Mishaps

I really am a shit magnet. Today was my first day at my new part time job, doing prn critical care transports. About half of the transports are for the really really sick people, like new intubated traumas, or the burn patients or pediatric stuff. But the other half is glorified babysitting of a patient who just happens to have a cardiac infusion running.

Like my dude today. He had a cardiac drip going, but was pain free, alert and oriented, ambulatory, totally independent, and funny as all get out. Needless to say, I did not anticipate any troubles for my first run. Which is dumb. As I am the aforementioned shit magnet, every single thing that could have gone wrong did.

I get to the office to meet the crew, and they had no idea they were supposed to be doing a run (dispatch's fault, not theirs.) We leave 30 minutes late. We get a flat tire on the way. Once at the hospital, our medpump decides to stop working halfway through programming the new drip in. The outgoing hospital forgot to sign paperwork. We had to borrow a pump from their hospital, which took 30 minutes as the nursing sup had to get involved and make us sign in blood that we will return it. The patient realized he forgot his cell phone in the bedside drawer as we were getting into the ambulance. His IV, which was patent on our arrival and patent upon leaving and patent halfway through the ride back decides to become no longer patent sometime between halfway home and arrival at new hospital. Nurse upstairs throws a hissy fit about said IV, even though time of un-patency was perhaps 10-15 minutes. I apologize (even though it wasn't my fault) and she is having none of it. I had planned on a 3 hour transport...It ended up being 7 hours.

Whew. Sometime, I wish I got the easy stuff. But then again, I guess I'd be bored if everything always went well for me.

At least the Skins won today. Hooray football season!!