Latest call
Today I awoke to my radio being toned out. It is a sound that causes my heart to race and my mind to set into full speed.
This morning I couldn't quite hear the call, but thought I heard something about "road rash". I tried to quickly dress, but had to run back into my room at least three times realizing I had forgotten important items (shoes, socks, etc...). I found myself standing in my bathroom at one point, and I couldn't think of why I was there.
I got into my van and quickly headed down the road. My road is not one that you can take a high speeds safely. I push my van and my driving just a bit, but never to the "crazy" point. I have to be careful because at this time in the morning there is almost always wildlife on the road. Today was no exception. A large buck followed by a smaller buck decide to cross the road right in front of my van. I have to hit my breaks hard enough that all my possessions in my van slam forward. My radio flies onto the floor.
It about this time I hear the ambulance say they are in route. I hear another EMT announce they are on scene. And only a few seconds later they call for Flight for Life. My heart skips a beat and I realize that whatever has happened it is much more seriously than I had originally thought. My instinct is to speed up even more, but I know that it does no good to my patient if I don't make it due to my own accident.
I'm not sure there is a more helpless feeling of knowing someone is hurt and NEEDS us, but I can't get there "fast enough".
I arrive on scene about 3 minutes after our ambulance gets there. When I go running from my van I quickly slip on my gloves and head toward the patient. They already have him on a back board and are getting ready to put him on the cot.
Another EMT asks if I heard the story. "No, I haven't heard anything!" She explains that this guy was pinned to the tree by the trash truck. It was backing up and didn't see him. He worked on the truck. The driver is clearly upset and is kept away from the scene.
I grab our jump kit and run to the ambulance to get the IV kit out and ready. I realize that with a crush injury we are in a race to stabilize the patient. We were told that Flight was grounded due to fog. They could send one from Colorado Springs, but it would take 25 minutes before they make it to the scene. We know we can have him to the hospital much faster so we call them off.
We load him in the back of our rig and take off. He is having problems breathing, and has trouble telling us his name. Another EMT listen to lung sounds and shared that his lung sounds were diminished. In simple terms........he was having problems breathing probably due to major injuries to his lungs.....possibly his lungs were trying to collapse.
I got ready to start an IV on this guy and he was very sweaty. At first the "mom" in me thought we have this guy to bundled (it was about freezing this morning). The EMT in me knew it was most likely because he was going into shock.
Due to his injuries and how he was acting, we handed off to AMR (the ambulance agency from Pueblo) because they have medication and a heart monitor that we don't have on our rig yet.
About 20 minutes later I was called back to scene to do a blood draw on the driver. The police wanted to check him for blood and alcohol. As the man climbed in the rig, he was slurring his speech, but it didn't seem to be from alcohol. Instead it seemed more like a speech impediment or even like he might have slight mental "issues".
A little later I found out that it is a family (extended) that runs this trash service so the chances of the driver and patient being related is very high. I also found out that the patient had Down's Syndrome. I was surprised by this, only because I didn't see it at all. But, I wasn't "looking" for that. I was more worried about keep the guy alive.
I found out that the driver was watching a car come up the narrow road and was making sure he wasn't going to get in the way. He just didn't see his friend. I was told that when our EMT's got on scene the patient had purple lips and was acting as if nothing had really happened. He was sitting against a small well house. Another sign that he was in shock.
I found out from a neighbor of the man that he was taken Flight For Life from the hospital once they got him stabilized. He was taken to one of the large hospitals in Denver. He had broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken sternum (the chest bone that protects your heart- and the force it takes to break that bone is HUGE), and possible problems with his heart. The report was he wasn't doing very well.
I have to say that it has been on my mind all day. I just keep praying that this kid will pull through and that the driver won't be "haunted" by everything that happened. It always shocks and surprises me how a community reacts to things like this, but as has been the "norm" for our area, everyone is saying a prayer and shows great concern.
This morning I couldn't quite hear the call, but thought I heard something about "road rash". I tried to quickly dress, but had to run back into my room at least three times realizing I had forgotten important items (shoes, socks, etc...). I found myself standing in my bathroom at one point, and I couldn't think of why I was there.
I got into my van and quickly headed down the road. My road is not one that you can take a high speeds safely. I push my van and my driving just a bit, but never to the "crazy" point. I have to be careful because at this time in the morning there is almost always wildlife on the road. Today was no exception. A large buck followed by a smaller buck decide to cross the road right in front of my van. I have to hit my breaks hard enough that all my possessions in my van slam forward. My radio flies onto the floor.
It about this time I hear the ambulance say they are in route. I hear another EMT announce they are on scene. And only a few seconds later they call for Flight for Life. My heart skips a beat and I realize that whatever has happened it is much more seriously than I had originally thought. My instinct is to speed up even more, but I know that it does no good to my patient if I don't make it due to my own accident.
I'm not sure there is a more helpless feeling of knowing someone is hurt and NEEDS us, but I can't get there "fast enough".
I arrive on scene about 3 minutes after our ambulance gets there. When I go running from my van I quickly slip on my gloves and head toward the patient. They already have him on a back board and are getting ready to put him on the cot.
Another EMT asks if I heard the story. "No, I haven't heard anything!" She explains that this guy was pinned to the tree by the trash truck. It was backing up and didn't see him. He worked on the truck. The driver is clearly upset and is kept away from the scene.
I grab our jump kit and run to the ambulance to get the IV kit out and ready. I realize that with a crush injury we are in a race to stabilize the patient. We were told that Flight was grounded due to fog. They could send one from Colorado Springs, but it would take 25 minutes before they make it to the scene. We know we can have him to the hospital much faster so we call them off.
We load him in the back of our rig and take off. He is having problems breathing, and has trouble telling us his name. Another EMT listen to lung sounds and shared that his lung sounds were diminished. In simple terms........he was having problems breathing probably due to major injuries to his lungs.....possibly his lungs were trying to collapse.
I got ready to start an IV on this guy and he was very sweaty. At first the "mom" in me thought we have this guy to bundled (it was about freezing this morning). The EMT in me knew it was most likely because he was going into shock.
Due to his injuries and how he was acting, we handed off to AMR (the ambulance agency from Pueblo) because they have medication and a heart monitor that we don't have on our rig yet.
About 20 minutes later I was called back to scene to do a blood draw on the driver. The police wanted to check him for blood and alcohol. As the man climbed in the rig, he was slurring his speech, but it didn't seem to be from alcohol. Instead it seemed more like a speech impediment or even like he might have slight mental "issues".
A little later I found out that it is a family (extended) that runs this trash service so the chances of the driver and patient being related is very high. I also found out that the patient had Down's Syndrome. I was surprised by this, only because I didn't see it at all. But, I wasn't "looking" for that. I was more worried about keep the guy alive.
I found out that the driver was watching a car come up the narrow road and was making sure he wasn't going to get in the way. He just didn't see his friend. I was told that when our EMT's got on scene the patient had purple lips and was acting as if nothing had really happened. He was sitting against a small well house. Another sign that he was in shock.
I found out from a neighbor of the man that he was taken Flight For Life from the hospital once they got him stabilized. He was taken to one of the large hospitals in Denver. He had broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken sternum (the chest bone that protects your heart- and the force it takes to break that bone is HUGE), and possible problems with his heart. The report was he wasn't doing very well.
I have to say that it has been on my mind all day. I just keep praying that this kid will pull through and that the driver won't be "haunted" by everything that happened. It always shocks and surprises me how a community reacts to things like this, but as has been the "norm" for our area, everyone is saying a prayer and shows great concern.
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