I didn't tell you guys this, but on Tuesday we saved three lives. I mean, like we actually saved some lives. If we hadn't been called, if we hadn't responded with TFD, if we hadn't transported to the hospital, three people would have probably died. We saved a life. We saved three.
I think that makes this job worth most of the shit we go through. Twelve hour shifts, mandatory hold over, little pay, lots of disrespect from the public--we don't exactly get the long end of the stick every day of every week of every month and so on. We usually just go about out business and people usually don't notice we're doing much, if anything. And, I know, for the most part, we don't always feel like we're doing much of anything at all. Ninety percent of the calls that drop every day in this system of maybe 200,000 people are priority two, completely silly, with no need whatsoever for an ambulance to be dispatched. But, we go anyway, because it is the job as we know it--everything we dreamed of, right?--and transport after having done very little for the patient that maybe didn't need anything at all. So, when we get dispatched somewhere we're actually needed, to the side of some person truly in peril, it's an opportunity to do the job we set out to do; we are privileged with the honor of saving a life, instead of just being a taxi or a shuttle or a bus. We get to administer drugs that wake you up, and insert tubes that help you breath, and push fluids that raise your blood pressure and bring you back from the edge of shock. We get to save your life and it's all that much cooler and all that much sweeter, because 9 out of 10 calls, or maybe even 19 out of 20, are so simple and so benign that when we save one, it's a giant exclamation mark to punctuate the monotony of our day. Or our week. Or our month. And how cool do we feel, knowing that we were part of it, just for an hour--part of the team that keeps people alive. Pretty cool.
Being a doctor--being a surgeon--you save lives literally every day. Sometimes I wonder if, when I'm a surgeon, I'll get tired of it, as I have grown tired of the "priority two bull shit" calls, as we refer to them. Will the sweetness of saving a life become dull and unsavory after years of doing it every day? Will I long for the bullshit case, if only to wax nostalgic on what it was like to feel the rush of adrenaline when I FINALLY get to help somebody? How will I feel, twenty years from now? Will I miss these days of EMS, long for them then as I long to be a doctor now? Who knows...but, I guess I'll find out.
I think you guys have figured out that I, like many in EMS, don't always love my job. I get caught up in the crap and the politics and the high school drama of it, just like we all do, unfortunately. But my love for medicine hasn't dwindled, it's only grown. And every patient interaction is experience needed. I am not lost yet, not 100% bitter, I can still be saved for EMS, if I can be a part of something bigger than me.
I got to be a part of saving three people this week. To me, that is an awesome week. That is an amazing week. A rarity. I probably won't have another week like it. Luckily, I have the memories to hold on to. And a future of saving lives ahead. If I can ever get there.
Complete System Power Failure, Total ER Divert, No Patient Admittance
I think that makes this job worth most of the shit we go through. Twelve hour shifts, mandatory hold over, little pay, lots of disrespect from the public--we don't exactly get the long end of the stick every day of every week of every month and so on. We usually just go about out business and people usually don't notice we're doing much, if anything. And, I know, for the most part, we don't always feel like we're doing much of anything at all. Ninety percent of the calls that drop every day in this system of maybe 200,000 people are priority two, completely silly, with no need whatsoever for an ambulance to be dispatched. But, we go anyway, because it is the job as we know it--everything we dreamed of, right?--and transport after having done very little for the patient that maybe didn't need anything at all. So, when we get dispatched somewhere we're actually needed, to the side of some person truly in peril, it's an opportunity to do the job we set out to do; we are privileged with the honor of saving a life, instead of just being a taxi or a shuttle or a bus. We get to administer drugs that wake you up, and insert tubes that help you breath, and push fluids that raise your blood pressure and bring you back from the edge of shock. We get to save your life and it's all that much cooler and all that much sweeter, because 9 out of 10 calls, or maybe even 19 out of 20, are so simple and so benign that when we save one, it's a giant exclamation mark to punctuate the monotony of our day. Or our week. Or our month. And how cool do we feel, knowing that we were part of it, just for an hour--part of the team that keeps people alive. Pretty cool.
Being a doctor--being a surgeon--you save lives literally every day. Sometimes I wonder if, when I'm a surgeon, I'll get tired of it, as I have grown tired of the "priority two bull shit" calls, as we refer to them. Will the sweetness of saving a life become dull and unsavory after years of doing it every day? Will I long for the bullshit case, if only to wax nostalgic on what it was like to feel the rush of adrenaline when I FINALLY get to help somebody? How will I feel, twenty years from now? Will I miss these days of EMS, long for them then as I long to be a doctor now? Who knows...but, I guess I'll find out.
I think you guys have figured out that I, like many in EMS, don't always love my job. I get caught up in the crap and the politics and the high school drama of it, just like we all do, unfortunately. But my love for medicine hasn't dwindled, it's only grown. And every patient interaction is experience needed. I am not lost yet, not 100% bitter, I can still be saved for EMS, if I can be a part of something bigger than me.
I got to be a part of saving three people this week. To me, that is an awesome week. That is an amazing week. A rarity. I probably won't have another week like it. Luckily, I have the memories to hold on to. And a future of saving lives ahead. If I can ever get there.
Complete System Power Failure, Total ER Divert, No Patient Admittance
"Saves" are a rare gem I'm glad you get to experience that part of the job. Even the mundane calls, the oft thought "bullshit" calls DO have an effect on folks. It's not as sexy as passing electricity, pushing drugs, dropping a tube or driving emergent to the call or hospital. Sometimes just having an ambulance show up is just what people need.
ReplyDeleteAnyways I wanted to share that thought with you and this small video in a series called "Air Hospital" enjoy:
http://youtu.be/_hbl8Eilboo
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hbl8Eilboo&list=FLLOQzjrjY1peJojKTy9OmVg&index=6&feature=plpp_video
Hey, look, you're back! :D
DeleteI feel that way all the time, that my presence has made somebody's day--I do get that. But, I am sure you get how easily you can burn out on those silly little "toe pain" calls. Today, for instance, I felt the feeling of actually making someone feel better when she really didn't need an ambulance at all, but I also got frustrated with someone who wanted transport to a hospital for absolutely no reason. And, naturally, the frustration holds on a lot longer than the warmth of making someone's day.
I will absolutely watch that, but I am still at work--we just dropped off a guy with an arterial bleed in his right arm (second one this week)--so it'll be when I get home.
Thanks for reading. I'll try to pop in on your blog when I get home. :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete