What, Exactly, Do You Do?

Been asked recently what kind of calls are common working on an ambulance. In general, in seems to me that ambluances deal with a lot more medical calls than trauma, and even then, "falls" - often elderly persons - make up a lot of the trauma calls.

Anyway, here's a brief overview of the calls I was on this week. Note that they're from memory, and I know I'm forgetting some. You know, that whole "getting old thing" is finally catching up... :)

Elderly female, ground level fall

Infant, febrile siezure

Elderly male, abdominal pain

Elderly male, difficulty breathing

Teenage girl, bee sting in the back of the throat

Elderly male, chest pains

The bee sting was an interesting call. A teenaged girl was running on the track at her school and inhaled a yellow jacket. It stung the back of her throat and she coughed/spit it out. She had a history of localized swelling with bee stings, so we were concerned about her throat swelling shut. It was way out in the rurals, with about a 30-45 minute transit time back to the hospital. We made the first part of the trip Code-1, but went to Code-3 (lights and siren) about halfway home. She was still concious and breathing - albeit very shaken up - when we turned her over to the ED.

Bee sting in the back of the throat. Man, that's just not right. I'm glad she was okay.