Day 10 - Day 5 on the Cruz Verde Norte Ambulancia

To start the day we were called to a motorcycle crash, a motorcycle paramedic was already in attendance and on arrival, the patient was already receiving fluids and the suspected fractured ankle already splinted. For this incident the only thing we really had to do was transfer him to hospital and take some observations on the way.

Shortly after arriving back at Cruz Verde Norte, we received another call to a motorcycle crash, this time the patient had c-spine tenderness and as such we placed her in a collar and immobilised her using a spinal board. On route to the hospital I cannulated the patient and gave her fluids (as is protocol here) and also took her obs.

Myself and Chris (the other FREUC 5 student) were standing outside the front of the hospital when an old lady approached us saying that her daughter was sick in a house across the road. We let our controller know and followed the lady back to her house where she directed us to a room on the second floor. The woman laying on the bed did not respond to voice or painful stimuli, and after feeling for a carotid pulse which was absent we dragged her to the floor. I commenced compressions whilst Chris ran back across the road to alert the crews and grab an AED, oxygen, BVM and airways. On his arrival we changed over, Chris giving compressions whilst I cut off the clothes, attached the AED, inserted an OPA and started with the bag and valve mask. After about ten minutes the ambulance arrived on scene, one of the paramedics attempted intubation with no success so we quickly lifted her onto the stretcher, down the stairs and into the ambulance. I continued compressions for the minute journey to the hospital where we then rushed her into resus. Half an hour later, after receiving the blood results (pictured above) and considering the 4H's and 4T's the doctor called the time of death as 12:45.

A little time passed and we were called to a pedestrian that was knocked down by a car, although his physical injuries seemed minor, he had a sudden onset of confusion and nausea and therefore we treated him for a potential head injury. After delivering him to the hospital, he was later transferred to another for CT scans.

Our final call of the day was to a construction site. The patient, whilst carrying a bucket of cement had fallen approximately four meters from the floor above. He had pain in the thoracic area of the spine and also the pelvis. Again we immobilised, I cannulated on route and administered fluids followed by taking observations, which all seemed within their normal parameters. (image below)

All in all, a good day with a variety of calls.