Special Architects

Once again I am reminded that many of the people (engineers, car designers, baby clothes designers) that create things for use by the general public don't use said item themselves. The geniuses that designed the new UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center fit well into this category. The hospital is rebuilding. They are building up one section, opening it for use, then tearing down another section. The problem comes in how they numbered the new floors. What was once the first floor in the old building is now A floor in the new building. The Second floor in the old building is now the first floor in the new building. The funny thing is that they are both in use and connected. Currently they are tearing down and rebuilding the East tower. The West tower is now open and the center section (or Pavilion) is still in use and will be the last section to be replaced. So now it is possible for you to take the elevator up to the third floor (in the Pavilion), turn left, walk ten feet and you are now magically on the second floor (of the West tower)! Trying to find a specific room is difficult to say the least. To try and lessen the confusion they put up posters in the elevators to let you know what floor you should be on. When you don't know that the have messed up the numbering system of the floors these posters are just confusing.

LHP 2.1

We got the call to respond as a second unit in for a traffic collision. When we got there we found a man, 23, a woman, 19, and their 3 month old boy standing on the side of the road. The woman was complaining of left wrist pain. The man was complaining of neck pain and the baby was just fine. We gave her an ice pack and placed him in a cervical collar and onto a backboard. We then transported all three to the hospital. It's a challenge to get all the paperwork done for three people in the time that you normally get for one.

Bonus points go to the person that figures out the meaning behind the title of this post.

A boring week

2 jobs. 6 Days. 9 1/4 hours commuting. 72 hours worked. and only 2 boring transfers. What a slow week.

Fire in apartment 114

We were sitting at our station eating lunch when the call went out for a fire alarm in an apartment building. Usually we would not listen to the tactical channel but this time I thought there might be something interesting. The first engine on scene made entry (broke in the door) and found food burning on the stove. Just after that they found a woman unconscious in the next room. We immediately were dispatched to the call. By the time we arrived TFD had the patient outside on the grass. It turns out that she had just been drinking a lot and decided to cook at the same time. The patient passed out and left the food on the stove. She was very lucky to have working smoke detector. morale of the story is if you are going to drink yourself into a stupor don't put something on the stove!

6th grade all over again

The other day my partner and I were dropping off a patient at the hospital when a nurse approached my partner and asked him if he were single. She told us that she was asking for another RN that was too shy to ask herself. Throughout the day he was bewildered that someone wanted his number and didn't know what to do. Our last call of the shift I worked it out with the RN that initially approached us that if I could provide my partners email address she would get the nurse to email him. My partner was a little embarrassed so he made me wait to give his email address out until he had left the ER. I guess this qualifies as above and beyond the call of duty.