I've fallen and I can't get up... Pick of the shift

We are dispatched to a 19 year old male that fell while running and has pain. We arrive to find the 19 year old male laying on the street on his belly. Patient reports 9 out of 10 pain in his right front pelvic area. He denies any LOC. He states he was running and tripped and that he could hear a snap from his hip area. He originally denied any back pain, but upon palpation he stated that he had some tenderness in his lower back. The patient then started to complain of a sudden onset headache, but says that he suffers from migraines. What would you do?

Here is what we did:
First we applied manual c-spine immobilization and a no-neck c-collar. Then we cut away his pants from his hip area, this revealed no deformities but was painful on palpation. We then inverted a KED board and applied it to his pelvic area for immobilization. After that we log rolled him on to a long board.

Once we had him in the back of the truck we started an IV with a 20 gauge and gave 0.9 saline on a slow drip. we Checked the patients vital signs 3 times while enroute to the hospital, all vitals were in normal limits. We then turned over care to the ER staff. Would you do anything different?... JS

Save The Ta-Ta's... A repost from crzegrl.net

Below is a repost from crzegrl.net. Emily is friend of mine and if you could help her out that would be great.

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes and support. As with everything else in my world, after my mother’s diagnosis it has been insane. With her permission, I will be writing more about her journey from the eyes of her eldest daughter.

While I am working through just how to do that, I am participating in the 3rd annual “Save the Tatas” breast cancer fund raiser at Premier Skydiving this weekend. It is not only giving me a way to do something productive, it has opened my eyes to the thousands of people breast cancer affects.



Although I am looking for donations, (SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!–please go read the page on the event) I am just as interested in seeing how many comments in support of my mom and or the cause you all can generate.

For everyone who leaves a comment by Saturday night at midnight, I will add your name or Twitter name on a flag I am sponsoring in honor of my mom’s fight. Please retweet this and help it go viral!

Thank you all for helping me make “Save the Tatas” a success!

Pick of The Shift... Where?

So we have been incredably slow at work. I have not had a run worth writting about in sometime. But I promise that I will write as soon I have something woth blogging about. But while you are waiting for something from me go check out http://mystrongmedicine.com. I have really enjoyed reading this blog! JS

My 4th of July

I spent my 4th with a lot of old friends. My weekend started on Friday with a trip to the dive shop. Then I met up with a couple of guys from the dive rescue team, and my best friend. We dressed in our wet suits, and drive out on the lake in the boat. We put our regulators in our lips and splashed into the water. We swam along the bottom of the lake to see what we can find. Visibility is only about five feet, but I'm glad just to be underwater again. During our dive we found a coca-cola bottle from the 1920's and an old canteen. After our dive we arrived on shore, and had the worlds greatest ribs... Boy can Kyle cook! We washed or ribs down with a cold beer or two and started telling our life stories around the fire.

I woke on the 4th at my friends house. It was another day filled with friends, boating, and great food. I did a little SCUBA instructing with my sister in-law, and my roommate. I think its safe to say that my room mate is hooked and I'm sure he will be going to get his c-card. When dark came on us that night, we burned off a few hundred dollars worth of fireworks over the lake. We again completed or night around the fire.

Sunday found me helping to replace the generator on my friends boat. After some boat repairs we found ourselves eating again, then on our way for another round of SCUBA diving. It was good to just spend this much time under water.

I finally returned my rental dive gear this morning, its safe to say that I got my moneys worth out of that stuff this weekend. It was hard to leave my friends this morning but it was time to head for home. There was laundry that needed to be done before I returned to work tomorrow! I hope everyone's independence day was a great as mine! JS

I'm sorry

I promise I will start posting again in the near future. Life has kept me busy but given me things to write about. So check back soon. Js

Pure Michigan, The final installment of our safari

We awoke refreshed in our hotel room, we were ready for our next day in the sun. We got packed up and headed off for Muskegeon. The first thing we saw as we enter the town was a parade driving towards us, it was the first time I was welcomed in such a way... LOL! As we are driving along the shore we see an old navy transport ship moored at the docks. We wander down to the docks and pay our admission fee to tour the World War II LST. This ship saw action in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. It was then converted into a car ferry for the great lakes, and then restored as an LST and turned into a museum ship.

After visiting the ship we return to our trip down the coast. Our next stop was Grand Haven, this is a beachfront resort town. While there we toured both museums in town, ate lunch at a local pub, and walked the boardwalk. While on the boardwalk I receive a call from an old friend who tells me that she is in need of a minor rescue. As it turned out she had left her keys in one location and her car in another. We picked her her up. Some of you may know her as the blogger Crzegrl. We promptly informed her that she was like Peurto Rico on this trip. She could give us her opinion but had no vote in what was on the agenda, we did agree to return her to her man at some point so she could get to her car. Like that we were off again. Our next stop on our trip took us to Holland. Just like you would think, the city was settled by the dutch. We took in the views of the shore line and sang like it was going out of style. By now it was time to return Crzegrl to her man and we headed off to Fremont. The Fremont airport to be exact. You see Crzegrl's friends were all waiting to meet her for some skydiving. We introduced ourselves to our new flying friends and watched them and Crzegrl board a plane and take off. About 10 mins later we were watching crzegrl fall out of the sky. After she landed we went out for some drinks with our new friends. What a group of great people. I felt welcome right away, and Ben, thanks for the beer dude. As the evening drew to a close, we said good bye to Crzegrl and our new friends. It was time to move down the road and head for home. This was a great trip. We did so much in so little time. We saw lighthouses, sandy beaches, rolling hills, crystal clear waters, sand dunes, old warships, old friends, new friends, and rekindled our own wanderlust. All done by the waters of Pure Michigan! JS

Michigan west coast safari pt3

We stayed longer in torch lake than we planned. We played on the waverunner and enjoyed the summer sun on the beach with a bottle of rum. We went for a late lunch and headed out. We started down the coast and watched one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. We sat on a sand dune and watched lake Michigan shallow up the evening sun. After that we stopped at a road side stand and bought some fresh strawberries. After briefly trying to feed strawberrys to a deer, we moved down the road reading historic landmark signs and taking in the view of the coast. We stopped in manistee and saw an old rail ferry ship. We stopped and had some chicken salad on the beach, then moved on to a motel for the night. It was a very full day and I'll post the pics when I get home. JS

Michigan safari pt2

I awoke this morning to a mild hang over and the warm summer sun beating on my face. I had a loose rememberance of the night before. We stayed the night with a guy from my best friends army unit. We grilled some steaks and watched one of the prettiest sunsets I have seen in a long time. We drank beer and solved lifes problems late into the early morning. The view I awoke to this morning was breath taking, to see the morning sun light dancing across the surface of the crystal clear lake. It's safe to say that I like it here. We won't get too comfortable for there is way too much to see and do and we will be down the road.

Michigan west coast safari day 1

Our view of Torch Lake


So I meet up with my best friend at his parents house. After helping his dad move some furniture and replacing a toliet wax gasket we load up in the truck and head off for torch lake in north west michigan. The drive has been fun. Driving in northern Michigan is beautiful. We have chatted most of the way and come up with solutions for all the worlds problems. Only have about 90 min left in this leg of the trip. I will update all three of you tomorrow on our adventures of this evening. Js

Do I stay or Do I go? Pick of the shift

We were called to a large hospital for one going to a nursing home from the ER. After we call en route we get a page that says "Tx dispatch". So we call our dispatcher and she informs us that another crew took this patient off the floor a few hours ago. She then tells us that the patient bit and punched the tech on the other crew and the ECF refused the patient. As a result of this they were forced to take the patient back to the er. The care manager was now trying to send her to a different ECF.

We arrive on scene in the ER. I make patient contact while my partner goes off for the paperwork. While chatting with the patient I discover that the patient does not want to go anywhere but home. The patient is A&Ox3 and sharp as a tack. My partner is waiting for the care manager to come down from the floor with the paperwork. I go to him and tell him what I have learned from the patient.

When the care manager arrives we inform her that we can not take a patient anywhere against their will if they are alert, orientated, and their own guardian. The care manager then says "But she has dementia and is not A&Ox3.". So I asked the patient the same questions again, and again she is A&Ox3. Now I explain that if I take this patient I am kidnapping her. The care manager now sees the light. I told her that the patient may need to be petitioned, but unless she is under a court order or is not her own guardian then I can't take her anywhere. SO leaving the ER nursing staff upset, we head off to our bus and call ourselves in service.

What would you have done differently? JS