Not for us to understand...

Dispatched to person sick. Radio advised that we should stage for the sherrif's office at our discretion, as the caller was pretty worked up. After getting more info, we went on into the scene. We were met in the driveway by a man in his late fifties, obviously upset. He said that his mother had been taken to the hospital by ambulance earlier that week, and was presently on life support in the ICU. He called today on behalf of his father. He told us that his father, who had been married over 60 years, hadn't been eating or sleeping since his wife fell ill. We went inside and evaluated the elder family member. He was lying in bed, sick with worry, and had vomited. He was awake, and conversed with us. He explained that he was very worried about his wife, but not in need of emergency services today. We stayed and talked with the entire family while obtaining the necessary information for our report. Hearing the patient talk about his wife it became obvious to everyone that she was his entire world. He was lost without her. We wished them the very best, and hoped for a fast recovery for his wife, and left the home.

The next shift, we were called back to the same address. This time it was for stomach pain. On our way to the call, dispatch came back across the air, telling us that "this call has been upgraded to a person down. Home healthcare provider on scene advises patient collapsed, not breathing, no pulse. CPR in progress." We arrived at the house and found the same elderly man on the floor in cardiac arrest. Family wasn't home, but his aide was there. She said she had gotten him cleaned and dressed. Then she said something that gave us all chills- family wasn't there, and she was getting him ready, because his wife had died. Family was preparing for her funeral, and the aide was to get the elderly man ready to pay his final respects to his wife. She said that he told her his stomach hurt, and then collapsed. We put him on the monitor and were surprised to see asystole. Flatline. He had died getting ready to bury his wife. Since the home healthcare provider witnessed his collapse and immediately started CPR, we had no choice but to continue. We assumed it was futile. He had gone into sudden cardiac arrest. There was no electrical anything in his heart to even work with. We pushed drugs and did compressions, knowing full well that he didn't WANT to be here, he wanted to be with his wife.

We arrived at the hospital and gave them the report. In the ER he had return of spontaneous circulation- his heart started beating again! We all looked at one another in disbelief. It seemed wrong. Not that we ever want anyone to die, but this man wanted to be with his wife. He was being held captive through the miracle of modern medicine. Family was notified, and left the funeral to come check on him, then return to the service for his wife. We cleaned our truck and did the report, checking periodically on him. He was maintaining his own pulse and blood pressure. He had been in arrest over a half hour, yet was holding his own here in the ER. Never before have we felt so bad about "saving" someone. It wasn't supposed to work like this. As bittersweet as it was, he went down when he did for a reason. We finished what we had to do and went back in service. I felt unsettled. We were just going through the motions, not expecting him to "make it". Nobody expected that.

We brought another patient in to the ER later that night, and went up to the ICU to check on him. He was sedated, but the nurses said he had been holding his own blood pressure and pulse, and hadn't gone into arrest any more. They had heard his story, and one looked at me with tears in her eyes, saying "he doesn't want to be here". I agreed. He tried dying of a broken heart and science wouldn't let him.

I wanted to throw up. It wasn't right.

I did see in the newspaper a few days later that he had died. His obituary was there, next to that of his wife. Their dates were only a couple apart. Somehow it was comforting to know that they were again together. A few months went by and I ran into the son who had met us in the driveway at the original call. I offered him my condolences. He shared that although it was difficult to lose them both at the same time, everyone was angry and surprised that his dad hung on as long as he did. He said it was comforting to know that they are together.

Why we do what we do

This is taken verbatum from a friend's blog (http://carseatnanny.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-i-do-what-i-do.html), but please take the time to read through it.

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Most of you know I'm carseat crazy. You may even think I'm bordering (or even crossed the border) on carseat insane. But do you know why I do what I do? Because it saves lives. How many times do we see on the news that children, parents, families died in a horrible car crash. My job is to try and prevent those stories. I have a friend, named Anne. Anne is just as carseat crazy as I am. What I am posting below, is her story. She and her family were in a crash a few days ago. They could have easily been one of those stories on the news. But they weren't, because Anne is carseat crazy. Make sure you read the entire thing. Read how many times they crashed and rolled. And read what the (very few) injuries were. Then look at the pictures.


"On our way to Phoenix, just a few miles away, my husband (driving our 2002 Odyssey) hit an obstacle in the road. We don't know what it is, but we all felt the bump, then were airborne, and onto a gravel shoulder. We skidded on the gravel. The van hit a barrier (right at the rear driver's side, where my 4 year old daughter was seated.) It then flipped across the highway. My husband was braking the whole way. (He had just had the tires rotated and pressure checked, and the brakes replaced.) It slowed us considerably. We went into a ditch at an angle and became airborne. We went down on the passenger side of the vehicle, nose first, and then flipped over upside down.

My daughters (the 4 year old, almost 5, and her 2 sisters, 6 almost 7 and 2 almost 3) were screaming. This meant they were alive and I was glad. My husband and I were suspended by our (properly worn) seatbelts. I had significant neck pain. My husband was able to exit the vehicle fairly easily, but I was trapped; I had to be extracted with the Jaws of Life (after fending off a bystander who wanted to cut my belt with a pen knife and pull me out, yelling at him, "Do not cut my seatbelt! Wait until the EMTs arrive to hold c-spine! If you want to do something, get me a jacket and treat me for shock!")

My 4 and 6 year olds were harnessed properly in properly installed and used, tethered seats. (The 6 year old is usually boostered, but because it was a late night trip I didn't want to risk her falling asleep and falling out of position.) My 2 year old was rear-facing. The heavy cargo in the van was all packed tightly down in the bottom of the trunk, compartmentalized behind and under the seat as much as possible before we left. My husband and I had our seatbelts and headrests properly fastened and adjusted and were seated in proper position.

My husband has a mild lung contusion and abrasions from his seatbelt and "road burn." I have a lot of stitches in my arm (which dragged along the ground outside the car-- the trauma surgeon says that the braking slowed us enough to save me from having it ripped off) and on my face and bruising all over. My 6 year old has minor abrasions (more road burn) and bruises. My 4 year old, with the most severe injuries, suffered a severe cut to her foot (aptly and completely repaired by great surgeons) and a broken leg (remember, she was AT the first point of impact, a side impact.) My 2 year old, who was in the rear-facing seat, was completely unharmed. Not a mark on her. Nothing. Despite the fact that we landed on the side of the car she was on (she was behind me, I was in the second row passenger seat, and the forward-facers were second and third row driver's side.)"









Anne said aside from the dirt, the carseats looked perfectly fine. THIS is why you can't buy used carseats, you won't know if it's been in a crash. Even though they look fine, they have done their job and must be replaced.


"I was asked to add to this blog post. It is doing it's job and spreading information. However, some people are turning it into an "anti-booster" message. Anne's 6 year old is usually in a booster, except on a trip where she might fall asleep (and lean out of position). Anne was asked if she would reconsider the booster, and put her daughter into a 5 point harness for all car rides. This is her response:

My view on boosters has not changed. The reason that she was in a harness, was that she was likely to fall asleep, and she sometimes slumps when she does. She will still be boostered for normal use.
My view has always been that boosters are safe for a child who can stay seated properly 100% of the time, and that was not E (6, almost 7) on a long trip, and B (4, almost 5) is no where near it. So they were harnessed. If this same crash had happened and E was in a booster but asleep and slumped, she'd have been more hurt.

I think by 6 most but not all kids are booster ready for most trips, but most are NOT before 5. I think moving from harness to booster is ideally a process where you use the harness less and booster more as the kid gets more ready, until they're ready 100% of the time (even when asleep.)"

Rambling thoughts

Life goes on. The sun rises and it sets and days pass. You can't speed it up or slow it down, just make the most of it that you can. School is going well. I have a 4.0 GPA and have been invited to the honors program as well as Phi Theta Kappa- another honors program. I don't want to overload myself, but it would be stupid to turn down such opportunities.

Work is going well. I am trying to study for upcoming promotions testing.

Calls have pretty much been the same- some mundane, others quite unusual. I will have to sit down some time soon and put thoughts into written word, as there is a lot to catch up on. Until then, take care. (I'm still having issues with the blogger photo uploader. Images should be clickable to be viewed in their full size if desired.)

Testing

I haven't posted much of anything lately. It's not that nothing is happening, oh no, there's been plenty to blog about. It's just that the image hosting function of blogspot was down, and that meant you had to save your pictures elsewhere then hotlink them here, and well, that's time consuming. And yeah, I'm lazy. So, this post is just a test to see if the image hosting is working again. (And to show off my newest photography skills- I like this one. What do you think? It's hard to get the exposure right with chrome...)

(Clickable, then clickable again for full size and DOF).


Well- it's putting the picture in there, but it's resizing it and instead of being able to actually see the pic, it's giving me the HTML. That's annoying, but I am fluent enough in HTML to be able to function, so it's workable. Hopefully I can get all my readers caught back up to speed soon. (Warning- a future post *might* show some blood and general ickiness, so if you don't want to see that, then don't scroll down past the thirty-seven obligatory warning I will post before said image.)

Until next time- stay safe and BUCKLE UP! (Someone else in the county had a fatality tonight from an ejection. Accidents happen every day and seldom make the news.)

Say What?

During another uneventful day, we were called to "stage for sherrif's office on signal 24". Great. A crazy person. Once we were called to the scene, our patient- a man in his thirties- walked to the ambulance and told us his complaint. He seemed calm and sane. Oh how very wrong first impressions can be. Sure, he knew who he was, where he was, what day it was and the like, but as his story unfolded it was all we could do to listen with a straight face. He believed himself to be the son of Elvis Presley. He told us that as a child the FBI had inserted "lojack listening spy bugs" in his ears and head. He says he discovered them in 2003, and has been trying to find a doctor to remove them ever since. He says that the government will randomly control his actions, rendering him unable to communicate clearly. For effect, he begins speaking to us with his tongue pressed to the floor of his mouth, jaw wide open. After a few minutes he stops and speaks normally, saying "see? I told you so!". In looking at his paperwork it becomes apparrent that he has seen numerous doctors and mental health specialists who just don't know what to do for him. He doesn't take any of the medications prescribed to him. One doctor wrote him a prescription to take to the FBI to have the "ear bugs" removed. Another took X-rays and attempted to convince the man there was nothing there. He tells us he has lived in XYZ mental health institution, but left because they wouldn't take the mind control devices out either. He says he found an attorney to represent him so he could sue a neighboring county and their FBI branch. He shows us the court papers- sure enough he is suing them and has everything he claims listed. He wants 3 billion dollars in settlement. He says that today the bugs are making his throat swell. A family member has already taken him to the hospital where he was given a clean bill of health. At least physically. He isn't convinced. He wants us to look in his ears and help him out. We are all bewildered but entranced by the story that just gets more and more strange as it goes on. We offer him a ride to the hospital, but that's not what he wants. He wants us to dig in his ears, and it's just not going to happen. After a while, he decides he will wait until Monday and go see his family doctor. He thanks us for listening, and walks back inside his home. We look at each other, puzzled, and go back in service.

Choices Made

You were 22 years old. You had probably expiramented here and there with alcohol and drugs. According to the law enforcement officers, you liked to drink. A lot. Mom said we should suspect drugs, but that was hard for mom to choke out as she watched us insert needles and tubes into you, and pump on your chest, in a feeble attempt to reverse what you had done. The monitor remained a straight line. Your heart had taken all it could. It was 3 a.m., and your "friend" frantically ran to wake your little sister. He said to tell your mom you were "sick". Your mom had no idea what when she saw you, your friend would be doing CPR on you. Had no idea that when she called 911, your "friend" would run away as fast as he could. Some friend. You probably had no idea how much your mom loved you, how much your little sister admired you, despite your choices. Your mom wasn't ignorant. She knew you were into a little cocacine, some pills, the booze. She probably worried herself sick that this- her worst nightmare- would happen eventually. How many people have you left hurting in the wake of your choices made?

We all make choices that affect more than just ourselves. Sometimes, we fail to see just how devastating the big picture is. Sometimes, nomatter how badly you wish you could undo it and take it all back, pick a different route, change the past, you just can't unring the bell.

Back to School....

My kids go back to school in about another two weeks. I can't believe the summer has flown by this quickly! We have had a great time- swimming, biking, hiking, being lazy, and just enjoying each and every day. Way back in the days when my middle daughter (now almost 9) was going to be starting kindergarten, I had planned on returning to college and finishing my degree. Low and behold the baby came along and those plans of me returning to school went right out the window. Well, the "baby" is now three and a half, and after doing some research, getting copies of my transcripts, finding out that I left college with a MUCH better GPA than I remembered, applying for federal and state financial aid, scholarships, and grants.....The kids won't be the only ones going back to school this fall! I feel pretty nervous, but anxious and excited at the same time. It's been 14 years since I took the SAT (and I just learned that your scores expire after 7 years?) so I have to take it again at some point in time. I did really well on it the first time, but now I've had over a decade to forget all of that "when are we ever going to use this" stuff that's on the test. It will be ok. One class at a time, I am finally chipping away at it. I will finish, even if it takes me a long time.