Wednesday, March 12, 2008

More Truama For Your Mamma

Another Monday Night from hell.
The triage clinic was open for business. Our 7 bed trauma zone was chock full of ICH, Code Strokes, MVA, more code strokes and, the usual gaggle of negelected ST and cough/ general bullshit hallway players hangin out for the show.
The theme of the evening was head bleed. Everyone got to hone their skills. The residents with there ryobi drills to relieve the pressure, the nurses navigating mountains of documentation and meds, me trying to figure out CVA leads and confusing lab specimen paperwork.


PT #1
BIBEMS sudden onset of acute HA and N/V still mumbling on arrival wearing a coat of regurgated chinease food. Dutiful EMT's bagging her anyway. Tubed, foley, central line, ekg, labs and fluff and buff done in less than 10 minutes or your money back. Oh yeah and she weighs about 320 lbs. Four of us go down to CT to help slide her onto the table. 


Family= piss poor historians "She ain't never done this before! Momma never had no medical problems."

MR= Positive history of ICH, diabiates, AAA

CT says= Large global infarction 1% chance of cheating a body bag.


Next Victim- 

PT 2- 19 YO male s/p assault BIBEMS ETOH on board. T00 bad he wasn't on a board. LOC for 5 min, kicked in the head. the word LUGZ clearly imprinted across his cheek. Throwing up blood and teeth.

EMS: Useless "He got the Shit kicked out of him! Oh yeah he is from quebec or something. Hah hah have a good night."

PT: "I only speak french. However I know plenty of dirty words in english."

CT says= early stages of pneumothorax. 

Sometime around 0300 the onslaught stops. 

Beds mysteriously appear throughout the hospital. We are down to 6 stoic peeps left in the WR. The call in fax machine spits out a travel agency ad for tickets to the bahamas $449 round trip. Someone overheads "Dunkin rounds at the board." 
I smoke a cigarette outside in the Ambulance bay with one of the janitors. He tells me a story about being a waiter in lisbon in the 70's. Then we head inside I give him a hand cleaning the medical waste strewn trauma zone, preparing it for the next show.

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