32 hours...and counting

I spent most of my day tying not to fall asleep while driving an ambulance. I have been up for 32 hours and counting. I worked all night last night running calls that included a teenage who swallowed 4 grams a crack cocaine and then tried to gnaw his own hand off, this after he shredded a Hard plastic Cervical Collar with his mouthful of gold teeth, and a woman who has had Abdominal pain for three months and decided at 0630 this morning that she needed an ambulance. Lesson learned last night is Crack is wack. I don't think I have even experienced anything that would make me try to chew my digits off my hand. Then after my sleepless night I had to drag my exhausted ass to another Medic Unit to work during the massive celebration of the new bridge the city just built. The city basically shut down for the fireworks display tonight. Boy was this a LONG shift. And it was ended with a guy who fell down a flight of steep steps to a 3ftx3ft boat landing. Did you know that you can fit a six foot supine unconscious man, three firefighters and two medic in a 3x3 ft space? Neither did I until it was proven tonight. And I have to say that the Fire department in this area is the sharpest group of first responders I have ever worked with. They had our patient's airway controlled, intubated and very close to transport by the time we reached them. We basically just had to make sure he had a pulse and was on a long spine board so that we could carry this man up the same flight of stairs that he just fell down. We got our patient to the local Level One Trauma Center for definitive care and then restocked out truck. Then I spent the next hour and a half on paperwork. I was three hours late getting off. As much as I love my job, I hate it. So Now its 0330 and I'm so tired my hair hurts. So exsausted that I can't sleep. I get one day off. And I will spend all next day sleeping. And dodging phone calls from my old partner who will call all day to wake me up. Asshole.