Snakes on A Plane!

Here is another Revamp from May 25th.   Sometimes as Nurses we get to "assist" people outside our workplace.
I wanted to adjust the posting to delete references to what I do now, since I am "laying low" - trying to stay below the radar.  So here you are, one of the stories that I get to tell about being a nurse in the community....."accidental Nurse".  I have several of these stories, so I will start with this one....my third. I will be posting 3 true "accidental Nurse" stories in a row for your amusement.

And sometimes when you are on a plane...SNAKES!

our plane, not the fated Alaskan flight......

OK. I've been blogging about my experiences with Non-Hospital Medical Emergencies so I may as well keep going.

I am sure you have heard about Emergency Calls on flights - you know - those overhead pages that call for any medical personnel - A Doctor - or if no certified MD - A Nurse......and wonder if you would ever get caught?............well. Let me tell you about my experience.

Five years ago my husband and I planned our Wedding. We decided that Mexico was the place to go for our nuptials along with 8 other family members. My husband and I had chosen our seats and made sure that we got the best ones for his viewing pleasure.....and reserved ahead of time to ensure we were sitting together. After all....it was our Honeymoon/Wedding trip.  This was going to be something special.

It is a four and a half hour flight from our departure city to destination. Two hours into the flight - there was That Dreaded Call.

"If there is any Doctor or Nurse in the cabin, Could you please make the flight attendants aware by putting on your call light....thank you."

My husband looked at me. I frown at him and shake my head. Nope. Not gonna do it. Usually there are plenty of Medical Mavericks in the crowd just waiting to do their duty.....I didn't want to get involved. Maybe some other time. But just not this time. Sounds terrible - but really....thirty years into my career, and needing a well deserved rest and finally getting married after 50 years of singleness....I really wanted to pass on it.

Anyway, I am the type to avoid any accident. Even "rubbernecking" past accidents aren't my thing.   My friend Jan actually stops for every single one. She says she doesn't but I don't believe her. Just recently she had to do resus on an MD that was in an accident.  The MD didn't survive....and that is my biggest fear in the situations I run across.

Personally, I think we as nurses/doctors are magnets for stuff like this.  Maybe we are dispersed among the population"just enough" so that when people do something stupid, there is someone nearby that can help them out of their situation.   Maybe our guardian angels play games like drawing straws - a roulette of sorts. The short straw is when we end up being *the one* at the scene of whatever disaster is happening. 

So, a few minutes later, when the announcement came on again, a little more pleading.....guilt got the best of me and I put my bell on. Shit. So much for careful planning.

Secretly, I was hoping and praying someone was in labor. That would be a great one to have. Easy Peasy. Nothing like a mandatory natural birth, just the way we like to do it.....

Nope. No such luck. It was a "cardiac" problem. Chest pain, SOB....... crap. Interestingly enough, there was another RN that answered the call. We compared notes. She was also L&D but she really hadn't worked for a while and also never did cardiac. Ever. So, I was the "short straw" this time. Lucky her - she sashayed back to her seat - leaving me - holding the old bag, so to speak.

I had done some float/telemetry nursing eons back and we did have some cardiac with the high risk L&D unit I worked on.  It was the Triage work that came in handy this time around.

Personally, if I had chest pain out in public - 911 would be a more appropriate call to make -but - on a plane 911 is not an option, and I guess they take what they can get.

Anyway, this lady had a previous history of chest pains but had been recently been ruled out re: any cardiac problems. Now, I know this doesn't really mean much sometimes but at least it was a hope to grasp onto at this point. Meds? Have you ever used nitro? Nausea? Does the pain go anywhere else? Your back?What kind of pain? On a scale of 1 to 10 ?Are you feeling light headed? Dizzy? Is it getting worse? Any worse when you deep breathe or cough or move?Any swelling in your calf - or anywhere in one leg? Have you coughed up blood? BP - check, Pulse - check, chest auscultation - check, diaphoresis - some, palpate chest, assess color ......blah blah blah...the entire history and assessment done in approximately 5 minutes.

She already had O2 on by the time I got to her. I thought of asking for an asa tab for her to chew but thought maybe I had better check with the Docs On the Ground to see what they would prefer since it didn't seem cardiac. Wasn't really sure what the protocols were at 3,000 feet in the air.

The attendants brought the cabin to ground headset and gave me quick instructions on it's use. Got a connection and rattled off the whole assessment in one big breath.

Wow...said the Person on the Ground. Great assessment .......

Me, thinking: Come on guys....lets get going......I have a vacation to get back to.....

crash and burn....story of my life....

Person on the Ground: Give her an asa...yup, thought so.....monitor her for the rest of the flight and we will meet the plane on arrival in Mexico.

What????

At that moment I was wishing that only healthy people were allowed to fly. I stood and stretched, took a look at my husband, alone, sitting in his comfortable first class seat waaaay up at the front - and I waved at him. He smiled and waved back- proud of his nurse wife.    How sweet.   I shrugged at him to let him to let him know how soon I could get back to him - and our wonderful honeymoon vacation.

The attendant: Do you mind sitting next to the patient and monitoring her until we land?

Me: Well...uh ..this is my Wedding/Honeymoon trip.....and my husband is up there.....pointing to my waving husband..........I wanted to make it obvious.

The attendant: Here, ignoring my comment and clearing out the seat next to the lady. Sit here....

So much for the rest of my trip, and my first class seat.  I was denied any alcohol, snacks, my good book, the movie, my personal effects, my husband-to-be and any other comforts I had in my carry on......to watch this woman. I suppose I could have declined, but how would that make me look.....as a nurse???  I shouldn't have worried about that - because when we landed, the plane was cleared and the Medics came aboard. I was basically brushed to the side like a piece of used toilet paper on the bottom of a shoe.

Don't get me wrong......I don't mind being helpful and I didn't expect a free flight out of it. But when I am left at a disadvantage for doing a favor for the airline ESPECIALLY on my honeymoon/wedding trip - and especially when bumped to the back of the bus....I would really appreciate - if nothing else- a THANK YOU. And - would it have killed them to maybe throw in a bottle of wine for our inconvenience?  Or a smile on my way out at the very least?

They made me write down my name and my address on the Medical Notes form next to all the documentation I did, so I know they had all the info they needed to send a simple letter of appreciation - if they wanted. I kept waiting to hear something. But...............

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Thank YOU Alaska Air for ruining my nice flight down.
We haven't travelled on that Airline since.

And next time I hear that overhead page.......it's someone else's turn to pull the short straw.

Or, if I do....I want it to be in a drink with an umbrella......

ahhhhhhhhh....!

Posted by Cartoon Characters at 12:40 AM 7 comments   preserved!

May 26, 2010 7:27 PM  

nurseXY said...

Huh, the flight I ever took was on Alaska Airlines.

Mmmm, warm cookies.

Thanks for taking the short straw!

May 26, 2010 8:42 PM  

AtYourCervix said...

I'm grateful that nothing like that has happened on the (many!) flights I've taken. Although, to be honest, I wouldn't mind helping out fellow man. But it would be easier if it was just a baby being born. Cardiac stuff? Yeah, ok, sure......ground control? Come in ground control!

May 28, 2010 7:00 AM  

A Nurse said...

Yes, I agree, don't mind helping out fellow man, but this woman was quite disagreeable....so on a supposed honeymoon trip plus days off....didn't make for a very pleasant time...then to have the staff abandon me...and not even allowing my husband moved...not that he wanted to - as he was perfectly happy up front...... I have to admit - it didn't ruin my whole vacation ;) - but it makes for a good story, and that's what blogging is all about, right? :)

May 28, 2010 8:02 AM  

A Nurse said...

Random thought: I wonder why birth of a baby rates so much higher than cardiac, when birthing is usually an easier thing to do (at least for me!) You always see people interviewed after a baby is born on a plane, not so much cardiac problems unless you are a celebrity.
Since youcan't fly if you are getting close to the due date...most babes born will be premie...but if they are over 32 wks...I would be ok with that...oh - and a female because they do so much better statistically speaking than males....

Nurse  XY: your turn next time! :)

May 28, 2010 8:08 AM  

nurseXY said...

haha, and btw, that would be, "the BEST flight I ever took"...

May 28, 2010 5:32 PM  

A Nurse said...

ya, ask for alcohol to "sanitize" yourself.... ;) and make sure u repeat q1h.........hahaha!!

May 28, 2010 8:59 PM

OMG: I have been a nurse in 5 decades!

Holy cow.  Or as my uncle (may he rest in peace) -  always said "Holy Mackerel!"

I can't believe that!  When did I get this old?  Where did the time go? WTFlip????

It was just yesterday that the first blush of nursing took hold of me.....and I was afraid of killing patients.  Now I just want to get through the day without killing myself.   Funny how the old body just decides to turn on me.  I used to run relays and was the Interior Provincial Javelin throwing champion. I hiked up mountains, biked where I wanted to go and walked miles and miles.....

It could be worse. At least I have all my faculties about me.  The neurons are synapsing in an orderly fashion - for me, anyway.

I was just having this convo with my Nurse Cousin from Texas.....

When I was a young thing, I used to wonder how the old people I looked after couldn't see all those hairs growing off their nose or out their nostrils or ears,  the extra huge eyebrows that were never plucked and wondered how they didn't know there were growths coming out of their face......you know, all that grooming that needs to be kept up with.....

And now, with the help of my 25X mirror.....I *know* why......

They couldn't see anything up close.  Glasses can only do so much.  When it comes right down to it....ya really need a 25X mirror to see everything .....

And..... Holy Mackerel.  FIVE DECADES...............

Where's that glass of wine.......???????

YEARS of NURSING...

I was going through some old drawers and boxes today....and found this stack of date books.

They basically represents my career as an RN. I think I am only missing one year...and that is because it was on an *actual* BIG calendar, as opposed to a diary-book calendar. Count them. 19. Most are 2 year calendars and some are one year calendars.

I can thumb through them and see where I was on whatever day for the last 30 years. Amazing isn't it?

That all those years boil down to 19 books. Oh. And that doesn't include this years book. That is 5 decades! =^@

What it doesn't show is all those years of caring for people...hours spent worrying about their well being - miles of running up and down hallways, countless medications given out, numerous IV's hung, over 6,000 babies delivered, a billion MD orders - well - everything an RN does in a day. Or a night.

Some years were better than others. Some were washes. But I can say, I did learn a lot and did a lot in all those years. Geriatrics, Rehab, Medical, Surgical, Store Nurse, L&D, Gyne, Nursery, Psychiatry, Telemetry, Camp RN, Travel Nursing, Prison Nursing, Triage RN,Float RN, Board of director for Non-profit Seniors Assisted Living... all that packed into 19 little date books. Or 30 some odd years- whichever way you want to look at it.

I don't know why I keep them. Maybe because they are like a diary of what the biggest part of my life was....or is. I probably spent more Christmases and more holidays and more birthdays and more special times with colleagues and patients than with my own family. There are little notes here and there of things I did....travelling backpacking in Europe. Twice. A dozen or so odd trips to Hawaii. More than that to Mexico. More moves than I can count - approximately Seventeen? - within 2 different countries, with 7 homes purchased and 7 Canadian and 5 American hospitals worked in.

I Lost count long ago - of the boyfriends I dated and the friends I left behind and the roommates that moved on. But even though they are a record of the past....it's the present that means more to me.

So - was it all worth it? I think so. Although I had my misgivings many times over the years, what I chose as a career (although I didn't really ever consider it a career since it was supposed to only be temporary) made me who I am today - and I quite like where I am at the moment.

But given the opportunity to leave it for good - would I? You bet. But, for now, it is difficult to let go of what has been a major part of one's life.

And so I hang on to that dusty little pile of elastic-bound date books. And every once in a while.....I flip through them and smile........

Personal Pain Management

I was sitting in the hot tub this afternoon, soaking in the ambiance....watching the light breeze rustle the palms in our back yard (yes, we can grow palms in Western Canada- outside!) and the flowers around the yard....enjoying the hazy afternoon sunlight reflecting off the panes of glass.....

.....and I realized....NO PAIN!

I hadn't taken anything for pain since I started with the twice per day use of the hot tub we bought a couple weeks ago~! It's a miracle in itself that I am not taking anything ( tried celebrex, arthrotec, Mersyndol -stayed away from outright narcotics) but it is even more of a miracle that I forgot to take anything!

I had been in two rear-ender MVAs in the last 10 years. In 2001 I was sitting at a stop light waiting for it to turn green and a woman in one of those HUGE old cars - plowed into the back of me. Distracted with her daughter in the seat next to her - she just wasn't paying attention. After an intensive physio program I was left with only a slight residual shoulder pain - but able to go back to L&D full time.

No sooner had I settled that case - that very month - I was driving along the freeway at lawful speed (100 kmph), once again minding my own business on my way to my Uncle's funeral, when a Mack truck with a tandem and full load hit me from behind and knocked me off the freeway....just missing a concrete abutment on one side and a water filled ditch on the other. I managed to keep the vehicle upright. Angels were present, I am sure of that. I could have been killed.

What it did to me was cause injury to my upper back and shoulders - and after a struggle, and an ill-fated attempt to go back to work, I realized that I couldn't do hospital nursing anymore. Can't do heavy lifting. I was having constant upper back and shoulder pain. I went to Physio, OT , acupuncturist, chiropractor, Registered Massage Therapist....saw my MD for regular cortisone shots and a Surgeon to consult for possible surgery and a Physiatrist for suggestions for rehab.....all said the same thing.

No more hospital work.

It was heartbreaking, but I was lucky to be able to fall back onto a nursing job that is not physically demanding but still nursing. I am even luckier to be able to do it from my home most of the time - since now I am stressed about freeway driving.

So - you can see how amazed I was to discover - I no longer needed anything for pain! The Jets of our spa are incredible. It's only a 3 man spa but it has 2 motors with incredible massage capabilities. Better yet, to use it, I don't have to make an appointment, get dressed up, drive to where it is or share it with anyone else (people soup-ick!). I can use it as soon as I need it instead of waiting until an appointment becomes available.

Ahhhhhh. This is the life. Hydrotherapy - Just what I needed!

Here is a partial view of what I can see from our Spa......