I had to call for an ambulance tonight...

[Reverend_Smitty]

It wasn't for myself or for anything life threatening but I was providing medical coverage for a soccer game tonight when about 10 minutes left in regulation one of my soccer players dropped like a sack of potatoes. I thought by the way she went down she had torn her ACL but when I got out on the field, I found out she was cramping...severely! I was able to get her to the sidelines, have her drink a ton of Gatorade, stretch and massage both legs...no relief what so ever. This poor woman was in agony for a solid 20 minutes while we tried to relieve the cramps, then they expanded from the calf muscles to both hamstrings. At this point the coach and I agreed that we needed to call campus EMS to get this woman some IV fluids. I was under the initial impression that her parents were not at the game, and if I found out earlier that they were there, I might not have called the ambulance and just sent her to the hospital with them...but we had a little bit of miscommunication and found out they were there after I made the call. Still I don't regret my decision because I know she would be treated right away and not sit in the ER in a ton of pain.

It was the first time in my relatively short career that I needed to call EMS and it was actually kind of exciting. It just kind of feels weird to be the one that makes the definitive medical decisions because when I was in undergrad, I always had a superior with me at games to rely on...not any more, the buck stops here!

[fizzgig]

1. good job

i'm glad you were there to help her out

how's grad school treating ya? :hi:

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. School is alright

I have a couple of papers due next week and all my professors seem like good people. I think the most ironic bit about this whole incident is for a class tomorrow night we all have to present a health related topic to the class and I was planning to discuss the National Athletic Trainer's Association's official position statement on fluid replacement. I'm guessing it's something my athlete should have read this afternoon...lol

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. wow! good job!

[PaddyBlueEyes]

4. Watch out for those EMS people

some of them are a little nuts.......

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. I think you *have* to be a little nuts to be an EMT or Paramedic

:P you come across some crazy shit in that job

[PaddyBlueEyes]

6. I am one of those people

LOL