My Life Adventure: EMS Strong: No one fights alone

EMS Strong: No one Fights Alone

" You have to be a little bit crazy to do this job..."

Over three years ago I started working in EMS. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. It has been a life changing experience for sure. I thought in honor of EMS week I would share a few of my thoughts and stories.

***disclaimer: the following are my experiences and thoughts. they don't represent anyone but myself. ***

Working in private EMS you are definitely not in it for the money. I work hard for the money, there is no doubt about that. I work four 12 hour shifts minimum in a week. Then add working in Fresno, CA and life gets interesting fast. To put in perspective, in the little over three years I have worked in Fresno, I have over 3,000 patient contacts. It is a triple threat of a city. Large low income population, large drug use and gang population, and has one of the dangerous highways in the U.S. run through it. There is never a dull moment in the city. I am thankful for my job and the experience I am gaining through working in Fresno, but there are definitely days I wish my paycheck was larger.

The difference between an EMT and Paramedic

I frequently get asked if there is a difference between an EMT and a Paramedic. Yes. Yes there is a difference. I have worked in both positions. EMTs are fantastic. They have BLS ( basic life support skills) down. They can help bandage, splint, protect airways with basic maneuvers and airway adjuncts. They are the muscles behind CPR. Another kind voice and support in all of the madness. In some systems they are it. They are the ones who come and care for you in he craziest of circumstances but they have their limits.
Paramedics are the highest level of care in the per-hospital setting. We get to use all the fancy tools and have a significant drug box to pull from depending on the EMS system we work in. I highly encourage those who don't really fully grasp a pramedic's skill level to look up their national scope of practice. You would be amazed at what all we can do.
Some days it bothers me when people just brush off what I can do or think I am just an ambulance driver. Really stop and think for a moment....if I was just an ambulance driver why did you call 911?
And remember.........

When I show up at your door I am it. You don't get to pick and choose who shows up.........

There have been several occasions where I have showed up and been told that the caller specifically requested that a female does not respond to their house. I have also showed up and had someone running out of the house with a cane screaming, " No men! No men! I told them females only". It was a very awkward situation to say the least. I have had people refuse to talk to me because I was a female. They wanted help and were sick but because I was a female they were not going to talk with me. So I placed them in the back of my ambulance and drove them to the hospital. Thankfully though they waited to projectile vomit until they made it to the hospital bed. I have been told you can't lift me we need the fire department. You don't get to pick and choose who shows up at your door when you call 911. I know it is a crazy concept. Closest unit gets dispatched (or so dispatch tells us. But I do wonder sometimes).
I do promise if I show up though, I will make sure there is the appropriate resources available to help you in your emergency. If you don't like me because I am a girl......well sucks to be you I guess.

Why did you bring them here......

To the triage staff......

Please don't ask me why I brought someone to your hospital. They chose to come to your hospital. They have the right to chose. They are here now here so stop giving me grief for doing my job and for honoring the patient's right to chose the hospital of care. You look very dumb for asking such a question. If you don't like it, then help change the rules to closest appropriate facility with the county and state.

To the ED staff......

Some days I don't have it all together. Believe it or not, I don't speak six languages or have the ability to look into the magic crystal computer at the hospital to see all of the patient information. If they don't tell me, I don't know it. I don't have security at my immediate disposal. I will miss things, but not because I don't care. Believe it or not I like my job and I am good at it. If I didn't do something it is because I can't based on a protocol or the patient wouldn't let me.

I see your pain. I see your grief. I feel the overwhelming sadness and grief that led you to take your life.........I hate the unfairness of the airbags not deploying and the seat belt not doing its job........I feel the weight of declaring your loved one dead. It is not an easy decision or one I wish I had to make.......

I always knew that I would show up on hard and emotionally challenging calls. It was not if but a when. I can say there have been very few hero moments and many what in the world did I get myself into moments over the past three years. When my husband came on a ride along a while back it really hit home how normal being a witness to suffering had become. It is a normal occurrence but I am not immune to the effects of witnessing. I have learned how to grieve and mourn the hard moments. I have been close to walking away from it all.
For those who have to call us in your moment of crisis or grief, we see it. We want to step in and fix it but sometimes we can't. I wish more than anything I could take the pain away.
To the mother who lost her child, I will never forget the overwhelming grief and wail of sorrow when you were told your child was dead. To the drunk driver who walked away with minor injuries but permanently harmed and killed others...my dislike and hate will always be there. To the foster kid stuck in a terrible spot and having no desire to live any more.....please try again and take it one day at a time.
I am a full believer in that time heals. Time helps bring perspective and shows goodness where there once was darkness. The hard calls are never going to go away. We live in a broken world.
And as one of my coworkers shared with me when I was at rock bottom, "Bad things happen...period. That is never going to change. But you take it one call at a time. Learn from the mistakes and move on. You have to or it will destroy you. Whatever move on looks like to you but you have to move past it".

There is nothing better than working with awesome people. It makes the time go faster, and when things get crazy they have your back. I have made some awesome friends at work. People I know that no matter what happens have my back. That is how I believe we stay "EMS strong" you could say. You need those people who are just as crazy as you to make it through all of the madness. They help you come back to center when you are stomping and jumping around in the ambulance bay at all the stupidity that just happened. They are the ones to be there to help you clean up the disaster in the ambulance and help you find a few laughs after a terrible call. They are the ones that check in on you to make sure that you stick around.
To end this I thought I would end with a few pictures of some of the people who have helped me stay sane (sane enough).
My battle buddies.