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mutts252
05-14-2007, 07:12 PM
well, we had a doozy last tuesday (a week ago tomorrow for those keeping track)...

called to a person in seizure, only a block or two from the hall. i was in the med truck with one other ff, others responding in POV's...

as i grabbed the O2 and trauma bags from the truck, thinking of course that it would be an easy call (always a bad idea lol), the patient's wife ran outside and yelled that he had stopped breathing. ... our pace quickened a fair bit at that point, and we updated EMS to step on it...

we checked ABC's and AVPU... nada on either. long story short, CPR, the BVM, and an OPA were all used, and our defib delivered a couple shocks. paramedics eventually showed up after what seemed like an eternity of compressions... his wife had stayed in the room the whole time, the others couldn't get her to leave. i rode in the ambulance to continue CPR en route... LONG trip...

found out once we arrived in the ER that he was closely related to a member of the department, and i know his two daughters (who are my age)... i had never met him before, though. ... i was in the room when they pronounced, too. talk about weird.

anyway... funeral was saturday... most of the dept showed up. i have to say, it really made things seem a lot better when the family gave us big hugs and thanked us... but i also know i'll never be able to be in that room again without reliving the events, and nor will i be able to forget what happened... but it definitely set my mind at ease knowing they appreciated it, and we had done everything in our power to help him.

MFDFF33
05-14-2007, 08:01 PM
It's always good to hear that family appreciates and to know that you've done everything to your knowledge. How are you making out Mutts?

FitSsikS
05-15-2007, 05:40 AM
Unfortunately this is the way most of these calls turn out.

Unless a patient is "caught" early or a family member/bystander initiates cpr things aren't going too go well.

It sounds like you guys did a good job.

You can't control the patient's medical condition....only your actions.

ROOKIELZ
05-18-2007, 08:00 AM
You responded and did your best. There is nothing more you could have done. Troubling though it is, it is part of our job. If you find it is bothering you, go for CISD. Don't let it build up and consume you.

Sometimes patients will "slip away" no matter what we do. And I think that that is the way it was meant to be and nothing to do with me.

If you need to talk, you can PM me.

Take care
ROOK

FLASHOVER05
05-20-2007, 09:28 AM
Nice effort there Mutts... we aren't bred to save them all... good luck next go around

Pumphead
11-26-2007, 05:05 PM
We're not there to save them...but to try to postpone the inevitable!

All you can do is try.