The Nurse is with the patient.

The tones went off and as we ran to the engine the locution (electronic dispatch voice) gave the address. We knew right away it was the health clinic. I’m always amused at going to the clinic and having doctors and nurses give me reports on patients and expecting me to make them better. Aren’t you the doctor? In the rig, my captain read off the call info from his MDC saying we were responding to a 45 year old male with chest pain and that a nurse was with the patient. When we got our update from the live dispatcher she stated again that “a nurse is with the patient”.

When we arrived at the clinic there was no one to greet us, I guess the nurses were all with patients. We stood in the waiting area, three firemen with all our medical gear, surrounded by potential patients not sure who we were there for. Someone finally came out of the hall and directed us to a small examination room where our patient sat holding his left arm and looking very uncomfortable. And there was a nurse with him. The nurse proceeded to tell us that the patient had chest pain and is Spanish speaking only. I asked the nurse if she spoke Spanish and she said “No. Do you want an interpreter?” I could only think of the old Mad Magazine section entitled Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions but held my tongue. Thank god the nurse was with the patient.

A Spanish speaking nurse came in and served as interpreter. Why she wasn’t with the patient from the get go I don’t know. We ran a 12 lead ekg to rule out serious cardiac issues and treated the patient with aspirin, nitro, and oxygen bringing his pain down from an 8 out of 10 to a 4 out of 10. He was looking considerably better when the ambulance took him away and we bid him Adios. We didn’t see the nurse again.