Thursday, October 7, 2010

The People You Meet As An EMT

The People You Meet As An EMT..... I've transported people from all walks of life. I've taken care of CEOs and homless people in the same day. Sometimes you meet someone who just makes you laugh. I picked up woman around 6am one morning who claimed she got up early to get drunk. She was under forty, had thirteen children.... and couldn't keep her hand off my knee...

I've got to get my paramedic cert so I can be in charge and stick my EMT in the back with patients like that ;)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Laziness Kills: An EMT Story

Laziness Kills: An EMT Story should be considered with the same disclaimer as all the stories on this site. This story is fictional. Any resemblance to any person or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

I was still a student when I went on this call. I was doing my third rides. Third rides are what it is called when you are the third person on an ambulance. A third rider is usually a student, or a new employee who is in training. Sometimes a third rider is someone who works for your organization, but has a job in the office or in dispatch. This type of person needs to be on the ambulance some to keep enough hours to retain their certification. All of that just to explain that I was a third in that day.

We were dispatched emergency to a man who had fallen off a ladder. I took a deep breath as I climbed out of the back. The back is where you ride when you’re a third. I was nervous as hell. My knees were a little weak. Luckily, no one could see my hands shaking because I picked up the jump bag on my way out the door.




When you approach a scene, you need to do a visual assessment. You’re looking to see if the scene is safe, how many victims you have etc… In this case, there was a crowd of workmen surrounding a man lying on the ground. He was lying on his side next to a bundle of clay shingles. It didn’t take an expert to see he was in bad shape.

The fire dept. was on scene. They already had control of the patient’s cervical spine. This is call C-Spine in the field. This is done to keep the patients neck and back in line to prevent any further injury. The medic I was riding with slapped me on the back and said “Get me some vitals.” The EMT on the truck was grabbing a backboard and some straps. The paramedic started questioning the crowd.

The man’s coworkers stated the man was climbing the ladder with the clay shingles when he lost his balance and fell. He was carrying the shingles on his right shoulder and when he fell, they landed on his head. I took a set of vitals. What stuck out was a low heart rate, low oxygen saturation and uneven respirations. Using the proper method, we rolled him on a backboard. The paramedic made the decision to intubate. Intubation is when you place a tube in the patient’s trachea to secure their airway and breathe for them. Paramedics love to intubate.

Upon opening the patients mouth the paramedic found the skull had fractured inside the mouth. We hustled and got the patient packaged, and we were off to the hospital emergency. We raced to the hospital. The patient declined the entire way showing signs of ICP, or intracranial pressure. We found out later the patient died.

People don’t realize how every day actions can affect or even kill them. This guy was a roofer. I’m sure he’d climbed a ladder hundreds, maybe thousands of times. He’d probably even done it hundreds of times carrying shingles. Here’s the thing. There was a rope within a few feet of the ladder. That rope was supposed to be tied around those bundles of shingles so they could be pulled up safely. It brings a new meaning to the term safety first doesn’t it?

We do this every day. Myself included. We cut corners to save time or just because we’re lazy. Think about who were are as human beings. We’re not very good at preparing for things we think might happen. We usually make safety rules after someone has been hurt or killed. We think we’re exempt, bullet proof, or better than those who caused us to write those rules. Laziness kills…This story is fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

EMT Stories

Online EMT and Paramedic Practice Exams

EMT stories are sometimes hard to find. Good EMT stories are even harder to find. A lot of the people who visit my site are looking for a good story. I’m currently working on some, but sadly, I have to check and double check them to make sure I don’t violate HIPPA. I’m all for protecting my patients’ privacy, but I hate the fact that we live in such a litigious society.

Speaking of lawyers…. I recently found out that one of our local private EMS companies is owned by a trial lawyer. Conflict of interest? I think so. This guy doesn’t even have to be an ambulance chaser… He owns the joint.




Well, here are some places you can get some good ambulance stories while I work on more of mine. First of all, check out http://www.ems1.com/ems-blogs/ This is a great website that has a lot of information for EMTs and paramedics. This link goes to their blog listing, but be sure to check out the whole site. You’ll want to take a look at it if you are in school as well, so you can get a feel for what’s going on out there. This site is totally free.

Now I’d like to mention a couple of great books. I would recommend these to anyone looking for ambulance stories. If you are thinking about EMT training but you’re still not sure, these books could help you decide if this career is right for you.

I’d like to recommend "EMS: The Job of Your Life ." Here is a book that touches on the daily work of EMTs and paramedics in a way that is honest and easy to understand. This book is a great read for the general public, and as an eye opener for those who are considering EMS as a career. If you are a seasoned professional, this book will bring back memories.

Next I’d like to tell you about "En Route: A Paramedic's Stories of Life, Death, and Everything in Between ." This book is down to Earth and realistic. Reading this will put you behind the eyes of this rural Louisiana paramedic. This book will tell you about saving lives, and watching them slip away. From heart attack to stroke, from car wreck to drunk, this book is hard to put down. You can also check out this author’s blog at http://www.ems1.com/ems-blogs/ It is called A Day In The Life of an Ambulance Driver.

Last but not least… Do you think you want to be an EMT, but you’re not sure if you have the stomach for it? Read “My Ambulance Education: Life and Death on the Streets of the City
.” This book is gritty and graphic. It goes into great detail on the injuries and sickness this EMT saw on the streets of New York. It’s a great read, but it’s not pretty. Of course, life on the ambulance isn’t pretty.
I hope you’ll enjoy these great blogs and books!