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My partner is retiring in a couple weeks after 25 years as a paramedic at our service and almost 30 years in EMS.
She's obviously developed quite a reputation in our service in that time, and I heard a lot about her from the moment I arrived long before I ever worked a shift with her. She's blunt and opinionated (and would tell you that herself), but has managed to maintain an underlying sense of compassion and dignity for longer in EMS than I have been alive. She's honest to a fault, and many people's greatest complaints about her are that she holds people to our established standards and makes them accountable, even if they don't want to be. Years ago, she was one of the few supervisors at our service and stepped back to a field position of her own volition because she had the insight and courage to admit to herself that she belonged in the field rather than management. She's told me more times than I can count that her favorite thing at work has long been taking "nice old people to the hospital and giving them Fentanyl or Zofran as she holds their hand and talks to them."
We performed what could (maybe?) be her last RSI early this morning and it went almost flawlessly. We were on the same page the whole time, much of our communication was non-verbal, and the overall call just felt smooth and rehearsed despite some curveballs from a patient management perspective. It's a nice feeling when a complicated patient is managed well and delivered in better condition than when we found him.
I'll miss working with her greatly, as she's someone from such a different walk of life and background that I never would have met her if not for EMS. We're not of the same generation, side of the political spectrum, religion, gender, upbringing, or part of the country, but none of that has prevented long and civil conversations about hundreds of topics in and out of EMS.
Good luck in your retirement partner, and thanks for all your years of dedicated service. Your pension that you'll be getting until you turn 150 and bankrupt the county is well deserved. You've more than earned your upcoming restful nights, vegetable gardens, and family cows.
She's obviously developed quite a reputation in our service in that time, and I heard a lot about her from the moment I arrived long before I ever worked a shift with her. She's blunt and opinionated (and would tell you that herself), but has managed to maintain an underlying sense of compassion and dignity for longer in EMS than I have been alive. She's honest to a fault, and many people's greatest complaints about her are that she holds people to our established standards and makes them accountable, even if they don't want to be. Years ago, she was one of the few supervisors at our service and stepped back to a field position of her own volition because she had the insight and courage to admit to herself that she belonged in the field rather than management. She's told me more times than I can count that her favorite thing at work has long been taking "nice old people to the hospital and giving them Fentanyl or Zofran as she holds their hand and talks to them."
We performed what could (maybe?) be her last RSI early this morning and it went almost flawlessly. We were on the same page the whole time, much of our communication was non-verbal, and the overall call just felt smooth and rehearsed despite some curveballs from a patient management perspective. It's a nice feeling when a complicated patient is managed well and delivered in better condition than when we found him.
I'll miss working with her greatly, as she's someone from such a different walk of life and background that I never would have met her if not for EMS. We're not of the same generation, side of the political spectrum, religion, gender, upbringing, or part of the country, but none of that has prevented long and civil conversations about hundreds of topics in and out of EMS.
Good luck in your retirement partner, and thanks for all your years of dedicated service. Your pension that you'll be getting until you turn 150 and bankrupt the county is well deserved. You've more than earned your upcoming restful nights, vegetable gardens, and family cows.
