Cool little things...

One of the cool things about my course right now is that I'm backwards diagnosing some of my old patients...

Boy with big floppy ankle? Oh - he had a Potts fracture! Lovely old lady with Angina? Unresponsive to her sublingual spray and duration of pain makes that a possible AMI (and makes me very happy I called the ambulance!). Carpal spasm? Hypoventilation due to drug use!

You get the point...

Looking back on most of the patients I don't think I'd have done anything differently back then... which is a good thing I think... Doing it now, I'd do a lot more - but only because now I have that extra training, knowledge and resources I'd be more confident in my treatments. There were times when I wished I could administer advanced pain relief, confidently read an ECG or even just move the patient in some circumstances - none of which I was legally allowed to do with St John.

I guess my point today is this; from here on in I'll get to do all of the cool little things that make big differences in patient comfort and outcome...


Until of course I go up the next training scale and look back again!