DOA

What a strange thing it is to go into peoples homes and get a glimpse of what their life is like. We got a call around 1030 for an unresponsive person. When we arrived we were met by the patients ex wife. She stated that they had been divorced for over 30 years but they still lived together. Evidently her 95 year old ex husband wasn't waking up this morning. When we went into the back bedroom we discovered that her ex had passed on sometime the night before. Since he had some rigor I chose not to work him up. We notified the Sheriffs department and told his ex wife. she wasn't surprised. As soon as the deputy showed up we turned the scene over to him. I can't imagine anyone living with an ex wife (or to be fair an ex husband) for 30 years.

Auto Vs Ped....Again

Some calls you just have to laugh at. We got toned out at about 2200 for an pedestrian struck by a vehicle. When we got there we discovered a 48 year old man at the local gas station with a cut on his hand and two cuts on his head. He stated that he was several miles down the road when he pulled over for his ex wife. Her new boyfriend just decided to run him over at that point (I'm sure my patient was totally blameless...yeah right. Did I mention that he'd been drinking). Once the cops showed up he decided that he'd sign out AMA and got a cab ride home. What I don't get is why he would stop the car to talk to his ex wife in the middle of no where. I love stupid people. Job security.

Line of Duty Death, Firefighter Cameron

Cameron, Jimmy E.

Age: 47

Cause of Death: Stress/Overexertion

Firefighter Cameron passed away in his personal vehicle from a heart attack while performing a damage assessment survey for the fire department in the aftermath of a major storm that struck the Chester, SC, area. Incident Location: Douglas School Road (USNG: 17S MU 79563 29916)

Line of Duty Death, Firefighter Thompson

Thompson, William

Age: 65

Cause of Death: Stress/Overexertion

Firefighter Thompson suffered an apparent heart attack and died at approximately 0715 hrs Thursday, June 18, 2009, while on his way to work. Firefighter Thompson had responded to an emergency call the previous evening.

SVT....Oops...V-Tach

We got toned out about 1800 for a man with chest pain. When we arrived on scene we were met by his wife who escorted us inside. Her husband, who was in his 50's, was laying on the couch. He said that he had been working in the bathroom when he started to have chest pain and a little trouble breathing. We started getting a set of vitals and getting him on some oxygen when my firefighter told me that he had a fast pulse. We quickly hooked him up to the monitor and saw that he was in, what appeared to be, SVT at a rate above 240 beats a minute. I quickly had him try a Valsalva maneuver while I set up an IV. I tried 6 milligrams of Adenosine with no result. I then tried 12 milligrams with no result. About now the patient stated that he was starting to feel a little worse so I decided to turn to Edison Medison. Once I switched leads I immediately saw my, and my patients problem. He was in Ventricular Tachycardia. Now I know that there are going to be medics out there that just think that I'm a retarded medic. In my defense I found a rhythm strip of someone in SVT that had wider complexes than those of my patient in V-Tach...at least in lead II. If you can't tell I'm a little defensive about my mistake and it's a little difficult to admit that I'm fallable as a medic. Once I discovered that my patient was in V-Tach I shocked him. He said it hurt like hell but immediately felt better. He converted into NSR at a rate of about 88. I learned that I'm not perfect and that it doesn't hurt to check another lead on some heart rhythms. In the end it was a good learning experience since no one got hurt (except my ego).