Good Day/ Bad Day

[Bthracer21]

I am putting this up here because I know what it is like to have something to share good, bad or indifferent about your day in the emergency services field. Whether it be you had a call that everything went well, you had your first fire, cardiac arrest save, rescue, whatever. Or if you had a call that you are having trouble dealing with and want some advice from your borthers and sisters that may have dealt with a similar situation. Or if you have some kind of unique skill/ tip to share about how to do something...

In my few short years of service I have dealt with alot of different situations, families, creeds, and everything in between as it seems. I have had calls that have taken a while to get over, I have calls that still stick in my head as if it was still happening. I have calls that I sat back and said wow, because I just did something that person is able to see tomorrow.

I am very proud of myself for what I do and the conditions and situations I deal with. My family is very proud as well. I am proud to say that I am an Emergency Medical Technician. I am glad that I work with and around great people.

Thank You!

Stepping down off the soap box...

Your turn to share:D
Stay safe all of you!

[nateb21]

Thanks for putting that out there, I too know what it is like to have an amazing call that results in the best possible scenario and others where you have to watch families try to pick up the pieces. All I can say is we do this because we want to help, if you do it because you are wanting to be the HERO you are in the wrong business. Often times you leave a scene of an accident, fire, or any emergency without anyone knowing your name. I am fourtunate to live in a small town (600 people, 25 of us are volunteer fire) where people recognize us for the work we put in. They are very supportive and often times come to each firefighters house and say "Thanks" and that is why I do what I do, I don't need my name in the paper or my picture on the news, I just do it so that tomorrow may be different for that one person. Sorry if I rambled but that just got to me when I read it and wanted to express my thoughts. Stay safe!

[goulds48]

Thanks for starting this post. It is always good to let out your emotions. I agree I am not doing this for the HERO badge, I do it because I love helping people. I have dealt with many terrible situations that I will never forget. I had 2 call within a year with both having 5 fatalities. 5 out of the 10 were children. I can still see the floor plans to this day and it still bothers me on occasion. Never hold it inside, talk about it. On the other hand you have those unusually funny calls, laugh about them. It is always good to smile and laugh. Watch over your brothers and sisters in the Emergency services and never be afraid to ask them if they are ok. Stay safe!!!!!!! Ok my soap box is handed to the next person.

[SilverUnicorn]

I appreciate this post Bthracer21.

Sometimes there are bad days, and as you said there are good days too. We are there to help.

On a personal note, last night was a good night.
2:30 a.m. fire call - assist the squad at a cardiac arrest. Get to the scene 2 min after the Medic. 24 y.o.m flatline. Roomate called 911. Patient was bagged and compressions were going. 5 min. later, 2 schocks, heart was in fairly normal sinus rythym. Still bagging, medic injected something (I want to say Nardicane) and within 20 seconds the patient was awake and responsive answering questions.

It was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed.

Chris

[Bthracer21]

Chances are on a "college" age student it was narcan... but there are also resucitation meds that can and would be pushed. Either way Good save!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

What station do you run with chris? A buddy of mine runs up that way for Richland Station 33 I guess it is... I havent talked to him in a while

[nateb21]

I appreciate this post Bthracer21.

Sometimes there are bad days, and as you said there are good days too. We are there to help.

On a personal note, last night was a good night.
2:30 a.m. fire call - assist the squad at a cardiac arrest. Get to the scene 2 min after the Medic. 24 y.o.m flatline. Roomate called 911. Patient was bagged and compressions were going. 5 min. later, 2 schocks, heart was in fairly normal sinus rythym. Still bagging, medic injected something (I want to say Nardicane) and within 20 seconds the patient was awake and responsive answering questions.

It was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed.

Chris

That is what makes it all worth while. We recently had a 52 y.o.m had an apparent heart attack. Started CPR and started AED. Shocked him 5 times on the way to the hospital and he came back as we pulled in to the hospital. Have known the guy since I was born so it was something to see.

On a side note, I am amazed how many of us are in the emergency field here, it means a lot to have people that know where you are coming from.

Nate

[goulds48]

I didnt want to seem so gloomy.:hopeless. You take what we had a couple years ago. Get a call for an MVA truck stuck on bridge rails. We get there and the PD is talking to him. He was swearing up and down he wasnt driving, someone stole his truck, yadda yadda. The officer asked him what was on his hip? He said nothing why? He pulled the key ring off his retractable key chain and showed him the broken off key to the truck. We all stood back behind the truck and laughed. Calls like that arent funny, someone could have been hurt, but it makes you laugh and take light that you deal with the bad, but there is always a call where you can laugh or smile to replace it. :m2:

[Bthracer21]

I would prefer to get the calls I can laugh at afterwards... But also the bad calls are a good reality check too... I know there have been a few that have chanced my way of thinking.

Now today was a sorta funny for instance of some of managements finest things... Today a medic unit runs a cardiac arrest.... 19 y/o with down syndrome... couldnt get him revived... the almighty all caring supervisor faxes down a critical stress incident sheet to make sure they are alright after the call... This is a call that wont make the papers or anything like that aside from in the fire call/ police log...

But yet when you have a two year old that drowns, a murder suicide, a 9 day search and rescue mission, a 4 year old traumatic injury, multifatal care wreck... etc... these were all calls I was on this year except for the 9 day search and rescue that was last year. Never once did he do a thing for our crews... This is what a weekend management course gets you... but where I ran full time we were a tight knit group that could talk to each other and stop in whenever and all that so we had our network without him... but it still just ticks me off because he tries to make himself look good...

Sorry had to rant about that a little bit...:D I have had other issues with him that he refuses to listen about, which is why I only work part time for that company now, that and Im make 1.50 more an hour:raspberry

[nateb21]

I know to some it sounds very disrespectful but I think you all will understand but even in the truck flipped body ejected DOA calls you sometimes find something to smile or laugh about just to keep your sanity. I use that exampled from experience because it was a very gruesome wreck but we still found ourselves laughing about things while at the scene, don't get me wrong it is not because we don't care but more because we have to do this again and you can't hold on to everything. Just my :m2: but I would love to hear if I am way off on this.

Nate

[Fishhunter911]

Nate you are not way off on this. I too recall many times where someone on the crew would come out with something as we are packing up and we just lost it, laugh, patting each other on the back and sometimes hugs.

To the average "joe" this may seem as insulting or in poor judgement, but if you do not find something, anything to make each other laugh you become what I refer to as "Burned Out". It does not take much to become burned out. I recall one time very clearly, it was on 9/11. We had just arrived @ Giants stadium. it was the staging area for BLS and ALS during the search and rescue operations. We could clearly see the smoke and ash from the World Trade center. We spent 18 hours SITTING there. As you all know there were not to many found alive, let alone needing transport by outside units supporting FDNY. Around the 10th hour, a group of us, to take our minds off what was happening and to try to keep our minds fresh so we could perform our duties properly should they be needed, began to play card games. It was not out of disrespect towards the injured/killed civilians, NYPD,FDNY and other officials at the site, but to keep us "ready".

A lot of people who have no clue as to what we go through thought this was in very poor taste, that is until we schooled them as to WHY we were doing it.


Stepping off my soap box now.... next?

[Diablo03]

:iagree: Working at a hospital and for a Fire/EMS dept you need to find something to keep you going through the day.

It's good to be close to the pts but not too close. We all see soo many people die in our business that if we took each one to heart, we'd all be depressed and many of us would only do the job for a short amount of time.

It's the little things that we smile about that keep us sane.

my :m2:

[Bthracer21]

I agree whole heartedly about needing to find away to get yourself away from what just happened or what you are seeing. I remember being on the scene of a car that was all but folded in half... DOA driver... Coroner gets on scene and is doing his little walk around and stuff, he gets a phone call. Next thing I know he is going Oh Congrats! I am so happy for you guys and that all this worked out and so on and so forth.... He was a realitor and just sold a house:rotfl:

[JamesDowning]

Completely agree with you all. To the public, you have to show the professional side, because they don't understand how we cope with things. Things they may only see in their nightmares, we see on a regular basis.

For instance, after the Virginia Tech shooting (my squad (http://www.rescue.vt.edu/) was in charge of EMS during the entire ordeal). While we were returning to the scene after dropping off our first patient, we were all cracking jokes with each other, trying to keep it light. It was the best we could do to cope with the reality that awaited us back on campus.

I'm now a life member there. Its always good to go back and visit, it brings back the good old days.

[ILFF]

well since this is here I'll let it out...
Had a bad call I can't seem to get outta my head the other day. It was a car vs. motorcycle mva. I was the first crew on scene in the ambulance, and immediately we see the driver of the motorcycle flat on his back roughly 200 feet from the bike. So i rush up there and take c-spine, his head is smashed bad, and he had a hematoma about the size of both my fists. he also had an obvious open fracture to his lower leg. The guy remembered everything for the most part at first, but as shock started to set in he couldnt remember ne thing...except one thing...I am a firefighter/paramedic for Carol Stream. Great! En route to the hospital he kept getting worse from the shock, and the back of this guys head is flowing like a waterfall. So when we get him to the hospital his BP was roughly 70/40, and they already had a chopper on its way(we lost our trauma center in august due to funding issues) Needless to say no one had a real good outlook on this guy. So my partner and I get back to the station but neither of us could sleep...we took a ride back out to the sene just to look around but there were a ton of people on bikes looking around so we went back. Finally the other day we got good news the guys is alive and has some feeling to his leg, but when a fellow brother gets hurt it always hits hard!

[Bthracer21]

Biggest thing I can say... Is did you do everything in your power to keep him alive? Did you do as you were trained? Did you do as you stuff as you had planned for calls like this? Did you get scolded for doing anything stupid?

If first answer is yes... Its in Gods hands.

Second answer Yes... Then you have learned what you can with out getting the actual experience. You can know everything those books have to offer but you need to be able to do it on the street.

Third answer yes... What did you learn to do different? Could you do anything different? If you didnt learn anything you werent paying attention to something, I have learned stuff on the dumbest calls but it plays a vital role later on these serious calls. Most times after the call you sit there and say what could I have done different (atleast I do)? Talk to you co-workers, research some of the signs and symptoms you saw and how to treat them.

If the last answer is no... then the docs are alright with you treatment.

Another thing is dont dwell on the out comes of you calls... If you do, you will have a long career and a disappointing career. The out comes of calls doesnt say whether or not you are a good provider. If the out come of alot of my calls were deciding on whether or not I am a good provider, I would probably get fired or have quit (I have a bit of a black cloud over my head for like month long spirts). You will have calls that you pretty much do everything in your power to save the person but watch them die right infront of you...

If you are broken up about a call, or after a call you research what you saw or even if you just listen to calls on the radio and then talk to somebody that was there... I would say you are on you way to becoming a good provider. If with 2 and a half years of experience you dont do this or dont have the drive to learn more about your field, I would evaluate why you are doing it. I am only an EMT right now, but I have run with great medics and have learned alot from them and took in all the words of advice they have given me. They have come forth to me and have educated me for my rights and wrongs on calls.

Either way, best of luck with the career in Emergency Services! Dont be a stranger to this thread reguardless of questions/ comments/ concerns. Stay safe out there!

[ILFF]

thanks for the reply...I think its just one of those calls that is gonna stay with me...in my 2 1/2 years I have had the unfortunate experience of lots of death...I have dealt with all the other calls pretty well...my first month on we had a double fatal mva with almost entirely new people coming to the call and we did do some CISD....I feel very good about the call overall, and we were even recognized by the docs and nurses as doing one of the best jobs they've ever seen..but its still kinda there..I know I will feel better after I go visit the guy but right now its just kinda sitting funny

[Bthracer21]

Atleast you have the advantage of going and visiting him... 3/4 of my pt if I ever see them again its because they are calling 911 again... I have had 2 cardiac arrest saves in the past year... I dont even know how many I have run, lets say in 2007 I lost track after I hit 20, and in 2008 the first shift I worked in the new year 15 min into my shift we had a cardiac arrest (one that I came in on the MICU and the BLS unit was working him and family wasnt going to understand us calling him on scene...). Either way... you will get through it. It takes time and another bad call but you will pretty much forget the major detail of this one when the next bad call comes....








Then you will sit there and think about that one:raspberry. Its just the way it works haha. If the docs acknowledged you guys awesome:thumbsup:... my docs are tend to not think too highly of EMS folks...

[Bthracer21]

Had a reminder today to wear your seatbelt! Pick up truck crossed over two lanes of traffic into a bean field and rolled over several times coming to a rest on its roof. Patient was trapped inside. Upon our arrival on scene the patient had succomed to his injuries. Patient had massive head trauma due to being a pinball inside his truck. The truck had pretty much landed on the patients head when it came to its final rest.

Do yourself, your loved ones, and your friends a favor and buckle up reguardless of how long of a trip you are going on.

RIP...


Stay safe out there.

[Bthracer21]

Going to bump this thread back up here... One because I am bored at work. Two because I have a few things.:D

First off Last week I had an OK week. I ran three cardiac arrests and had one save (the other two were too far gone). Had a couple other decent calls that the people are going to be making it out of the hospital from as well.

Now for the ranting to begin... Now I realize that we are not in these jobs for the money... but when I got my performance evaluation I got a 4% increase in pay... Which was really good by company standards. But I also found out the a provider that hasnt been with the company as long as I have and hasnt been certified as long as I have is getting paid 26 cents more an hour than me. What the hell!! I am currently trying to set up a meeting with my supervisor to try to get this straightened out... so I will post back up to say what happened:confused::hissy:

[Bthracer21]

Just since this thread is here and rather than starting a new one I just wanted to put some stuff out in writing...

On March 12,2003 a very good friend of mine lost his life in a tragic motorcycle crash. It has been 6 years to the day and almost the hour since I found out. David Neff was as good a friend as any whether he knew you or not. I had the pleasure of playing baseball with him for 6 years before he went home to the Lord. I still cannot believe that it happened. Because of the area that I run in, I go past his final resting place and the place where the accident took place. And everytime I go past I am sure to beep because I know he and God are watching down on me keeping me safe. It has not gotten easier to know he is no longer on this earth, but it makes me smile to know that he is in Heaven and is finally able to pitch the perfect game. I know that he is proud of what I am doing with myself, and that I am following the path that God is leading me down.

So with that being said...

Tell the ones that mean the most to you that you love them every chance that you get. Don't take anything or anyone for granted. Live each day to the fullest because it could be you last.

Peace be with you and many blessings upon everybody.

RIP Neffy 3/22/84- 3/12/03


TJ

[CoyoteFireGuy]

Since we are all sharing and i know everybodys favorites are the funny ones here is a goody but an oldy of mine...

"911 operator williams where is your emergency?"

"hi, my name is john and i live at 123 anywhere street"

"Ok sir, what is the phone number you are calling from?"

"502-555-1234"

"Thank you sir, what seems to be the problem tonight?"

"Well I need an ambulance"

"Ok sir, why do you need an ambulance tonight?"

"Well i have been trying to get it out for about an hour now..."

at this point you know it is going to be a hard call to hold back laughing

"I seem to have gotten something stuck"

"Ok sir, what have you gotten stuck and where"

"Well it stuck in my butt" (Very hesitant)

"Ok sir, what have you gotten stuck?"

(LONG PAUSE)

"Sir?"

"Well it is really embarassing"

"Ok well sir i need to know what it is in order to send you and ambulance"

"Ok, its a coke bottle"

:eek:

"Ok sir, what size and approximatley how much of the bottle is inside?"

I love the next part...

"OH, its ONLY a 20 ounce bottle"

"Ok sir, how much of the bottle is stuck?"

"Uhmmmm, well, the whole thing"

"Ok sir, I'll send an ambulance out to you. If anything changes before they get there call me back on 911"

DISCONNECT

OK, now tell me all of you all are not rolling on the floor laughing right now.:dielaugh:

Let me know if you all would like to hear some more. I have a bunch!

[KHill]

Nope not laughing yet. My mom is a rad tech in Southwest Washing Medical Center and she has seen ALL SORTS of stuff up people's butts.

Laughable: Ping pong balls
Cringing: Lightbulbs
Size: Squash
Weird: Barbie dolls
WTF: Gerbil
Holy ****: Constipation (after 1.5 weeks)

And I have had the (mis?)pleasure of seeing most of these xrays.



Just to lighten the mood!

[Devilz311]

Oh my dispatchers would have had that on speakerphone...

Since every radio transmission and phone line in our building is taped, we have a folder FULL of hilarious recordings... It's quite funny when an officer is trying to transmit with an unruly subject in the back seat, or when someone doesn't know that they have an open Mic :eek: