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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Ambulance driver becomes patient

Right after one of our EMT ambulances was canceled by TFD on a 911 call the driver called the station. I happened to take the cal. He stated that he was going to come in to the station because he wasn't feeling well and his blood pressure was high. At this moment TFD called for his unit again. Our dispatcher asked the driver if he felt up to doing the call. When he said no we told him told pull over and let his attendant drive him back to the station (we also dispatched another unit to the 911 call which later got canceled).

Once the ambulance got back to the station my partner and I jumped in the back to check out the EMT. One of the best ways to tell how a patient is really doing is their "skins". He was very pale, cool to the touch and sweaty. My partner and I were instantly concerned. Here was a middle aged male with a history of heart problems looking not so hot! He said that he was very weak and dizzy and later told me that he had a feeling of impending doom. His BP was high (180/120), pulse was between 46 and 54 (about half what he says is normal), he's a sinus bradycardia on the monitor, his oxygen saturation is at 98%, and his sugar was a little low at 65. We put him on O2, gave him some Aspirin, did a quick 12 lead ECG, stuck him with an IV, and transported.

It's amazing how quick you get attention in an ER when the staff knows your bringing in one of your own. By the time that we got him to the hospital his "skins" were much improved. His heart was still beating slow but his blood pressure was down a little. I guess I'll find out later what the official diagnosis was.

1 comment:

Firefighter/Paramedic said...

The doctors weren't exactly sure what was going on with him either. He was admitted for a couple of days and then sent home with some blood pressure medication.

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