The Easter Bunny is real!
Today was a rather odd day. It was way too slow for a Wednesday. We did a psych transfer in the morning. It was for the same lady that I took yesterday with the fire department. I didn't even recognize her. Yesterday she was slumped over and had snot running all over the place. Today she was yelling and cursing, in 4-point restraints. She was so combative that the hospital's security actually followed behind us just in case she got out of hand. Then we could pull over and he could help. Yeah. She was okay for the ride over. The first thing I recognized was her name on the face sheet. She told me the last name yesterday, but the police officer told me that it wasn't her real name and gave me a different one. Her face sheet had her "fake" last name on it. The second thing I noticed was her clothes. They were in a belongings bag, and they were the same ones she was wearing yesterday when I picked her up. What a small world :)
Our second call didn't come until mid-afternoon. We got called for "abnormal labs." It wasn't even given as an emergency call, just a call going to the ER. We went non-priority to the nursing home. My partner spoke with the nurse as I got vitals, etc. The guy's blood pressure was only 87/50. I tried it on the other arm: 87/50...it was the same manually. Great. We did the entire ALS workup and headed towards the hospital. I was driving. By the time we got to the hospital, our patient's blood pressure was down to 70 systolic. A wierd call. Good thing they dispatched the call ALS.
Around 1900 we met five other crews at an ice cream place. We all parked in the back, turned all our radios to the same station and had a little get-together. You know how it works-it didn't last too long before a crew got a call...then another...then another. Eventually only the two shift crews were left, so we broke up the party. Good times though. It was still 70 degrees and sunny outside.
Back to quarters again for a few hours before we got another psych. This one came from a government facility. Nothing special. Just a routine transport.
Our final call didn't come in until 0720. I was supposed to get off at 0800. Damn it. This always happens. It was for a psych. We were late on the call as it was. Traffic was backed up something awful. I should have expected it because we were going south in the prime time for rush hour. Anyways, we got to the hospital about 10 minutes late. Another patient in restraints. What a way to end the shift. I really didn't read into the paperwork in the ER. I just made sure that we had the petition/certificate, etc. and was ready to go. The nurse handed me a belongings bag while my partner was getting the cot ready out in the hallway. Inside the bag was something covered in polka-dots and something white and furry. I looked at my partner and said, "what the hell is this? A bunny suit?" We both laughed and went into the room to get our patient moved over. She was relatively calm, so we decided not to put on the 4-points unless she got out of hand. We got the lady out to the rig, and as I was climbing in she asked, "can't we drive with the doors open?" I just shrugged it off. She would fade in and out. One minute she would be talking like a normal person, the next she would be talking to absolutely nobody. About two minutes later (and about every two minutes throughout the transport) she asked me, "Do you have my bunny suit?" I nearly choked when she said that. I just replied, "yes." The she asked me for her purse. I told her I couldn't let her have that until we got to the hospital. I had to hide my snickering because all I could think of was, "what does she carry in there? Carrots? I finally read her history after I realized that it was, in fact, a bunny outfit. The paperwork stated that she was wandering around a mall in the bunny suit muttering to herself. The police were notified, who then called rescue. I've got to give her some credit though. At least she was in the bunny suit and not dressed as Santa or something. She's got the right holiday in mind. When we got to the psych hospital she recognized one of the staff members from her previous stay. She told him, "I told you I would wear my bunny suit next time, but they wouldn't let me put it back on...I told you I'd show it to you, only I didn't think it would be this soon..." Nice. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when she was brought in the ER. All I can envision are the scenes from the tv show ER around halloween where all sorts of crazy things were being wheeled in. Definitely worth being held over until 0930 for.
Our second call didn't come until mid-afternoon. We got called for "abnormal labs." It wasn't even given as an emergency call, just a call going to the ER. We went non-priority to the nursing home. My partner spoke with the nurse as I got vitals, etc. The guy's blood pressure was only 87/50. I tried it on the other arm: 87/50...it was the same manually. Great. We did the entire ALS workup and headed towards the hospital. I was driving. By the time we got to the hospital, our patient's blood pressure was down to 70 systolic. A wierd call. Good thing they dispatched the call ALS.
Around 1900 we met five other crews at an ice cream place. We all parked in the back, turned all our radios to the same station and had a little get-together. You know how it works-it didn't last too long before a crew got a call...then another...then another. Eventually only the two shift crews were left, so we broke up the party. Good times though. It was still 70 degrees and sunny outside.
Back to quarters again for a few hours before we got another psych. This one came from a government facility. Nothing special. Just a routine transport.
Our final call didn't come in until 0720. I was supposed to get off at 0800. Damn it. This always happens. It was for a psych. We were late on the call as it was. Traffic was backed up something awful. I should have expected it because we were going south in the prime time for rush hour. Anyways, we got to the hospital about 10 minutes late. Another patient in restraints. What a way to end the shift. I really didn't read into the paperwork in the ER. I just made sure that we had the petition/certificate, etc. and was ready to go. The nurse handed me a belongings bag while my partner was getting the cot ready out in the hallway. Inside the bag was something covered in polka-dots and something white and furry. I looked at my partner and said, "what the hell is this? A bunny suit?" We both laughed and went into the room to get our patient moved over. She was relatively calm, so we decided not to put on the 4-points unless she got out of hand. We got the lady out to the rig, and as I was climbing in she asked, "can't we drive with the doors open?" I just shrugged it off. She would fade in and out. One minute she would be talking like a normal person, the next she would be talking to absolutely nobody. About two minutes later (and about every two minutes throughout the transport) she asked me, "Do you have my bunny suit?" I nearly choked when she said that. I just replied, "yes." The she asked me for her purse. I told her I couldn't let her have that until we got to the hospital. I had to hide my snickering because all I could think of was, "what does she carry in there? Carrots? I finally read her history after I realized that it was, in fact, a bunny outfit. The paperwork stated that she was wandering around a mall in the bunny suit muttering to herself. The police were notified, who then called rescue. I've got to give her some credit though. At least she was in the bunny suit and not dressed as Santa or something. She's got the right holiday in mind. When we got to the psych hospital she recognized one of the staff members from her previous stay. She told him, "I told you I would wear my bunny suit next time, but they wouldn't let me put it back on...I told you I'd show it to you, only I didn't think it would be this soon..." Nice. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when she was brought in the ER. All I can envision are the scenes from the tv show ER around halloween where all sorts of crazy things were being wheeled in. Definitely worth being held over until 0930 for.
posted by Ambulance Girl at 15:59
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