armywifeemt
Forum Lieutenant
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This is somewhat tongue in cheek, since I am pretty sure that if I hadn't come along everything would have been fine. You never know though, so I am putting it in the "win" column.
I've been contemplating the possibility of staying a volunteer and not trying to turn EMS into a job. I love it, and I don't want to wind up getting burnt out on it. I know too many people who have hit the end of that path, or are already well on there way down it.
I recently had an experience that may have changed my mind though.
I was at the gas station picking up a quick snack on my way to run errands, and as I was checking out, the 9 month old daughter of the lady working at the gas station started, "choking." By choking I mean she had a partial airway obstruction, since she was crying, and still breathing somewhat although you could actually hear the difficulty she was having every time she inhaled. After about 30 seconds of this, with some back patting, when it didn't stop momma freaked out and asked us to call 911. So I dialed on my cell phone, sat it down on the counter -directing one of the other customers to pick it up, told momma that I was an EMT and asked for the baby, . I did some back blows, even though we don't usually do them unless the airway is full obstructed, and the piece of food that caused the whole thing came right up. The baby calmed down, momma calmed down, and she told the 911 dispatcher that everything was fine.
Admittedly, this isn't exactly the heroic save that most of us dream of, but I gave the mother some peace of mind, helped the baby since I am sure she was also scared out of her mind, and I got to feel like a million bucks all day because I did something to help someone else.
This may not be the epitome of what I joined this field for, but it is one of those little pleasant surprises that comes along. Sometimes just knowing what is going on and how to handle the situation is enough to at least make another person's day go a little better than it would have.
This was the first time my training has ever come in handy outside of my volunteering at the fire department, and it is the only time I have ever been the only person who had any idea how to handle an emergency medical situation of some sort.
It was good.
I've been contemplating the possibility of staying a volunteer and not trying to turn EMS into a job. I love it, and I don't want to wind up getting burnt out on it. I know too many people who have hit the end of that path, or are already well on there way down it.
I recently had an experience that may have changed my mind though.
I was at the gas station picking up a quick snack on my way to run errands, and as I was checking out, the 9 month old daughter of the lady working at the gas station started, "choking." By choking I mean she had a partial airway obstruction, since she was crying, and still breathing somewhat although you could actually hear the difficulty she was having every time she inhaled. After about 30 seconds of this, with some back patting, when it didn't stop momma freaked out and asked us to call 911. So I dialed on my cell phone, sat it down on the counter -directing one of the other customers to pick it up, told momma that I was an EMT and asked for the baby, . I did some back blows, even though we don't usually do them unless the airway is full obstructed, and the piece of food that caused the whole thing came right up. The baby calmed down, momma calmed down, and she told the 911 dispatcher that everything was fine.
Admittedly, this isn't exactly the heroic save that most of us dream of, but I gave the mother some peace of mind, helped the baby since I am sure she was also scared out of her mind, and I got to feel like a million bucks all day because I did something to help someone else.
This may not be the epitome of what I joined this field for, but it is one of those little pleasant surprises that comes along. Sometimes just knowing what is going on and how to handle the situation is enough to at least make another person's day go a little better than it would have.
This was the first time my training has ever come in handy outside of my volunteering at the fire department, and it is the only time I have ever been the only person who had any idea how to handle an emergency medical situation of some sort.
It was good.
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