Ch. 5 Case Study- Follow Up

Primary Assessment:
Your impression of the patient is of a male in his 40's, injured and alert. He responds fully to all your questions. You assess his radial pulse on the injured hand and find that it's fast, but strong. No blood appears to be dripping, so the bleeding seems to be controlled.

Secondary Assessment:
He shows you that he cut his hand on a blade of a saber saw. You now expose the area, carefully removing the towel. You notice a 3 in laceration across the bottom of his palm. You apply sterile dressing to the wound and bandage it in place.You and your partner obtain a set of baseline vital signs. His blood pressure is 148/86 mmHg. His heart rate is 92 per minute. His respiration's are 14 per minute, full and adequate. His skin color is normal, warm and moist. You take a history, it reveals he is not taking any medications, he is allergic to penicillin and he denies that there was anything abnormal before the accident. You explain to him that he should get the cut looked at and you will transport him. He refuses by saying, " it's bad enough that i had to call you for a dumb mistake." He agrees to ride on the jump seat and you secure him for transport.

Reassessment:
Your partner checks the wound again and everything looks stable. She then radios the hospital: "Columbia, this is Unit 2 in route with ETA of 10 minutes. We have a 46 yr old male with a 3 inch laceration on the right hand caused by a saber saw. The patient is alert and orientated:", she then proceeds with the examination findings, and the care they gave. As you pull up to the hospital you radio dispatch, " Dispatch this is unit 2 arriving at Columbia hospital." Dispatch acknowledges with , "unit 2 at hospital at 1152 hours". Upon arrival you inform staff all of your findings. The nurse takes charge while your partner fills out the PCR. You begin to clean the ambulance. Then you radio, "Dispatch this is unit 2 we are available for assignment". Dispatch replies Unit 2 available for assignment at 1207 hours." Then you start back to base and will radio dispatch when you arrive.