April was passionate. If you were in her graces, you knew it. If you pushed the wrong way, you knew that as well.
I can't remember just when this happened, but probably early 2000s. We are working M6 together in Auburn with Ape in charge when we were sent to a lower tier nursing home to see a gentleman in respiratory distress. On arrival we found him not just in distress, but impending failure. He is quite old and wearing a diaper so we began looking for any kind of advance directives, paperwork or even staff that might know his DNR status. Nothing. By now the patient is being ventilated with a bag by the EMTs. April knew the only good treatment option was intubation but also how undesirable that plan was if the patient or family did not want it. She embarked on another search for paperwork. Nothing. So, we intubated him.
We started off toward Auburn ER and she called the Doc. I can't remember his name right now, but he was well known at KCM1 for being a tad grumpy at times. The Doc was not happy with the tube. Ape let him know that we understood but we had exhausted our options and he was near death without respiratory support.
In the ER it got worse. The Doc didn't even let her finish her report before he started chipping about how we don't think about what happens after we leave a patient in the hospital. As far as he was concerned, he now had to clean up the mess we had created. "You can't just intubate without looking for DNR orders." April fired back and I could see her heating up. I pulled the gurney out of the room as they continued "discussing" the issue. I went to the truck, restocked the kits and cleaned up equipment (this is back in the days of washing ET blades, so it took a little bit)
I finished up and went back inside. April and the Doc had taken their chat to the fishbowl and it was clear that it was not going well. He was behind the admit desk saying something I couldn't quite make out. Ape was leaning over from the other side and I could see her face was redder than her hair, which was a poor sign. The argument finished before I got to the desk with her pointing her finger into his chest and speaking in a voice that was heard throughout the ER. "You just need to do your job!!" She spun on her heels and marched out.
That was it. There was no follow up. No complaints filed or phone calls about insubordination. She stayed hot for a while and we discussed it, but there was no doubt that she had come out on top. Not because she needed to win, but because she had "done the right thing". Dr C himself could not have done a better job of making that clear.
I love you, Ape
Andy
I liked this story. I didn’t know what mom’s personality was like at work, so this was interesting to read. Thanks for sharing. :)
Nice post, Andy. April cared deeply about others and always advocated for the patients she took care of in her work as a paramedic. Thank you for sharing your memory of April.