Friday THE 13th at Penacook Rescue

I woke up early today, exhausted but psyched to get to Penacook for my first full shift. I knew Jim (EMT - I) and Sue (Paramedic) were on duty. Jim and Sue also work at New London Hospital in the ER and I see them frequently when we bring patients from Andover to NLH. I knew that Jim liked junk food so I brought some donuts. Penacook Rescue covers Boscawen, Penacook, Salisbury, Canterbury, and Concord for mutual aid. Jim and Sue are a cohesive and funny team. We watched the morning news while Jim ranted at the TV and Sue shook her head while on her computer. I was only there for an hour when we got our first call, injury from a fall delta level in Salisbury. When we got there Andrew and Mac (guys also on Andover Rescue) were on scene with the Salisbury ambulance and could handle. Ironically, we simultaneously got an additional call for a "man down" delta level at the bank in Boscawen. So after running lights and sirens to Salisbury we ran them again back to Boscawen. Our patient was alert and oriented now. Jim had me go out to the ambulance to get the clipboard to sign off the patient, and when I came back, the patient was on the ground lying supine. He had a syncopal episode (fainted) again. I got the cot and we packaged for concord hospital. Jim and I were in the back and Sue was driving without lights and sirens because our patient was stable. As we repeated vital sign assessments, we noticed a bad trend. We were off the highway now at a traffic light when Jim told Sue to light it up, we needed to get to the hospital much faster now. Five minutes before I had been taking lung sounds casually. Now Jim had me helping him while the siren wailed and we dodged traffic in Concord. I set up oxygen and a 12 lead EKG while Jim got an IV ready. Though the patient's condition had substantially worsened, he handled the situation incredibly calmly and set the tone for me to do the same. We got to Concord Hospital and brought him in to the ER where he was seen quickly. While I was dressing the cot I saw a pre mature baby rolled by in an incubator on a cot, which was cool to see. We headed back to Penacook and got lunch, then back to the station, then to the police academy to a detail for a graduation ceremony. By the time we got back to the station it was 3 PM, only 3 hours left until the end of the shift. I took a power nap and watched a movie. Later, Jim had me pull all the trucks out of the station so we could wash them. We also washed Sue's car. 6 PM rolled around and the shift was done. Jim said I could come back and ride on his shift any time. Even though we only had one call, I had a great time with Jim and Sue and had a unique call that "seasoned" me as an EMT a little bit. Expect the unexpected. Tonight I will get in a couple hours studying in the library.