Ok if you're a fireman don't take this personally. I have had quite a few less the stellar experiences with some of the medics that work for the local fire department. To be fair I'm sure they can say the same about us. God knows we have our share of morons. What I have a serious issue with is guys that just don't seem to get it. I will give you a few of the ones that stand out over the last few months. 25 ish female at work having "Grand mal seizures" for the benefit of her co workers. 30 to 40 second thrash fest followed by 5 to 10 minutes of immediate lucidity and talking. I know, I know what you're thinking. this pt is clearly an undiagnosed fibro frump. Hell you're probably right! After a very dramatic unassisted walk to the cot the fire medic leaned over and said "what do you think about 5 of valium?" My response was predictable. "Why the f#*k would you want to do that its not a seizure"? His response "I don't know we ran a girl that presented just like this. She had a helmet and seizure dog" ARE YOU F%#KING KIDDING! Well then by all means medicate her! A few hours later I returned to the same ED and asked how things turned out. Completely normal EEG and labs. What your not surprised? The best part of this story came three weeks later when his Lt played the "I followed up on that pt" game and tried to tell me it was a real seizure. Ok sir.................If it makes you feel better so be it. Fast forward to a week ago. We ran a 4 year old who actually had a diagnosed seizure disorder. The poor kid was postictal and presenting differently then he normally did post seizure (mom was clearly well informed on the pt condition). The same Lt / medic rode in with us. He neglected to do a D-stick (My student insisted on the D-stick which was normal) and refused to start a line. Why you might ask? Well...................."I don't think we are there yet!" Hey sir..........when the f#@k will we be there when the kid seizes again?" REALLY!!!!!! I mean Jesus Christ! My dilemma is that this guy is a really nice genuine person. I actually really like him. For the record (and any firemen reading this) The guy's normally do a great job. They are not a transporting agency so they spend less time with the pt's. But for the love of God this is bread and butter shit. Kinda like the fire medic that refused to put a c collar on a GSW to the head until we had finished carrying this bone head up two flights of stairs! Ok....lets see....... we are going to strap this guy to a board but not secure his head? "I'm the Lt its my call!" Ok ma m your call indeed! But thats a story for another day.
