The Penguin
The penguin is a flightless bird. My first three days, I was the penguin. I couldn't catch a flight to save myself. I realize that there are other flightless birds (the ostrich, dodo and the mechanic's favorite, the emu), but I chose to be a penguin like the cool ones in Happy Feet. We were convinced that my first flight would be a motherfucker. I bus full of hard of hearing, non English speaking hemophiliac senior citizens struck by a glass truck.
It wasn't quite that bad, but my first flight was a pretty good one. It was supposed to be a cath lab to cath lab transfer. The patient had chest pain and had a diagnostic cath at the hospital where our base was. The plan was to place stents at a sister hospital that is able to do that. It was "non-emergent" but ground transport wasn't available. Sounded like a pretty decent, but mellow first flight. Once we got him loaded and lifted his heart rate dropped to 20. As I was giving atropine he went into V-Tach (for the non-medical folks, that BAD). I didn't have the patches to shock him on (since he had been fine with no issues) so we popped him pretty hard right over his heart. (a precordial thump. Its getting out of style, but I have done it multiple times with conversion) He gave me the "Why-The-Fuck-Did-You-Hit-Me" look and went back into the 20's. A little more atropine and Jet-A later, we made it to the hospital with a pulse. He went in for a now emergent cath and should do just fine.
It was nice to get my first flight out of the way. We went out service for weather not long after we got back. The helicopter actually had to be taken to the hanger, so I had no ride at all! We picked it up when the storm cleared.... at 2AM. I fly again tomorrow so hopefully this warm weather will bring good flights!
It wasn't quite that bad, but my first flight was a pretty good one. It was supposed to be a cath lab to cath lab transfer. The patient had chest pain and had a diagnostic cath at the hospital where our base was. The plan was to place stents at a sister hospital that is able to do that. It was "non-emergent" but ground transport wasn't available. Sounded like a pretty decent, but mellow first flight. Once we got him loaded and lifted his heart rate dropped to 20. As I was giving atropine he went into V-Tach (for the non-medical folks, that BAD). I didn't have the patches to shock him on (since he had been fine with no issues) so we popped him pretty hard right over his heart. (a precordial thump. Its getting out of style, but I have done it multiple times with conversion) He gave me the "Why-The-Fuck-Did-You-Hit-Me" look and went back into the 20's. A little more atropine and Jet-A later, we made it to the hospital with a pulse. He went in for a now emergent cath and should do just fine.
It was nice to get my first flight out of the way. We went out service for weather not long after we got back. The helicopter actually had to be taken to the hanger, so I had no ride at all! We picked it up when the storm cleared.... at 2AM. I fly again tomorrow so hopefully this warm weather will bring good flights!
posted by jeepgirl at 17:21
4 Comments:
I am glad you didn't choose Do-do, they're extinct.
They don't even teach precordial thump in CPR classes anymore.
I learned my CPR way before the Red Cross started teaching it. I can testify that a precordial thump has worked many a time for me.
I think I'll tell a CPR story in tomorrow's post.
You go girl! I am so glad you are getting into what you have wanted to do for a long time. You deserve it. :)
I envy you and your confidence. As a med-surg nurse, the thought of your job scares the daylights out of me.
Not sure how I found you, but great story. Precordial thump. You rock.
Figured it'd be okay, but I blogrolled you so I stop over more often.
Nice to meet you, fellow NOC shifter.
/jo, ICU RN
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