Well, back to work last night. First thing I noticed our vehicle was leaking fluid from the radiator. The fleet has had problems with leaking radiators. Our first run came in and the vehicle would not start. The truck has been jumped by the shop 4-5 times. The vehicle had just been running. Any type of load on the batteries over 5 mins. and the vehicle goes dead. The shop does not change the batteries and we will have to get further jumps to the vehicle over night. Alas ..... we just have the hospital security start our truck as dealing with the shop proves fruitless. We are out of service for a few hours, so our first run we actually get to is approximately 1100 p.m. This is for a man 56 y/o short of breath. He has been smoking, he smells so much like a cigarette i could light him up and smoke him. He has been short of breath for several hours. Two new ford cars sit in his driveway. House full of adult children could not put him in the family car and drive him 3 blocks to the hospital. We begin care, he has a pulsox mid 90s with a wheeze. Once in the rig he begins to panic. He gets excited, starts coughing so hard he nearly pukes. His coughing increases the 3 C's and his condition worsens. We give him a updraft that he refuses to use. We place a mask on him for the up draft that he pulls off. Care is difficult as he panics.... Pulsox is 98 , however his condition is now becoming worse. We transport him to the hospital where he is taken to the Room for care. further updrafts and steroids and he will be better.
From there we will go to the east side to pick up a 52 y/o male on home o2.There is a history of lupus and the male is weak He thinks he may have pneumonia and all points to that. He is taken 3 blocks to the hospital which is nearly in the same complex as the hospital.
From there we are off to a residence where a 32 y/o female cannot be awakened. Her blood sugar is over three hundred. Her pulsox is low and resps decreased. Her pupils are not pinpoint, approx 3-4 mm. The heart rate is elevated over 1oo beats. The patient is extricated with ventilatory assistance. The patient is wet as family has placed cold water and ice on her. The family denied drug use, no track marks visible. I.V. line established, 2 mg. narcan with little or no effect. The second dose of narcan I.V.P. with positive results. The patient came to and was extremely combative. The patient was kicking fighting and biting. Her boyfriend was very helpful in restraining his girl friend. During the course of restraining her she bit the boy friend twice. I told him to move and he said I don,t care if she bites me. WOW.....next thing mom is in the vehicle and she sees her daughters tongue piercing is coming out. The patient is fighting hard and bucking. The mom tells me to get her piercing out so she does not swallow it. I refuse to put my hands near he mouth as she is biting like a rabid dog. Next thing I see the mom attempting to pull it out of her mouth. Mom gets bit.... I tell mom to stop, she gets bit again and screams. Well, this last bite and mom gets the message, blood all over the patients mouth. Transport to the hospital where the patient is calmed down and restrained. The doctor asks what do you think? I advise the positive pupil response and loc response with narcan, the heart rate over 100, while the CNS was depressed. I think the patient was speed balling and the doctor seems to think that is a good guess.
Well, it is now it is 4 a.m. and we are called to a gas station for a 60 y/o with knee pain and H1N1 type symptoms. THe patient whines all the way to the hospital. I do not say much , but why are you on the street nowhere near home at 4 in the morning and bellyaching about knee pain and a cough... Pathetic. oh well, to the hospital.
At 5 a.m. we are off to a run for a 50 y/o male with abd pain, loose stool and n&v x3. At first we cannot find the residence. Then we find a fenced junk yard. In the middle of all the rubble there was a small camper with three adults in it and a generator. The male, crying and holding his abd. Pain in the umbilicus, Appendix problems, Flu? don't know. I cannot believe the living conditions of these individuals. I look around at the rubble and thatched dwellings and I am in disbelief that I am in the 11th largest city in America. Boy oh boy, I had a brief moment of being in a third world country with the living accommodations. Well, my work relief is now at work and I can go home and go to sleep as I have been up all night and I am tired. Peace and love all, J.B.