Marrying the Playboy Doctor - By Laura Iding Page 0,1
hoping and praying he didn’t cause more harm than good. When he saw the flash of blood, though, he knew he’d hit the right spot. Pulling back on the syringe, he drew out a good fifty milliliters of blood.
“Nice job,” Michael drawled from behind him. “Why did you bother calling me?”
Seth spared his friend a quick, exasperated glance before putting another syringe on the needle to see if there was more blood to be removed. He withdrew another eighteen cc and then glanced up at the heart monitor. “Hold off on CPR. Let’s see if she finally has a blood pressure and pulse to go with her rhythm.”
There was a moment of complete silence as several staff members, including Michael, felt for a return of the patient’s pulse.
“I feel a pulse, but it’s weak.” Michael spoke up.
Alyssa nodded, confirming she felt it, too.
“She has a blood pressure, but it’s only sixty-five systolic,” Cynthia added.
“Start a dopamine drip, and find out what that troponin level is.” Seth stepped back and stripped off his sterile gloves. “Michael, our working diagnosis so far is an acute myocardial infarction with a pericardial effusion. I called you so you can take her to the cath lab if needed.”
“It would be nice to see the troponin first,” Michael said.
“I have it—her troponin is 0.51, which has been reported as critical,” Alyssa informed them.
The number didn’t sound high, but anything over 0.03 was considered indicative of an MI, so 0.51 was way above the accepted range.
Seth glanced at his friend. Michael nodded, understanding his unspoken question. “Okay, she’s mine now. Let’s prepare to get her transferred immediately to the cath lab.”
The nurses sprang into action, placing the patient on a portable heart monitor and then gathering all their paperwork together. Seth noticed the female paramedic stood off to the side, watching as the events unfolded. Once the cardiology team had taken over Seth could sign off on the case, although he knew the odds weren’t in this poor woman’s favor. She wasn’t out of the woods yet. It was a sad fact that women who suffered from acute myocardial infarctions had a much lower survival rate than men, mostly because of their atypical presenting symptoms. At least in this case the paramedics had realized the potential and had treated the patient accordingly.
“Excuse me? Dr. Seth Taylor?”
He turned when he realized the female paramedic was speaking to him. “Yes?”
She held out her hand. “I’m Kylie Germaine, the new paramedic education coordinator here in Cedar Bluff.”
This was Kylie Germaine? He’d seen the honey-blonde a couple of times but he hadn’t known her name. He’d heard about a new paramedic education coordinator coming on board, but for some reason he’d expected someone older, more experienced. Kylie looked too young to have the expertise needed to provide education and training for the entire paramedic team. But then again she had pegged this particular patient’s diagnosis correctly.
“Nice to meet you.” He took her hand in his, feeling a slight jolt at the brief contact. He let go and took a step back, wondering if she’d felt the brief sizzle, too. “Nice call on the MI—helped steer us in the right direction.”
“Thanks.” A small smile tugged the corner of her mouth. “I’ll confess, my partner thought I was nuts.”
He raised a brow. “I guess you proved him wrong, didn’t you?” Her ringless fingers made him smile. He liked her. She might be young, but Kylie was gorgeous, and he hadn’t gone out on a date in what seemed like forever. He was on the verge of asking if she’d like to get together for a drink when she continued speaking.
“As part of my job I have started setting up meetings with each of the ED physicians, to get insight into potential training needs. I believe you and I are scheduled to meet in a couple of hours?”
They were? Seth wasn’t always very good at keeping up with his calendar. “Uh—yeah. A couple of hours.” He glanced at his watch and rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, I’m free now, if you have time.”
“Now?” Kylie didn’t look happy at the abrupt change in plans.
“We could wait until later. But you need to know patient care comes first. If I’m needed in the trauma room then we’ll have to reschedule anyway.”
Cedar Bluff only had one hospital, and they provided the only level two trauma services within a seventy-five mile radius. They stayed busy—especially in the height of the tourist season.
Seth swept a pointed glance