I'm My Own Patient

We responded to a call a couple of blocks from the station. We always have AMR right on our heals since the our station is in the shadows of the trauma center.

Over the growl of the siren we heard from dispatch that we were responding for a fall victim. These calls are usually fairly vanilla. An old person falls, is bruised and a little battered but is fine. Every once in a while you get someone that falls and smacks their head causing a cerebral bleed. I knew an AMR crew that once responded for a "fall victim" only to find that their patient was actually a skydiver whose parachute failed to open. Splat.

We arrived on scene to find an old lady being helped by several bystanders. The 90 year old woman had been walking to the hospital, where she volunteers a couple of times a week, when the sidewalk reached up and tripped her. She managed to stop her fall with her forehead.

The entire time we were there my patient kept making jokes. She thought it was hilarious that she was going to be her own patient. It was good to have a patient that happy. She had split her head open just below the hairline above her right eye. She would probably need a couple of stitches. She was worried that she might be late for her shift. I assured her that when she showed up in our white chariot they would forgive any tardiness.