Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Ice Skating Rink
The call came out as a leg injury at the public ice skating rink. When we get there we find an 8 year old boy that was crushed beneath a 300 pound section of rod iron fence that was leaning up against the wall. Bystanders had already pull the section of fence off the kid. The boys upper leg was bent at a point where there are no joints. We place the screaming kid on a back board and then apply the traction splint to the broken femur. We get him into a position that he says is OK and transport. While on our was to the hospital my partner tries to get an IV. The kid screamed more about the needle than he did about his leg. My partner ended up not getting it and decided not to try again. As we wheeled him into the pediatric ER at Harbor UCLA a swarm of MD's come rushing in to see him. One of them told me it had been a slow day so everyone wanted to be in on the femur fracture case. I guess doctors need their excitement too.
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I hope you never go on a call for me and I find myself in a blog. Is this legal?
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a FF and Paramedic and wouldn't think of posting information about calls he has been on.
Can you tell who this call is about? I didn't think so. If you read carefully all names have been omitted or changed so that you can't tell who the victims are. I don't even remember their names. I remember my patients by the nature of the call.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you follow the news, you will find the Oregon case which may give a little food for thought. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteThat is food for thought. Personally I would have been a little more careful with disclosing information on an ongoing criminal investigation. The only crime that I have reported on was resolved before I posted.
ReplyDeleteAs the police said, "There's no crime in what this guy did." As long as you can not ID my patient from my story I'm ok. For instance the ice skating story on which we are "commenting." There is no way for someone to find out the name of the patient. I have released no sensitive information whatsoever.
I'm sorry that you feel that I am invading the privacy of my patients and destroying their trust in EMS but there are countless books around that do the same thing as I am doing. It is just a way to give others a glimpse into what it is like to be a paramedic.
I see your point ... I guess it's just wise to make certain of a level of professionalism ... rather than simply following the rule of the law. Even though I fully enjoy such stories!
ReplyDeleteI always try to make sure that I am not compromising my patients rights in any way. I just want to be able to tell friends and family members about my experiences. I'm sure that your husband comes home and shares stories with you at the end of his shifts (at least the better stories). My blog is a similar. It's only intended for people that have a connection to me (or my family) to enjoy not the public at large. I'm glad that you enjoy the stories. I am going to try to be better about posting more often. I always have stories to tell.
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