Birthday on Patrol...

Well, yesterday was my birthday. I was dreading this day because, as I said in an earlier post, on your birthday the other patrollers tackle you at the end of the day and put you on a backboard and ski you to the locker room in a toboggan.

But before that happened, in the morning I was skiing down opening one of our trails. Over the radio came a call of a man sliding down River Run on his butt while a woman pink over gray was carrying his skis. So, I called back that I was near and I could check it out. Now at Keystone, there are so many bad skiers that this isn't out of the norm to find. Usually all it is is a taxi to the bottom.

So I skied up asking, "What's up, can I help you?"

The woman is freaking out and the man answers me with slurred words and says, " I can't feel my right side".

Wow....This is when I know something bad is happening. I quickly start asking him questions to find out the extent of his medical. He's 29, healthy, and has never had anything like this happen to him. He's scared, very scared. I get his history, allergies, meds, events. He says he had breakfast at McD's. So I use this to make him laugh. I just keep telling him it has to be the Egg McMuffin he had. He laughs and it calms him down.

At this point I call in the troops. I get on the radio giving my location, patient info, pulse, res, LOC, history and ask for a long board rig and an ER pack and any ALS person on the mountain. I also call for trauma activation (this gets the docs at the clinic ready for my arrival) and I put flights on stand by (this gets the helicopter guy's ready).

At this point other patrollers show up. I get one to put the patient on O's, another to get the rig ready and another to get the back board in place. I knew we need to get him to the clinic quick so he could get clot blocking drugs fast.

I was so proud of my crew, we got him boarded with O's and in the rig (the tobaggan) fast. I skied to the bottom with him and waiting was a Doo to pull me back up the hill to get to the point where I could then ski to the clinic. I skied into the clinic and waiting was the whole staff where they took him and began their work.

I haven't heard how he was but when I last saw him his friends were there and his wife was called and he seemed in good spirits. The clinic was sending him out in a trauma one ambi.

The whole day was crazy busy. For the day I had 1 stroke, 2 knees, 1 wrist, 1 shoulder and 3 taxi's.

All and all it was a good day and what was best is that no one found out it was my birthday and I escaped my back board and rig ride.