First month in the bag

First month down working on a 911/ALS shift. Some highs, some lows.

Assault
Got an assault call for a kid who was beat up by some enemies. Call started ALS but was given to me to run as a BLS code 2. Nothing special, but I got to do my first complete physical assessment, entirely by myself. That was after 2 years working as an EMT. Pretty run of the mill, but it felt good to use a skill I am trained for. Kid was fine, a couple lacerations and bruises.

Transsexual with ear pain (dispatched as uncontrolled head bleed)
Two Male-to-female's hanging out in their SRO, doing a routine amount of crystal meth, one playing John Madden on the XBOX, the other felt an itch in her right ear so she started scratching it and eventually got a couple spots of blood on her finger, called 911, and by the time we got there the scratches had scabbed up and looked no bigger than an M&M. All other vital signs normal, no pain anymore. Declined transport to a hospital. Weirdest part was there was a life size leather ET sitting at a table pointed at the TV like it was watching, or maybe even playing XBOX.

DOA's
One guy dead for less than 12 hours maybe, found in a hotel room, appeared to have died comfortably in bed. Black humor moment: police officer says something like "looks like it was check out time."

Another one dead for maybe one day, maybe four. Patient was the caretaker for her severely handicapped daughter who still thought that her Mom was just sleeping. Creepy because there was no way to really know how long Mom was down and how long Daughter had been living with the deceased.

Seizures
Had a couple cool post-seizure patients. One who couldn't get past answering "San Francisco" to every question.

Heart Attack
90+ year old, dizziness and near-fainting episode dispatched as a non 911 call. Our unit was sent from really far away but we made our minimum response time anyway. My paramedic had the foresight to request additional personnel (fire engine). Patient was having an active heart attack, her first (at 90 years old!). Heart monitor findings were inconclusive but she had very low blood pressures and an extremely low heart rate, along with left side pain radiating down her side and back. Patient's MD requested the nearest hospital - which was not a cadiac specialty center - and my paramedic made the decision to take her to a slightly farther one, but one that did have a Cardiac Catheterization Lab. Brought the patient in code 3, made it to a room for triage, 5 minutes later Acute STEMI heart attack confirmed, patient brought to Cath Lab table. As the patient was being catheterized the cardiologist asked us if we wanted to watch the procedure. We took seats behind an XRAY proof glass and watched as the cardiac team inserted a catheter throuh her femoral artery, up through her aorta and into her coronary arteries. The pictureof her heart on a monitor showed very slow, irregular beats. After the catheter, balloon, and stent were inserted and placed, the remaining coronary arteries filled up and her heart began beating regularly at about a rate of 70 bpm. Door to balloon time under 50 minutes. One of the most dramatic things I have ever seen.

I'll leave it there for now. The job is amazing, the challenges - big and small - happen every day. Also I have been given the good fortune of getting to drive a brand new ambulance, 2010, 1600 miles on it, which is incredible. And I drive it through a ton of red lights - legally - and turn on the lights and sirens a whole bunch. I'm still trying to stay humble and keep from becoming too big an asshole because when I feel like I am the coolest thing since whatever, I tend to start acting like an asshole.