I don't know if it's because I'm gettin' old, or if I've been at the job too long.
I've become cynical, and it's a shame.
Keeping a medical log is one of the things I wish I had done when I started this job 21 years ago... it'd be interesting now to go back and review the different injuries I've carried to get help.
And that way I could also have kept track of the percentage of people we transport who are responsible, even partially, for their problems.
My gut tells me it's a big percentage:
Drunk driving,
Drug usage and overdoses,
Food Addicts,
Smokers,
and combinations of the above.
The geographical area we cover with our Helicopter Ambulance is experiencing a "Crystal Meth"epidemic. I was not at all surprised to read Nurse William's post on the subject. Check the comment I left there telling him many of us are dealing with the same problem.
The night after leaving that comment we received a request to pick up a 27 year old male at an outlying hospital and take him to the Burn Center. Thirty percent of his body burned, he claimed he was injured trying to put out a fire consuming his pickup.
My immediate thought? "Okay, we'll see!"
Cynical me...
I must admit I was surprised when we got there...
He's pretty normal lookin'. Good meat on his bones, and he has almost all his teeth.
His color is good.
He claims to be a woodworker. He says his truck had over $1,000 of different hardwoods aboard when it caught fire, and he is worried how he will recover from the loss.
We safely transport him to get the help he needs. While my crew finishes their paperwork I'm watching the Doc and Nurses doin' their jobs at this extraordinary facility.
(Wanta talk about heroes? THE FOLKS THAT DO THIS JOB ARE HEROES! It's some of the smelliest, ugliest work in the world, and they have to hurt babies and children in order to heal them.)
The Doc comes out with a quizzical smile, shaking her head. When I say "What?" she says,
"We drew a blood sample on him. Afterward he advised me he's taking Lorcet and says he was told it will make him test positive for Meth."
Me... cynical?
Yeah, but for good reason.
I've become cynical, and it's a shame.
Keeping a medical log is one of the things I wish I had done when I started this job 21 years ago... it'd be interesting now to go back and review the different injuries I've carried to get help.
And that way I could also have kept track of the percentage of people we transport who are responsible, even partially, for their problems.
My gut tells me it's a big percentage:
Drunk driving,
Drug usage and overdoses,
Food Addicts,
Smokers,
and combinations of the above.
The geographical area we cover with our Helicopter Ambulance is experiencing a "Crystal Meth"epidemic. I was not at all surprised to read Nurse William's post on the subject. Check the comment I left there telling him many of us are dealing with the same problem.
The night after leaving that comment we received a request to pick up a 27 year old male at an outlying hospital and take him to the Burn Center. Thirty percent of his body burned, he claimed he was injured trying to put out a fire consuming his pickup.
My immediate thought? "Okay, we'll see!"
Cynical me...
I must admit I was surprised when we got there...
He's pretty normal lookin'. Good meat on his bones, and he has almost all his teeth.
His color is good.
He claims to be a woodworker. He says his truck had over $1,000 of different hardwoods aboard when it caught fire, and he is worried how he will recover from the loss.
We safely transport him to get the help he needs. While my crew finishes their paperwork I'm watching the Doc and Nurses doin' their jobs at this extraordinary facility.
(Wanta talk about heroes? THE FOLKS THAT DO THIS JOB ARE HEROES! It's some of the smelliest, ugliest work in the world, and they have to hurt babies and children in order to heal them.)
The Doc comes out with a quizzical smile, shaking her head. When I say "What?" she says,
"We drew a blood sample on him. Afterward he advised me he's taking Lorcet and says he was told it will make him test positive for Meth."
Me... cynical?
Yeah, but for good reason.
1 comment:
I was going to say that guy was stupid and wanted some attention - wasting people's time like that, but turned out, it was his life he's wasting.
It's horrifying what meth can do. The thing is, these people under influence doesn't already know what they're doing (they live in that "parallel universe" - accdg to nurse william, thanks by the way greybeard for the link, his was a great blog that i enjoyed reading as well.) They need help. They now become everyone's responsibility and now it becomes a long thread of whose-fault-was-it, putting the blame on their parents, their peers, the society..at this point I'd like to say they were stupid enough to have started on the drugs.
It's ok to be cynical that way. That would've also been my reaction if i were in your shoes..
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