Not Just an Ambulance Driver

Surprisingly, that is a common thing for Todd to be called- an ambulance driver. "Oh, so you drive an ambulance?" Um...yes, that is part of his job, probably the least involved part. It's kind of strange really. I mean, you wouldn't call a police officer a ticket writer. Or a firefighter a ladder climber. But its really eye opening how paramedics and EMT's get the short end of the stick sometimes.
The word paramedic, broken down (from dictionary.com) means "para-at or to one side of, beside, side by side" and "medic-a doctor or intern." Paramedic itself means "a person who is trained to assist a physician or to give first aid or other health care in the absence of a physician, often as part of a police, rescue, or firefighting squad." Now, I'm not saying they should be up there with doctors. Doctors have, most of the time, earned their degree with their many years of schooling. But, have you ever noticed how the ones who spend the most time caring for you and "doctoring" you are the nurses and paramedics? Interesting.
Anyway, all that to tell you a story of why I am so proud of my husband. He's been a paramedic now for 10 years, working at the same private ambulance company since he was an EMT. Working for a private ambulance company is different from working for a fire department. The local fire department ambulances are the ones that you will see at accidents, crime scenes and fires. A private ambulance company generally transports patients to and from hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. It's really not as exciting as being on the fire department, you don't see a lot of trauma. But, you are a lot safer as an individual when you don't have to enter a crime scene or a burning building or an accident on the side of the expressway. Todd, however, works on the pediatric ambulance team. He sees a lot of very sick kids and it can be really hard. Especially when you have a child of your own. For one, he has to take a shower before he comes home- he gave Ava RSV when she was about a year old. Thank God that's the only thing she's gotten. But another reason, is when he comes home, he just wants to hug Ava close. We are really lucky to have a healthy little girl. There are so many cases he sees where the kids are so sick, or unluckily born to horrible parents. It really makes you appreciate and be thankful for what you have.
So, here comes the story- and if you are a little squeamish, you may not want to read further. Its not gory bloody or anything- just not for the faint hearted. This morning, Todd came home from a really rough night at work. Last night, he had mentioned to me that he had gone on this call and that he had saved a baby, but he didn't really seem like he wanted to talk about it then. There was something about it, I couldn't tell, but it seemed to disturb him. So, I didn't press him about it. But, then this morning, when he came home he seemed like he wanted to vent. So, I asked him about the call. Evidently, he and his partner were called to go to Olympia Fields Hospital to pick up this baby for dehydration and respiratory distress. The baby was a little under 2 years old. They were supposed to transfer him to Hope Children's Hospital. But, apparently, the nurses there had already tried upwards of 6 times to get an IV into this baby. When someone is dehydrated, their veins constrict and its very difficult to get an IV into their veins. They needed to get fluid into him. And you cannot transfer an unstable patient without an IV. You have to be able to get medicine into the patient quickly if they need it. Well, no one could get a line on him. So, there was only one more option. An intraosseous infusion. I had never heard of this. Intraosseous infusion is the process of injection directly into the morrow of the bone. Apparently, if you can get fluid and meds into the marrow, it works even faster than getting it into the veins. The reason it isn't used often is because of the process of starting the IO. To quote Wikapedia "The needle is injected through the bone's hard cortex and into the soft marrow interior. Often the antero-medial aspect of the tibia is used as it lies just under the skin and can easily be palpated and located. Anterior aspect of the femur and the superior iliac crest are other sites that can be used." Basically, in lay mens terms, you have to manually corkscrew this contraption, which is considered the standard IO needle, or use this drill to get the needle through the bone to start the line. They went to this call prepared to do this IO. So, there was Todd, his partner and their pediatric team- the respiratory therapist and a nurse. When they got to the hospital, they tried 3 more times in different places to get an IV. No use. Apparently, the nurses at the hospital and a doctor had tried 4 times to get an IO on this baby, and they were unable to. So, the nurse on Todd's peds team had brought their IO drill, and she decided to try. She couldn't get it into the bone. Todd suggested to use the standard IO needle instead of the drill because the needle on the drill was too small. If the baby straightened his leg out, the needle would pop out. Well, the standard IO has a needle that you can extend. So the nurse said "Ok, you want gloves?" So, Todd thought "Ok, I guess I'm doing this." This poor little baby was so strong. He was crying, but he wasn't hysterical. But they had Todd, his partner, the respiratory therapist, the nurse, two EMT students who were at the hospital doing their rotation, another nurse from the hospital and the doctor all in this room. They helped hold this baby down while Todd began the 5th try at getting this IO. They had already been trying to do it into the femur, so he went for that. Todd is not squeamish, but he does not like someone in pain, and it's worse if he is causing pain. So, when he got to the bone, he was already white, faint and sweaty, but he was determined to get this. He had to get through that bone. So he went to it, twisting back and forth trying to get it into this baby's bone. He said it was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do in his whole career. He had to put a lot of power behind it and he was so afraid he was either going to break the needle, or that baby's femur. But finally, after he got up on his toes and pushed with all he had, he got it in. The room erupted in cheers! Everyone was so excited that he had gotten it in! With the exception of the two EMT students who had inexplicably fled the room and were probably rethinking their career paths. Within about 5 minutes, the little guy was asleep. I don't know if Todd necessarily saved this baby's life, but he came pretty close. If they hadn't been able to get the IO, they would have started a central line (an IV through the femoral vein or the jugular vein- which are both really deep). But they wouldn't have been able to transport him to Hope so he could get the care he needed. Regardless, I think he's a hero. I'm really proud of him for being able to do that. There is no way I could have even been in that room- I'd have probably left with the EMT students, much less do what he needed to do. Todd is very good at what he does. He's a great paramedic and I think his company is very lucky to have him.
So, next time you think of calling a paramedic an "ambulance driver", think of this story. He was able to do what a doctor and a couple nurses were unable to do. I think that calls for a better title. "Paramedic" will work just fine.