The accident scene was gruesome, with at least two people unconscious and in need of immediate attention. Susan hurried toward one woman, who was bleeding profusely, instantly looking for the source of the blood. “She’s not breathing,” Eric told her, and Susan froze.
She hadn’t lost anyone on the job yet, and she didn’t intend to today. She found a gash in the woman’s side and quickly put pressure on it while Eric began CPR. It looked like the laceration had gone through to an organ or hit a major blood vessel; the blood seeped through her towels quickly.
Eric managed to get a thread of a pulse and wheezing breath. Susan shook her head. “I think she might have a broken rib and punctured lung. I can’t figure it out because I can’t get this bleeding to stop or slow down long enough to check the rest of her.” Eric put the oxygen mask over the woman’s face and began to assess the rest of her injuries.
“That would be my guess too,” he said, coming back to where Susan was trying to pack the wound. “Here, let’s do this together, and then we’ll get a neck brace on her and see if there’s anything else we can do.” It was against procedure, but the woman wasn’t going to wake up any time soon and start moving around. Besides, the woman was barely breathing and her pulse was already so light, they had to stop the bleeding or anything else would be useless.
They managed to slow the bleeding enough to take care of business, and while other paramedics rushed around to take care of other victims, they got the woman loaded into the back of the ambulance. Eric took off with sirens and lights blaring. Susan kept watch over the woman’s vitals, concerned, and when the monitor flatlined, she hollered, “She’s crashing!”
“ETA three minutes!” Eric called from the driver’s seat as he whipped around a corner. Susan reached for the paddles, clearing the woman’s chest and charging. One shock didn’t do it, and the second barely got a bleep on the screen.
“Dammit!” She wasn’t going to lose a patient now, but as she charged for a third shock, she saw the problem. The wound on the woman’s side was gushing again, coming right out of the field dressing and packing they’d applied. “She’s bleeding out!”
“I’m pulling in!” he hollered. She heard him speaking into the radio. “We have incoming, need a crash cart and field sutures right away. Patient is in cardiac arrest and bleeding out, with possible organ damage.”
The victim had already been under for more than two minutes, and Susan dropped the paddles, starting CPR. Maybe she could at least keep enough oxygen flowing to the woman’s brain that she wouldn’t have any permanent damage when she came out of this. Susan had to believe this patient wasn’t going to die on her watch.
The ER team was waiting as they brought her out of the bus and rushed her through the doors into the hospital, Susan and Eric right with them, giving them details on the injuries.
But when they reached the room, she and Eric had to stay behind, and Susan was beside herself with worry. She asked her partner, “Were there enough medics on the scene, or do we have to go back out?”
“There were already four other teams there and two more buses on the way. Most of the injuries weren’t serious. There were only three or four that needed this kind of attention. We’re good for now.” He looked at her, worried. “Are you alright?”
She shook her head and bit her lip. “I don’t think she’s going to make it, and I’ve never lost a patient. I’m not handling this well at all right now.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “She can still pull through, you know. This is a great trauma center, and if that laceration didn’t hit her spleen, she’s probably going to recover.”
But Susan was almost certain it was more serious than that. She appreciated Eric’s attempt to soothe her, but it wasn’t working. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy or concerned that she hadn’t had the opportunity to work on something so serious before. After all, it was traumatic to know that you couldn’t save someone. But at the same time, experience went a long way in dealing with it.
“I’m going to wait around here and see if I hear anything,” he told her. “Why don’t you step outside and get some air?”
She nodded, not knowing what else to do. Once she was out there, she felt alone and useless, and she started to head back in and find a seat somewhere, maybe the cafeteria. But she found herself taking out her phone, which she didn’t usually carry but had snuck into her pocket today. She checked it, finding four messages and even a call from her mother. She decided to give in and check the messages. Her day had already soured. How much worse could it be?