Man have we been busy lately. Busy is a good thing in that it makes the day fly by. It's a bad thing in that sleep becomes scarce. But hey, I do get paid to sleep on occasion. I''ll bet you don't.
As usual, we had some serious calls, and some not so serious. Here are a few not so serious.
The most absurd or should I say anger provoking call came at 2:30 in the morning as a punk, sorry excuse for a man, beat up on his ex girlfriend. He choked her and punched her. As she got away he hopped on her car and kicked in her windshield and her rear window. A real tough guy. The thing about it is, that wasn't the first time he had done something like this. What a loser. At times like this I wish I could be a vigilante and open up a can of justice on punks like him. Teach him a lesson.
I can't stress enough how bad drugs are. They make people absolutely stupid. We were driving to the location of a call when a guy ran through an intersection chasing us down dodging traffic after midnight. This must be the clown who called us. He ran up to my door and was bugging out saying "feel my chest" as tried to grab my hand and put it over his heart. He was yelling at us to do something and saying, "I'm gonna die." So I told him we're all gonna die. I had to tell him to back up off me, you don't know me like that. I had to swell up a little and assert my rather large frame. Luckily he had a sane sidekick with him who was able to tell us that he smoked some "sherm." Then the little guy laughed at me when I asked him what that was. Sorry I don't keep up with all that druggie jargon. My bad. Then he went through the list,"wet, fry, ..." Ohhh now I know. Marijuana soaked in formaldehyde-you know the stuff they embalm dead bodies with; that chemical they soak the frogs we dissected in biology class in. Why would anyone want to smoke that stuff. Are you that bored, that in need of something better in life. Yes. I wish he realized that life and all it has to offer are unsatisfactory, that unless you know Jesus, you will always be running from high to high, never quite having that feeling you first had when you took your first puff , snort, or hit? If only he could understand the true nature of his disease. Well, the wet or fry makes people out of their minds. Fools. Idiots, and quite entertaining for us. As if fry wasn't enough, he had also done some cocaine. So he was all doped up, and his chest was pounding as his heart was racing non stop. He was paranoid and starting to hallucinate. He has become a slave to the very thing that he thought would fulfill his needs. He has given control of his life to something that has the ability to take it.
We also made some more crazy people-or mentally ill. Mental illness is the real deal. No one quite understands it, but I believe that it is a mix between chemical imbalance and the supernatural/spiritual. It made a young man both days I was on, who had become violent toward his family, hallucinate and become suicidal. You could see the hopelessness in his eyes. It made a middle aged lady park her car at a stop and rob. She would not open her car door or lower the window to talk to us because the sun is too hot and she thinks shes having a stroke and is rambling nonsense. She would not let us evaluate her, so we called HPD to talk to her and she tells them she is a schizophrenic but is not crazy. Go figure. Most of them are adamant about not being crazy. And it is true. Something else has a hold of them and their thoughts, they know it but can't stop it. The Bible speaks of taking every thought captive and being transformed by the renewing of your mind. To put your trust and hope in Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. It is this mental element that no medication will ever be able to replicate.
Now it's time to switch gears to the serious.
They say heart disease is the number one cause of death in America. I guess it goes with the territory of being the most prosperous nation ever on the face of the planet. We like our food no matter how bad it is for us. As I have written, "abdominal pain" calls flood our system. The ever present "my stomach hurts and I have been throwing up" has a tendency to make anyone in the medical community underestimate the root of the problem. I almost made that mistake as we approached a lady sitting on the toilet (with her clothes on) complaining of the same thing. But this time as I felt her temperature which was ice cold and her pulse which was almost non existent, I thought maybe I ought to do a little more investigating, as did my partner. Her blood pressure was low and after I hooked her up to the EKG there appeared to be what we call "tombstones" which means she is having a heart attack right now. So I went from a 3 lead to a 12 lead to confirm this. Sure enough she was having the big one! She knew it, she kept saying over and over "I'm gonna die. I'm not gonna make it to the hospital." We told her that if she does die that we'd bring her back. That's a pretty bold statement. If she did we would try, but we aren't the givers and takers of life. I encouraged her, prayed for her. She got oxygen, aspirin, and I loaded her up with fluid. I let the hospital know we were coming and they were ready when we got there. In about 10-15 minutes after arriving at the hospital, she was sent up to the cath lab to open up the blood vessels in her heart and repair and even reverse the effects of her heart attack. For the first time in a long time, the doctor came out to us and thanked us and let us know what a good job we did. It feels good to be a part of actually getting to help someone, especially when it is the difference between life or death. It's times like these, which don't come too often, that remind me of why I do what I do. This is truly a job that can't be about me. It has to be about serving other people. If it isn't, then it is easy to write off people's complaints and down play them. If I had been lazy and selfish on this call, this lady could have died.
Death is something that I have come to accept as a part of life. We are all sentenced to die because of our tendency to disobey God. Many times death comes to those who we least expect. There is no rhyme or reason. When God says it's time, it's time. This Sunday morning a young man who was only 29 was the latest victim of life. We got to the house and you could see the sadness and all the emotions on the family. This is when you know it's the real deal. We walk into the hallway and there is the guy's father tearing through the bathroom door with a sledgehammer. His son was lying on the floor lifeless, blue from the chest up, eyes wide open. My partner and I are the first to arrive and dragged him out into the open where we'd have room to work. We put on the monitor and it showed what we expected- asystole- what you all know as the flat line. I intubated him, we started CPR then I started an IV in his neck. We gave him all the drugs we could possibly give. We loaded him up and rushed to the hospital. The A/C wasn't working so we were all drenched from head to toe with sweat. Working plan A's or codes is the most work we have to do as paramedics. We arrived at the hospital where they pronounced him dead. We did all we could. He got the best treatment medicine has to offer. We attempted all the man made ways to prevent death. Nothing man has made or will make will ever stop death. But death is not the end, it is merely the beginning. It has to be. It is the hope that I have. The apostle Paul says to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Now on a serious but lighter note, an elderly lady, 93 to be exact went into a diabetic coma. The glucometer read "LOW" which usually means her blood sugar level is less that 20. The normal range is 60-120. This happens with people who are on insulin, take their insulin and then don't eat and their blood sugar drops tremendously, leaving the brain starved for it's only source of energy, sugar. We had a student with us so we had him try to start an IV on he so we can give her sugar straight into her veins and bring her back almost instantly. It is really quite amazing to witness. Well our student stuck her 3 x and missed. Then it was my turn and after ribbing the student, I missed. She was 93 and her veins we big but fragile. Luckily, my partner got it after it looked like he too might miss. About a minute after getting her sugar fix, the lady looked around the room and said, "What in the world? What's going on here? What are all these men doing in my room? I don't allow men to be in my room. It's been 20 years since a man has been in this room. I'm going to call the cops on all of you." She was hysterical, we were laughing sooo hard. My partner kept egging her on and she said, "Now you shut up. You talk to much (she was right). I'm gonna get up and choke you. What in the world? What is going on here? Y'all get out of my room before I call the cops." Her neighbors who called 911 were there and said she is back to her normal self. At 93 she was more full of life than anyone I had been around all day, including myself. That is of course after she got her sugar. The coolest thing about that call is that the whole neighborhood was at her house concerned for her well being. One of her neighbors made her some dinner to eat. How often do we go through life not helping those around us who are in need? That is what we are all supposed to be to each other. There in that little neighborhood in this big city of Houston, some people were actually following the golden rule given to us by Jesus. They get it! I'm sorry for not getting it all the time.
As usual, we had some serious calls, and some not so serious. Here are a few not so serious.
The most absurd or should I say anger provoking call came at 2:30 in the morning as a punk, sorry excuse for a man, beat up on his ex girlfriend. He choked her and punched her. As she got away he hopped on her car and kicked in her windshield and her rear window. A real tough guy. The thing about it is, that wasn't the first time he had done something like this. What a loser. At times like this I wish I could be a vigilante and open up a can of justice on punks like him. Teach him a lesson.
I can't stress enough how bad drugs are. They make people absolutely stupid. We were driving to the location of a call when a guy ran through an intersection chasing us down dodging traffic after midnight. This must be the clown who called us. He ran up to my door and was bugging out saying "feel my chest" as tried to grab my hand and put it over his heart. He was yelling at us to do something and saying, "I'm gonna die." So I told him we're all gonna die. I had to tell him to back up off me, you don't know me like that. I had to swell up a little and assert my rather large frame. Luckily he had a sane sidekick with him who was able to tell us that he smoked some "sherm." Then the little guy laughed at me when I asked him what that was. Sorry I don't keep up with all that druggie jargon. My bad. Then he went through the list,"wet, fry, ..." Ohhh now I know. Marijuana soaked in formaldehyde-you know the stuff they embalm dead bodies with; that chemical they soak the frogs we dissected in biology class in. Why would anyone want to smoke that stuff. Are you that bored, that in need of something better in life. Yes. I wish he realized that life and all it has to offer are unsatisfactory, that unless you know Jesus, you will always be running from high to high, never quite having that feeling you first had when you took your first puff , snort, or hit? If only he could understand the true nature of his disease. Well, the wet or fry makes people out of their minds. Fools. Idiots, and quite entertaining for us. As if fry wasn't enough, he had also done some cocaine. So he was all doped up, and his chest was pounding as his heart was racing non stop. He was paranoid and starting to hallucinate. He has become a slave to the very thing that he thought would fulfill his needs. He has given control of his life to something that has the ability to take it.
We also made some more crazy people-or mentally ill. Mental illness is the real deal. No one quite understands it, but I believe that it is a mix between chemical imbalance and the supernatural/spiritual. It made a young man both days I was on, who had become violent toward his family, hallucinate and become suicidal. You could see the hopelessness in his eyes. It made a middle aged lady park her car at a stop and rob. She would not open her car door or lower the window to talk to us because the sun is too hot and she thinks shes having a stroke and is rambling nonsense. She would not let us evaluate her, so we called HPD to talk to her and she tells them she is a schizophrenic but is not crazy. Go figure. Most of them are adamant about not being crazy. And it is true. Something else has a hold of them and their thoughts, they know it but can't stop it. The Bible speaks of taking every thought captive and being transformed by the renewing of your mind. To put your trust and hope in Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. It is this mental element that no medication will ever be able to replicate.
Now it's time to switch gears to the serious.
They say heart disease is the number one cause of death in America. I guess it goes with the territory of being the most prosperous nation ever on the face of the planet. We like our food no matter how bad it is for us. As I have written, "abdominal pain" calls flood our system. The ever present "my stomach hurts and I have been throwing up" has a tendency to make anyone in the medical community underestimate the root of the problem. I almost made that mistake as we approached a lady sitting on the toilet (with her clothes on) complaining of the same thing. But this time as I felt her temperature which was ice cold and her pulse which was almost non existent, I thought maybe I ought to do a little more investigating, as did my partner. Her blood pressure was low and after I hooked her up to the EKG there appeared to be what we call "tombstones" which means she is having a heart attack right now. So I went from a 3 lead to a 12 lead to confirm this. Sure enough she was having the big one! She knew it, she kept saying over and over "I'm gonna die. I'm not gonna make it to the hospital." We told her that if she does die that we'd bring her back. That's a pretty bold statement. If she did we would try, but we aren't the givers and takers of life. I encouraged her, prayed for her. She got oxygen, aspirin, and I loaded her up with fluid. I let the hospital know we were coming and they were ready when we got there. In about 10-15 minutes after arriving at the hospital, she was sent up to the cath lab to open up the blood vessels in her heart and repair and even reverse the effects of her heart attack. For the first time in a long time, the doctor came out to us and thanked us and let us know what a good job we did. It feels good to be a part of actually getting to help someone, especially when it is the difference between life or death. It's times like these, which don't come too often, that remind me of why I do what I do. This is truly a job that can't be about me. It has to be about serving other people. If it isn't, then it is easy to write off people's complaints and down play them. If I had been lazy and selfish on this call, this lady could have died.
Death is something that I have come to accept as a part of life. We are all sentenced to die because of our tendency to disobey God. Many times death comes to those who we least expect. There is no rhyme or reason. When God says it's time, it's time. This Sunday morning a young man who was only 29 was the latest victim of life. We got to the house and you could see the sadness and all the emotions on the family. This is when you know it's the real deal. We walk into the hallway and there is the guy's father tearing through the bathroom door with a sledgehammer. His son was lying on the floor lifeless, blue from the chest up, eyes wide open. My partner and I are the first to arrive and dragged him out into the open where we'd have room to work. We put on the monitor and it showed what we expected- asystole- what you all know as the flat line. I intubated him, we started CPR then I started an IV in his neck. We gave him all the drugs we could possibly give. We loaded him up and rushed to the hospital. The A/C wasn't working so we were all drenched from head to toe with sweat. Working plan A's or codes is the most work we have to do as paramedics. We arrived at the hospital where they pronounced him dead. We did all we could. He got the best treatment medicine has to offer. We attempted all the man made ways to prevent death. Nothing man has made or will make will ever stop death. But death is not the end, it is merely the beginning. It has to be. It is the hope that I have. The apostle Paul says to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Now on a serious but lighter note, an elderly lady, 93 to be exact went into a diabetic coma. The glucometer read "LOW" which usually means her blood sugar level is less that 20. The normal range is 60-120. This happens with people who are on insulin, take their insulin and then don't eat and their blood sugar drops tremendously, leaving the brain starved for it's only source of energy, sugar. We had a student with us so we had him try to start an IV on he so we can give her sugar straight into her veins and bring her back almost instantly. It is really quite amazing to witness. Well our student stuck her 3 x and missed. Then it was my turn and after ribbing the student, I missed. She was 93 and her veins we big but fragile. Luckily, my partner got it after it looked like he too might miss. About a minute after getting her sugar fix, the lady looked around the room and said, "What in the world? What's going on here? What are all these men doing in my room? I don't allow men to be in my room. It's been 20 years since a man has been in this room. I'm going to call the cops on all of you." She was hysterical, we were laughing sooo hard. My partner kept egging her on and she said, "Now you shut up. You talk to much (she was right). I'm gonna get up and choke you. What in the world? What is going on here? Y'all get out of my room before I call the cops." Her neighbors who called 911 were there and said she is back to her normal self. At 93 she was more full of life than anyone I had been around all day, including myself. That is of course after she got her sugar. The coolest thing about that call is that the whole neighborhood was at her house concerned for her well being. One of her neighbors made her some dinner to eat. How often do we go through life not helping those around us who are in need? That is what we are all supposed to be to each other. There in that little neighborhood in this big city of Houston, some people were actually following the golden rule given to us by Jesus. They get it! I'm sorry for not getting it all the time.
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