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

Vuvuzelas.....again.

My husband is a Golf freak.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining! I find great joy knowing that he enjoys something so much! There are worse things he could do to fill his time.

Occasionally I have been known to go out onto the course for a round or two but since my MVA that has not only stopped me from doing hospital nursing - it has stopped most strenuous activities that I used to love to do including weight lifting and golf. 

It is discouraging when you have once been able to hit a golf ball near 200 yards, and now, because of the shoulder injury, it is all you can do to get it a hundred feet. Not fun.  Also, I can only do 9 instead of 18.  I can still enjoy the 19th hole though.

Like I said, I would never deny my husband the happiness he gets from golfing. Or from watching golf.

So I hear this familiar buzzing sound emitting from the tv....almost as bad as when the Soccer was in it's prime a month ago.....Vuvuzelas!

Coming around the corner, I expect to see a soccer match, but NO...it is a Golf Game!

Apparently the Senior's tournament is being held near Seattle, and the sound is -

  airplanes!   The course is situated near a small airport and the small planes are buzzing about, trying to view the game in progress.

I would almost like to be listening to vuvuzelas because at least they thought to mute the sound at the station level.

It's A Small World

Speaking of "small world"......

Throught the years, my parents have done volunteer work for several non-profit organizations - working for the improvement in living conditions in various countries around the globe. They would leave for months on end. My dad worked in the construction end of things while my mom would do garden work, painting, cooking - or knitting sweaters and slippers - even caring for sick children (in a capacity of an experienced mother who had had 5 children, in the absence of medical personnel) while in those other countries.


( The plane [photo above] that flew mom into the little village [photo below] in the middle of the jungle in South America - Suriname. Quite brave of her, and definitely not something I would do!! )

I will relate to you the following vignette, which is almost unbelievable, realizing there are 6.8 billion people in the world. Although, knowing all the places around the globe my folks have visited, and all the people they have met on these trips, I am not too surprised.


Still, what are the odds?

Neighbors of my folks were on vacation in Ireland. They just happened to stop in at a small town pub in the Middle of Nowhere. It was one of those little-hole-in-the-wall places that has the menu on a chalkboard over the bar. While they were discussing what to eat, a young newlywed couple on their honeymoon from New Zealand sat at a nearby table, and they - listening to their conversation, giggling at their 'accent' - asked where they were from.

"Canada" they generalized, not for a minute thinking that anyone from the other side of the world would know where their Province was, never mind our small town, population 800. The rest of the Conversation went something like this:


"Where in Canada? We have friends from Canada" the couple queried.

"Well, British Columbia...." the folks' friends offered, hoping that sounded familiar.

" British Columbia!? Our friends are from there too! What town?"

"Oh....a small village in the interior.....in “The Great Vineyard Valley" area.

"That's where our friends are from! What town??"

"TeensyTown......" how weird was this...

TeensyTown? But - that is where our friends live! Do you know the XXXXXs (my parents)???

Needless to say, my folk's neighbors were *gobsmacked*. Unbelievable to be standing in a small town half way round the world where they only just happened to stop by chance and running into someone else from half way round the world - and both knowing my parents very well - their paths intersecting....... serendipitously.


It is definitely a small world within the nursing community here in Canada also, and although perhaps not as dramatic as the story above, still amazing. At least, in the West it is. Whenever a new nurse starts out from another Western province or town, more often than not, they will discover that one of their new colleagues knows - or has a mutual acquaintance from - either their nursing school, or a former hospital, or friends in another town. There is no getting away from it.

When I moved back from California to a whole different Canadian city and hospital than which I started out my career, I found myself working with a former classmate from nursing school and a former co-worker from the first hospital I worked in - plus several other nurses who knew people I worked with in the past.
In every hospital I worked in thereafter, there was always someone who knew - or worked with people I knew. You can't get away with much in this neck of the woods. I guarantee it. It always catches up to you. At my present job, one of my colleagues is a nurse I worked with in Seattle. Small world.

This does create a blogging problem.
I am limited to how much I can say on my blog about my present nursing job. When you are dealing with reduced numbers in population (34million est Canadian pop. vs 309 million est USA pop.) – there are always too many identifying markers when telling a story, no matter how much you try to anonymize. There just isn't enough people here to fade into the woodwork.
So, that’s why you won't find much on here about my current nursing job - except for slight mentions. I quite like my job.....it's almost like *not working* - the days I am working at home - so I don’t want to jeopardize it in any way at all - because most employers do care about what you as their employee talks about if you identify them as your employer....since they usually feel it is a reflection on their business. Unfortunately, with the Government as my employer - there isn't going to be much opportunity to choose another.



Yep. Sure is a Small World.