Lullaby

One of the fun things about being a paramedic is that new EMTs look at you like you know everything. This tends to make them the target of a practical joke or two.

In some hospitals (such as Little Company of Mary's in Torrance) a lullaby is played over the PA every time a baby is born. One day I was working with a new EMT who asked me about the music. After the explanation I added that he should hear what they play when they have a person die. It took him about 15 seconds before he realized that I was only joking!

"Full arrest at the park"

We arrive on scene to find the firefighters thumping away on the old mans chest. They've just intubated him and pushed the first round of meds. We quickly load the patient and get going. In the back of the rig I'm bagging the patient, a firefighter is doing compressions and another medic is pushing drugs. The firefighter and I were standing in the back of the unit for better access to the patient which should not have been an issue except that our driver that day was learning how to drive code 3. He was following the squad too close and had to slam on the brakes when the squad turned. He then took a corner at 35 mph. I ended up in the captains chair with a firefighter in my lap. The driver got chewed out for that one.

By the time that we got to the ER our patient had a good strong pulse. Two saves in a row.

"Man having a seizure"

The engine company was the first on seen with this one and quickly let us and the squad responding know that it was a full arrest. Turns out that the 42 year old man was in the bathroom and fell so the family assumed that he was having a seizure when he was really dying. We performed CPR, intubated him, shocked him, and pushed 4 rounds of drugs before we loaded him up. We pushed another two rounds of drugs during transport. I thought for sure that he was a gonner.

In the ER they pushed two more rounds of drugs and got him back! I couldn't believe it. His heart had changed rhythms 5 different times! He had no other medical problems, took no medications, and was in decent physical shape. Makes me wonder if drugs were involved.