Saturday Nights

It had to happen a blog about Saturday night shift. Which I am still on at the moment.

The problem with Saturday night shifts is alcohol. It makes sane, ordinary people do crazy things or have crazy things happen to them. It also seems to remove the ability to make rational thought.

One patient this evening, severe assualt to the head with resulting head injuries. Where most of us would be in pain and agony and accept the treatment suggested by medical personnel, drink causes a major headache for ambulance staff, and as a trainee removes you from the comfort of a textbook answer to a solution.

So this person was seriously assaulted and was knocked unconcious now only responsive to painful stimuli. So text book treatment of this patient is commenced. Airway cleared and C-Spine immobilised, oxygen applied as making good respiratory effort for themselves. Collared and boarded and away we are about to go.

Until...

Patient now decides to get up and "wants to go home". This completely ruins all hope of textbook treatment and we are back into the land of improvisation that I have come to know and love.

So alchol not only causes the insult to have occured in the first place, but also causes a problem, as ambulance staff are increasingly unable to give the best care to patients due to alcohol.

(Hypoxia was considered as a reason for the aggitation, but the clinical impression at the time was leading towards alcohol being the protagonist.)