Getting back to normality??

Its been a while since my last post as life seems to have got in the way - which is great!! Work and life in general seems to be getting back to how it was. I have been tired but nothing I can't cope with.

I started on Rebif a week ago today. I am injecting manually most of the time without the auto injector as it takes a lot less time. I have had no side effects and only very minor skin reactions with little red dots and slight pink rings around the dots. I am really pleased so far, just have to wait and see as the dose increases.......

Work has been really good. I was in Slough last week and had a few good jobs, did my second cardiac arrest since coming back to work on Saturday morning - was one of the smoothest arrests I have ever been to mainly due the guys who worked there being really very helpful!

It started out as a chest pain with a description that led me to believe that the guy MIGHT be ill. Having said that I very rarely go out to chest pain patients who have simple easy cardiac chest pain symptoms and therefore there is very rarely anything wrong with them. We were going to a concrete building materials depot.

When we arrived we were calmly waved through to the warehouse area and met by a chap who gave me a brief run down of what had happened. He told me that the gentleman had been feeling fine when he got to work, he then started complaining of chest pain, vomited and collapsed. Very calmly he said 'he's now unconscious'. So I thought ok, he is probably ill then. As we went round a corner I saw a man doing chest compressions on another man. Due to the lack of urgency from anyone I hadn't been expecting this..... I turned to S and said, 'they are jumping up and down on his chest', to which S then went to get the defib. I got to the pt and assessed him. He had definitely arrested, half an hour after the start of our shift....... S returned and I confirmed the arrest to him.

We did all our bits and pieces, attached the defib, CPR, initial airways, phoned for a Paramedic and S then went for the stretcher. The guys that worked at the place were great. The first aider was doing CPR (we even got a PEA rhythm for a bit) and about four others help with lifting the pt and getting him to the ambulance. The first aider was even going to come with us! I thanked him profusely when we let him out and got the Paramedic who had just arrived, in.

All in all this chap had the best chance. Immediate chest compressions, quick ambulance response and ALS on route to hospital. In the end it wasn't enough and his family in India lost a Son, Husband and Father. I suspect a massive heart attack killed him pretty much then and there but we tried.

Otherwise I have been to three diabetic hypos in four days and a couple of minor injuries. I have had some really good crew mates as well, which makes all the difference.

I worked an overtime shift today and start on my rota line with D tomorrow, although we are having to go to Maidenhead. Not sure how they decided on that. Put two people on a response car, makes a lot of sense...... We are now picking up an ambulance at Bracknell and driving over to Maidenhead once we are ready. That is not going to go down well with the crew and responder over there I guess, but I didn't ask, our station manager told us that is what we are going to do. I guess we will see what happens over the next couple of weeks........

Finally!

They arrived! The chap had to ring as my road doesn't appear on maps or sat nav yet but he made it! They are now in Bs fridge and I have a small travel bag, an info pack and an auto injector. No big travel bag and no sharps bin, but I'm sure my MS Nurse will have one if it doesn't arrive by Monday.

I had three good shifts at work over the weekend. Friday was easy, no ill people and no drunk people! Saturday and Sunday were busy, busy! I was working with a good friend which is always good fun but we did work hard. We had to patients who had absconded from their nursing homes. The first had been out for a couple of hours and had not been missed by the home in question and the second had been missing all night, and had been reported missing, about 15 minutes after a fire door alarm went off. One had over heated, one was cold. Other than that I would like to say 'thanks' to the man who had a tonic clonic seizure in the back of my ambulance after the Paramedic had left, my headache had gone by the time we got you to hospital. However I was much more sweaty afterwards and lugging you back onto the stretcher hurt my back........

We also met an unusual number of really nice people, the obligatory call from a house 5 minutes from the hospital for a 21 month old with a high (40.4 C) temperature, and no history of febrile convulsions was dealt with as usual, without the energy to point out that a car ride to hospital would have been just as easy, if not easier. Still her history meant she should have a visit to the hospital so we bimbled back to the hospital and town that we were trying desperately to get away from!!

I am still struggling with my uniform and as it is so warm I am starting to stick to it, as well as it being to small. Need a bigger one.......vowed I would never have to go up a size. Still I need to be able to move so I will swallow my pride and (hopefully) get measured tomorrow. Oh well.......

Drugs, drugs, drugs!!

The drugs arrive on Tuesday, I will do my first injection a week Monday and I should get my EEG results when Dr W gets back from his hols. Things are moving on!!