I worked (watched would be a better term) with a paramedic and an EMT-Intermediate during their shift for twelve hours yesterday, as part of my EMT training. This was the first time I had ever been in an ambulance, and it was intimidating and humbling. I was near the top of a very bright class, but I felt stupid and helpless all day.
The supply guy got pissed off at the paramedic for showing up 30 minutes late to the shift, so he assigned us the oldest, gnarliest, most busted truck on the lot. We spent a few minutes making sure everything was kosher inside before heading out at 8:35.
8:45: we stop for sodas at the convenience store, and check ourselves out in the little mirror mounted to the sunglasses rack.
8:48: we’re on our way to a call involving a woman in a head-on collision after losing consciousness and drifting into oncoming traffic. The fire department got there a minute before us and started assessing the woman. The other driver is obviously uninjured and talking to the fire department as a police car pulls up. In the confusion I manage to catch a few words of the conversation. She had been having a seizure, and drifted very slowly into a car that had been stopped at a red light.
I looked at her through the window of her car as the paramedics were trying to figure out if she was hurt. She wasn’t, but she looked like a zombie. I’m staring at her dumbly when a paramedic for the fire department came up to me, and noticed the “intern” identification badge I had on. He says “is this your first ride?” and I nod stupidly. Then he says, “we have one too. We got here first. Ha ha!”
It really is as stupid as it sounds. The dude didn’t even tell me his name, but just introduced himself by gloating like a jackass. I hear him telling his intern “I know they’re loading her into the ambulance, but this is still OUR scene, now get in that truck and get her history!”
The fire intern sat there awkwardly asking her questions about her seizure, and my paramedic finally intervened and kicked the guy out so we could get rolling.
It was creepy to hear the conversation. He asked her her name, and it took her 5 seconds to respond. She didn’t know where she was, or where she was going, or what month it is, or who was the president of the united states. It all came back to her, slowly. After a few minutes, he says “do you know where you are yet?” She did. She couldn’t remember if she was going to or from work, though.
In the 15 minute ride to the hospital, she started showing signs of being back in the real world. She knew where she was, where she was going, what happened right before she blacked out, the current month, and the president. The paramedic said “welcome back to earth!” as we pulled up to the hospital and rolled her in.
That was my first call ever on an ambulance! I didn’t do anything, but it was cool to watch how everything went down.
My next call was much more serious. To put it briefly, I watched a woman go from “my chest hurts” to THIS close to dead, in a matter of seconds.
The same jackass fire crew showed up to this call, but luckily we got there first, so we had control of the scene. You’ll find out why that was lucky in a minute.
We saw signs of an impending heart attack immediately, so we got her loaded up and moving within a few minutes. The same fire dept. paramedic that was an asshole earlier jumped into the back of the van, along with my paramedic and the fire intern. The fire guy was preparing to give her nitroglycerin, which depresses your heart rate and blood pressure, before anyone had a chance to check her heart rate and blood pressure first. My paramedic said “could you guys hold off on that for a sec?” while we got her pulse and hooked her up to the heart monitor. A second later he says “yeah, her heart rate is at 56.”
The fire department guy was about to proceed with the nitro before my paramedic told him in no uncertain terms that he had better not give her that medication on his truck. The fire guy looked like he was about to argue before my paramedic tore off the paper showing her heart rhythm and showed it to the fire jackass.
I don’t know how to read a heart monitor, but apparently they did. Everyone jumped to their feet and started running like chickens with their heads cut off. The jackass fire guy stuck the woman like a dozen times in an unsuccessful attempt to get an IV going before my paramedic took a needle and casually slipped it in correctly. I couldn’t keep up with everything that was going on, but I know that when we delivered her to the hospital, she wasn’t dead yet. We called the hospital to tell them we were coming, and a task force of doctors and nurses met us instantly as we wheeled her in.
Those were the only two really cool calls. The rest of the day was boring, like the nursing home patient who wanted us to drive her to her doctor appointment (which wasn’t until the next day) and didn’t understand why we could only take her to an emergency room. One woman just wanted to go home, and refused transport to the hospital. Another guy had congestive heart failure, which sounds exciting until you see it in real life and realize that it’s slow and boring.
Anyway, thanks for sticking with my story this long. I’m thinking about looking for a job on an ambulance until the local fire departments start hiring again, and yesterday was certainly an eye opening experience. I’m not sure how I’d react to real gruesome trauma though. I was hoping to see some yesterday, so I could know how I’d stomach it before I start applying for EMS jobs.
