Well, I mentioned that my school in Cape Town does a 3 day workshadow program. I decided, after much debate, to go and find out more about the emergency services, specifically with regards to paramedics and Rescue engineers.

I've also decided to sign up as a volenteer for the Metro Ambulance brigade (who are more active than the St Johns Ambulance Brigade). I really enjoy it, and I think that it is good to have practical knowledge in the field.

The reason I am posting though, is one which I don't really understand. We picked up a newspaper vender who had been hit by a car. that was no hassle at all. the fact that he is prabably braindead (I also saw the Trauma Team doing various tests at the hospital) was also not a problem to me. It was the faces of the family that really got to me. No crying, no hysterics, Just wide-eyed, zombie-expressions.

I still don't know why I am posting this. Maybe it's that, as a laymen in the EMT environment, I now actually fully appretiate and understand the mental ntrauma that out Servicemen and women go through when they help others.

Sorry if this post makes no sense. I just got home today and felt the need to express my thoughts.

Woft--

I have several dear, close friends who are Paramedics (one of whom passed away earlier this year). While I envy their skills, I don't envy their jobs. Though they tell me I could indeed do their job, I'm not so certain.

One of them sent me the following, & I'll pass it along here, in tribute to them, and to their brothers & sisters who might see it.

Good luck to you.

David

------------------------------


When God Made Paramedics


When the Lord made Paramedics, he was into his sixth day of overtime
when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around
on this one." And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order?
A paramedic has to be able to carry an injured person up a wet, grassy
hill in the dark, dodge stray bullets to reach a dying child unarmed,
enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle his
uniform."

"He has to be able to lift 3 times his own weight, crawl into wrecked
cars with barely enough room to move, and console a grieving mother as
he is doing CPR on a baby he knows will never breath again." "He has to
be in top mental condition at all times, running on no sleep, black
coffee and half-eaten meals. And he has to have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "It's
the three pairs of eyes a medic has to have." "That's on the standard
model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees open
sores as he's drawing blood and asks the patient if they might be HIV
positive, " (When he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting
job.) "Another pair here in the side of his head for his partners'
safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look
reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, "You'll be all right ma'am
when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this
tomorrow." "I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can
talk a 250 pound drunk out from behind a steering wheel without incident
and feed a family of five on a private service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the paramedic very slowly, "Can it
think?" she asked.
"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the symptoms of 100
illnesses; recite drug calculations in it's sleep; intubate,
defibrillate, medicate, and continue CPR nonstop over terrain that any
doctor would fear...and still it keeps it's sense of humor.

This medic also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with a
multi-victim trauma, coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their
door, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily paper
how paramedics were unable to locate a house quickly enough, allowing
the person to die. A house that had no street sign, no house numbers,
no phone to call back."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the
paramedic. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were
trying to put too much into this model." "That's not a leak," said the
Lord, "It's a tear." "What's the tear for?" asked the angel. "It's for
bottled-up emotions, for patients they've tried in vain to save, for
commitment to that hope that they will make a difference in a person's
chance to survive, for life." "You're a genius," said the angel. The
Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," He said.

Sadly, you discovered a part of the job that you probably won't get over. When someone dies from a a traumatic incident you can console yourself with the fact that they are not suffering. Their families, sadly, start suffering when they reach the hospital and learn the fate of their loved one. I can remember calls were I would work as fast as possible to get back in service and away from the hospital so I wouldn't have to see the relatives of patients who had died in accidents. The worse ones usually involved teenagers, cars, and alcohol. They were the most tragic and stupid.

Chris

Please talk to some of the providers on that call, you should have the opportunity to decompress. Post Traumatic Syndrome is common in the emergency field, by talking to others, you learn to face and deal with similar and sometimes horrifying circumstances. This will allowing both you and they to express feelings that sometimes are bottled up for long periods of time, which can lead to depression, drug and alcohol abuse in an attempt to find ways of dealing with these tragedies, but really do not. I say talk to the actual providers on the call, so as not to violate any patient confidentially. Please feel free to talk to us here, there are number of us in the field, who are more than happy to assist you in dealing with these feelings, they are real and need to be dealt with. Pete

<img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
I hope you will allow me to share that with some of my breothers and sisters. Pete

ParamedicPete--

Please!!! By all means, do so!

It's not original with me; I don't know if it's copyrighted. I still get goosebumps & misty-eyed when reading it.

I thought you might be interested in it when I posted it.

David

There is tear or two in my eyes as well. Pete

Hi,

Being a paramedic can be hard at times...

I can still remember a call that involved a small child who died in my ambulance.
The circumstances were very tragic.

14 years have passed but I still remember the case as if it had happened yesterday...

A bus flipped over today.

I watched the driver die.

I have decided that I won't bacome a paramedic as a career. I feel that there are other options better suited for me out there. But I am becoming part of the Volenteer Division as of next week. Adams post sums it all up really. I don't want people to die, or get injured, or hurt. I feel that, as a volanteer, I can help prevent some of this.

Thank you for your kind words. I've already spoken to a rescue worker about what I think (I still don't know what I think). It wasn't 'counselling', it was just sharing opinions. I feel different know about it, and I feel even more compelled to get involved with the volenteer division.

I hope that I can make a contribution.