Achilles

Call comes out as a "Male in the Fitness Center with a torn Achilles Tendon," which is an unusual dispatch for all the same reasons why you think it's an unusual dispatch, compounded by the fact that about 75% of our dispatches have us responding to an "Aided." (Yeah, someone needs to take an EMD class).

We arrive on scene to the University's basketball courts and find a 35 y/o male sitting on the floor by the sidelines, unrmk except that he's extraordinarily sweaty.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I tore my Achilles," the kindly athlete replies.

'Interesting diagnoses,' I think to myself. I also note that he did not say: "I hurt my foot/ankle/leg" or "I can't walk" or "I think I may have hurt my Achilles," but rather a affirmative statement about an injury that occurred less than five minutes ago.

Easy way to find out the truth about this. I palpate the back of his foot/leg/ankle. Well, let's just say, there certainly weren't no tendon where it's supposed to be. And there was instead a nice squishy hole where there ain't supposed to be one.

Pt --> Stretcher --> Ambulance --> ER.

I always find it amazing when the dispatches turn out to be correct.