Dazed And Confused

We were dispatched for an 88 year old man that was altered. We pulled out of the station into the damp, foggy morning and hit the growler, it's sound instantly bringing a smile to my face. Traffic pulled out of our way, some, because they were obeying the law, and others, because they were a lot smaller and less intimidating than a fire engine tearing down the street with lights and siren blazing.

We were met at the door by the wife of our patient. She said that her husband hadn't been acting right all morning. While my captain started talking to her I started talking to the husband. He knew his name and where he was but didn't know what day it was. To be fair, neither did I. He said that he was feeling 100% and that he didn't know why we were there. All of his vitals were good. His blood sugar was 154.

The Mrs. of the house told us her husbands medical history, which was lacking on thing that I thought would be on there, dementia. Finally after some more questioning the wife related a story that took place several months ago that ended with her husband in the hospital with a diagnosis of dementia.

I have no problem going out to the homes of people with dementia. It's a horrible disease. But I think the medical community as a while needs to be better at explaining the disease and it's probably progress. I got the impression on this call (and many like it) that the family members have no clue as to what to expect as dementia gets worse.

For more information on dementia click here.