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Friday, February 15, 2008

Don't Shoot, I'm Only the Piano Player...or A Pianist by Any Other Name

Ya gotta love EMS. In the midst of the misery and suffering we see on a regular basis, you can usually count on one thing: Your partner is as twisted as you are and will likely share some of the whacked out ways that we EMTs see the world.

We were en route code-3 to a shortness of breath call at one of the local nursing homes. On just about every call there's someone on the road who seems to have forgotten what to do when they see a large vehicle with flashing lights and siren. I dunno about you all, but my partner(s) and I have come up with some pretty descriptive nicknames to yell at these jokers, knowing all the while of course that they can't hear us. I suppose it makes us feel better anyway. So this car seemingly goes out of his way to cut us off and the first thing out of my mouth is "NICE JOB YA P*NIS!" I felt better and my partner got a chuckle out of it.

Soon afterward we had the patient in the ambulance, and while my partner was getting vitals, I reviewed the paperwork supplied by the nursing facility. The patient was having a hard time communicating and I wanted to get as much info on him as possible. The first page listed name, DOB, etc. but also listed this elderly person's previous occupation: PIANIST. Being a part time musician myself, I leaned over and said " I see you're a pianist, that must have been a fascinating career, I don't think I've ever met a pianist before."

Without missing a beat, my partner looks up from the monitor, and in a voice just loud enough for me to hear says, "Whatya mean? We just saw one on the road a few blocks back!"

Ouch.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Untimely

Called out this AM to a possible untimely. These calls can be depressing, and sometimes I wonder why EMS should be called. I guess our medical training lets us tell if the person is really dead. Nearly a half hour down time and cold to the touch... confirmed. No CPR done before we arrived. A quick chat with the on duty Medical Director fulfilled our legal angle on things.

A case of giving care, respect, and consolation to the family when nothing can be done for the patient. As I've said before, perhaps our most important role is just showing the people we deal with that somebody cares and will do what we can to help.

Later.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

24 at EAS

No details are forthcoming in this post about my recent misfortune, but as a result I get to work more often here at Enosburgh Ambulance. I'm on a 24 today. EAS is a relatively small, very rural service that responds to 911 calls in Enosburgh Town, Enosburg Falls, Berkshire, Sheldon, and Montgomery, VT. We have great equipment and good EMTs, and even though our call volume is fairly low, we get some tough calls, long transports. It's not uncommon to spend the better part of an hour with the patient.

Pretty slow today, just one call, a basketball injury at a local high school. We have snow coming and the scanner has picked up with the local sheriff's department getting busy. Maybe we'll get something happening later.

Take care ya'll.

Search Engine

I just put a spot on the top of this blog that allows the viewer to do a web search directly from this site, while also allowing a seacrh of this site only as well. I'm hoping this will allow me (and other readers) to look through the blog for specific content a little more efficiently. Sometimes I remember writing about saomething awhile ago, but can't remember when. This should allow a quicker search for info.

Is There Anybody Out There?

My first post since September. I'd gotten several comments and e-mails with positive feedback on this blog, and I feel like letting it drop for so long to be a disservice to my readers.

That said, I believe I may have alluded to (though very ambigously) that I have been going through some tough stuff recently. Well, as we say here in Vermont, most of the stuff I was expecting to happen has "sugared down". I am not comfortable sharing with cyberspace the exact nature of what went down and what continues to be a very stressful part of my life, but I am back and hope to continue with the WayOutEMS blog. Hopefully I haven't lost my readers, but I guess as it says in the header, I write this stuff to help me get through the day to day in EMS, and I suppose even if no one reads this, at least I'm getting it out of my head.

Good news is that I broke down and bought myself a laptop with wireles access, and so I have access to the web a lot more often now than I have had in many months. I think one of the factors that makes blogging so successful is to be able to write and publish whenever you feel like it.

So, is there anybody out there? I'd appreciate an e-mail or comment from anybody. I suppose getting back to this is gonna help me work through the crap going on now, and a little encouragement from my fellow EMTs would mean alot to me. Hope to hear from you soon!!