A shift from hell in my understanding goes something like this:
In 12 hours you look after:
- two intubated patients, one of whom ends up in the ICU and the other transfered to another hospital for an urgent neuro surgery (of course, you are the one who has to go with the patient, RT, MD, and two paramedics bouncing all over the seat at every bump in the back of an ambulance).
- two patients with COPD exacerbation in severe enough respiratory distress to need BiPAP.
- a patient in atrial fibrillation who needs to be cardioverted (while all hell is breaking loose with your other patients).
- a patient waiting for a step down bed for 17 hours because there are no available beds in the hospital, who needs hourly blood glucose checks and Q4H blood work.
- a patient having two seizures even after being loaded with Dilantin.
- a code STEMI patient who gets rushed to the cath lab.
- a violent drunk patient who needs to be put in four-point restraints by security and slammed with vitamins A and H (Ativan and Haldol).
Add to all this the fact that I only got four hours of sleep the night before and you get a true shift from hell. On the bright side though, I finally got a chance to hear firsthand how loud ambulance sirens sound inside the truck. In case you ever wondered, not loud at all. It took me a minute to realize that it was us and not some other ambulance truck behind us. One more thing off my "want to know" list.
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