Close Call

My EMS partner had a VERY close brush with serious injury or death yesterday. While using our ATV on a mountain bike race race course, he and the other EMT he was working with that day had a brake failure, and they were tossed off the ATV when they attempted to stop by downshifting. Unfortunately, since they were on a hill (and headed down), after they were tossed off, the ATV rolled over them. Steve took the brunt of the rollover on his hip. There were concerns by all of us that he might have a pelvic fracture, but an E.R. evaluation complete with x-rays showed no fractures... thankfully. He will need time for the very deep bruising to heal, but he will be ok.

Those of us in EMS are fully aware of the injuries that can occur with ATV use. We treat people for injuries sustained on them, usually due to excessive speed and maneuvers that should not be attempted on them. Although we are very careful with our rescue vehicles, things can happen.

Of course, we are going to investigate the cause of the brake failure fully before the unit is back in operation. Besides, it needs a little surgery itself, due to the damage it sustained. I am still so thankful that neither of them were seriously injured. They were truly being watched over yesterday.

Allergies and colds

The last few months have taken their toll on me due to allergies, which exacerbated my asthma, which had been under wonderful control for a long time. I seem to finally be getting a handle on it again, but I am amazed at how tired I have been due to allergies. It is the increased energy (along with the ability to breathe through my nose again) that was my clue that the end of seasonal suffering is near. THANK YOU! This whole past month has set in motion some interesting problems that I will go into detail on in a future post.

Unfortunately, it is sometimes difficult to discern allergies from colds, which was the case last week. It was only through some careful reasoning that I really realized I had a cold at the same time. I've been left with a nagging cough from the cold, but my lungs are clear, so it seems to be post-nasal crud. Or part of that particular virus' signature.

Getting those good feelings... and the bad

Once in a while in EMS, you get to hear from those you help. And it makes a difference to hear that they are doing much better than when you saw them. After all, when we get involved, they are generally having a VERY bad day.

My EMS partner and I received just such an email today. It was nice to hear that this patient was doing well, and that the care we provided to this patient probably saved him from paralysis.

Ironically, the same day this happened, we had another patient who isn't fairing nearly as well. Not from any problem with our care. We stabilized what were major injuries, helping to save this patient's life. The head and spinal injury he suffered in his accident are critical injuries. We just hope he recovers.

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NDMS Training Summit

Just got back from the NDMS Training Summit. If I hear from anyone at my work that I was "on vacation", I think I will remind them that I need a vacation from my "vacation". It wasn't by any means a vacation. This was work, pure and simple. Granted, it is work in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland (Right next to the Grand Ole Opry), but it was still work...

Day 1 - Travel to Nashville (Got up at 3:30AM to finish packing... left the house at 4:15. Went to work briefly to pick up my USB drive that I forgot, and turn in my parking pass from the day before. First flight at 6:00am. Got to the airport around 5:00am. Next flight was in Denver, CO. Got into Nashville around 2:00. Got to my hotel around 3:00. Checked in, then got over to the training summit to pick up my badge and switch some classes around.


Day 2 - Core Disaster Life Support class (4 hours). Then Electronic Medical Record training for the 3rd time (Longer story here). Butt is getting sore from sitting in hotel conference center chairs.


Day 3 - Basic Disaster Life Support class (8 hours). My butt is starting to get seriously numb.




Day 4 - Advanced Disaster Life Support class, day 1 (8 hours). Now, my legs are getting antsy too! I am drinking iced tea like it is going out of style. And my bathroom breaks have increased due to the iced tea! :-)

Day 5 - Advanced Disaster Life Support class, day 2 (8 hours). THIS IS THE FUN DAY! We had a mass casualty incident (MCI) training. Scenario was a bomb going off at a concert. And a second device went off. We found a third device on a patient. We also had training on patient simulators (These are like manikins, but they respond to what we do. Technically, you could kill them by doing something wrong, or if their injuries are too severe, they could "die". Their eyes blink, they have pupillary responses, they breathe, they have a heart rate and pulses. Its actually kind of eerie. You can push meds and they react. Really cool! Also Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refresher (For some, it was a brand new experience suiting up). Last class was learning how to use Mark-1 kits (Atropine/Pralidoxime (PAM-2) combo), and how to give smallpox vaccine. All in all, this day made the rear-end trauma of the previous 4 days worth it.

Day 6 - Final general session at the training summit. Very informative presentation by the military on trauma care. Then, it was travel back to Sacramento. Flight left at 6:11pm CST. Next flight from Denver at 9:45. Got back in Sacramento at 11:15pm. After waiting for luggage and my ride, got home around 1:30am today. Crashed until 10:30am.

Now, you may ask, "Why would I take all of these classes?" Because I happen to be one of a group of people who see the writing on the wall. These trainings are an "All Hazards" medical training for mass casualty events. Basically, it puts all healthcare providers on the same page for dealing with MCIs. I see it coming as mandated training for healthcare personnel. And I want to teach it.

So, my next step is to take the instructor training.

Of course, I had "downtime", I went to the Grand Ole Opry and saw Carrie Underwood, Randy Travis, and Vince Gil all in the same night. I went to dinner one night with my team, DMAT CA-11, with our sister team CA-6 (All of us do this each year at the conference), and with some friends from other teams on another night. And yeah, I enjoyed a few drinks at night. But trust me, with what I learned, it was no vacation.

Padded lampposts to protect texters?

In yet another one of those, "Why are they doing this?" moments, somewhere in London, England, lampposts are being padded to PROTECT PEOPLE WHO ARE WALKING AND TEXTING USING THEIR CELLPHONES. Here is the article from ITN:

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Padding to protect pedestrians

People who have been injured while walking and texting on their cell phones may be in luck.

A London street is experimenting with padded lampposts to protect those not paying attention from banging into them, ITN reports.

A study conducted by 118 118, a phone directory service, found that one in 10 people has been hurt while focusing on their cell phone instead of where they were walking, ITN reports.

The test lampposts will be given a trial run in London’s East End on Brick Lane. If the trial is successful it will be rolled out in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

The survey found that almost two thirds of respondents lost peripheral vision while texting, and more than a quarter wanted lines on the pavement to create routes for texters to walk while using their phones.

The study claims that 68,000 people were injured in the U.K. last year while chatting or texting on their cell phone, Infomatics reports.

118 118 will provide the padding, and in return will be allowed to advertise on them.
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OK... Here's my take on it... Stupid people should not text and walk at the same time. Sit down and send your message!

In the neighborhood

Yesterday, I was heading home to grab some Girl Scout cookies for one of the girls in my troop, and I happened to notice a guy RUNNING down the street. What caught my eye wasn't his running, it was that he had no shoes on, and he appeared to be running in fear. In fear of what? Nothing that I could see.

A few minutes later, I am heading down our main drag here in Antelope, and I see this same guy on the side of the road, sitting down. And another man is holding him down, having grabbed the hood of his sweater and twisting it a bit to keep the other guy down. He looks around with what I refer to as "pleading eyes", so I pulled over and got out. I asked him if everything was OK.

"My brother is having schizophrenia problems", he tells me. "Can you call the police?"

I did a brief check on the man. High pulse, his respiration rate, sweating. Not 100% alert. Well, since this is clearly a medical issue, not a criminal one, I got on the phone with dispatch, requesting medical aid instead. Went through the usual yada-yada with dispatch, even after I informed them I was an EMT (They operate off of scripts), who tells me, "Don't let him eat or drink anything". OK. Right. I forgot to ask for no lights or sirens, however.

I get my gear, and get back to the man and his brother, who is still holding him down. I start up a conversation with him. He starts to talk to me a bit, which is good. He's not completely gone wherever he went. He was clearly running from someone, but we can't see them. I assure him I won't hurt him, and that the people coming to check him won't hurt him either. I don't want him bolting into traffic.

The man wants to lay down. I put my backpack under his head for a cushion. Recheck his vitals, still high pulse and respirations. Then the Fire Department arrives. Thank God, no Code 3 (Lights and sirens). I honestly think it would have wigged this guy out. I give them the run-down, and they offer to take the man to the hospital. Thankfully, he agrees and goes with them.

"Thank you, maam...", is the bulk of what I got from Fire. I toss my gear back in my Jeep.

Oh well. At least the man will get the treatment he needs. I hope.