Ran first calls in an ambulance yesterday with the Fire Department…first time I’d been in an ambulance, in fact. In a 12 hour shift, we had 2 calls – almost three.
Call 1 – medical – 68 YOF who had been pulled over for erratic driving…she complained of double vision and we transported her to the hospital. This was my first call, so I just stood back and watched. The medic hooked her up to the EKG, but that was the most interesting thing about the call. Put her on a nasal cannula as well, although she indicated no difficulty breathing.
Call 2 – medical – 67 YOF who complained of dizziness and weakness at the Western Supermarket not too far from the house. The medic started a line and hooked her up to the EKG before leaving. Her heart was racing and after dropping her off at the ER, their EKG showed an even more erratic heartbeat. There wasn’t much for me to do on that call either, as the focus was on more advanced things than what little I know.
Call 3 – medical – started out as an unknown medical call…by the time we got in the truck, dispatch contacted us and said there had been a call-back. A man had fallen in a residential yard but the caller said he must have got up and walked off since he wasn’t there anymore. After a minute in the truck, the medic called to state “Rescue 4 back at base” – we never left.
So, my first taste of EMS wasn’t real exciting, but it was fun. The second call stands out the most.
We walked into the place and a woman was lying on the ground with people around her. It was exactly like a third-person camera shot in a TV show – you walk in and zero right in on the patient. And talk about power – or conferred authority – as soon as we got there, people started telling the woman that it was going to be ok now…the paramedics where here. It was palpable! And walking to her was like Moses parting the Red Sea – you’d think God himself had walked in the room. And even I felt it, just being an obvious associate of the REAL paramedics. I think people would have done anything we told them if we said it would help. Kinda felt like some guardian angel, sweeping in and ending the emergency.
Another thing that stood out was the way we could freely wander about the ER…I guess it just felt good to feel like I belonged in a place I respect. I have a badge that gets me into a building of engineers, through which I can move freely, but I don’t care about that. To have a familiarity with something like an ER is MUCH more important to me.
And the real world is JUST like you see on TV and movies – rock music blasting on the way to a call, cussing drivers that are in your way, blasting past cars with inches to spare because they aren’t out of the way enough, blaring sirens and horns…damn this is gonna be a cool job!
-MedicMike
