the longer transport times and spending a little extra time with my patients.

Anyways, I was on the phone with this friend and he put down the fact I worked in rural EMS. This is not the first time he has done this, he has several times and it finally got to me. I have gotten this attitude from several "big city" EMS folks, like they are better because they run 20+ calls in a 24 hour shift and I might run 5 calls or I might not turn a wheel. Just who do they think they are? It really irritated me. It does not make me any less of a medic because I work in a rural area or because I like  it.

That is all...thanks for the steam blowing!

weigh in #3

Weighed in last night at 292lbs....but I also cheated a bit this week... :/   Im gonna do better this week...heck I even walked to work 3 of my 5 days this week!

weigh in #2

Finished week 3 of the new meal plan and an happy to announce I am weighing in at 293 today! This makes a grand total of 23 pounds since Christmas and 7 lbs in the last 3 weeks.  Now if I could only motivate myself to start doing some physical exercise I know I could lose more weight and maybe even build up some strength and stamina...