Wow... It does still exist!

So its been a long time since I've posted, almost a year. Must be some type of new record! I have to try to post here more often, I know that I have enough jobs (8) that I should have something to write about!

Yesterday I did a 'stable' patient transfer from our large hospital to one in a smaller community only 45 min away. I have never had the elusive Partner from Hell (PFH) but today... I realized that they are not as rare as I thought.

I got the call from the manager of the small private patient transfer service (and by small, i mean one high top unit) at 1400 that there was an immediate transfer going out of the large center for a patient with idiopathic syncope back to the small hospital since his testing was finished... and by the diagnosis... i'm guessing they don't know what is going on with him...

I tell them i have a dinner date at 1700 with some friends and they say i'll be back in plenty of time... the small hospital is only 45 min away.

I live at the other end of town from the office where the PTU (patient transfer unit) is parked, but yet i make it there in 15 min... i wait for 30 more min for PFH to show up. Now in all fairness, I have never worked with him before, however, things for sure don't get off on the right foot... or the left one for that matter.

We pull out the unit and he tells me that he has to put his car into the bay since he's afraid of something happening to it for a hour and half that we are gone. He tells me that when you spend the kind of money that he does, that you want to take care of it...I expect to see him driving a porche or a Lexus... but no.. he pulls his Saturn Ion into the bay....

As we drive to pick up our patient, I ask him what his level of training is... In Alberta, we have 3, they are EMR (First Responder), EMT(BLS Provider, similar to Primary Care Paramedic, or EMT-I, but with BAID instead of intubation) and Paramedic. He tells me that he's an EMT like I am, fantastic i think! When i ask him how long, he tells me that he wrote his registration exam last weekend... so i correct him and tell him that makes him an EMR until he gets his results back... and inform him of the Emergecy medical aid act and how he can't call himself an EMT until he's registered as one.. (he can actually be fined... so i'm helping him out)

We finally arrive at our patient at 1530, enroute we talk about where we are going, how the best way to get there is, pull out the maps (destination that is, not the hospital) I map out a route for him, confirm that he knows where he's going and he says that he's fine.

I get report on my patient from the RN and told that he had a fainting episode a few weeks ago and came in for cardiac testing... and that he has had sustained runs of V-Tach while in their care. Fan-freaken-tastic! We don't carry a monitor on our transfer car, since we only do BLS transfers, but i konw i would have liked one... She tells me that its fine since the MD discontinued telemetry earlier and they aren't really all that concerned.

We load up, I get my patient comfy with a movie, do a baseline set of vitals and me and PFH are off...

Now its time for him to live up to his name...

As we start to drive out of town, PFH decides to 'drive like ya stole it'... on a transfer... we go from 130km/h to 0 in about 10 feet... 20 times... he's breaking hard enough that the cabinets are sliding open... I go up front and ask him if he has the lights on... or if there's something happening that I don't know about... He tells me that traffic is being stupid and starting and stopping... i tell him to slow down and he'll be able to see traffic. He tells me he has taken his driving course already...

He tosses me around a bit more and we finally get out of the city... me and my patient are slightly nauseated

As we make our way down the highway, I feel we are going REALLY fast.. I peer at the speedometer.. 140km/h... on a highway with a 110 limit... i put on my seatbelt.

I'm thinking we are going way to far out of the way for the exit to the small town, i'll call it small town A... when i hear PFH yell back...

PFH: Hey CC, can you come up here...
CC: Sure, whats up
PFH: Was i supposed to take the Small town B exit??
CC: Well, what else did the sign say
PFH: It said Small Town A, B, and C exit right
CC: Yes, then you should have taken that exit... follow the signs, thats all you have to do...
PFH: I'll take the next one...
CC: There is no next one.
PFH: (realizing he's a idiot), I couldn't get over anyways, the traffic wouldn't let me in
CC: (looking around at the empty highway), if you slow down.. you'll see the exit and have time to move over... goes back to my patient

We end up in Small town D... 80km from the big city. I ensure my patient is stable, no complaints, and poke my head back through the breezeway. I spend the next 20 min doing patient care and navigation... getting my partner to the highway again, and heading towards the right direction. I leave with the direction to follow the signs. This isn't rocket science.

He asks me a few more times on where to turn... I've never been to this hospital before.. but common sense.. not common. We finally arrive at our receiving at 1730...

I'm frustrated, nauseated, and now, late for dinner... all making me unimpressed.

I transfer care while PFH cleans the unit out... I take my time to cool down... so its not such a long drive home.

We start to drive back and i'm navigating every single turn... i'm not taking any chances... we go though small town B... he tells me he's hungry and we need to stop to eat. I let him know that he can grab food but then we are going home. I have dinner plans... he goes into the store and asks how long for pizza to be ready... the lady says 15 min... he says sure... he's in no rush.. i can feel my hand going up to hit him... but i don't

The rest of the trip is pretty unremarkable, because i'm driving and can follow road signs....

I did make it to dinner, late, in uniform, and a bad mood... I think my friends think i'm kinda a jerk... I know i wasn't in the best mood... Stupid PFH