Hardest part of EMS

[RescueYou]

Hey. You know, any vet knows that you have you your good days and your bad days. Calls can go from one end to the other end of the spectrum in a matter of hours. I saw that there was a "Best part of EMS is..." topic, but I want to know what you think is the darker side of EMS is.
"Your least favorite part of EMS is..." and fill in the blank.

For me, I originally had said that losing a pediatric patient who you actually saw life in before they coded. That was always hard for me. But recently, I think I found a new one for me as an individual: Going into the crew hall to help others and save them in their time of need when you are emotionally torn to pieces from something in your personal life. I found out last night that my boyfriend of 3yrs is going to Iraq for the Army in January for the 2nd time. I had to go into the station after that and I was just in a million little pieces emotionally and yet I was expected to not just go in, but to put other people back together. It was a loooooooong night.

 

[RyanMidd]

Sorry to hear about that. I tend to be pretty good at compartmentalizing my life and my work.

I think one of the tougher parts is that, despite your skills, attitude, equipment and medication, not everybody can be saved. In a perfect world, the ratio of medical professionals to others would be 1:1, and wait times would be zero, but there would still be those who slip through the cracks and die otherwise preventable deaths.

That being said, I think that EMS is on par with police and fire for its necessity in the 21st century, and I am always surprised about how recent ambulance service and prehospital technique are in the modern world.

I guess overall, the toughest part for me is knowing that even on the best day with the best luck, you can't cheat death.

 

[VFFforpeople]

I think the only downside to all this is: That for every good day or days we get..there is always that one that comes and just kicks us in the gut.

 

[mycrofft]

Wait 'til you're devastated or scared...

and you have to act brave in front of your spouse or kids.

 

[atropine]

not enough hot looking women in ems

 

[CollegeBoy]

This one did not happen to me, it happened to someone I know.

An icy Feburary this friend of mine was working and got a call for a woman in labor. Well they took forever to get there because the ice was unbelievably bad and ended up delivering on scene.

A few months later this same guy got called to the same address. The kid that he delivered died of SIDS, and he had to work it.

 

[atropine]

is doing 12-leats on fat chicks, and old people

 

[bunkie]

My husbands on his 3rd tour in Iraq, our 5th deployment total in the last 8 years. I've been around this block more then once. This is the best advice for you that I can offer.

It's not Afghanistan. He's going to be gone and it's going to SUCK, but at least he's not in A-Stan. Iraq is considerably stable and quiet. It's not even considered a war zone anymore. This is the very last time he'll ever go to Iraq.

I concentrate on those parts. IMO, it could be much worse. I've done Iraq twice during war and I'm just glad that I'm not doing A-stan now like some of my other friends. I know that hell, don't particularly care for it. I consider myself extremely lucky.

Hang in there, keep yourself busy. A year will pass before you realize.

ETA: It's also great to know now. You still have the holidays with him and over two months before he deploys. It's better then a last minute... "oh by the way...." Enjoy your holidays together.

 

[firetender]

Nothing was more crazy-making than the politics!

The job is simple: Everybody suffers, everybody dies, (even me!) and I just lend a hand to relieve a bit of the pain. Sometimes that hurts me, but I'm still alive, aren't I? So for the vast majority of the time, I adored the "job".

And then there was the politics. That was all about turf and money.

Who gets to do what; what gets to be done; where does it get done; and how cheap can it get done? Oh, and there's the guys/gals who drive the trucks.

Most medics in the field understand how the field works and what they need to do a good job; even within the limited parameters of what they're given to work with. The problem is, they keep wanting to do it better!

Everyone else learns it in books and THINK they know best. Whether it was from State, county or local govt., Fire Departments, Private ambulance firms, Vollies, Hospitals, even doctors and nurses, and to a lesser extent Allied protective agencies like PD and even Unions, being allowed to do my job to the best of my ability was something I was ALWAYS struggling for. That's 12 years from vollie NY, private in FL and private/county CA.

That's what burned me out. That struggle and it really was a struggle that took up more of my psychic energy than ANY of the calls I had been on.

AND there WERE lives lost amidst the beureaucratic stupidities that kept available, essential and relatively inexpensive tools out of my reach to use. People died because paramedic units were held away from the scene of an accident until AFTER the local Basic rig showed up because that one town amidst the county resisted (in concept!) anything other than load and go. People died because they were "supposed to" be seen at the VA hospital, 60 miles distant.

Those calls more than any others, ripped me apart.

 

[atropine]

Are you referring to Tarrance?, my good fellow.

 

[RescueYou]

Thank you Ryan and bunkie. I really appreciate the condolences and advice. I've lost 2 to this war so far and so of course I'm a little edgy. We do plan to enjoy our holidays together and my birthday (the day he leaves is the same day) and we're enjoying the presence of family right now. There are many things to consider and we both know that marriage is expected before he leaves from our friends and family. haha It's a fun and bittersweet mess.

As for worst calls...I normally do a good job at separating work and family. As mycrofft mentioned, it is hard to be strong in front of your family. I also find it hard sometimes to be strong in front of a patient's family or a child when their parent isn't "going to be ok." EMS sucks at times and a bad call can outweight a hundred good ones, but in the end, it's what we do. Save 'em or lose 'em, our lives goes on.

 

[VCEMT]

Going on peds and geriatric calls. That and deconing after a messy one. A good day for me is a lot of calls, however, the person that called isn't having a good one. When I ponder that, I feel for the people. After all, I was one of those people calling 911 for my relatives. Hell, I've run calls where my relative is a patient.

 

[nemedic]

I think the worst calls would have to be on people you are friends with. there was an OD call where the ALS truck requested a BLS assist (basically one of the EMT's on the BLS truck responds to drive the ALS truck). Turns out that the pt was a really good friend that we thought had beaten the addiction.

I also agree with trying to stay strong infront of the pt's family, especially if the pt is a relative/friend of yours

 

[Onceamedic]

I am OK with the fact that people die, even kids. I am OK with the long hours, the sleep deprivation, the :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty pay, the politics, the egos, the drama, etc etc etc.

What makes me crazy is when a patient does NOT receive standard of care, whether from my crew, the first responders, the hospital, whatever. When there is a breakdown in the system and the patient does not get everything they had coming to them, I have trouble... even if the patient "would have died anyway."

I know that there are clusters on some calls, and no call yet has gone like it does in the books but that doesn't mean we can't improve.