Ambulance, heart and cat

Sometimes I think: if every shift of the ambulance doctor was accompanied by a camera, then we would easily surpass any reality show in ratings.

On one of the last trips, the dispatcher said: “Complaints about blood pressure, possible attack. Woman, 60 years old.” As usual, we left without unnecessary questions. At the scene, we were met by an anxious daughter, and behind her - the patient herself with an absolutely calm face and ... a cat in her arms.

While I was measuring her blood pressure and asking questions, it turned out that the “attack” began immediately after she dropped the TV remote behind the cabinet. And everything would have been fine if the cat named Tolya had not jumped on the cabinet, dropped a vase, scared the woman and turned the sound up to full volume.

Pulse - from fear. Blood pressure - from the sudden scream of the TV. Symptoms - purely Tolya's.

The paramedic and I held back our laughter as best we could. The patient, realizing that she was “alive and well, but a little shameful,” laughed herself.

They did an ECG — everything was fine. I wrote out recommendations. And in the car I thought:
Sometimes all we need for a good day is not a tragedy, but a cat named Tolya, a TV, and a little self-irony.

Take care of yourself. And the remotes.