Sorry for the lack of recent posts. I have been on a string of nights and getting ready for boards, and as usual my co bloggers are MIA. Here are a few notables from the shift I just ended. The common denominator was they all got intubated.
1) A NINETY-SIX year old female came in as a CPR. When the EMT heard that a 96 year old code was coming in, he prepped the bed in the white morgue bag so she would be placed in the open bag on arrival. One of the funniest things I have ever seen.
Of course, her children in their 70s wanted everything done. I had to intubate her b/c of it, and called the code as soon as it was medico-legally possible.
2) Drunk driver goes down the wrong side of the road and has a head on c0llision. He gets intubated due to being basically comatose. Ended up having a large liver and head bleed. Thankfully the only one he hurt was himself.
I am really starting to hate drunk drivers with a huge passion. Within the last 2 years, TWO of the best physicians I have known have been killed by drunk drivers.
3) Another drunk.....he drank himself into a coma. Blood alcohol level was 501. That was the 2nd highest I have ever seen. He was having trouble breathing, was vomiting, and had no gag reflex....so he got intubated as well.
Can't wait to see what Saturday night brings me!
-ER Doc
10 comments:
Wow. A body bag. You're right, that is kinda funny.
Good times, good times.
Yay, Saturday, probably your "favorite" shift, right???
When i was in emt class, i thought all the "action" would be late at night and early morning, so when we we priviledged to observe in the ER, i went in from about 10Pm until 2:30 AM....pretty much quiet time.....
we were
PS Sorry to hog the blog....but i love your title!
Why do people insist on full codes with their 80's-90's parents who have dementia, serious health issues, etc.?
I told my kids no freaking codes and I'm 48. (within reason)
I'm totally with you on drunk drivers.
Drunk drivers are a pest. It's tragic what harm they do, without even realizing it. Some, not all, very old drivers are similarly bad.
The ancient code with the morgue is morbidly funny. I bet her kids (hard to call them that in their 70's) wouldn't have agreed, though, but then they don't have your daily life and experience.
I get why one holds on to a loved one, but there are times where you have to let go. The worst are people who insist on the max of invasive and technical life support even in hopeless cases.
Hold on tight for the next shift.
And now for something completely different: http://nottotallyrad.blogspot.com/2009/11/waking-up-is-hard-to-do.html
I thought that you might this link interesting... and tragic also.
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_67a50124-d481-11df-a5a7-001cc4c002e0.html
You just need more ER experience. 501 is child's play. My personal record is 781 and I believe the worlwide record of someone who survived is in the 1700s. Yes that person's blood was 1.7& ETOH.
One of my friends crashed into someone while drunk and sent 'em to the Level I trauma center with serious injuries....He gets released from jail (after like 10 hours) and goes to treatment.
What did he do when he finished treatment? He went to the club and bought a big 'ol bag of coke. True story. "But I'm not drinking!" Um. Yeah.
We always prep the stretcher with the shroud when an old cardiac arrest is coming in. Once though, the person survived. We had to remove it because sending a tubed person to the ICU in the burial shroud would be bad form.
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