Live IV's and a kinked catheter

Years ago when I started this blog, I started it with the idea that I would write mostly about my services as a Firefighter EMT and my adventures through paramedic school.. Certain privacy laws and the wishes of my Chief have kept me from blogging about many of my most interesting calls, As I sat reading a few blogs today I realized however that I haven't really written much about my experience of going through Paramedic school- So from time to time I'll write about a story from my time at Medic school. First: Let me clear something up, IV Medicine uses a plastic catheter that stays in the vein, There is a needle involved but ONLY to pierce the skin and vein, once this is done the needle is removed and there is only plastic left... I have found through setting up and starting many IV's that this is a common misconception about getting an IV. This story comes from about the mid-point of my didactic (classroom) instruction.. It was time for IV's. Up until this point we'd been discussing IV related drugs and the uses for intravenous medicine. We were supposed to practice on an IV mannequin (An arm designed to look and feel much like a regular arm) Our instructor for the day decided it was best to learn the real way right off the bat.. I really didn't have much of an issue with IV's- I had received several in my lifetime and knew basically how it worked, Still I was nervous as hell... The person I'd been paired up with was an Army Medic who I'm grateful to have had in my study group because he knew his stuff and he provided a huge sense of humor to ease the tension. Ron wanted to me to start an IV on him and walked me through it (I was the first of the class to attempt it) It took me a while but I eventually got the "stick"- my first one and I got it right the first time but it didn't always stay that way (more on that later) Our instructor used the way the catheter "flowed freely" as an example..

 I began to offer up my arms to people with a little less confidence in the procedure that I had displayed because I have HUGE veins that I call my "pipes".. That didn't stop my buddy from screwing up his first live IV on me though, Again I was used as an example for the class. When the IV was started on me, The catheter was not advanced completely into the vein before pushing the plastic catheter inside the vein, (To be clear, The needle had poked the vein but the plastic part around the needle which is the catheter was not yet inside of the vein) as he pushed the catheter forward I felt it pop into the vein and then it proceded to fold over on itself inside my vein..

Our instructor saw this as a teaching opportunity, He pulled the class over and told them all about how this was going to create a large hematoma (bruise) on my arm, As he was speaking I could feel my arm beginning to swell up so before too long he had him pull the tourniquet and catheter out revealing the bend inside.. I bruised pretty badly and I'm glad I did because it made me even more self conscious when giving an IV to a patient to try and avoid leaving them with a hematoma- however in the ER environment that became inevitable.. (more to come on that later).....