Never Get a 24oz...even if it's FREE

Tuesday...yeah it feels like Saturday for some reason. We have amazingly only done one wait and return call. We did an ALS MRI for a 77 year old woman. This is what I don't understand. We send people to the MRI for many things, including back pain-which is what this lady was going for. So, in order to figure out what is causing this pain we have to put her on a rock hard table and tell her to lie still for 50 minutes. Yeah that seems like a great plan.

I always feel so bad for these kinds of patients. And it always seems that those are the scans that take the longest. This poor lady had COPD and already had trouble breathing, so lying her down just made it worse; she had the textbook barrel chest. She also had terrible kyphosis. It looked like her head was just suspended in mid air. Surprisingly enough she made it through the scan, but was is a lot of pain afterwards. Then she had to endure the 15 minute drive back to the hospital on our poorly cushioned stretcher on what seem to be the bumpiest roads in Lake County. The trip ended up going fine and the lady thanked us for being so kind. She said the last crew that took her wasn't very nice. I always hate it when I hear these comments because you know that these people create a stereotype for all of us.

***

We just got back from the gas station. It's always a pain because there is only one gas station in town that we can use our fuelman card at. Of course we had to get our daily coffee run in too. I was just going to get my usual 12 oz but on my partners request I got a 24 oz instead. The gas station has a rewards program and she had 2 coupons for free coffee. And you know how that works: it is redeemable for any size. So in order not to "waste" the coupon, I got the biggest size they offer. Big mistake. I drank the entire thing already...and its only 2000. Now I can't blame dispatch for waking me up every 15 minutes. It's my own damn fault because if I ever stop bouncing off the walls and fall asleep, I will be waking up at least every 15 minutes to use the restroom. Crap.

***

No need to worry I was up most of the night for calls. We did a basic psych transport for a 43 year old confused schizophrenic around 0130 and got back to quarters around 0200. We actually got about 2 hours of sleep (or maybe better phrased as "in a supine position"). Dispatch beeped us around 0445 just to let us know we were going to have a 0545 pick up for an MRI. Thanks a lot. I beeped them back to tell them we got the page and they felt it was necessary to keep me up another 5 minutes to explain the call. The call was actually for a 0600 pick up, but they plan for 15 minutes for us to get out of the rig and into the hospital. Huh? Yeah, maybe in "real time." Then they proceeded to tell me that the patient didn't need to be to the MRI until 0625. Okay, whatever. We'll be there...now can I go back to sleep for 45 minutes?

***

We got to the call on time needless to say. The RN had given our 92 y/0 "pleasantly confused" patient valium so he would be relaxed for the scan just prior to us getting there. We loaded the patient and headed to the MRI. The only problem was that when we got there at 0630 there was not even one car in the parking lot; the secretary arrived just after we did. Great...even the garage door was locked. Once we finally got inside and spoke with the secretary we were told our patient's scan wasn't until 0700, but we were "right on time" because they want patients there 30 minutes before the MRI. I found myself asking "what for?" There wasn't even a tech there yet. The tech showed up at 0710 and I thought all was well. Not so fast...the patient got on the table, into the room, and decided he couldn't do the scan. His valium had worn off and the trip was pointless. Oh well. I still got off almost on time- I punched out at 0815; another busy day ahead. Today I'm at the fire station.
(Back dated)