faithellen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
faithellen) wrote2005-06-11 05:37 pm
faithellen) wrote2005-06-11 05:37 pm
Ow. Ow ow ow.
So. Last night was my first on the ambulance. In a 12-hour shift, we got SIX calls.
The first one came around 2 hours in, just as we sat down to order dinner. That call got cancelled while we were en route, so we circled back for food. An hour later, the second one came in -- a psych call which turned into a difficulty breathing case. Next, another difficulty breathing. Then, a 17 year old unconscious from alcohol -- this was my first trip to the hospital. Just as we were leaving the hospital, our squad's main base got sent out on an overturned vehicle, in the woods, with extrication. We got back to our base and 10 minutes later were sent out to the same accident, to pick up a packaged patient, stabilize his fractures and start fluids and get him over to a LifeFlight. THAT call got us back to the base, I stumbled off for a nap, and about 40 minutes later we got sent out to a pregnant woman with nausea. I'm quite pleased with that one -- I was taking her vitals and noticed a stutter in her pulse, so I asked the paramedic to check it out. Turns out it was a previously undiagnosed early heart problem. I made a difference!
We stumbled home around 8 (2 hours after the official end of our shift), to find The Best Dog In The World had not soiled his crate in all the lonely hours of waiting. Dana headed off to sleep (he hadn't gotten *any* sleep, in comparison to my near-hour's worth, and he's pulling another shift tonight), and I fed and walked the dog, crated him back up and hit the sack for a 2-hour nap before having to shower and get over to the church for my last catechism class.
TWO MINUTES before my alarm was set to go off at 10:30, the phone rings. The patio people? Are in the backyard, have tripped the circuit breaker, and need me to reset it. I get their power issues sorted out, discuss logistics and stuff with them, shower, discuss MORE logistics, arrange for a gravel delivery, and get to church late. Oops.
It's now almost 6. They are still jackhammering the patio. Which is right next to the room where Hagen's crate is. I had him out of his crate for a long while today, for a nice long walk and then upstairs with us for some non-jackhammery time. Dana's back at the squad for his third consecutive night's shift. My head hurts, I'm tired, I have a dog to relieve and feed, and I don't know when they'll be done for the evening. (And I'm NOT telling them to get lost -- it took too damn long to get them here in the first place.)
The first one came around 2 hours in, just as we sat down to order dinner. That call got cancelled while we were en route, so we circled back for food. An hour later, the second one came in -- a psych call which turned into a difficulty breathing case. Next, another difficulty breathing. Then, a 17 year old unconscious from alcohol -- this was my first trip to the hospital. Just as we were leaving the hospital, our squad's main base got sent out on an overturned vehicle, in the woods, with extrication. We got back to our base and 10 minutes later were sent out to the same accident, to pick up a packaged patient, stabilize his fractures and start fluids and get him over to a LifeFlight. THAT call got us back to the base, I stumbled off for a nap, and about 40 minutes later we got sent out to a pregnant woman with nausea. I'm quite pleased with that one -- I was taking her vitals and noticed a stutter in her pulse, so I asked the paramedic to check it out. Turns out it was a previously undiagnosed early heart problem. I made a difference!
We stumbled home around 8 (2 hours after the official end of our shift), to find The Best Dog In The World had not soiled his crate in all the lonely hours of waiting. Dana headed off to sleep (he hadn't gotten *any* sleep, in comparison to my near-hour's worth, and he's pulling another shift tonight), and I fed and walked the dog, crated him back up and hit the sack for a 2-hour nap before having to shower and get over to the church for my last catechism class.
TWO MINUTES before my alarm was set to go off at 10:30, the phone rings. The patio people? Are in the backyard, have tripped the circuit breaker, and need me to reset it. I get their power issues sorted out, discuss logistics and stuff with them, shower, discuss MORE logistics, arrange for a gravel delivery, and get to church late. Oops.
It's now almost 6. They are still jackhammering the patio. Which is right next to the room where Hagen's crate is. I had him out of his crate for a long while today, for a nice long walk and then upstairs with us for some non-jackhammery time. Dana's back at the squad for his third consecutive night's shift. My head hurts, I'm tired, I have a dog to relieve and feed, and I don't know when they'll be done for the evening. (And I'm NOT telling them to get lost -- it took too damn long to get them here in the first place.)