What was your first call?

[jonb12997]

Hey, here's a topic for discussion...

What was your first ambulance call as a medic/EMT/assistant? and what was your certification level?

I'll start: mine was a injured ankle while walking along the side of the road. I was a 16 year old in an explorer type program. I got to ride along in the ambulance and see how things worked. I did basically nothing except watch what was going on. The driver offered to let me call in on scene on the radio, but I was too nervous to even do that. I had no certification at the time, but went on to get my basic two years later...

Anyone else?

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[beanbean]

First call as a EMT-B: Elderly man with an asthma attack brought about by taking ASA - it was Bayer and he thought it was Tylenol. Feb. 1986. My Dad co-teched the call with me. It was very cool!

 

[12R34Y]

couldn't remember if you paid me. too long ago and soooo many calls. I remember some of the "early" calls in my career though.

later

 

[PluckyDuk8]

I think it was my second call on my first day (I don't remember what the first was) as an EMT-B in Jerusalem...a 9 month baby that was choking on something and couldn't breathe but thank goodness by the time we got there it was out. An intensive care ambulance got sent as well but we were closest and got there first. I just remember there being some really tense moments on the ambulance on the way there.

 

[bemused]

Hey, here's a topic for discussion...

What was your first ambulance call as a medic/EMT/assistant? and what was your certification level?

Trial by body fluid, I like to call it...

A 450# woman, at home, w/hx of kidney stones complaining of all the s/s she usually gets with stones.

Pt requests that we back the rig up to her front porch, which is about even with the back of the truck. She wants to walk instead of trying to fit her frame onto our stretcher. We, of course, comply with her request.

En route, this poor lady begins to vomit. Everytime she does, she loses control of her bladder & bowels. She is mortified, but I tell her it is okay (what else can I do???).

I get worried when I see some blood on the sheets & floor, but she tells me that she is on her period, and not wearing anything under her nightshirt - no underwear, no feminine products, nothing. ( )

We get to the hospital, where again she asks not to be crammed onto our skinny cot. Her husband has followed, and he has a step stool for her to get out of the rig - so again, we acquiesce. We help her out of the truck and over to the bed, which the pre-warned ED staff actually brought outside to us. In the process, something solid drops from under the pt's t-shirt - yes, it's what you think. In my big clonking duty boots I don't notice the squishiness underfoot as I walk right through the, er, pile. Security stops me at the door and won't let me in. Instead they direct me to the decon room!

I was an EMT-B, and I figured if I could deal with that, it would only get better!

 

[deleted6669]

1ST CALL AS A PARAMEDIC....MULTIPLE CASUALTY INCIDENT WITH ABOUT 10 PTS...BUNCH OF GUYS IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK THAT ROLLED OVER ON A VERY CURVY MOUNTAIN ROAD..WE WERE 3RD UNIT ON SCENE..THEY HAD ALREADY CALLED 2 PTS DOA AND FLOWN OUT A FEW BY LIFEFLIGHT...MY 1ST PT TRIAGED AS "MINOR" BY THE FIRE MEDICS FIRST ON SCENE HAD A SIGNIFICANTLY DISPLACED(BUT NOT OPEN) MIDSHAFT FEMUR FX THAT WAS VISIBLE THROUGH HIS JEANS...GREAT TRIAGE ......
i WORKED IN A DEDICATED 911 EMS ONLY UNIT AT THE TIME...NO FIRE STUFF FOR ME THANKS...THERE IS A REASON PEOPLE RUN OUT OF BURNING BUILDINGS AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED

 

[Febrifuge]

The day I rode along with a two-medic ALS crew, as part of my clinicals in EMT class, we had your basic geriatric chest pain, a pediatric possible seizure, and a cool trauma. Gentleman with the day off from work was cutting lumber in the backyard with an electric circular saw, and sliced his anterior thigh about 4 or 5cm deep. Amazingly, he missed the more important blood vessels and had mostly capillary oozing.

Carrying a bag around into the backyard, nearing the sound of this guy screaming, and then seeing him hold his flesh together was pretty much my baptism. It wasn't too scary, it wasn't too gross, and I even got props from the crew. I set down the bag, got a blood pressure as requested by the medic (harder to do when there's a patient in distress and swearing loudly right by your ear)... and then walked over to unplug the saw from the electrical socket.

Scene safety, yo. My instructor was happy about that story.

 

[deleted50541]

My first call involved a woman who had been struck in the face with a softball at a softball game. It appeared that her nose was fractured and she had lost consciousness briefly before we arrived. There were 100+ people standing around watching me but I don't remember being nervous as the lead medic let me run the call.

At the hospital, beds were in short supply (as usual) and the nurse wanted us to put the woman in a chair and wait. The lead medic was not happy with this at all but argued to no avail. I should mention that the whole time, this women has been spitting up copious amounts of blood. So we lower the gurney and help this woman up toward a chair. As soon as she stands up though, she collapses in our arms and we immediately lay her back down on the gurney.

With that, the lead medic went off to demand that the woman be given a bed because he wasn't leaving her in a chair after she's lost consciousness twice in the last hour. A bed was found and immediate attention was given to the woman. Thankfully, everything turned out okay for her.

 

[BigJosh]

1993...EMT-B in medic school. Volunteering at a small BLS F.D. 1st call ever by myself in the back. Lt was a basic as well.

Call at 0530hrs:

"medic 41 respond to a woman in labor"

She delivered en route to the hospital. 1993-2003...30+ pre-hospital deliveries!

 

[Oats]

Oh, I soooo remember this one. 1st day, EMT. CVA from hell. I recall being quite disgusted by the vomit. Luckily, my tolerance level for such things has grown over the years.






except for the smell of ****. if you need me, sorry, but i'm outside. call the firemen.

 

[DOrk]

My first patient was a guy I knew since nursery school. We never got along well; he always called me "stinkpot" when we were kids. The call was for a psych emergency.....he kept on telling me he was Jesus Christ and could walk on water. What goes around comes around I guess.

 

[EMT036]

i am with you on that one... too long ago.. can barely remember yesterday's calls....

 

[NontradICUdoc]

1st call about a month before I officially joined and was an observer.

It was a possible broken leg at the Sizzler. The funny part was, that there was a woman there that I had known for a very long time. She came up to me in the middle of the scene, said hello, and planted a big kiss on my cheek.

Later on, I was reprimanded for not telling her that if I get a kiss, so does everyone else on the crew.

 

[Siggy]

Just did my 8-hour ridealong on Friday. In 8 hours, we got 2 calls.

1. 38 y/o male. Chest pains after being reamed out by his boss. At first he was A/Ox1. I'm still not sure if he just didn't want to tell us where he was, his age, etc, or really didn't know at first. Started him on 15 lpm by NRB. He started feeling better and finally told us his age, place, time, etc. By the time the medics got to the industrial shop, he was A/Ox4. He had a hard time standing up, so we helped him up onto the stretcher. Got him loaded up in the ambulance where the medics did their assessment. spO2 100 with mask, 97 without. He had about 4-5 PVC/min on the monitor. Medics decided to go with ALS/no contact to the hospital.

2. Bike vs. auto. Code 3 responde. The bike won this round. Hispanic (probably illegal as he had no California ID, didn't speak English, and his consulate card had his residence in Riverside. We're in Fullerton [for those outside of Southern California, there is considerable distance between Riverside and Fullerton].) riding the bike the wrong way in the street without lights was hit by a car coming out of a parking lot. He signed out AMA.

We then proceeded to watch Servite High get wiped by Mater Dei 30-0 at halftime at CSU-Fullerton.

 

[Febrifuge]

...I am poor because I only make records but nobody has record players anymore. Please, buy my records."

Record companies, man. What can ya do, huh?

On a related note, I see at the NREMT web site that David Lee Roth has not yet been listed as certified in New York. But it's still early, and he might not have had his test yet.

 

[Daedalus]

Deleted

 

[EMT036]

Record companies, man. What can ya do, huh?

On a related note, I see at the NREMT web site that David Lee Roth has not yet been listed as certified in New York. But it's still early, and he might not have had his test yet.

New York is not a registry state...

 

[Paramedic1]

1st call as an EMT: unstable V-tach that got sedated, ventilated, and cardioverted several times

1st-call as a paramedic: dialysis transfer

 

[paradiselost]

my first call ever (emt-b): woman with cut on finger.
treatment: here's a bandaid, lady.

another life saved.

 

[trypto82]

Went on my first official call this week, which was for a 57 y/o male who was having difficulty breathing. The pt had a stoma that was obstructed with mucous, nothing that a little suction couldn't fix. Despite all the medical conditions afflicting this pt (including extensive COPD), he continues to smoke along with his oxygen treatment. Crazy

 

[ABnSW]

My first call ever was when I was 16. I was a Jr. EMT.(explorer program whatever, just what they called me)I'm an EMT-B now. Anyway, call comes in as Injured man in woods, unkown injuries. we responded and had to walk out about maybe 2 miles in the woods and found the man down in a ravine. He fell out of a tree stand from 30 feet up and rolled another 40 feet. Broke all four extremities, i was basically the bag guy, although I did IV setup. ever since then I've been known as the **** magnet by my dad and a few of the regulars on our squad.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

My Dad co-teched the call with me. It was very cool!

I had a similar experience but the roles were reversed. I precepted my father when he was an EMT student, and have done the same for my younger brother (whom I wound up failing BTW) and one of my younger cousins.

 

[igcgnerd]

Little old lady w/ dimensia, slip and fall w/ hip pain
scoop stretcher and transport.
although she did scare me when she fell asleep in the back of the rig and her pulse on the monitor went brady and it took a while to wake her up w/ a sternal rub.

 

[leumas614]

CPR in progress on 72 y/o male, prior cardiac Hx. I bagged the pt. and it ended up being a save. What an introduction to EMS!

 

[24FF1313]

First call as volunteer FF & 1st responder, ever: single vehicle MVA rollover; 5 pts, 1 DOA, ended up assisting on 1 pt w/ open femur FX midshaft, pelvis unstable, chest & facial injuries (pt. took helo ride and lived to tell about it)...

First call as licensed EMT: 2 vehicle MVA head-on @ 40mph; (2) pts. 80yo, (1) w/ minor chest pain & bruising probably from airbag, small lac rt. hand & (2) hematoma R&L chest, dyspnea, distension & rigidity RUQ abdomen, (pt took a helo ride when she sneezed & blood came out her nose)...driver of 2nd vehicle jumped out & headed for the hills with infant child (in car seat).

 

[psychbender]

First call: attempted suicide (tylenol IV)
Second call: attempted suicide (cutting wrist with small pocket knife)

Had about three more in my first month...weird.

 

[greytmedic]

I can't even remember my first call anymore. It must not have been that exciting or it's just early onset Alzheimer's.

 

[Vee]

I can't even remember my first call anymore. It must not have been that exciting or it's just early onset Alzheimer's.

heh i was thinking the same thing. after 5 years they all blend together.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

heh i was thinking the same thing. after 5 years they all blend together.

Wait until you hit 11 years......you'll have a hard time remembering details of most calls you ran last month.

 

[SB100]

Mine was a busted knee from a flag football game, although a friend of mine who took the same EMT class as me had a call where a student high on mushrooms jumped out of the second story window of a dorm naked. He had a huge laceration on his chest and when the crew found him he was laying in a relaxed position, unaware of how bad his injuries were. He ended up in ICU for about 3 weeks from what I heard.

 

[Dr. Dukes]

Unstable SVT with a pulse >220. I was sitting there with my mouth wide open just looking (I knew the lines on the monitor were too close together, but didn't know much more than that. The medic reached into the drug box and grabbed something (Adenosine). I was looking at the monitor when he pushed it, and almost had a heart attach when the guy was asystole for ~5 seconds. The pt converted into NSR ~72, and we went code 1 to the hospital (about a 5 min trip, and this medic hates sirens).
Nothing that fun since I've been ALS, though.