FIREFIGHTER’S WORDS -330- WORDS FROM AN EMT
THIS IS THE FIRST OF A MULTI PART SERIES WRITTEN BY AN EMT – IT DESCRIBES THE WAY HE DEALS WITH TRAGEDY
Part l
Here are some of my thoughts on the things I have seen and experienced over the years of EMS and public service. It is not meant to be anything but an overview of how we deal with stress and tragedy on both a small and large scale. To give you an understanding of what we see, feel and react to on a regular basis. Over the past 18 years of public service with thousands of calls for help, I have developed an altered sense of life, different than the societal norm. Encounters and fears that people hope they never face are what we get called for on a day- to- day and call- to -call basis. To truly understand what we feel, you need to walk in our shoes and see what we see. Since this job is not for everyone, that may not happen. Years ago, I wanted to keep a journal of the crazy and sometimes tragic things we encounter, but after starting it and trying to recall incidents I didn’t want to remember, it all seemed so depressing, I stopped.
To start off, an explanation of what we do is needed. As EMS providers we are responsible for the lives and safety the well- being of thousands of people including ourselves. Treatment modalities range from simple BLS care to invasive airway procedures (ALS) as well as medications and cardiology. That just scratches the surface of our actual responsibilities. Medical care in the pre hospital setting is dynamic to say the least. On a typical day, our range of calls can be anything from an intoxicated child to a DOA (dead on arrival) spouse of someone married for 60+ years. Everything from tragic loss of life, to simple non-complicated trauma is handled by us every time we roll out our stations. This job is not always blood and guts, in fact, that’s a very small percentage of what we actually do. Drug overdoses and psychiatric calls as well as minor illness and minor multiple vehicle accidents are what we are mostly faced with.
It is the calls that “we” all fear that I want to address. As a new provider, I was told by more experienced people that there will be calls that tax you as a provider, every one of us is human and has emotions, the ability to recognize this and deal with our feelings and deal with the tragic events that we have to handle are sometimes not considered in the aftermath of a call. The well being of an EMS and Fire provider as well as Police are not always understood. Understanding that most of us do this line of work because we can. We think that we can handle seeing the sudden death of a child, or young person. The fact of the matter is, yes it is our job, yes it is our responsibility to handle these calls and yes it is our responsibility to handle ourselves after these calls. It does not come without consequences and or stress.
More tomorrow
