Poop - and the coolest call EVER!
I have dog shit all over my carpet. Now, erase that inital thought that it serves me right for getting a puppy at such a busy time in my life... Amos is doing excellent with potty training. We went for a potty walk this morning, and when I came back in, and st to packing, I realized that there was shit all over my floor. You can imagine my inital confusion. I have had an eye on Amos all morning, and I did not catch him pooping, nor has he had diarrhea. Turns out: some turd face didn't find in necessary to clean up after their own dog, and I stepped in dog shit and unknowingly tracked some other dogs poo all over my white carpet ( of course of the apartment that I'm moving out of this weekend).
Had a great call last night! (for me, not for the patient). It was a motorcycle accident. We got there and there was 1 car that was totally SMASHED on the back end (in the shape of the front of a motorcycle) with about 2 feet of intrusion into the trunk, and about 4 feet behind the car was a motorcycle, that didn't look in too bad condition, just south of the motor cycle lay its driver, supine, unconscious unresponsive with slow, almost agonal respirations, and a heart rate of about 60, with radial pulses present, and a small trickle of blood coming out of the side of his mouth. Rapidly backboarded him, had a Vet on scene hold C-spine for me, had my EMT bag the patient who's respirations were only about 6/min. We got him into the ambulance, started driving EMERGENT to a level 1 trauma center. I was working on intubating him, my preceptor was working on getting 2 large bore IV's for me, and a firefighter bagging. I checked his radial pulse quickly to find that he had none. He had stopped breathing on his own at this point, no femoral pulses present. I got my intubation miraculously - as there were MASSIVE amounts of blood coming up from either the esophagus or trachea. I then started CPR and left the firefighter to bag and my preceptor got my patient on the 3 Lead EKG - asystole (flat line). I cracked probablly a good 5 or 6 ribs starting CPR. the firefighter took over CPR and I decompressed the patients chest, suspecting that he might have a hemothorax or a tension pneumo/hemo. (this is sticking a HUGE needle into the lung space to remove any pressure for excess blood or air in the pleural cavity - understand that medics don't get to do this very often! - Andy has NEVER done one!) We continued CPR, and at this point we were at the hospital. I rode the stretcher in with others pushing it to continue CPR.
At the hospital, they immediately cracked his chest and blood came RUSHING out. they declared him dead after only 5 minutes, thinking that he had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, pericardial tamponade, and a head injury probably. More to be determined after autopsy. When most of the doctors cleared the room, one had me and my preceptor gown up, and gave us an anatomy lesson! I got to stick my arm into his chest cavity up to my elbow to feel the ripped aorta, the spine, the heart with tamponade, see the lungs inflate from my intubation... It was so pink and beautiful, and very very warm.
The moment we arrived at the hosptial I starting fighting a sympathetic nervous response, and started puking. Not because of what was goign on because that was awesome! Stupid fight or flight mechanism making you puke and poop... at least I have more control over my butt sphincter, and made it to a bathroom.
Had a great call last night! (for me, not for the patient). It was a motorcycle accident. We got there and there was 1 car that was totally SMASHED on the back end (in the shape of the front of a motorcycle) with about 2 feet of intrusion into the trunk, and about 4 feet behind the car was a motorcycle, that didn't look in too bad condition, just south of the motor cycle lay its driver, supine, unconscious unresponsive with slow, almost agonal respirations, and a heart rate of about 60, with radial pulses present, and a small trickle of blood coming out of the side of his mouth. Rapidly backboarded him, had a Vet on scene hold C-spine for me, had my EMT bag the patient who's respirations were only about 6/min. We got him into the ambulance, started driving EMERGENT to a level 1 trauma center. I was working on intubating him, my preceptor was working on getting 2 large bore IV's for me, and a firefighter bagging. I checked his radial pulse quickly to find that he had none. He had stopped breathing on his own at this point, no femoral pulses present. I got my intubation miraculously - as there were MASSIVE amounts of blood coming up from either the esophagus or trachea. I then started CPR and left the firefighter to bag and my preceptor got my patient on the 3 Lead EKG - asystole (flat line). I cracked probablly a good 5 or 6 ribs starting CPR. the firefighter took over CPR and I decompressed the patients chest, suspecting that he might have a hemothorax or a tension pneumo/hemo. (this is sticking a HUGE needle into the lung space to remove any pressure for excess blood or air in the pleural cavity - understand that medics don't get to do this very often! - Andy has NEVER done one!) We continued CPR, and at this point we were at the hospital. I rode the stretcher in with others pushing it to continue CPR.
At the hospital, they immediately cracked his chest and blood came RUSHING out. they declared him dead after only 5 minutes, thinking that he had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, pericardial tamponade, and a head injury probably. More to be determined after autopsy. When most of the doctors cleared the room, one had me and my preceptor gown up, and gave us an anatomy lesson! I got to stick my arm into his chest cavity up to my elbow to feel the ripped aorta, the spine, the heart with tamponade, see the lungs inflate from my intubation... It was so pink and beautiful, and very very warm.
The moment we arrived at the hosptial I starting fighting a sympathetic nervous response, and started puking. Not because of what was goign on because that was awesome! Stupid fight or flight mechanism making you puke and poop... at least I have more control over my butt sphincter, and made it to a bathroom.