General Medical issues thread

[VPS]

Arriving at Glenrose, my regular shopping centre, this afternoon I entered and noticed a woman lying unceremoniously on the padded bench in the middle of the concourse 30m away. Two or three people were with her and my initial reaction seeing her lying on her back was 'She's drunk'. Nontheless as I approached the people with her were still not doing anything and I appraoched and asked if she was ok. They indicated they just found her lying there. As I looked over her she was conscious but her eyes were darting side to side and she looked scared. I assure her she was going to be alright and that we would look afte her. Initially I thought she was not able to talk but when I asked her name she was able to tell me. She did not know how she came to be lying there. I asked one of the other attendees to call an ambulance and as she was breathing and was able to talk I progressed to asking her name, any contact we could call etc. Her colour came back a biut but she asked to sit up and when she did so she got light headed again and we had to lay her down again. She seemed to shake a bit and was uncounscious for a minute or two. When on denture fell out onto the floor I rolled her on her side in case she choked on the other denture. When I asked she mentioned she was on pred for 4 days for sudden hearing loss. How much, 60mg? I don't know if this perhaps made her a little susceptible to induced diabetes (temporary) but I mentioned it to the ambos when they arrived 25 minutes later. She had a pacemaker implanted 6 weeks ago, maybe it needed tuning? So many veriables. Anyway I didn't actually have to do any first aid other than reassure her on the initial contact which made her ask if I'd stay with her until the ambos arrived. Maybe her BP was just low. I think it made a big difference to her simply being reassured. I called her daughter who arrived shortly before the ambos so at least the family are involved now. Anyway, that is my good deed for the month even if I did not have to actually save a life. Phew.

Well done. So many other people would’ve just ignored it and thought maybe she was drunk or high. Pat on the back.

 

[drron]

Simply being there is a great help.

 

[Quickstatus]

I always encourage people to do a basic life support course.

The elements of basic life support are:

D : Danger. Make sure there is no immediate danger
R: Response. Check if patient responds - essentially conscious or unconscious
S : Send for help. Call 000 and or recruit bystander help
A: Airway
B: Breathing
C: Circulation

Seems to me @prozac you did
D: you perceived she was on a bench. It is important to initially observe the surroundings. Other people also are there so the situation does not pose immediate danger

R: you asked her name and was able to quickly assess she was conscious but you also observed there was a period of unconsciousness.
S : send for help. You asked someone to call 000. Never be afraid to get bystander help
A: you rolled her on her side when you thought she was unconscious and thought her airway might be compromised

B and C: If someone is talking the breath are circulation are assured. If someone is unconscious there are simple ways to determine breathing g and circulation.

Looks to me @prozac, you did just fine.

There are Basic life support courses near you. A simple google search brings up Accredited CPR course providers. But once you do one, it makes sense to do recurrent training - Just like pilots do recurrent SImulator training.

 

[prozac]

I always encourage people to do a basic life support course.

The elements of basic life support are:

D : Danger. Make sure there is no immediate danger
R: Response. Check if patient responds - essentially conscious or unconscious
S : Send for help. Call 000 and or recruit bystander help
A: Airway
B: Breathing
C: Circulation

Seems to me @prozac you did
D: you perceived she was on a bench. It is important to initially observe the surroundings. Other people also are there so the situation does not pose immediate danger

R: you asked her name and was able to quickly assess she was conscious but you also observed there was a period of unconsciousness.
S : send for help. You asked someone to call 000. Never be afraid to get bystander help
A: you rolled her on her side when you thought she was unconscious and thought her airway might be compromised

B and C: If someone is talking the breath are circulation are assured. If someone is unconscious there are simple ways to determine breathing g and circulation.

Looks to me @prozac, you did just fine.

There are Basic life support courses near you. A simple google search brings up Accredited CPR course providers. But once you do one, it makes sense to do recurrent training - Just like pilots do recurrent SImulator training.

Thank you QS. I have done many First Aid courses (in my previous occupation) and CPR through the surf club, but not for a few years, so I was concerned about being a bit rusty. I admit I was very relieved when I leant over her and her vital signs were apparent.
Even rusty some things stuck with me. It is very important to do these courses when you have the opportunity.
Even more important is when you find someone who is in distress you need to put your reservations about your capabilities aside and do something to help. You will never save anyone if you do nothing.

 

[Quickstatus]

reservations

Many people think that mouth to mouth is icky - and it is. So they baulk at doing any CPR.

However even if you can't do M2M you can still do chest compressions. It's is much better than nothing

 

[Pushka]

Many people think that mouth to mouth is icky - and it is. So they caulk at doing any CPR.

However even if you can't do M2M you can still do chest compressions. It's is much better than nothing

I'd never do mouth to mouth even though I know how to do it unless it was someone well known to me. Chest compressions - the info on that seem to change frequently. Now it's supposed to be much more rapid than when I was taught. And maybe crack a rib hard?. Unless that's changed again.

 

[tgh]

For a very long time I carried a miniature respiratory interface in a tiny bag on my car keys, it finally fell off
Time to buy another and do a refresher course..

 

[Quickstatus]

Now it's supposed to be much more rapid than when I was taught. And maybe crack a rib hard?. Unless that's changed again.

Stayin Alive

CPR Songs

Might crack a rib or more - yes

I'd never do mouth to mouth even though I know how to do it unless it was someone well known to me.

And people should never be criticised for not doing M2M

 

[prozac]

Stayin Alive

CPR Songs

Might crack a rib or more - yes

I like to use Another One Bites the Dust.

 

[prozac]

Question for the docs. Lady told me she had been taking Prednisone for 4 days to treat sudden hearing loss. When I asked how much, thinking she'd say around 5mg, she told me it was 60mg. I asked if she was taking any insulin during this time and she responded in the negative. Could the pred cause low BP? The local pharmascist came out to help with a cuff and posrtable BP machine which initially showed her BP was low (in the 90s). I made a point of mentioning the pred to the ambos but they seemed to discount it.

 

[andye]

Question for the docs. Lady told me she had been taking Prednisone for 4 days to treat sudden hearing loss. When I asked how much, thinking she'd say around 5mg, she told me it was 60mg. I asked if she was taking any insulin during this time and she responded in the negative. Could the pred cause low BP? The local pharmascist came out to help with a cuff and posrtable BP machine which initially showed her BP was low (in the 90s). I made a point of mentioning the pred to the ambos but they seemed to discount it.

Pred will raise BP if anything, though you can get a very low BP if on steroi_s for more than 2 weeks and stop suddenly

Good thinking about asking about insulin

 

[hydrabyss]

Question for the docs. Lady told me she had been taking Prednisone for 4 days to treat sudden hearing loss. When I asked how much, thinking she'd say around 5mg, she told me it was 60mg. I asked if she was taking any insulin during this time and she responded in the negative. Could the pred cause low BP? The local pharmascist came out to help with a cuff and posrtable BP machine which initially showed her BP was low (in the 90s). I made a point of mentioning the pred to the ambos but they seemed to discount it.

As far as I know it increases blood pressure. I have been taking prednisone for over a year now and I started on 50mg/day and I remember the first day was rough and I felt very dizzy and light headed,. Luckily only lasted the first day.

 

[prozac]

Pred will raise BP if anything, though you can get a very low BP if on steroi_s for more than 2 weeks and stop suddenly

Good thinking about asking about insulin

When she fainted the 2nd time and her dentures popped out it was like she had a mini-fit for 30 seconds which made me think of diabetes and why I rolled her on her side. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Cossie]

I posted something similar about an incident in Wales a few years ago, then looked for my orininal post, which is below, post from "2016"!

"swimbo (she is an icu nurse) giving first aid to a collapsed volunteer spectator marshal at rally GB. She is the one above the added arrow. Stage delayed by about 1/2 an hour. swimbo thinks it was a seizure of some sort, clenched teeth making it difficult to remove his dentures. I'd been talking to him just before this and he seemed quite ok.
St Johns ambulance (or ambiwlans in Welsh!) came then a motorsport rescue vehicle, which looked like a great piece of kit. We probably will never know the outcome, but we are hoping all is ok. Volunteers are the backbone of motorsport events."