Your First Call

[firetender]

rare to be on scene where the only thing holding things together is a bush (and, no, that's not a political joke but I bet I could make it one!)

even more rare to pluck someone from circling the drain and have them go through 8 subsequent codes and still make it

rarer still to run into the guy later and be able to share about it

what are the odds of ending up in the wedding of a guy you saved, let alone have it be your first call?

Beleive me, even sinking your teeth into the butt of a live cow wouldn't get you a rarer experience!

 

[Alexakat]

My first call was a minor MVA. The patient refused treatment. How anti-climactic!

 

[knxemt1983]

rare to be on scene where the only thing holding things together is a bush (and, no, that's not a political joke but I bet I could make it one!)

even more rare to pluck someone from circling the drain and have them go through 8 subsequent codes and still make it

rarer still to run into the guy later and be able to share about it

what are the odds of ending up in the wedding of a guy you saved, let alone have it be your first call?

Beleive me, even sinking your teeth into the butt of a live cow wouldn't get you a rarer experience!

I know, it shocks everyone. I even got our admin director to pull the report, and the names match. I didn't really do a whole lote, just tons of running to get equipment, but it's still pretty cool just knowing I was there. now we are friends, and I live in a medium sized county with several suburbs. It does me good to see the guy and his familiy, he is now having a baby, it shows me that we really do good, even though we don't always see it.

 

[Emtgirl21]

Unfortunately I still remember my firs call as a basic and that was 22 yrs ago.
About 0740 tones go off. MVA hwy *** and *** road. We pull up on the scene and immediately recognize the vehicle that was on its side. It was the vehicle of another emt from our station. We approach and find him partially decapitated.

Finished that run and 40 minutes later we respond to a farm injury. We arrive and the vics wife says I think he is under the bush hog. We check and sure enough that is where he is. He had a massive MI and fell off his tractor and was caught under the bush hog. His wife saw the tractor going across field by itself. My whole first day was fatalaties. 2 more after these then it was quiet and spent the rest of the time talking it out.

If my first day had been that bad....i'd either quit or hung myself. That sucks something awful! I feel then need to give you a hug or something.

 

[Gbro]

A chest pain,
Pt had long HX and met us 1/2 way. The EMT i was riding with put him on a short board, I took it out from under him. The EMT didn't like it very much but i guess i felt we needed to impress upon the PT that he was in good hands.
Hauled him several more times in the following years.

I was Advanced 1st Aid (Red Cross) then and it was a prerequisite for EMT in our area back then(1979)
Its like, where and what you were doing when JFK died, the shuttle, your 1st Code, 1st @#$# %# @##, etc.

No pagers, we had a Bar phone system one line for Ambulance and anther (phone) line for the fire dept. the siren was tripped by dialing -O- (on pulse dial phone only)

 

[Gbro]

Well... here's the best way to explain how it was for me... here I am, 17 years later, and I still remember the color of the oncoming car, and the make and model of the vehicles involved. I can see the little boy's face like it was yesterday. Do I have bad dreams about it... nah... but no one really "talked" to me about it either. I usually tell the story and make a point about some type of debriefing when I teach my students.

Watched a small car cross 4 lane behind me in mirror, My wife and daughter were in vehicle immediately behind. Big Cadillac hits little car rear left pass. I watch this car spin in slow motion w/upper body, blond hair straight out. Knowing the car is going to flip and crush the young girl, Car comes to a stop in median, vic fall back inside. I got there befor my wife(EMT, RN also). and open airway, was just about to start rescue breathing and she comes to frEEKING!
4 vic's and she was transfered to regional trauma center (pre-copper days)................

Then i am transporting a Young male ATV accident and the aunt is riding in with us as she was responsible adult, and no car.
We go by this intersection and she pops out with "do you remember an accident here 11 years ago?" My reply was "Just like it was yesterday"
here after the accident nobody would tell her anything about it. She came out just fine considering the impact she took. I know today just like on that day the reason there were no "54's" was none of the occupants saw it coming.

 

[clinicallydead44]

Okay my first call was last year when I was 16, a Junior member at my agency and I wasn't even in EMT classes yet but yeah it was dreadfully disappointing.
It was toned as a possible overdose and we arrived on the scene and there was already a police officer there and it turned into a patient care refusal -_-.
I'm pretty sure it was only because he didn't overdose on legal drugs, haha!

 

[maconEMS219]

My First Call As A First Responder With The Fd Before I Got Hired On The Truck Was A Mva Rollover Reported Pd Only 0430 I Pulled Up To Assist With Traffic Control. Four Guys Standing Outside Of A Truck On Its Top. All Was Well For A Min Or Two Until One Ask Where Someone Was. They Relized There Fifth Person Was Missing. I Found Him Between Road And Top Of Truck. Flew Out. He Was Released Three Days Later.

 

[BossyCow]

My First Call As A First Responder With The Fd Before I Got Hired On The Truck Was A Mva Rollover Reported Pd Only 0430 I Pulled Up To Assist With Traffic Control. Four Guys Standing Outside Of A Truck On Its Top. All Was Well For A Min Or Two Until One Ask Where Someone Was. They Relized There Fifth Person Was Missing. I Found Him Between Road And Top Of Truck. Flew Out. He Was Released Three Days Later.

Please Stop With The Capitalization It Makes Your Posts Very Difficult To Read

[Edited by MMiz in order to make it a tad bit nicer ]

 

[gnh2276]

about a week and a half ago I went on my first call as a liscenced EMT. I have been on plenty as a driver and lent a hand from time to time having had quite a bit of medical experiance with the military. This paticular call was a code. when I arrived on scene another member was already doing cpr. I jumped in and started compressions for him untill the medics got there. By the time the medics arrived there was nothing we could do for him he had been down too long. One of the medics commented on my compressions and how well they looked on the monitor I said that I only wish they worked.

 

[babygirl2882]

my first call was a broken arm...a little boy (probably 7) was climbing a ladder into his above ground pool....fell off....his arm was quiet squigily (sorry about spelling) it was cool cuz I wasn't grossed out or anything...second call that day was another broken arm...kid was at the skate park and fell off his board....

 

[Jay114]

wow, 2 broken arms in a row? There has to be a lame joke in there somewhere.

 

[Onceamedic]

A transfer from our emergency room here in Hicksville USA to a larger hospital 45 minutes away. I read all of the hospital reports. (I still think its awesome to be able to see all this stuff.) I was puzzled when the report says the patient rated her pain at a 2 (on the traditional 1-10 scale) and was given morphine. It turns out that the morphine was supposed to be given to the patient in the next room. The patient snoozed and smiled all the way to the hospital.

 

[babygirl2882]

wow, 2 broken arms in a row? There has to be a lame joke in there somewhere.

ya i know it was pretty amazing...i havn't had one since either...

 

[Hightoweruk]

My first call was a fall in a nursing home however en-route to the home we were waved down at an RTC (road traffic collision) where the bigest truck i've ever seen had driven over a motorcycle, bi-lateral tension pneumothorax and later found out he'd got 5x spinal fractures.

second job was an intensive care transfer and as is typical for my luck the patients ventilator broke 5 mns into journey

 

[Grady_emt]

My first call in EMT school was for a crackhead at a dialysis clinic that was having chest pains because his crack had fallen on the floor and the clinic called the po-po on him, he admitted to smoking it, "but I only hit it two times, normally Ill hit it like 5 or 6 times, im doing better with it"

First call working was for a head on wreck for a semi-rural road late at night. one DOA, one transported by an ALS unit, we were BLS that day.

 

[RescueShirts.com]

First call as an EMT-Basic was a kid at batting cage that got hit in the head by a ball. Yes... he was wearing a helmet, but still... it was those yellow, solid plastic balls they put in batting cages (for some reason). OUCH!


One of my first calls (that I remember) as a Paramedic was an old lady at a nursing home... cold mottled extremities... decreased level of consciousness... rapid A-Fib.

I almost shocked her... was on scene 28 minutes before a code-3 transport to a hospital only 4 minutes away.

The ER doc described it as an "emboli storm"... basically... the blood in her heart was like jello due to the A-Fib... and she was throwing clots to her brain and her extremities.

Nothing I could have done would have helped her... so my helpless feeling on scene was somewhat appropriate... just didn't need to spend 28 minutes on scene "freaking out".

Live and learn...

 

[Phridae]

Gee, hope I didnt already answer this question. I didnt feel like going the the many pages looking.

Anyways. My first call was for a teenager who claimed he was "jumped" at the library. Black an blue eye, nothing special. :sad:

 

[medicdan]

My first call (today!) was a 16 y/o f for a Section 12 (I need to learn more about that...). It was a transport from a residential treatment center/school for girls with psych problems or for those who have undergone psychical/sexual assault. I understand that within the last month or so, the service I was riding with had transported 7 or 8 young women from this treatment center for attempted suicide.
En Route I was warned that these patients may be combative-- to know they may kick (head or stomach), spit (get ready with mask), or fight. I was told to keep my BSI the entire time-- that it could get messy, oh, and to get ready with the restraints.
We arrived on scene, unloaded the cot and brought it to the patient's room. When she saw us with the cot, the told us that she would rather walk to the ambulance. She was obviously compliant (well, as compliant as one can be for a mandatory admission...). Once she climbed in, we told her that we needed to put the straps on the cot-- they were not restraints, but like a seatbelt, and she complied as we put them on. A nurse from the program accompanied us.
The EMT who was caring for her (I'm sorry I dont know his name...) was very nonchalant-- which I think caused problems at some point. The patient (with the help of the nurse) described that she had cut herself about a month ago on the R arm-- and she showed us her scars (well healed). Last night, she had cut herself on the L leg-- very minor bleeding. As well, last night, she tried to drown herself in a bathroom sink. With the help of the nurse, she was able to tell us when she did all of this-- quite precisely. The patient stated that over the weekend, she had walked to Albany, and that it had taken her 20 hours-- the nurse did not confirm or deny-- but said that the patient had run away for about five days-- and had been off her meds for about three weeks-- she rattles off a long list of Meds- that we documented.
The patient let me take vitals-- a good learning expierence for me-- something I need to practice more.
The transport continued uneventfully.
After hearing of her attempted self-drowning, the EMT who was caring for her replied (inappropriately, in my opinion) that the toilet would have been much more effective... She gave him the finger, and he proceeded to put on a PulseOx meter-- quite effective you might say...
On arrival to the hospital, I was sent to help the nurses sign the patient in while the EMTs settled out patient into a room. Having never spent much time in the back of an ER, there was plenty for me to learn. I need to learn more about their computer systems-- they are quite cool.
All in all, it was a fascinating ride-- but it hit close to home for me-- I have friends who are not much older then the patient who have or are undergoing similar problems.

I really am glad i rode along for this case-- I learned a lot. I am hanging around the fire station/EMS base as much as possible before taking my written exam-- I want to get as much unofficial expierence as possible before getting my card and working...

 

[EMS215]

first call

hey guys havent been on here in ages, i may have posted this somewhere before, im not sure, but here goes.

At my volly company, we have a paid ALS/BLS crew on 24/7. The hospital pays the medic, the firehouse pays the emt. The cool thing is, a volly guy can run 3rd with the medic rig, so I took advantage of this.
It was my first shift 1900 - 0700, maybe 6 weeks out of EMT school. Hung out at the squad building, hit the bunk room about 0130. Next thing I know tones drop, pager goes off, "84 year old woman c/o difficulty breathing" I meet the medic and the other EMT at the rig and off we go.
En route dispatch updates that pt now has severe substernal chestpain. After what felt like a blink of an eye, we arrive on scene, a middle aged woman comes flying out of the house screaming "hurry up she just went out, shes not talking or breathing and shes turning blue!" The paramedic looked at me and said "grab everything", he grabbed his monitor and went flying into the house. At this time PD shows up and my EMT partner tells him to get the cot out and get it ready, we go flying in drug box, reeves, o2, suction in hand. The medic had started compressions, the other emt took over the chest, i threw in an airway and began to bag as the medic started his leads. No shockable rhythm. Medic began running drugs, (im not sure but when i asked him what he ran, i think he said epi x2, sodium bicarb, atropine and dopamine. i could be wrong about the dopamine).
After the first round of drugs the medic tried to intubate, ended up in the belly, he pulled out, i suctioned and got back on the bag, he got on the radio and called to hurry up the second responding medic, seconds later he comes in, tubes right away, i resume bagging.
Shortly after the second round of drugs we get a tachy pulse back, (110)
load and go, I was at the foot of the stretcher loading, the second medic hops in behind the cot, throws me his keys and tells me not to get lost.
I was following the rig to the ED in one of the county's Crown Victorias (damn that thing had some power). The rig cleared an intersection and i stopped to clear the redlight. I begin to advance when someone barrels through the intersection almost smashing into my door. By this time I had lost sight of the ambulance, advised radio, was instructed to return to my squad building, no lights no sirens and wait for my crew.
As far as i know she had a pulse when the crew transfered care at the ed, but still wasn't breathing on her own.

So as long winded as it was that's my story. Hell of a first call.