https://paulnystrom.com/tags/ems/Recent content in EMS on Paul NystromHugoen-usWed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/the-transfer-game/Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/the-transfer-game/<p>If my hospitalist isn’t comfortable keeping the patient or we have no beds or no nurses available to care for them, I start calling larger hospitals that are closest to mine. The main campus of the same health system as my hospital is about an hour away and has essentially all the specialties I could need. They can handle nearly any complicated medical or trauma patient. However, they’re across a state line, which sometimes creates additional challenges.</p>https://paulnystrom.com/posts/my-neurosurgeon/Sat, 10 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/my-neurosurgeon/<p>I was doing a ride-along with a friend of mine who works for a suburban police department. It was a call for an elderly lady with back pain. We were the closest unit and arrived before EMS did.</p> <p>The patient was about 80 years old, lying in her bed fully dressed, simply waiting for the ambulance. She had a history of prior back surgeries and reported that she had “broken rods” in her back. She was scheduled to have another surgery in a couple of months. She had a back brace and her rolling walker at the bedside. She was very calm and reasonable. She did not have any pain at rest, but she said it hurt too much to move, so that’s why she wanted to go to the hospital. There was no report of any new trauma.</p>