Its My Birthday…1 Year Old…!!!

Its now been a year since I first started this blog. 

I hope that I have given people some useful stuff to be going on with and that I have not bored too many of you.

I really want to start a separate blog for “SWAB Team 6” but things are busy everywhere…I will make the effort though.

For all those readers and lurkers out there drop me a comment and let me know where abouts in the world you are.

Best Wishes…Kingmagic

“Snap to It!”…”Ouch!!!”

Warning…Possible Cringe Factor of 10!

Sometimes you wonder just what is the mind set of some people? I mean we all go on living day to day following a more or less predetermined set of rules, ideals and behaviours that have evolved from the dawn of time. We are the superior species…are we not?

So the human body has evolved and developed into a superb piece of kit. It is capable of many wondrous things enabling us to move and live within our world. It fights off infections without us knowing it and rebuilds itself when something breaks down…usually.

But there are times when we need to be more aware of our selves and respond accordingly. For example when we feel sick or dizzy we tend to sit down and relax, or if we cut ourselves we try and plug the bleeding with a bandage.

And so……recently I came across a fine example of possible Darwinism in the shape of a male in his thirties.

We were called to a “male…unconscious” in a park near to the Big City Centre. When we arrived we were met by a small posse of “yoofs”who had made the original 999 call. They were gobby, they were foul mouthed and they had attitude…but I,m pleased to say that they were genuine in their concern for the male they had found.

Making our way across the grass in the pitch dark using our mag-lites to show us the way, we approached the now standing “unconscious male.” At first it was difficult to make out his features only that he looked about 6 foot plus and was built like a brick shit-house. (Apologies for the Anglo-Saxon description but it was true he was big!) 

Getting nearer to him we could make out that he was approximately in his thirties and looked a little dishelleved and unkempt. (Although this is not something to rely on as the fashion trendies seem to go for the dishelleved/unkempt look…or is it just me?) I asked him how he was doing? He seemed fine at first sight…he was,nt swaying around doing the old drunk fox-trot or slurring his words and he was,nt Polish!

So I asked him why he had been sleeping in the park and if he suffered with anything? He replied that he was normally fit and well and he was just tired after having a good skinful of beer throughout the day. Although he did not appear drunk or seemed to be having any problems…something was just not quite right.

He would wince every now and then when he turned or pointed at something.

“Are you sure your okay?” “You look like your in pain…have you got a bad back or something?” I asked.

He then asked if we could shine our torch on him….and as we did he unzipped his jacket and then undid the buttons on his polo shirt and pulled away a small dressing….revealing underneath….

….the broken end of his clavicle (collar bone) sticking out of his skin a good two inches!!!

“Cor blimey!” (or words to that effect involving lots of F words and sharp intakes of breath) “When did this happen?” The shattered end of the clavicle looked grubby and surrounded by infected skin. “About 2 months ago.” he replied.

“Two months…have you not had it seen to? And does it not hurt a little bit?” Turns out that he had been sleeping rough and had fallen sustaining the injury but did not bother seeking treatment….and yes it was hurting him……a lot! So we persuaded him to come to A/E and get it sorted before septicaemia sorted him!

Now correct me if I,m wrong….but if I had fractured my clavicle and it had pierced my skin and it was “hurting like f**k” then I think the wisest course of action would be to get it treated. This guy thought it would “mend itself.” 

 

A Brew..a Wet…a Cup of Char…Lovely…

Cake to be washed down with lovely tea…

 One of the most important things to develop in the Ambulance Service is a bladder the size of a Space Hopper!

As I,ve mentioned before we in the Ambulance Service are by trade Professional Foragers. We can seek out liquid refreshment and nibbles with almost mystical powers.

In the unfortunate event of a nuclear war or a planet threatening catastrophe, the only things left would be cock roaches and hordes of Ambulance peeps seeking out that all important cup of tea.

With this in mind I came across an excellent site that devotes itself entirely to that national pastime of having a nice cup of tea and a sit down.

  

Enjoy

(This is my preferred drink during the day time…night time its Guinness)

 

AAA…Not A Good Thing To Have…!!!

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm 

(not good…!!!) 

The last couple of weeks have been something of a blur. This usually happens after my night shifts.

Did another tour of duty on the Foxtrot-Oscar Paramedic/Police unit which lo and behold involved lots of lovely assaults and drink related injuries. Nice! But it still works well when we we can treat on scene and point the customer in the direction of A/E if its only a minor injury.

I seem to be getting to know all the regular places and can pin-point the likely time and location of our first job in a “Crocodile Dundee” sort of way. 

The vast majority of jobs on the truck have been pretty run of the mill stuff. I say run of the mill as I can run a “chest pains” call with my eyes shut I think. (I wont just in case I treat the wrong patient!) Others have included TIAs (Transient Ischaemic Attacks…basically mini strokes), CVAs (Cerebro Vascular Accidents…basically proper full blown strokes) SOBs (basically Shortness of Breath…due to asthma, bronchitis etc) and PITAs (basically “Pain In The Arse” jobs…life is too short to explain in depth)

But every now and then a job pops up on the old “earn your money” radar. And last week the radar spotted us under our cloak of stealth and invisibility.

We were called on three 9s to attend a gent in his mid sixties with abdo pain. So off we went on “blues & twos” to the address expecting to find someone with “tummy ache” or “Deli belly” or a “bit off” or with an attack of the “squits”.

We pulled up outside the address having made good time and took the resus bag inside (no matter what job I go to I always take the bag as you never know and I have been caught out before as I,m sure many others have in the service).

Inside we found our patient who appeared well on first sight. The first thing he, and his wife said was “You,ve just missed the doctor…he left not more than a minute or so ago.”

Having not been told by “Puzzle Palace” (Command & Control) that a GP was on scene we asked the next relevant question…”Has the GP left a letter (usually a scribbled note to the receiving hospital about the patients presenting complaint, medical history and any observations with a provisional diagnosis) These letters help us to speed things up as it gives us good information (sometimes) and a set of baseline obs (occasionally) to be going on with.  

“No…he did,nt leave a letter.”

“Okay…did he tell you what might be wrong with you?”

“No…he just made a phone call and said that I should go to hospital.”

“Okay…did the doctor examine you?”

“Erm…kind of…he just pushed on my belly and that was it.”

Great…another job where the GP has dialled 999 because he thinks this chap should be in hospital and then he,s gone and buggered off! Thanks!

So we have to start from the beginning…presenting complaint=2-3 day history of abdo pain, gradual onset although today the pain has intensified. He has vomited once today and has not eaten for two whole days. We know the chaps GCS is 15/15 obviously cos hes talking to us and breathing at the same time…marvellous thing is nature.

Checking his obs we find he has a pulse of around 110 with a Blood Pressure of approx 120/68. He looks pale and feels “dizzy” when he stands. His 02 saturation levels are 78% on air and 84% on oxygen. I have a quick look at the chaps abdomen looking for anything obvious…seems okay. I then have a feel around his abdo to see where the pain is concentrated or where it radiates to….just beneath his naval around the umbilicus area (obviously) I place my hands and find….”boom boom boom boom boom boom boom”.

“Ahhhh….(bugger)”.

I feel his heart beat, his pulse, his life blood pumping away like a steam train. I found it strange that I could not see any pulsating mass using the “number 1 mark 1 eyeball”.

The chap was in some degree of pain, although it was bearable. I knew we had to sort him on the truck and foxtrot-oscar to the hospital sharpish. Within a couple of minutes he was on the stretcher, on oxygen, being monitored and an alert call was put in for resus to stand by. A line was put in en-route as a KVO. (Keep Vein Open)

All this took less than ten minutes whilst at the same time putting the chaps mind at rest. If one of these things burst outside of hospital (or specifically an operating theatre) the mortality rate is in the high 90s!

He was in the operating theatre within 30 minutes of our arrival at resus…………………………………

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What are the symptoms?

Many people do not feel any symptoms with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Occasionally, patients can experience:

• A pulsing feeling in the abdomen, similar to a heartbeat.
• Severe, sudden pain in your abdomen or lower back. If this is the case, your aneurysm may be about to rupture.

If your aneurysm ruptures, you may suddenly feel intense weakness, dizziness, or back pain, and you may lose consciousness. This is a life- threatening situation and you should seek medical attention immediately.

What causes an abdominal aortic aneurysm?

The etiology of an aneurysm is probably multi-factorial. The leading thought is that the aneurysm may be caused by inflammation in the aorta, which may cause its wall to break down. Some researches believe that this inflammation can be associated with atherosclerosis (also called hardening of the arteries) and risk factors that contribute to atherosclerosis, such as high blood pressure (hypertension).

———————————————–

I saw him a few days ago on the recovery ward. He had suffered an 11 cm AAA. In terms of AAAs this was a massive one and he was lucky to survive it. (The survival rate in surgery is around 50%!) 

It was a good feeling to see him looking well and he told me that he did,nt realise how poorly he was until the surgeon told him his chances of survival.

He was happy…and so was I. It makes up for all the crap jobs we get….a bit!