Rather apt title.... I am tired. Fully back on the schedule and my butt is feeling rather kicked. I got out late this morning - pulled into the driveway at 9:00AM - because we got a late call. But I should start with the call we got at a little before 1:00AM this morning: a 58 year-old female that needed to be transported to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston for an orthopedic evaluation to an open distal femur fracture. This was secondary to a fall in her house - local EMS brought her into the ED. No IV, no pain medication, just BLS care. Not necessarily bad, but bad if you're the patient. So Steve, the nurse who gave me report, told me that they'd gotten IV access and given her a total of 50 mg of Demerol for pain prior to our arrival. This was making her nauseous, so he got orders for Morphine, gave her 4 mg of that plus 4 mg of Zofran for nausea. Plus we had to splint her leg, which even after a good slug of pain medication she wasn't happy about. But once the leg was immobilized, she was better....
Anyway, we got down and back by a little before 5:00, and knowing we were going to be getting a call to go to Manchester to take our regular flier to dialysis, we waited for the call. And waited. And waited some more until it was finally toned out at 6:15. Bear in mind that this particular patient needs to be in the chair at 6:00. Needless to say, someone sort of dropped the ball.
This presents a problem: we can't anticipate calls, and we can't question our operations people about stuff like this, so all we can do is get the call done when it is dispatched. And I forgot to mention that our guy wasn't ready when we got there; he was a little bit of a mess (he crapped himself) and he needed to be cleaned up before we could take him. That's not my job; that one belongs to the nursing home staff where he lives. They weren't happy about it, but that one was out of my hands, thank Christ. So we got him there almost 90 minutes late, and we got static from the dialysis center staff as well as from the nursing home staff. I had to write it up when I got back to quarters, and it put me out at 9:00 this morning. Needless to say, I wasn't happy when I left.
On other notes.... November 10 is significant for two things (at least for me): the first is that today is the feast day of Pope St. Leo the Great. He's only one of two Popes that have been given the title "Doctor of the Church"; I believe the other is Gregory the Great. Leo's claim to fame is that he was the reason Attlia the Hun didn't sack Rome when he was on his 5th century European tour to rape, pillage, and plunder. Some of the research I did has accounts of Leo being protected on either side by SS. Peter and Paul. And he did save Rome from being sacked by the Huns. The Vandals did the job years later.
The other significant event of the day is the 231st birthday of my beloved Marine Corps. The following is read annually at every Marine Corps birthday ball held around the world. It is the birthday message of Major General John A. Lejeune, the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. He published the following in 1921 and, as I said, it is still read today. It is as follows:
Anyway, we got down and back by a little before 5:00, and knowing we were going to be getting a call to go to Manchester to take our regular flier to dialysis, we waited for the call. And waited. And waited some more until it was finally toned out at 6:15. Bear in mind that this particular patient needs to be in the chair at 6:00. Needless to say, someone sort of dropped the ball.
This presents a problem: we can't anticipate calls, and we can't question our operations people about stuff like this, so all we can do is get the call done when it is dispatched. And I forgot to mention that our guy wasn't ready when we got there; he was a little bit of a mess (he crapped himself) and he needed to be cleaned up before we could take him. That's not my job; that one belongs to the nursing home staff where he lives. They weren't happy about it, but that one was out of my hands, thank Christ. So we got him there almost 90 minutes late, and we got static from the dialysis center staff as well as from the nursing home staff. I had to write it up when I got back to quarters, and it put me out at 9:00 this morning. Needless to say, I wasn't happy when I left.
On other notes.... November 10 is significant for two things (at least for me): the first is that today is the feast day of Pope St. Leo the Great. He's only one of two Popes that have been given the title "Doctor of the Church"; I believe the other is Gregory the Great. Leo's claim to fame is that he was the reason Attlia the Hun didn't sack Rome when he was on his 5th century European tour to rape, pillage, and plunder. Some of the research I did has accounts of Leo being protected on either side by SS. Peter and Paul. And he did save Rome from being sacked by the Huns. The Vandals did the job years later.
The other significant event of the day is the 231st birthday of my beloved Marine Corps. The following is read annually at every Marine Corps birthday ball held around the world. It is the birthday message of Major General John A. Lejeune, the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. He published the following in 1921 and, as I said, it is still read today. It is as follows:
The following will be read to the command on the 10th of November, 1921, and hereafter on the
10th of November of every year.
Should the order not be received by the 10th of November, 1921, it
will be read upon receipt.
(1) On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental
Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name "Marine". In memory of them it is
fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the
glories of its long and illustrious history.
(2) The record of our corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous
military organizations in the world's history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the
Marine Corps has been in action against the Nation's foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the
Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and is the long eras of tranquility at home,
generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every
corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security.
(3) In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our corps, Marines have acquitted themselves
with the greatest distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term "Marine" has come
to signify all that is highest in military efficiency and soldierly virtue.
(4) This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received
from those who preceded us in the corps. With it we have also received from them the eternal spirit
which has animated our corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of
the Marines in every age. So long as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal
to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will
regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as "Soldiers of
the Sea" since the founding of the Corps.
Happy Birthday, Marines. Semper Fidelis.Powered by ScribeFire.
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