Meghan’s phone buzzed in her pocket. Since class was in session, she ignored it. She had instilled early on in the class that phones were to be off during class time, and she strove to set the example with her phone, as well. She felt it double-buzz when a voicemail registered, but continued on with the lecture. A few minutes later it double-buzzed again with a text message. She looked up at the clock – five minutes until break time. Whatever it is, it can wait five minutes.

Soon, she announced a 15-minute break, and students got up to get snacks, visit the restroom, chat… Meghan pulled out her phone and saw all of the notifications came from one person: Mitch. She pulled up the voicemail, listened to it, and then read the text. She headed for the EMS office, where Fred had plunked himself in his chair. “Fred, I need to take a phone call. Could you cover for a few minutes while I answer my brother-in-law? He’s done everything except send out the cavalry.”

Fred stretched and yawned. “Sure thing. Are they on break?”

Meghan nodded. “Yes. They’re supposed to be back in about 7 minutes.”

“Okay. I’ve got this until you’re done.” Fred got out of his chair and moseyed into the classroom, closing the office door behind him.

Meghan glanced out of the office window, watching the students chatting and filing back into the room. She shook her head as she pulled out her phone, settling into her office chair. She dialed Mitch’s number, waiting for him to pick up. “Hey, Mitch, it’s Meghan. What’s up?”

Hi Meghan. I hope I’m not interrupting class.

“Nah, you’re good. We just went on break, and Fred’s going to cover for me until we’re done.” Meghan yawned.

What all do you have on your schedule for the next couple of days?

Meghan pulled over her planner. “Well, I’m off the truck until Monday, so aside from class on Friday and perhaps shadowing the medic students tomorrow afternoon, I’m pretty free.”

I need to send you to get some more lab work done, and it’s time-specific, so I’d rather you have it drawn at the lab at the hospital. Could you be there at 8 tomorrow morning?

“Yeah, I could do that. Let me write it down so I don’t forget. The orders will be in the system?” she asked, jotting a note in her planner.

I’ll put it in just as soon as we get off the phone. How are you feeling right now?

“Well…” Meghan hedged. “Do you want the polite version or the truth?”

Mitch laughed. You can tell me the polite version if it’ll make you feel better, but I would like the truth.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Meghan stated. “Okay, polite version is that I’m fine but the sutures itch. Full version is that I’m ready to curl up on a spare stretcher we have in the supply closet, partly because I’m tired and partly because I’m a little lightheaded. The sutures itch but the wound looks fine. And I’ve been grounded for the moment by Worker’s Comp.”

Have you checked your blood pressure? And what do you mean by grounded by Worker’s Comp?

“If I checked my blood pressure, I’d never hear the end of it – I am surrounded by EMT students, remember! I prefer not to be a case study for my class if I can avoid it. And as far as Worker’s Comp is concerned, I was originally not allowed to do anything but teach, but I told them that I was going back onto the truck Monday, so they changed their mind to ‘Full-Duty with Limitations’ until the sutures come out.” Meghan laughed.

Full Duty with Limitations? What’s that supposed to mean?

“Basically, that I’m ‘allowed’ to do everything except play in the burn building. I can look, but ‘No touchy!’ like they said in that kid’s movie.”

Mitch laughed again. Well, I guess I can understand that.

“Listen, I need to get back to my class before they turn anymore of Fred’s hairs to gray. I’m off around 9. I can come over and you can tell me about my labwork, okay?”

Sure. I’ll have a pot of coffee on, and we’ll go over everything.

“Cool. See you then!” Meghan ended the call and sat there for a moment, phone in hand, looking through the office window at the class. I’m so tired I could sleep right here. She shook her head and went to stand up, but felt lightheaded and sat back down. She closed her eyes, gave herself a moment, and reopened them. She stood up again, being a bit more careful not to just jump out of her chair. The lightheadedness passed, and she made her way out of the office.

Fred was already deep into the lecture material, so she let him continue, wandering over to the side of the room and leaning against the long counter there. EMS Operations was never a fun lecture to give, but very important, and Fred was doing his best to make the information interesting. Meghan smiled – it was one of the reasons she liked co-teaching with him.

At the next break time, Fred sidled over to where Meghan was standing. “Holding up the wall, are we?”

She smiled. “Yeah. How much more is there still to cover?”

“I think I’ve got two more slides. Should we open the rest of class time for skills practice?”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” She watched students flow in and out of the classroom.

“So, your phone call…” Fred started.

“Mitch wants me to have more labwork drawn in the morning. I’ll be headed over there after class tonight to see what this previous round is telling us.” She sighed. “I’m ready to find out what’s going on. I’d rather feel up to par on a daily basis.”

Fred nodded. “I can finish up, if you need to go home.”

Meghan shook her head. “No, I’ve got this. I just need to make it an early night. My body isn’t as young as it once was! It’s liking sleep more and more.”

Fred nodded, changing the subject a little. “How’s the leg?”

“Aside from the sutures itching, it’s doing fine. I’ll get those out next week.”

“Any news on the fire trainee we rescued last week?”

“I saw him a couple days ago,” Meghan stated. “He seemed to be in pretty good spirits, considering. Dr. Brant has been handling his case, and while he might need a couple more surgeries, he’s doing good. Their biggest concern is whether or not the joint is going to heal correctly. If not, they’ll need to do a total knee replacement.”

Fred whistled. “Total knee replacement when he’s not even 20. That’s not the best prognosis long-term.”

Meghan shook her head. “No, it isn’t. But he’s alive without other injuries, so there’s a lot to be thankful for. That incident could have been a heck of a lot worse.”

Students started trickling in from the break, and Meghan and Fred started getting the class settled down. Fred finished up the last two slides in the lecture presentation, opening up for questions. There weren’t any.

“Okay, let’s spend the last hour with skills practice. You’re got two more weeks before the skills test for NREMT – make good use of the time to practice,” Meghan directed. Soon, students had pushed desks and chairs out of the way so they could set up stations. Meghan opted to sit at the front desk and piled a bunch of vital signs equipment around her. “If you want to practice vital signs, I’m here.”

Fred wandered around the classroom, monitoring as students practiced. Meghan watched from her seat until a student approached. “Meghan, mind if I practiced?”

She smiled. “Not at all, Stuart. That’s why I’m here.” She held out her arm across the table.

Stuart placed a pulse oximeter on her finger and turned it on. He then wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm. Placing his stethoscope in his ears, he pumped up the cuff and let the air out slowly, listening to the pulsations as it deflated. He frowned, pulling the earpieces of his stethoscope out of his ears. “I’m not sure I did that right.”

“Really? What numbers did you get?” Meghan asked.

“Well, 84/36. That’s too low, right? Let me do it again.” He started to put the stethoscope back in his ears, but Fred, who had overheard the conversation, stopped him.

“Let me double-check, Stuart. Borrow your ears?” Stuart nodded and stepped aside, handing Fred his stethoscope. Fred placed the earpieces in his ears after wiping them down with an alcohol prep pad, placed the bell in the crook of Meghan’s arm, and pumped the cuff up. He listened carefully as the cuff deflated, pulling the stethoscope from his ears as it finished.

“You were right, Stuart. Her blood pressure is low – 82/36. Don’t ever second-guess a low reading as not being right.” Fred handed back the stethoscope and looked at the pulse ox readings. “You’re slightly tachy, Meghan. Feeling okay?”

She gave him a meaningful look before plastering a smile on her face for the sake of the students. “Kinda sleepy from that lecture, Fred, but I’m okay. Think I’ll sit here for a bit, though.” She instructed Stuart to go ahead and remove the blood pressure cuff, but Fred stopped her from removing the pulse ox.

“Keep that on,” he ordered, softly. She nodded but moved the probe to her other hand and placed the machine on her lap, out of sight.

Meghan managed to make it through the rest of the hour, a couple of other students taking advantage to practice their blood pressure-taking skills. Her blood pressure remained low, but it didn’t fall further. She carefully stood as the class wrapped up, giving instructions and reminders as the students put away all of the equipment, straightened desks and chairs, and headed out the door.