It’s 2015. I’m working as an interfacility paramedic. Currently, I’m standing in a small rural clinic in a large conservative state.
I’m receiving a report from an RN about a woman who we are preparing to transport to a Level 1 trauma center. When the EMT and I arrived earlier, the nurse had greeted us briskly. “Female patient with a uterine prolapse,” she said.
“We think the uterine wall has been perforated.” I wince internally. My EMT, a 19-year-old guy who only just got certified last month, looks a little puzzled.
I explain to him that a uterine prolapse means that the uterus has descended into the vagina. It’s pretty common, especially for older women. Far less common is the fact that my patient’s uterus has also apparently been torn.
“Did she explain how her uterus was perforated?” I ask the nurse. “She stuck a piece of vacuum cleaner into her vagina,” the nurse says. “Oh wow,” the EMT standing next to me gives a sort of laugh/cringe reaction.
“I’ve never heard of THAT sexual kink before.” The nurse and I exchange a glance. We’re both middle-aged women.
We know the probable reason why our patient stuck part of a vacuum cleaner up into her vagina, but we’re not saying anything. In 2015, abortion was legal, of course. The state I worked in was a conservative state, but it had abortion clinics.
Most of those abortion clinics were in the larger metropolitan areas. The closest abortion clinic to the hospital where we were standing wa.