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An eventful ambulance ride home for Grandma

10 Comments

They checked my grandmother out of the hospital today… TWICE.

Apparently the EMTs got her home, and then checked her pulse and stuff and thought “Geez, we gotta get this lady back to the hospital!” So they did.

Her doctor checked the same stuff, and said “no, that’s pretty much normal for her.”

So back home she went.

I think she’s like a zombie or something, but she’s pretty cheerful to be Undead.

10 thoughts on “An eventful ambulance ride home for Grandma”

  1. Pulses are funny things

    My Aunt was taken to the hospital twice by EMTs because of a high pulse. Turns out that she’s…well she’s just got a high pulse. The second time she was rolled in the door on a wheelchair the emergency nurse looked at her, smiled, and asked “Pulse?” to the EMT. He responded with “Yeah, it’s (whatever), she needs..” the nurse looked at my aunt and said “You can go home. Sorry.”

    I’m glad your grandma’s doing well. I hope this is the last scare of its type for a long, long, long time.

    Cornan

    1. Re: Go Zombie Grandma!

      … which, by the way, would make an excellent name for a rock band. Or a cartoon character.

      Yeah, pulse is one of those things they train us EMTs to use as a leading indicator. One of the guys I run with has, naturally and oddly, no pulse in one arm and an extremely low one in the other. We use him during training to see if new recruits are making up their readings.

      1. Re: Go Zombie Grandma!

        My sister only has high blood pressure at moments of stress…like when she’s about to have her blood pressure checked….

        Good for Grandma!

      2. Re: Go Zombie Grandma!

        I was the test case in my EMT class for undetectable pulses and blood pressures. My BP runs about 90/60, so my pulse is pretty much the textbook definition of “thin and reedy.” The instructor would say “if you feel that in a patient, he probably needs to be transported. Unless it’s Carolyn. Hope you never need nitro, Carolyn.” My instructor was funny, or so he thought.

        1. Re: Go Zombie Grandma!

          Funny, that’s about what my blood pressure runs too. Nurses who haven’t taken my pressure before will glance at me with this little concerned look until I assure them that’s normal for me.

          My pulse seems to be just fine. It’s trying to put needles into veins for blood draws that is a real “joy”.

          1. Re: Go Zombie Grandma!

            For the longest time, my blood pressure ran about 95/65 to 100/65. Nurses would look at me funny. It got significantly higher for a long time after my accident, but is back down to the 105/70 range now.

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