I recognize why the scene was set up this way -- to provide Carter with a storyline -- but we can safely file this under the "can't happen" file: in an assault situation, medics wait for the cops, and while transporting patients, most jurisdictions require you to have, at the very least, a particular class of driver's license and every service out there requires emergency vehicle operators to complete driver training, something that is not covered in the prehospital segment of most residency programs. It's a shame, too, because this could have been an intriguing plot line about violence against paramedics, but I have to say I found it uninteresting and rather obnoxious, actually.

I'm sort of curious about how it will all shake out and whether we'll see the fallout from having a paramedic killed in the line of duty -- it would be redeeming on the part of the producers and the writers if a departmental funeral were shown, and I'd certainly forgive some of the transgressions of the past if we got to see how Zadro has to deal with the loss of his partner. All and all, as I said earlier, I'm kind of non-plussed about this storyline.

Couple comments about the kid Carter ran over: the intubation sequence was actually specified for once -- Pavulon, Versed, and succinylcholine. Sux is a depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent, and it's a pretty good paralytic as far as these things go, but it carries some risks of complication: one of them is something we saw a few seasons ago, malignant hyperthermia. This isn't something you can figure out ahead of time; without prior anesthesia experience, there's no way to tell whether you'll get this reaction. Another potential complication is musculoskeletal trauma caused by fasiculations: rapid spasms and tremors in the muscles, induced by the administration of sux. To prevent these from happening, when using succinylcholine, you can give a small dose of a competitive -- non-depolarizing -- neuromuscular blocker a few minutes before you give the main dose of sux. Pavulon (pancuronium) fits the bill quite nicely. Versed, a sedative, is given to prevent the patient from recalling his intubation experience, which must be quite terrifying -- imagine being completely awake, yet unable to breathe or move. I've never experienced it, and I've no particular desire to.

It was nice to see Avery having his pelvis embolized in angiography, although it was referenced only in passing... all in all, there wasn't much to talk, rant, or bitch about this week.

Random comment: do these guys just leave x-rays hanging around on view boxes or something? I noticed what looked like an adult chest film hanging on the box in the pediatrics suite, and thought to myself, "I have a hard enough time keeping my x-rays straight without leaving them all over the hospital." Damn props department.