Being a level 1 trauma center and a major regional hospital, we see a lot of trauma patients cross through our doors. We see everything from car accidents, stabbings and gunshot wounds to falls and simply broken bones. Some are more serious than others. Some have more interesting stories behind them. Never a dull moment in the emergency department!
I recall one evening we were told to expect a male patient who was involved in an accident with a side-by-side all-terrain vehicle. It was a busy night for traumas, as it is often. Reading the notes from the attending who accepted the patient transfer, it simply said “male involved in ATV accident, was thrown from the vehicle”. Not out of the ordinary. We get a lot of ATV accidents during our trauma season.
The patient arrived as a level 2 trauma - meaning serious injury with stable vital signs.
The team was in the trauma bay, prepared for anything they were brought. The trauma attending and junior were present, as were the ED physicians, nurses and myself as the paramedic. For all level 1 and level 2 traumas, we have the entire team, as described above, all dressed in blue plastic gowns with gloves, eye protection and hair covering (I was wearing my favorite scrub cap - black and white flames).
The patient rolled in on a stretcher with the flight crew attending. As always, the patient is asked to state their name in order to assess their airway (if they can talk, their airway is open and protected). The patient stated his name and we proceeded to move him to the bed.
Once on the bed, the next step is for the paramedic to get a blood pressure, while the rest of the team remove all of the patient's clothing and perform an initial assessment. Once the patient had been stripped and assessed, the flight crew gave a report of what happened.
The patient was apparently speeding around in his new ATV, showing off to family, when he lost control and it rolled over. The patient was thrown from the vehicle as he neglected to wear his seatbelt.
The patient’s vital signs were stable, but he had a few broken bones. Following the full assessment, I rolled the patient on the stretcher to our CT scanner to confirm his injuries. On the way the patient proudly told me what happened - he said he was trying out his new ATV, got it up to nearly 80 mph and rolled it. Why that would be something to be proud of I don’t know, but I guess you had to be there. Luckily for him he didn’t have any life-threatening injuries, but he was pretty beaten up.
Moral (or morals) of the story: don’t drive your ATV at full speed without your seatbelt on, or better yet, don’t drive your ATV at full speed!!
Car-surfing - I don’t recall if it was the same day or not, but the expects list showed a transfer for a motor vehicle accident. Reading the notes from the accepting physician, it merely stated the patient was car surfing and was injured. Why a grown man would purposely stand on top of a moving vehicle to “surf” is beyond me, but I’m sure it was one of those “hold my beer and watch this” situations. Again the patient escaped serious injury, but he should have learned a great lesson - don’t stand on top of a moving vehicle!
Will people ever learn? Never. That’s why we have emergency rooms and why we stay very busy during the trauma season.