I just finished my last ride out for my EMT-B class. It was in a different town/county then the one we normally use. I have done 60+ hours of ride alongs.
We where dispatched to a house where a 13yr old boy had broken his arm while goofing around (jumped off banister). When we get there it is obvious that his arm is broken. From appearances it looks like a greenstick fracture (some mild deformity) and, this is importent, some blood on his hand.
When we get to the hospital the nurses and doctor take over his care. Nurse unwraps the splint we put on and that is when we (medics and me) and the hospital staff notice that the bone has broken the skin, so the break is now classified as a open fracture..
What bothers me is that this wasn't noticed during the assessement of the patient (they never really looked at the arm, all they had to do was ask the kid to move the ice pack and they would of seen it). It just bothers me and I want to tell my superviser about it. IT wasn't the only thing that bothered me. Other things were:
1.Their truck looked like a war zone, trash and blood everywhere. Handles broken off cupboards and stuff held together with duct tape. Equipment left wherever they dropped it. They only had three calls that day.
2. At times they were rather abrupt with me and the patient. Yelling at an injured and frightened boy to lift up his head so they could tighten the sling. It was said in the tone of an officer arresting someone.
3. One medic had me help him with the IV, half the bag was in the kid in less then 3 minutes. Also over a span of half an hour they gave the kid two doses, 50cc, each of a powerful narcotic. It was concerning to me because the kid weighed less then 100lbs.
4. They also managed to collapse a vein in the kids arm. He had good veins and the truck was not moving. I have watched dozens of IV's being put in and have never seen that happen in a healthy person.
Any medics want to chime in on what I should ommit and what I should tell her? The whole experience was disturbing.