I've had a student with me this roster. She's good to work with, very relaxed and we've had some good medical work.
Like many ambulance personnel, she's quite fond of trauma and wanted to experience working with patients with trauma.
"Be careful of what you wish for..." I warned on numerous occasions.
I personally don't mind trauma, but don't particularly relish it either.
Still, our shifts were rather uneventful.
Our last night shift was rather busy and we've had very limited sleep. 30 minutes prior to handover to the receiving crew, the pager buzzed.
"Priority 1, Some-road-very-far-away".
Bleh.
The radio dispatch came through.
"If you can now proceed to Some-road-very-far-away for a truck versus tree. Patient has been ejected, query unconscious, query not breathing, disembowelment. You'll be on case number 1192 at 0732 and your priority is 1."
She became rather excited.
~~ 35 minutes later ~~
We could see quite a fair way off into the distance, given the flat terrain and relatively clear vegetation. We could, therefore, see the accident scene about a kilometre beforehand and we could see a number of cars parked off the side of the road and a police car with beacons flashing warning traffic.
We pulled up past the police car and prepared to get out with the trauma kit and oxygen.
The police officer turned and shook his head at us.
Obviously there was no point.
Still, we had to look to confirm death (or otherwise).
About 100m from the road, amongst some trees, rested a very damaged flatbed truck. The front cabin had suffered significant damage and the entire right door and seat had been ripped away. It was obvious that the truck had ploughed diagonally from the opposite side of the road; vegetation damage include three splintered trees and crushed undergrowth marked the route.
As we walked closer to the truck, we could see a blanket on the ground, about three metres behind the rear. Lifting up the blanket revealed a young man, obviously deceased, with a traumatic amputation to his right thigh ripping up through the groin and leaving a small broken edge of femur. He appeared to have exsanguinated from the massive blood loss from his femoral artery and this was supported by the large volume of blood (and attracting a huge number of ants) on the ground.
I turned to my student - we still had to go through the rigmarole to confirm death. This was her first death so I guided her through the process... check for carotid pulse, auscultate for lung sounds, auscultate for apex heart beat, check pupils and obtain an ECG strip.
Covering the poor fellow up, the police and ourselves hunted for the amputated leg.
It wasn't overly difficult, thankfully, as we followed the truck's route back towards the road. Wedged amongst a group of shrubs and a now-destroyed tree was a very disfigured truck door, part of the seat and the fellow's leg / groin. As it was a crime and investigation scene, we weren't allowed to move it, but we did cover it up with a sheet for some dignity.
There wasn't much to say, but we were able to provide some support to the bystanders on scene whom, naturally, was quite traumatised.
Our long drive back to our depot was rather quiet and sombre. Not exactly a great way to finish off a roster.
Be careful of what you wish for and please drive safely!!!
Like many ambulance personnel, she's quite fond of trauma and wanted to experience working with patients with trauma.
"Be careful of what you wish for..." I warned on numerous occasions.
I personally don't mind trauma, but don't particularly relish it either.
Still, our shifts were rather uneventful.
Our last night shift was rather busy and we've had very limited sleep. 30 minutes prior to handover to the receiving crew, the pager buzzed.
"Priority 1, Some-road-very-far-away".
Bleh.
The radio dispatch came through.
"If you can now proceed to Some-road-very-far-away for a truck versus tree. Patient has been ejected, query unconscious, query not breathing, disembowelment. You'll be on case number 1192 at 0732 and your priority is 1."
She became rather excited.
~~ 35 minutes later ~~
We could see quite a fair way off into the distance, given the flat terrain and relatively clear vegetation. We could, therefore, see the accident scene about a kilometre beforehand and we could see a number of cars parked off the side of the road and a police car with beacons flashing warning traffic.
We pulled up past the police car and prepared to get out with the trauma kit and oxygen.
The police officer turned and shook his head at us.
Obviously there was no point.
Still, we had to look to confirm death (or otherwise).
About 100m from the road, amongst some trees, rested a very damaged flatbed truck. The front cabin had suffered significant damage and the entire right door and seat had been ripped away. It was obvious that the truck had ploughed diagonally from the opposite side of the road; vegetation damage include three splintered trees and crushed undergrowth marked the route.
As we walked closer to the truck, we could see a blanket on the ground, about three metres behind the rear. Lifting up the blanket revealed a young man, obviously deceased, with a traumatic amputation to his right thigh ripping up through the groin and leaving a small broken edge of femur. He appeared to have exsanguinated from the massive blood loss from his femoral artery and this was supported by the large volume of blood (and attracting a huge number of ants) on the ground.
I turned to my student - we still had to go through the rigmarole to confirm death. This was her first death so I guided her through the process... check for carotid pulse, auscultate for lung sounds, auscultate for apex heart beat, check pupils and obtain an ECG strip.
Covering the poor fellow up, the police and ourselves hunted for the amputated leg.
It wasn't overly difficult, thankfully, as we followed the truck's route back towards the road. Wedged amongst a group of shrubs and a now-destroyed tree was a very disfigured truck door, part of the seat and the fellow's leg / groin. As it was a crime and investigation scene, we weren't allowed to move it, but we did cover it up with a sheet for some dignity.
There wasn't much to say, but we were able to provide some support to the bystanders on scene whom, naturally, was quite traumatised.
Our long drive back to our depot was rather quiet and sombre. Not exactly a great way to finish off a roster.
Be careful of what you wish for and please drive safely!!!
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