Mental Medic Monologues: 12/5/10

The Definition, The Purpose & Expectations...

MENTAL: Intellectual process involving the mind or could also be a disorder, you be the judge...
MEDIC: Medical practitioners in the armed forces in the old days got given the nickname, it's also an old world herb of the genus Medicago, having small flowers and trifoliate leaves ie the 3 leaf clover.
MONOLOGUE: A long utterance by one person (especially one that prevents others from participating in the conversation).

In South Africa we do not have the luxury of been able to debrief often, its too busy, no this, no that, so we make do with what we have, besides one does not get the award for being the no1 trauma capital in the world for nothing! But this "little rural village" is the most diverse in the world, from one end of the spectrum to the other in sociology, physiology and criminology. Expect to be entertained, shocked, informed, empowered, touched, saddened, sickened, surprised, educated, tested, enlightened and if you are in the EMS would definitely be able to relate to the blog.

So in a nut shell it will be the method of my choice in "debriefing myself", like its needed. If a calling a spade a spade offends you then I suggest you run now, this blog will contain graphic descriptions and pictures that will shock you...

Reality as real as it gets, depicted through my eyes and sharing my experiences with you. Let your thoughts be provoked, mindsets adjusted and attitudes challenged.

Friday, December 10, 2010

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What a start to my day...

With silly season here, everything is going dilly, have averaged 3 calls per day this week alone. Had a interesting stabbing this morning with a 24yr old male stabbed in the back between the lungs and nicked the descending aorta, to add salt to his wounds, the call came in at 7:30am just after "the shift change" had to wait for an hour and a half for the ambulance, which "came across an mva" i.e. "cause of delay, thanks for letting us know control". Pt BP was 85 systolic on arrival, but never got higher than 110/60 even with bi-lateral iv's running, he went through 2.5 ringers while waiting!!

Any ways while my partner in crime is away at a 5 star hotel pampering his butt, he's missing out on lots of action. I returned to base and just got settled into my chair and in come the next rescue case...a call at Pick n Pay, warehouse shelving came down on a poor merchandiser, covering him in a combination of two storeys of dog food and juice. Found the pt. under a pile of sticky juice covered dog food pellets. He was sitting in almost a foetal position and could not move, query C1/2/3/6 spinal injury. He was presenting with slight neuro fallout on the right, pins and needles and a symptomatic BP of 150/100, Pulse 92. So we made use of a KED to stabilise him in the position he was huddled in and then fully immobilised him, ready for transport, pity that I was thinking Heli, but Heli was playing in the surf in Muzinberg...

So with an event standby tomorrow and training on Sunday, who knows what the rest of today holds in for me, as schools close today, roads are going to be busy, keep safe and alert, Arrive Alive