quote:Originally posted by DONNA C:
........The amount of precious time that this person had in their "golden" hour was spent on the ground, on Cox Creek Parkway,waiting for the AirEvac.......
Donna C,
Depending on the exact nature of the injury/illness of this person, ECM might not have been the best hospital for them, therefore taking them there would not stop the "Golden Hour" from continuing to count down.
As stated earlier, the Golden Hour only stops ticking when the patient is in definitive care, which means they must be at the facility BEST SUITED for their injury/illness.
Obviously the medics thought that ECM was NOT the best place for the patient at the time of arrival at the scene or they would have taken them there immediately. Ive been "ridin' ambulances" since 96' and have saw a few things in my time. As far as the patient not going with the helicopter once they were on scene, there is NO WAY anyone knows for sure why unless you were there, but I can say that I have been in the same position and once the chopper arrives they determine that it would be better to take the patient to the closest hospital versus the best equipped hospital simply because CPR would be too complicated to perform correctly while in the air. Don't get me wrong, I've also had the chopper take patients while performing CPR.
-----HERES THE KICKER---- It all depends on the TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES, which are never the same from day to day, minute to minute, or patient to patient.
Something else the public doesn't generally understand is that in the case of a heart attack, not caused by trauma, the medic can administer the same drugs that will be administered in the ER upon arrival. The reason the chopper is sometimes called to the scene versus the Hospital is because in real life youve got to take into consideration the time spent unloading the patient from the ambulance (While Performing CPR), taking them into the ER (While Performing CPR), unloading them from your stretcher to the ER bed (While Performing CPR), transferring CPR to the ER staff while giving the patient report, transferring your IV fluids and any other items attached to the patient to ER staff. Well, once youve gotten all of this finally finished the chopper usually is arriving and it's time to do it all once again except this time transferring all the equipment to the Chopper crew.
IN MY OPINION, many times it is better for the overall well-being of the patient to keep them in the ambulance instead of transporting them to the ER if the Chopper is going to arrive in a reasonable amount of time for the particular circumstances.
ONE MORE QUESTION DONNA C.,
The only reason you started this topic is because you think the patient should have been transported to the ER instead of waiting on the chopper. You seem very upset and worried that the patient's overall outcome will be much worse because of this decision.
Here are a couple of excerpts from your initial posts:
quote:Originally posted by DONNA C:
.......There was at least 10-15 minutes,possibly more wasted. Just waiting to see what decision that was to be made. The amount of precious time that this person had in their "golden" hour was spent on the ground, on Cox Creek Parkway,waiting for the AirEvac. That time could have been well spent racing to the hospital, not sitting and wasting precious time. This just was very unnecessary and could have been very bad for the injured person. FPD even gave the EMS unit an escort from the place of the accident to Station 5. Do U feel the same way that I do, that a lot of this person's valuable time was lost while somebody was trying to decide on what to do. While deciding that, he/she could have been at ECM getting his very important treatment. Then, if they felt it was necessary to fly him/her out,then call the copter to ECM. How do U feel about this? I'm very upset,and don't even ask me how I would have felt if it had been one of my family members, loved ones, or friends,or heck, just anyone I knew.........
.......... My worry about this is the fact that while all this was going on, the patient was not receiving the care that they needed during all this. They should not have had to wait at FFD station 5 that long before someone made up their mind. They should have been at ECM from the very first, and then if it was decided that they needed to be airlifted, then the patient could have been picked up at ECM. There was a lot of valuable time wasted that the patient may or may not have had............
It's VERY VERY obvious that you believe someone screwed up and made a big mistake. But in your later posts you had this to say:
quote:Originally posted by DONNA C:
.......Guys, I'm not putting down or saying anything bad about anybody in this particular incident.......
.........I did not make any assumptions about anything.I praised all the work done by the EMS. I was praising EMS, Fire and Pd,and never for one second put them under a microscope. U must be reading between the lines of my post,my EMS broher or sister. Also, as being in EMS,I do indeed know what the golden hour is.........
So my question to you is.......
If you are so upset about this incident yet you praised EMS, Fire & PD, and would never put them under a microscope, WHO DO YOU BLAME FOR THE PATIENT NOT BEING TAKEN TO ECM ER?
Not trying to start a fight, just putting my 2 cents in and asking a few questions.
Have a Great Day Everyone!
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.