RE: Who's done an IO lately?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/31/2003 5:01:24 PM Central Standard Time,

magnetass@... writes:

As usual, our team performed in the clutch. It's sooo

cool to get to work with people as good as the ones I work with. I'm

a lucky guy. So, any procedures looming out there that make your

butt clinch a bit?

Ah but you did well, and the baby was up to 180 bpm when she arrived in

Galveston and was doing well, for her situation. You think its cool to work

with

good people, imagine how I feel having you all work for me. Good work and I am

proud of you all.

Andy

EMS Manager

City of Beaumont

[Guest guest]

That's great to hear. It looked pretty grim when we left. Still bradycardic

and hypothermic, and nobody seemed hopeful. It was a really odd set of

circumstances due to the fact that the childs age did not match her weight,

so it was for all practical purposes, a neo-natal call.

Thanks for the update and the thoughts. I always come back to the dichotomy

of EMS. The " bad " calls make you better, but as awful as some of the

circumstances are, at the same time you feel privileged to be able to help.

You love it....and hate it. You are the luckiest....and unluckiest of

people.

magnetass sends

Re: Who's done an IO lately?

> In a message dated 12/31/2003 5:01:24 PM Central Standard Time,

> magnetass@... writes:

> As usual, our team performed in the clutch. It's sooo

> cool to get to work with people as good as the ones I work with. I'm

> a lucky guy. So, any procedures looming out there that make your

> butt clinch a bit?

>

>

> Ah but you did well, and the baby was up to 180 bpm when she arrived in

> Galveston and was doing well, for her situation. You think its cool to

work with

> good people, imagine how I feel having you all work for me. Good work and

I am

> proud of you all.

>

> Andy

> EMS Manager

> City of Beaumont

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The adult sternal IO (FAST1 from Ping) is a little like that. It's a good " pop "

when the point goes through the bone. Good device though. 30 -60 seconds max for

a good patent line. Just have to remember that since it flows through marrow it

doesn't drip as fast as a regular line. You may also have to flush it due to it

becoming clogged. Our last one we thought it wasn't patent, but forgot to flush

it.

P.S. If anyone sees any Azle FD backboards anywhere (we are in the DFW area),

please let me know. We are missing quite a few.

Who's done an IO lately?

Yeeesh, gad that sucked!

There are just some procedures that you'd rather not think about

doing, and IOs are one of mine. The first thing is the thought of

the circumstances under which it would be performed, namely an

arrested baby. The second is just the general creepiness of poking a

hole in a bone. I have a hincky thing about ortho anyway, but the

thought of having to actually do it on anything other than a

mannequein in BTLS is one of the few things that just scared the

bejeezus outta me. I have been lucky so far I guess, but my luck ran

out last night. My crew were 2nd in behind our shft sup. on a child

not breathing call. It was a roller coaster from the outset. The

initial call was for child not breathing. OK, how many of those have

you been on that turned out to be real? Sure enough, the second call

from dispatch reported everything OK, child is breathing. When we

walked in, my sup is holding this tiiiiny child, who's in an obvious

agonal pattern. OK, here we go. Jon positons the child on the couch

for intubation, but she still had some gag, and was full of

secretions, so while the suctioning is happening, I rummaged around

in the pedi bag and grabbed the IO, because I could tell by looking

that a peripheral line was a non-starter. The child was 11 mos.

old....and just a hair over 6 pounds. A 25 wk. preemie, with

(apparently) failure-to-thrive. I was in an awkward spot....kind of

on top of an ER nurse riding a shift with the sup. The space

surrounding a child fixing to arrest gets awfully crowded awfully

quickly doesn't it? It's always amazing how you remember things that

you don't do a lot of in times like that. IOs are what you practice

a bit dutifully when you re-cert BTLS, but it all worked exactly as

advertised. I really was kinda surprised at how solid it seemed. We

sedated her a bit and Jon passed the tube easily. I was also

surprised at how well it flowed. After we got to the ED, the doc

ordered a 60cc warm saline bolus, which I pushed in with a 60cc

syringe. It went just about as quickly as D50 does. She made it as

far as to get flown out to.......Galveston I think, but that's the

last I heard. Tiny, sad looking little thing. (Hug a NICU nurse the

next time you get a chance.) She had a really rotten start to her

life. I hope she gets better, but I'm not hoping much, and this is

one I don't really want to follow up on. IO was the last thing on my

list of " big ones " that I hadn't done yet. I'm done, thanks. One was

enough. I'm glad I got to do it, but sorry that I had to....know

what I mean? As usual, our team performed in the clutch. It's sooo

cool to get to work with people as good as the ones I work with. I'm

a lucky guy. So, any procedures looming out there that make your

butt clinch a bit?

_____

[Guest guest]

I think you deserve a community hug. You did just fine.

Now hang on. I know exactly what you feel. Some things in life, you

just clench your teeth and go thru. This one of them.

Hang on!!!

Shahla

She made it as

> far as to get flown out to.......Galveston I think, but that's the

> last I heard. Tiny, sad looking little thing. (Hug a NICU nurse the

> next time you get a chance.) She had a really rotten start to her

> life. I hope she gets better, but I'm not hoping much, and this is

> one I don't really want to follow up on. IO was the last thing on

my

> list of " big ones " that I hadn't done yet. I'm done, thanks. One

was

> enough. I'm glad I got to do it, but sorry that I had to....know

> what I mean? As usual, our team performed in the clutch. It's sooo

> cool to get to work with people as good as the ones I work with.

I'm

> a lucky guy. So, any procedures looming out there that make your

> butt clinch a bit?