Heart Condition Part XXV
This friendly environment and atmosphere that everyone was trying to portray still had an underlying nervousness about it since a life was at stake. The scene of normalcy while the ambulance crew began their report and transfer process of a patient procedure was a work of art and was completed without any hitches. With my experience in the medical field I had witnessed this scene probably a thousand times and each one of the patients that I saw leave the facility deemed more serious than me, so why was I being treated in like manner? I had no idea of just how close I came to have drawing my last breath and I would not find that out until later that evening and that is why medical professionals should treat all patients with the utmost of care and dignity at all times.
After their report from the nurses the ambulance crew asked if I was ready to head north and I looked at them and smiled and said “I guess so, if you insist.” I started to get out of my bed and two pairs of hands immediately grabbed a hold of me to assist my bed transfer. I looked in both directions and then curtly said “really?” They did not remove their hands and continued their assistance with me from the bed to the gurney. So, in my defiant attitude as I approached the gurney, I jumped onto it and then turned and placed my head onto the pillow that was waiting for my head. I did not receive any comments as I raised my feet up to their requested position and almost immediately I heard a snap of a buckle across my legs. I was now trapped on the gurney and not going anywhere until my destination.
Another buckle soon wrapped around my waist which was the final seal of transport system. Next came all of the heart monitor equipment and it was placed on the foot of my ride. The gurney was then raised up by the two ambulance crew members and then my head was raised up and I was placed into a sitting position for the ride out of the hospital. My doctor came into the room for a final listen to my heart and chest which was followed by a few questions about how I was feeling. As I was answering him the same listening procedure was accomplished by one of the ambulance crew members, which was not unusual and considered normal protocol immediately before departure. The charge nurse came into the room with my chart and handed it to the other ambulance person and he placed it on my lap. The charge nurse then leaned over and hugged me and told me to behave myself and to get back to work soon.
The paramedic on staff then received the final ok for my departure from the charge nurse and the wheels were unlocked and the ambulance crew members assumed their positions at each end of the gurney. I was asked if I was ready and I replied “yes” and with that the wheels began to move and I was on my way to another “fun and exciting” hospital experience. As the gurney reached the doorway the wheels hit the edge of the carpet and a slight bump occurred as the gurney reached the hallway carpet; the back wheels soon gave the same bump and I was out of my room and headed down the hall. As I passed the nursing station I was received with many goodbyes and good lucks from all of the staff members which every single one of them were my friends as well, which made things a bit hard for me as I was wheeled down the hall.
Since it was mid morning on Tuesday, the halls were bustling with hospital personnel and almost every one of them stopped the gurney and gave me hugs, prayers and well wishes which touched me very deeply. We eventually weaved our way through the people and I turned into the hallway that led to the outside where the ambulance leaves with transfers. This was when my gurney was positioned in such a manner that my head was placed in front, in other words I was rolling backwards. As we wheeled down the hall I passed the large American flag that one of the doctors received when his Navy unit left Okinawa, Japan during the Iraq War, it was always a sight that brought chills to me and a remembrance of the first Gulf War back in 1990 in which the USAF base that I was stationed at participated in.
The time clock was the next feature that caught my eye and for a second the thought of never having the opportunity to slide my badge through its grip crossed my mind. This thought was enhanced as we passed the kitchen’s back door and my eyes turned on the next door which was the morgue. Everyone had to pass the morgue if they used this door since it was the last thing that one passed when they left and it was the first thing that they passed when they came to work, very symbolic in my opinion; one cannot escape death no matter the path that you take. And since I was travelling backwards my feet were the last to leave the building. All the time I was hoping that this area of the hospital would not be the last thing I ever saw of the place that I called my place of work.
The doors opened and the wheels of the gurney once again crossed the threshold of the door with a few bumps and then rolled onto the concrete. Nothing exciting occurred from the time the hospital doors closed until we reached the ambulance which was approximately ten yards from the door. We passed a few patients smoking at the smoker’s bench burning their lungs and we then stopped about four feet from the ambulance. The EMT which was leading let loose of the gurney and walked to the doors of the ambulance and opened them. He moved out of the way and the paramedic at my feet then pushed the gurney up to the ambulance and as it reached the entrance of the ambulance a set of clamps locked onto the gurney and by then the second ambulance crew member had reached the back of the gurney and together the two EMTs pushed the gurney into the ambulance via a fixed track that was on the floor of the ambulance.
The gurney continued its course until the end of the track was reached and when this occurred a lock was then fastened to the front of the gurney. I was not going anywhere unless I physically unbuckled myself from the gurney and since my bodily functions were hooked up to bells and whistles that possibility was not going to happen anytime soon either. The paramedic then took his place beside me and began to place all of the necessary solutions and monitors in their appropriate places. Mark then asked me if I was ok and ready to go in which I replied “yes.” The back doors to the ambulance then closed and slapped as a symbolic gesture of closure.
It took a few seconds for him to walk around to the driver’s side but he then opened the driver’s side door and jumped into the seat. I heard the sound of the seatbelt snapping into place and then he turned back and asked if we were ready to depart. Mark said “yes” and then the driver asked me if I was ready as well but did not wait for my answer but told me to relax and that everything would be ok. I was at the mercy of these two guys and even though I had never been inside their ambulance before I felt completely safe and comfortable with their care for me. I had worked with these guys for a couple of years now and knew their voices and tones and with this information all of us that were in the ER listening to their report could tell exactly what the condition of their patient was currently experiencing. They were a great team and they worked extremely well together.
I then heard the driver pick up the radio mike and called dispatch. Dispatch promptly answered and he then proceeded to inform them that we were pulling out and headed to Grand Junction. This was a standard procedure just to inform every medical and emergency operation that this ambulance crew was out of service until further notice. I heard the mike click back into its holding position and then I felt the jerk of the transmission switching from park to drive. I was now on my way to the next step of my heart adventure.
I could not help but think about how I felt about riding in the back of any moving vehicle. I was actually concerned about the fact that for many years when I did ride in the back I got sick and I really did not want this to happen in front of my friends, my pride coming out again I guess but still it was a thought in my mind to which I never revealed to them nor did I reveal it to them the messy way either J
While we were leaving the parking lot Mark began to hook me up to all of the monitors, bells and whistles. The ED called over the intercom to make sure all was ok and a prompt response from Mark stated that everyone was in good condition. Mark then hung my IV fluids on the wall and once again I felt like I was tied into a box with no escape, but that was ok since I continued to trust those that were actually in control of my current situation.
As stated above I had worked with these people for a while now and it was very common for me to be standing in the ED waiting for them to unload a patient and wheel that patient into the ED for treatment. I had become used to this procedure and all of us functioned together as a well oiled machine, so to speak. Up until this time I had not even given it a thought about me being the patient and playing a different role in their transport process. I had been inside of an ambulance to look around or to help place a patient into the back of the ambulance but never a patient. This experience of mine was one that put me into the patient’s position and not as a worker. It was a surreal moment for me when I realized this concept and it was one of the events that made a difference in my life and placed me into a closer engagement with the patient’s that I would serve in the future, or hope to serve I thought.
DLB
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