Called 911 twice tonight....

The first call was a woman who lost her balance, fell, and cut her head. Lots of blood, probably needed stitches, but otherwise fine.

The second call was a lady who said she felt really "panicky"...and was otherwise fine, but wanted to get checked out. I think she was just feeling anxious due to making the final move to our facility (and selling her home), and because her family left to go home today.

Now that everyone's been taken care of, emergency contacts have been notified, incident reports written, I find it really interesting that the lady who cut her head open adamantly did not want to go to the hospital while the lady who had no real medical issues (at least not that the paramedic could measure) definitely did want to go.

While I was waiting for the emergency personnel to come for the second woman, the 911 dispatcher told me to just talk to her and keep her calm. We've talked before about my backyard chickens, so I told her about one of my "hens" recently starting to crow, and she was delighted. I also told her that I am hoping to start nursing school soon, and she told me that her granddaughter is a nurse, and that she thinks I will make a very good one. She said that I'm very patient and caring and I have a nice smile. I know it will take a lot more than that, but that's a good start at least :-)

I do have one regret about how I handled the fall and head laceration; I was in a hurry and I didn't grab any gloves to wear, so I couldn't help her hold the gauze to the back of her head. I did help support her back though, so she could lean against my hands instead of holding herself up, because she was getting tired.

I was very impressed, especially watching the lady paramedic communicate with the resident with the cut on her head (and convincing her it would be a good idea to get some stitches). She also took the time to interview me about the second lady's normal behavior and communication, which was relevant to her complaint tonight, and I was glad she asked.