Hi guys, here's a tip for those of you with elderly family members of those that have medical problems. As a first responder coming into a home not knowing any history of the patient, it is often times stressful for family members to give us information off the top of their heads. A recommendation is to make a couple of index cards and place one on the fridge/door/bedroom/any easily accessible area with the following information.
Name
Date of Birth
Medical History: i.e. High BP, Previous heart attack, stroke, diabetes, etc
Current Medications: if the list is long, make a copy and staple it to the card or write it all on the back. Indicate the date you make this list as medications change over time
Allergies to Drugs: i.e. sulfa based, penicillin, etc. If no allergies put: Allergies: NKDA (no known drug allergies)
Dr.'s name and number
Fellow HG first responders/medical people can add to this but it give you a basis for the card. Another thing is if the patient has a DNR/CCO (they don't want to have CPR done if they stop breathing) make sure they have their bracelet or necklace on and the paperwork is available or we gotta continue with our protocol of CPR.
BTW Friday BMFL showed up and produced a gruesome scene with me at Rex's. He was going to get lunch for the wifey. Next time I hope he doesn't stop by just to boost his ego by kicking my ass, that bastard. If he has a weak stomach maybe next time I'll cut myself like old time WWF and bleed allover him. When he faints I'll make my move.
"BTW Friday BMFL showed up and produced a gruesome scene with me at Rex's."
Damn dat fugger's secret-training! He'll have to catch some extra leg-locks for dat...
Fya, you know he's got zero gas, so let him ro wit da beeg dawgs for awhile, then tap, tap, tappity, tap. Just don't let him sneek out the door when you're not looking. He's notorious for that move too.
Sub, I wouldn't call rolling in with 15 mins. of class left just to kill a couple of us 'training'. Like I said it was purely an ego boost session, driving off with a big smile on his mug.
I've come across a bunch of care homes where the patients either have the bracelet on or the proper paperwork. The hard ones are when the caregiver/relative tells us that they don't want CPR done but don't have the documentation. A couple of times they actually had the legal documents so we just stopped.
Once, the patient had the bracelet, and the family had the paperwork but then the relatives were getting angry with us for not doing anything. We had to explain a bunch of times that their father/grandfather didn't want to suffer any longer and that they needed to respect his wishes. Luckily they calmed down. I guess if it got worse we could have just done CPR until EMS arrived.
About the actual topic that Fya Man started off with...awesome stuff. Now if we could get this positive message across to the inhabitants of the satellite libraries of O'ahu. I swear, you can afford to build your Malacanan Palace, but no can afford to have your info updated or at least not have to "xerox" it (after asking "Am I supposed to xerox 'dis? Can I have it back?").
Here's the shitkicker- after being in the room with the patient (coughing up a storm along with other typical signs of respiratory problems) running through a few sets of assessments and EMS is already there..."BTW he has active TB, but it's okay." WTF!?
Just carried a couple of patients this morning. The EMT/MICT's here are pretty cool. Most help to carry with us. There are those that look down on us but if you talk to them with medical terms they start to take you more seriously.
If you ever get to see them interact with the doctors at the ER they get treated the same as how they talk down to us sometimes. I guess the shit goes downhill and we're at the bottom.
What makes it worse sometimes is when we get there first and ask the family if there are any medical conditions, they say no. When EMS arrives and asks the same question, they say oh yeah, high BP, previous heart attack, stroke, etc. Makes us look stupid sometimes, like we didn't ask the basics.
Stuff happens. I don't mind being the mule for the EMS. We need them to be on top of their game to help the patient. lol, nah it's in their protocol for us to be the brute squad.
It's always entertaining to ask a teenage girl in front of their parents about possible alcohol/drug use or if there's ANY possibility of them being pregnant.
The drug question gets a quick, 'no'. The sex question gets the big eyes and sometimes a glance at mom/dad, then the quiet, unsure, 'no'. I usually ask loud the first time just to make them feel shame, then I'll ask when the parents are not listening to get the truth.
kanotoa, here's another common scenario: get the call at 2am. Difficulty breathing. You ask when it started and they say right after lunch. arrrrrrrrrgh. Sympathy goes right out the window.
Good post Fya. I say we should print out cards with blanks for people to fill out with all of their information. Maybe magnets to stick on their fridge. HFD should pass them out during static displays and stuff.
Setting the record straight...I did show up to Rex's class, but Fya is a straight up liar. We rolled and time ran out. He toyed with me and was smiling the entire time while Rex watched and just shook his head.
As for guresome scenes...yup, I walk a little slower to let the more inexperienced guys get some action (haha).
Never saw a DNR, but had a paramedic call this old guy's son on the phone to see if he wanted us to perform CPR or not. Old dude was a goner already. Son said no so we just laid him back on the bed and left him with EMS.
"I say we should print out cards with blanks for people to fill out with all of their information. Maybe magnets to stick on their fridge. HFD should pass them out during static displays and stuff."
Awesome ideas...more stuff for patients to poop on. Flow chart even...sopada
"I walk a little slower to let the more inexperienced guys get some action (haha)."