Scene Upon arrival at the residence, you are met at the fron…
Scene Upon arrival at the residence, you are met at the front door by an older adult male who tells you he called EMS for his wife. He leads you to their bedroom, where a 70-year-old, approximately 125-pound female is lying in an adjustable bed with her head raised. Her eyes are closed, but she opens them as you enter the room. Her skin is pale, and you note shallow respirations. Her husband tells you that she has had a cough and fever for about four days, and her PCP recommended that she be seen in the ER. She was too weak for him to assist her up to the car, so he called EMS. The patient is alert and oriented and tells you she has some shortness of breath and pleuritic chest pain in her lower right side. Lung sounds are clear on the left side, with rhonchi heard in the upper right and diminished in the lower right. The pain worsens with deep breaths, and it started a few days ago with a cough and mild fever. She is allergic to penicillin. She takes labetalol for HTN and methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis. Her initial vital signs are BP 138/88, RR 28, HR 92, SpO2 92%RA, EtCO2 55 mmHg, and BGL 100 mg/dL. You initiate treatment by local protocols and prepare the patient for transport. En Route You are a paramedic with an EMT partner in an urban EMS system. You are dispatched to a single-family residence for a 70-year-old female with a fever and difficulty breathing. The call is 08:30, on an early winter day with cold conditions. The closest hospital is 8 minutes away.
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