So, I had to go and mention "major disasters" in yesterdays entry. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I really should know better'n that by now.
I got to bed about midnight, and I got the call at 00:50; MVA, two code reds, multiple injuries, multiple CT scans needed.
I made pretty good time, hitting the clock at 01:03. Sherry hadn't taken any films on one of the guys yet, and I helped her get a difficult projection on the other one... head injury people can be quite difficult to work with. This guy was pretty wild, but controllable.
The other patient, also a head injury but with multiple fractures, was not responsive at all, and hadn't been since the medics got to the scene... wherever that was, I didn't get any of the details. The second guy was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle.
The ED doc decided to get the CT exams before the x-rays, a reversal of the normal procedure. The head CT told us all that we needed to know: the guy was brain-dead. Most of the normal brain markings were obliterated by swelling and blood.
Unfortunately, the CT scanner chose this time to quit. Right in the middle of the head scan, dammit. Luckily, I was able to continue after some delay and some manipulations with the computer. The body scan showed multiple instances of internal injuries and spinal fractures, not that that diagnosis made any difference.
Wear those damned seat belts!
I got him finished up and started on the combative guy. He was a trip, and I don't mean that in a nice way.
People with brain injuries are almost always vulgar and violent and threatening and very angry at the people around them. Yeah, we do understand that it's not personal, but after the hundredth time of being called motherfucker it kinda gets to me. I just grit my teeth and keep on working... knowing that this guy is probably one of the nicest people that you could ever meet before this head trauma.
Or maybe not. But it doesn't matter.
The guy had a major scalp laceration... major. Half of his scalp was loose, and it would flap around when he raised his head to yell at us.
Anyway, the scanner worked very well up until I made the injection for the chest/abdomen/pelvis scan. Then it just didn't work.
So I frantically pushed buttons until I finally got it to work... about three minutes after the injection. Not an optimal exam, not at all.
Anyway, this guy will live... he had no major injuries at all, aside from the concussion and the scalp laceration. He was wearing a seat belt, of course. It's unknown which one was driving.
I cut out about 03:15 or so, and now I need to get some sleep. I took that plastic off of my window yesterday, but I don't think that the light will bother me any, and even if it does, I wanted to get up and get some stuff done anyway.
Well, damn... I just talked to Sherry (I'd called her about something that I'd left undone) and she told me that there were two more kids (these guys were in the 20-30 year-old range) that were dead at the scene... ejected. Damned dumb-ass kids who think that they'll live forever, they don't need seatbelts! Their macho will be buried with them... but there's still plenty of that stuff around.
13:54...
And I feel pretty damned good, too, finally!
Howsomever... the wind is blowing, way too much for me to be spraying my weeds. I suppose that I should divert my energies to doing something else around the house... but such is not my mindset. My disappointment in not being able to kill weeds has sapped my enthusiasm for anything else.
Except, of course, for sitting here and reading. Atheism stuff, of course. If you're interested, go here (http://home.att.net/~j-buckner/no.html) and here (http://www.jhuger.com/kisshank.mv) and even here (http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/opinion/athop.shtml) and especially here (http://www.ffrf.org/lfif/theologian.html).
I slept until 11:30, in spite of the sunlight streaming in through my window.