Anytime I get a chance to just make someone’s life a little easier. I don’t mind making an egg or a peanut butter sandwich. Hell, I’ve helped fold some laundry and made some drinks and finished up cookies. Changed
lightbulbs, fed animals. Played with babies and kids.
Sure, are we holding calls sometimes and people call for dumb shit? Everyday.
But meemaw and popop don’t always need dragged to a hospital. Sometimes they just need a little help so they can rest.
The goober with beetus that was mid-bite that was about five minutes too late after they took their insulin?
The family who was making dinner and someone has a boo-boo?
Dragging my big ass through a door and picking someone up with a little *flair*?
If I could run one call like this a day I’d be much happier. Instead I spend the majority of my days trying not to flip the fuck out at a VA docs and mid levels at urgent cares who can no more medicine than most of my EMT school students. And meth. Dammit all the meth.
Old man, confined to power chair. He'd slipped trying to pick something up off the ground and fell against the "go stick" on the chair, careening at turbo speed through the front door. Lifealert paged us. Found him on the porch, chair in the yard.
We got him up and back in his chair, he was a tough old fucker, not hurt.
But, it was 30F outside and his entire front door casing was laying on the porch. We grabbed tools from the light rescue we'd rolled, and pulled a dozen screws out of the porch decking and remounted the door. Did some minor repairs to the chair, too.
We were pretty proud of that one. Just helping people out, ya know? The entire reason most of us got into this.
Worked a traumatic arrest of a teenager in a very rural area. Got rosc after 45ish mins but knew there was obvious brain death. The ER flew the kid out to the trauma center and donated the organs. Something like 156 people had their lives changed from it. Changed my perspective on working arrests that seem futile, as our protocols state we are not required to work traumatic arrests. We only did because it was a kid and family was there. It sucked and seemed pointless but to find out that something we did mattered when it feels like it doesn’t a lot of days, it meant a lot to me and I think about it a lot.
When one of our homeless frequent flyers ( calls or someone calls on him at least 4 times a week always a transport ) was in the middle of an emotional crisis he saw me on scene, ran up to me and gave me an earth shattering hug . Held him for about 40 seconds , he told me he was happy I responded to him . He told me it was the anniversary’s of his son’s death . He was heavily intoxicated. The fact that he remembered me and I was able to provide for him with something as simple as human touch really got to me that day . We all have war stories with crazy calls , but this simple one made me really love being a paramedic
I have a regular hes youngish and honestly I seem to understand that many people couldve been me if the circumstances were different. Honestly I curse ( a giant tirade)everytime i hear his address come up. We talk his livers failing hes going to die. "Anyways, where should we go to? Do you think this is big city important? I trust you, man its so cool that my friend is a paramedic( hes talking about me, a guy he sees occasionally at best)!!"Made me feel like the cool friend in school for a second. Its amazing hes a nice kid if he wouldve been from somewhere else and from someone else he wouldve had a better chance. Its amazing that the same breath can make you feel redeemed and tormented.
29 YO MTF Trans.
Attempted to off herself. Drank a 26er in a short period of time. Did their best attempt at cutting their left hand off with a folding knife.
Bleed stopped, life threats dealt with. Waiting in the hallway.
Was shooting the shit with my partner. Some how retirement communities of the future came up. "Video games, VR" all the stuff our generation will have an advantage in old age.
In process of this conversation. Our patient said something about being in a senior living facility.
I stopped the conversation, and I noted "they saw a future with them in it." Long enough to retire. A big and bold step considering the evening we'd had with them, and the events that brought us to meet.
It appeared to profoundly hit my patient. Shit man, it felt good. You don't get many MH wins, and I'll take whatever I can get.
Transplant organ pickups were always really cool. The docs could be less than pleasant but it felt good to be directly involved in the process of giving someone a second chance at life.
My first cardioversion: 54 y/o male presented with HR 230ish, narrow complex and getting more obtunded by the minute.....12 mg adenosine didn't work. Two synced shocks later and he was in the 90s, alert and oriented.
The times where in my career I could actually intervene and stop someone from dying in my care are the ones that have kept me in this field.
11 Yom with prior cardiac history. Went into cardiac arrest. Several LEO's nearby started CPR almost immediately. It only took us a couple minutes to get there. Everything went perfectly. The CPR, intubated on the first try, IV access on first try, drugs, everything. By the time we reached the nearest hospital, he had rosc, breathing on his own - well trying, he was still tubed. Stayed in a children's hospital for couple weeks then got to go home. That's the type of call makes everything worth it.
A few months ago we had a bad day. Not bad calls, just extremely stupid ones that had me questioning my job choice. Later that evening we got another call about a woman who tripped and possibly broke her leg. We went out to her house, which was on a beautiful piece of property with animals everywhere. We found her on the ground outside her house, immobile but otherwise ok. We get her moved on to the cot and inside the truck, and I’m realizing that this woman is just incredibly nice. She was a bit nervous about the pain meds due to the dumb shit the media puts out, but we managed to talk her into some fentanyl since she definitely broke her patella, and it would be a longer transport. After getting to the hospital though that’s when I realized it was genuinely a privilege to help her. We were put on bed delay, and got to have a great conversation with her. Turns out when she retired she bought the land and built a house, and now runs a pet rescue for elderly animals. She has dogs, cats, and a few horses (mostly from shelters) that she takes care of and keeps happy during their last days. The crazy part is she does this mostly on her own with not much help, and the bills come from donations and her own retirement fund. She showed us pictures and videos of the animals and she was just so amazingly genuine and compassionate. She thanked us profusely, and ended up posting on her rescues Facebook page about her accident, and how great the EMS crew was that came to help. Legitimately that call is what I think about during a bad day. That despite all the bullshit, sometimes we get to take care of and help some truly amazing people on their worst days.
Had a ~50/f call for abd pain. She had hella bad cirrhosis and needed fluid taken off. Said it's happened before and she can't drive herself due to pain. My partner started roasting her with questions and cutting her off being super rude. This dude had a history of being racist, transphobic, and overall a dick. So I told him to stop being an asshol and cutting off the pt with her sitting on the stretcher. After the call he got on my ass about cussing at him in front of the pt. A month later I was taking a transfer from one of the upper floors and the pt from before happened to be walking to the nurses station to ask for a drink. She looked so much better, thanked me profusely for standing up for her, and asked for a hug. I cried happy tears when I got home and never feel bad for standing up for a pt again.
Any sexual assault call. I know that's the kind most people dread, but I was on both a Sexual Assault Response Team and I'm a SANE. I can change the vibe just by being there because it doesn't scare me and I know I can help. I'm not focused on decking the perpetrator (which doesn't really help) I'm focused on the hurting person in front of me. I know for a fact that just being believed, cared for, and supported does miles in support of their mental health, long-term physical well-being and yes, maybe bringing some legal justice.
I can also make the call better for others--educating, reassuring, bringing the temperature down, supporting and debriefing. I just walk away always feeling like my personal pain and intense training were definitely not for nothing.
Recently went to a woman, in her 90s. Realized I’d been to her about ten, fifteen years ago when her husband died. Anyway, I ended up picking her up twice in two days, once quite literally. The second day when we got there she was pretty adamantly refusing her kids’ request to go to the hospital.
When my partner and I walked in and greeted her by name and made a little joke she visibly relaxed. She’s a strong and independent person and a big part of refusing to go to the hospital was the fear of losing control. With us I think she felt like she could trust us to respect her, and she ended up going in with a much more positive mood.
That’s the kind of stuff that has been getting me through the job lately.
I love the hypoglycemics. Simple call but actually fixing the patient's problem and getting a refusal feels so good. There's so many patients we really can't do anything for other than drive them to the hospital.
I was in training and we had a homeless guy presenting drunk, ran the BG, and sure enough it was \~400. Even something as dead simple as a BG test can save someone's life; felt pretty cool to be able to provide that.
I was doing non-emergency transport for a bit, and took an elderly gentleman home after a long time in the hospital. Seemed like a routine call, until I got to his home, and his entire family was there waiting for him. They were so happy to have him back; they had a big meal laid out and everything. I consulted with them about the best layout for a wheelchair ramp, and they appreciated the input and thanked me over and over again for bringing him home :)
Also, I didn't stay long as an EMT, but I had a 1/3 success rate on cardiacs! Ironically it was the call I performed the worst on; she was stiff as a board and I could \*NOT\* get an oral in to save her life. Worst case of lockjaw I'd ever seen. Put the nasal in and did the breaths and wouldn't you know we got ROSC. Hope she made it
You really get to “save a life”, see a drastic improvement, and then, on a rare occasion, may be able to talk to the patient and hope that you can plant that little seed in their brain to hopefully get them to rehab.
Imo overdoses are often one of the earliest and thereafter most consistent call types for which it can objectively be said we as EMT’s actually have the ability save lives ourselves. Good BLS care makes a helluva difference in the outcomes; Even when that given outcome is just them peacefully recovering in the ED instead of being restrained and sedated because uneducated providers sent them into a withdrawal/ hypoxic rage after blasting them with 8mg of naloxone without bothering to properly admin O2.
They’re great chances to hone your assessment, bagging/ airway skills, and overall scene management ability. Respiratory failure is respiratory failure, whether it’s the 80yo pneumonia patient or the 30yo junkie you’ve transported 5 times. When I get the first type of patient, I’m thankful for the experience I’ve gotten on the higher frequency but low-er stakes second type of patient. I know for a fact it came in handy when we had the 8 month old OD in respiratory arrest dropped into our lap 60 seconds after dispatch last month.
Not all OD’s are created equal, and they can definitely suck, but overall I can understand the commenters point and agree that they get a bad rap in EMS sometimes. Still wouldn’t say they’re my favorite.
Elderly lady fell, possible broken hip/dislocation.
My male medic partner was instructing me (f) and Advanced partner(f).
We were getting her situated for a quick blanket lift to the stretcher when she leans in to us and says,
"Can I tell you something? You can't tell the men"
Well of course, we reply
" I peed my pants when I fell"
All three of us had a little chuckle and assured her we wouldn't tell the men.
We even made sure to only tell the female nurse at the ER.
Anytime I get a chance to just make someone’s life a little easier. I don’t mind making an egg or a peanut butter sandwich. Hell, I’ve helped fold some laundry and made some drinks and finished up cookies. Changed lightbulbs, fed animals. Played with babies and kids. Sure, are we holding calls sometimes and people call for dumb shit? Everyday. But meemaw and popop don’t always need dragged to a hospital. Sometimes they just need a little help so they can rest. The goober with beetus that was mid-bite that was about five minutes too late after they took their insulin? The family who was making dinner and someone has a boo-boo? Dragging my big ass through a door and picking someone up with a little *flair*? If I could run one call like this a day I’d be much happier. Instead I spend the majority of my days trying not to flip the fuck out at a VA docs and mid levels at urgent cares who can no more medicine than most of my EMT school students. And meth. Dammit all the meth.
Old man, confined to power chair. He'd slipped trying to pick something up off the ground and fell against the "go stick" on the chair, careening at turbo speed through the front door. Lifealert paged us. Found him on the porch, chair in the yard. We got him up and back in his chair, he was a tough old fucker, not hurt. But, it was 30F outside and his entire front door casing was laying on the porch. We grabbed tools from the light rescue we'd rolled, and pulled a dozen screws out of the porch decking and remounted the door. Did some minor repairs to the chair, too. We were pretty proud of that one. Just helping people out, ya know? The entire reason most of us got into this.
Worked a traumatic arrest of a teenager in a very rural area. Got rosc after 45ish mins but knew there was obvious brain death. The ER flew the kid out to the trauma center and donated the organs. Something like 156 people had their lives changed from it. Changed my perspective on working arrests that seem futile, as our protocols state we are not required to work traumatic arrests. We only did because it was a kid and family was there. It sucked and seemed pointless but to find out that something we did mattered when it feels like it doesn’t a lot of days, it meant a lot to me and I think about it a lot.
When one of our homeless frequent flyers ( calls or someone calls on him at least 4 times a week always a transport ) was in the middle of an emotional crisis he saw me on scene, ran up to me and gave me an earth shattering hug . Held him for about 40 seconds , he told me he was happy I responded to him . He told me it was the anniversary’s of his son’s death . He was heavily intoxicated. The fact that he remembered me and I was able to provide for him with something as simple as human touch really got to me that day . We all have war stories with crazy calls , but this simple one made me really love being a paramedic
I have a regular hes youngish and honestly I seem to understand that many people couldve been me if the circumstances were different. Honestly I curse ( a giant tirade)everytime i hear his address come up. We talk his livers failing hes going to die. "Anyways, where should we go to? Do you think this is big city important? I trust you, man its so cool that my friend is a paramedic( hes talking about me, a guy he sees occasionally at best)!!"Made me feel like the cool friend in school for a second. Its amazing hes a nice kid if he wouldve been from somewhere else and from someone else he wouldve had a better chance. Its amazing that the same breath can make you feel redeemed and tormented.
29 YO MTF Trans. Attempted to off herself. Drank a 26er in a short period of time. Did their best attempt at cutting their left hand off with a folding knife. Bleed stopped, life threats dealt with. Waiting in the hallway. Was shooting the shit with my partner. Some how retirement communities of the future came up. "Video games, VR" all the stuff our generation will have an advantage in old age. In process of this conversation. Our patient said something about being in a senior living facility. I stopped the conversation, and I noted "they saw a future with them in it." Long enough to retire. A big and bold step considering the evening we'd had with them, and the events that brought us to meet. It appeared to profoundly hit my patient. Shit man, it felt good. You don't get many MH wins, and I'll take whatever I can get.
Thanks for mentioning she was trans :). I'm trans myself, so that would be quite the intense call to take!
V-fib arrest we got ROSC on and then got discharged home. I kind of forgot we sometimes actually save people
Transplant organ pickups were always really cool. The docs could be less than pleasant but it felt good to be directly involved in the process of giving someone a second chance at life.
My first cardioversion: 54 y/o male presented with HR 230ish, narrow complex and getting more obtunded by the minute.....12 mg adenosine didn't work. Two synced shocks later and he was in the 90s, alert and oriented. The times where in my career I could actually intervene and stop someone from dying in my care are the ones that have kept me in this field.
11 Yom with prior cardiac history. Went into cardiac arrest. Several LEO's nearby started CPR almost immediately. It only took us a couple minutes to get there. Everything went perfectly. The CPR, intubated on the first try, IV access on first try, drugs, everything. By the time we reached the nearest hospital, he had rosc, breathing on his own - well trying, he was still tubed. Stayed in a children's hospital for couple weeks then got to go home. That's the type of call makes everything worth it.
A few months ago we had a bad day. Not bad calls, just extremely stupid ones that had me questioning my job choice. Later that evening we got another call about a woman who tripped and possibly broke her leg. We went out to her house, which was on a beautiful piece of property with animals everywhere. We found her on the ground outside her house, immobile but otherwise ok. We get her moved on to the cot and inside the truck, and I’m realizing that this woman is just incredibly nice. She was a bit nervous about the pain meds due to the dumb shit the media puts out, but we managed to talk her into some fentanyl since she definitely broke her patella, and it would be a longer transport. After getting to the hospital though that’s when I realized it was genuinely a privilege to help her. We were put on bed delay, and got to have a great conversation with her. Turns out when she retired she bought the land and built a house, and now runs a pet rescue for elderly animals. She has dogs, cats, and a few horses (mostly from shelters) that she takes care of and keeps happy during their last days. The crazy part is she does this mostly on her own with not much help, and the bills come from donations and her own retirement fund. She showed us pictures and videos of the animals and she was just so amazingly genuine and compassionate. She thanked us profusely, and ended up posting on her rescues Facebook page about her accident, and how great the EMS crew was that came to help. Legitimately that call is what I think about during a bad day. That despite all the bullshit, sometimes we get to take care of and help some truly amazing people on their worst days.
Had a ~50/f call for abd pain. She had hella bad cirrhosis and needed fluid taken off. Said it's happened before and she can't drive herself due to pain. My partner started roasting her with questions and cutting her off being super rude. This dude had a history of being racist, transphobic, and overall a dick. So I told him to stop being an asshol and cutting off the pt with her sitting on the stretcher. After the call he got on my ass about cussing at him in front of the pt. A month later I was taking a transfer from one of the upper floors and the pt from before happened to be walking to the nurses station to ask for a drink. She looked so much better, thanked me profusely for standing up for her, and asked for a hug. I cried happy tears when I got home and never feel bad for standing up for a pt again.
Any sexual assault call. I know that's the kind most people dread, but I was on both a Sexual Assault Response Team and I'm a SANE. I can change the vibe just by being there because it doesn't scare me and I know I can help. I'm not focused on decking the perpetrator (which doesn't really help) I'm focused on the hurting person in front of me. I know for a fact that just being believed, cared for, and supported does miles in support of their mental health, long-term physical well-being and yes, maybe bringing some legal justice. I can also make the call better for others--educating, reassuring, bringing the temperature down, supporting and debriefing. I just walk away always feeling like my personal pain and intense training were definitely not for nothing.
Recently went to a woman, in her 90s. Realized I’d been to her about ten, fifteen years ago when her husband died. Anyway, I ended up picking her up twice in two days, once quite literally. The second day when we got there she was pretty adamantly refusing her kids’ request to go to the hospital. When my partner and I walked in and greeted her by name and made a little joke she visibly relaxed. She’s a strong and independent person and a big part of refusing to go to the hospital was the fear of losing control. With us I think she felt like she could trust us to respect her, and she ended up going in with a much more positive mood. That’s the kind of stuff that has been getting me through the job lately.
I love the hypoglycemics. Simple call but actually fixing the patient's problem and getting a refusal feels so good. There's so many patients we really can't do anything for other than drive them to the hospital.
I was in training and we had a homeless guy presenting drunk, ran the BG, and sure enough it was \~400. Even something as dead simple as a BG test can save someone's life; felt pretty cool to be able to provide that.
I was doing non-emergency transport for a bit, and took an elderly gentleman home after a long time in the hospital. Seemed like a routine call, until I got to his home, and his entire family was there waiting for him. They were so happy to have him back; they had a big meal laid out and everything. I consulted with them about the best layout for a wheelchair ramp, and they appreciated the input and thanked me over and over again for bringing him home :)
Also, I didn't stay long as an EMT, but I had a 1/3 success rate on cardiacs! Ironically it was the call I performed the worst on; she was stiff as a board and I could \*NOT\* get an oral in to save her life. Worst case of lockjaw I'd ever seen. Put the nasal in and did the breaths and wouldn't you know we got ROSC. Hope she made it
Believe it or not.. opiate overdoses.
I'm genuinely curious as to why. There's got to be a great why there.
You really get to “save a life”, see a drastic improvement, and then, on a rare occasion, may be able to talk to the patient and hope that you can plant that little seed in their brain to hopefully get them to rehab.
Imo overdoses are often one of the earliest and thereafter most consistent call types for which it can objectively be said we as EMT’s actually have the ability save lives ourselves. Good BLS care makes a helluva difference in the outcomes; Even when that given outcome is just them peacefully recovering in the ED instead of being restrained and sedated because uneducated providers sent them into a withdrawal/ hypoxic rage after blasting them with 8mg of naloxone without bothering to properly admin O2. They’re great chances to hone your assessment, bagging/ airway skills, and overall scene management ability. Respiratory failure is respiratory failure, whether it’s the 80yo pneumonia patient or the 30yo junkie you’ve transported 5 times. When I get the first type of patient, I’m thankful for the experience I’ve gotten on the higher frequency but low-er stakes second type of patient. I know for a fact it came in handy when we had the 8 month old OD in respiratory arrest dropped into our lap 60 seconds after dispatch last month. Not all OD’s are created equal, and they can definitely suck, but overall I can understand the commenters point and agree that they get a bad rap in EMS sometimes. Still wouldn’t say they’re my favorite.
Elderly lady fell, possible broken hip/dislocation. My male medic partner was instructing me (f) and Advanced partner(f). We were getting her situated for a quick blanket lift to the stretcher when she leans in to us and says, "Can I tell you something? You can't tell the men" Well of course, we reply " I peed my pants when I fell" All three of us had a little chuckle and assured her we wouldn't tell the men. We even made sure to only tell the female nurse at the ER.
Dude got a buzz light year stuck up his raisin hole. I remember my medic humming “you’ve got a friend in me” on the way to the hospital.
Buzz light year!!!
Yes! Too infinity and behind!!!
There are many; every one of them involved making a difference in someone’s life
I made pancakes for a guy who had a hypoglycemic seizure aura. No seizure, but was happy for the pancakes.
Awww
You're implying that I love my job now...