on the way home from work

driving home from capital city, i thought i wouldn't have much to report today. i worked a 10 hour shift, where i saw lots of patients: mostly interesting medical issues. but i didn't do any crazy procedures, and i didn't even do any ultrasounds. still, it was a satisfying shift.

but then at 3 AM, while driving home from my shift at capital hospital, i saw a person crumpled on the side of franklin street in front of the local 506. even after spending most days seeing people in bizarre circumstances, this just looked out of place. i stopped the car and got out to investigate.



a man was lying in the road with blood coming out of his ear (a very ominous sign), unresponsive, and barely breathing. i asked a bystander to call 911 then brought his c-spine into line and did a jaw thrust maneuver to open his airway. (thank you, ACLS) ok, i thought to myself, time for the ABCs. airway was patent (for the time being). he was breathing, although he had a large amount of frothy fluid in his mouth. carotid pulses were present. he didn't protest when i rubbed his sternum vigorously.

so i just stayed squatting on the ground, maintaining his c-spine in alignment and airway open until the paramedics arrived. they packed him into the ambulance, and i followed them to the university hospital. i figured that i might as well see what happens next and tell the team what i had seen. as soon as he rolled into ER doors, he became a patient at the hospital. so for patient privacy purposes, here's where my story of this patient must end.

i will say that when i got to university hospital, the department was full of folks from my residency program. again, i thought to myself: i work with a great group of people.