Code 3 – v2.0

What I did for my fourth of July?

Well, I helped a nice Russian lady face the hard reality of pending organ failure due to chronic Hep C infection. She developed an upper GI bleed today and showed the first stages of organ failure. Sadly, her future doesn’t look rosey.

Then I worked a 49 year old male in full arrest from a MI (heart attack). He later coded (died) at the hospital. While the learning experience for me was invaluable, all I wanted to do was hug his poor wife afterwards. They were visiting from out of town. I’m sure this wasn’t in the vacation plans. I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a loved while on vacation in a foreign city. I can’t speak for other cities but, the emergency responder care you get in SF is first rate. We had 3 paramedics onscene, a paramedic captain, and 4 EMT’s (including me). With the exception of moi, it’s a standard response on any type of resuscitation. We “worked” the man for almost an hour before finally transporting C3 (code 3) to the nearest hospital. We didn’t think he’d live but since he had what’s called a ‘workable rhythm’ on his heart-rate, we did the best we could. I’m a quick study and that one call made it worth it for all my previous ride alongs. I’m very fortunate in that I assimilate info quickly. The other firefighters didn’t know I was a newbie till after it was over and my crew mentioned it.

After a short break, I got the pleasure of responding to a paraplegic who’s catheter tube had come loose. (probably loose for days) I won’t try to describe the smell of rank urine. It tends to be unpleasant.

Next in line was an unconscious diabetic patient. (Turns out he wasn’t so unconscious) But, he was having an attack from too much insulin and not enough food intake. He is one of those souls I refer to often who just needs a modicum of daily intervention to keep him in check. This particular person is a “frequent flyer” in E/R’s all over the city as he has a very hard time managing his insulin injections.

And to wrap up my day, I got to respond to a 240 (assault) victim who had been bashed in the head w/a rock by an 800 (crazy) passer-by. She was relatively ok. The gash to her head only required a few stitches. However, to see her covered in blood from head to toe (literally) you would have thought she was on her last leg. . . er pint. However, she will make a full recovery.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I had another ride along on an ambulance today. There were other calls, I only mention the more memorable ones. Probably sounds a bit morbid but I need the hands on experience to re-enforce the acquired knowledge. This was my best ride along to date.