I realize that this will probably come across as bragging, but I’m really not trying to and I just feel like I need to share this and, after all, this is MPSIMS.
I started volunteering with my local volunteer fire/ems company at the beginning of May and I’ve been working as an EMT observer. My role is to assist the two EMTs on the medic unit in retrieving and setting up equipment, moving the patient, etc. Since I have a regular day job and a family, I don’t get as many hours in as some folks but I’ve really been making an effort.
I finally got my first call last night; a cardiac arrest. We responded along with the engine unit and hit that house like a storm. I did my best to help as requested while staying out of the way. The patient’s adult daughter had begun performing CPR before we arrived and we quickly took over. The patient was flatlined when we got there, with some agonol breathing. After several defibs and some quick work by the two paramedics who also responded, we got him loaded up and transported to the hospital. When we left, he was sedated but in good shape. Hopefully we’ll find out today or in a few days how it all turned out.
From what I understand from the guys around the station, such saves are quite rare and to have it happen on one’s first call is amazingly fortuitous.
While I’m not an EMT yet, I did play an important role on the call and I can legitimately say that I helped save that man’s life. I carried gear, got the NRB (mask) and O2 set up, managed the IV bag once it was in place, and worked the monitor under the direction of one of the paramedics. I didn’t screw anything up and did a good job staying cool, but I did identify some things to work on for next time and learned a boatload a very short period. I had one interaction that seemed right out of a commercial for a medical TV show. While we were en route to the hospital, one of the paramedics who I hadn’t met yet introduced himself to me. The EMT that I’ve been working with said, “This is Whiteknight, he starts EMT class in the fall,” and the medic replied, “Guess what, you start right now.”
From the moment the alarm at the station went off to when we hit the lights and went priority one to when I finally caught my breath and sat down on the back of the ambulance outside the ER, I felt like something inside me had woken up. It’s all still hitting me and I have to say that even as I drove into work, the sunrise looked especially beautiful today.
