Arianna Rickman
October 2016
Arianna
Rickman
,
BSN, RN
3 East
University Medical Center (TX)
Lubbock
,
TX
United States

 

 

 

Arianna was in the mall and noticed a woman on the ground with mall staff. The mall staff was on the phone with me (I was the 911 dispatcher) describing what they thought might have been a fall. Arianna quickly assessed the situation by asking questions about medications and history. A little back story, UMC/EMS is now dispatching ambulances based on the severity of the call. For example, a simple fall might be dispatched as a code one response (no lights and sirens) where as a stroke might be dispatched with a higher priority (meaning a code 3 response with fire department as a first responder). Because of Arianna recognizing the stroke symptoms, I was able to elevate the priority and get responders on scene quicker, which makes a huge difference in a stroke situation. Most of the time I can get the right priority on a call without a medical personnel, but in this case because of Arianna's quick thinking she made a huge difference for this lady.