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Paramedic Stories, Part XIX: So What Else Is New?: My Story (By George "Goose" Guzman, Paramedic/EMT) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Friday, October 29, 2004
Rated "PG" by the Author.
My name is George Talton Guzman, but my pals and colleagues call me "Goose". I am a paramedic for the city of Nashville, Tennessee; I have been a paramedic going on for ten years now.
I have seen 'em come, and I have seen 'em go; and I have seen some of the same faces since I first started here. I work with some of the best in the business: Kendall Victor Smith (you might call him the "leader" of our crew; he's the one who keeps things humming), Pat Moss, Wendell P. Gilmarten, and John Roker. I used to work with Johnny Eaglefeather, but he quit the "biz" after helping out during a particularly bad MVA (motor vehicle accident) that killed several people, including some children. I haven't seen nor heard from him since; I only hope that he is okay...
I have seen some of the worst possible things you can imagine: people with body parts missing, people with serious illnesses such as advance cases of cancer, diabetes, heart, liver, or lung failure, children with heartbreaking physical (or mental) handicaps that rule every aspect of their young lives, people with rare diseases such as malaria, tetanus, or the Hanta virus, illnesses that are common in a good part of the world (but are virtually unheard of here in the United States), people hooked to drugs or alcohol, people with unstable mental illness, and people burnt to a crisp, to where their feeatures are barely recognizable as human; among other things. I have seen kids who were once happy and thriving end up virtual shells of their former selves as they end up brain-damaged because of accident, illness, or injury, and I have seen adults kill themselves because they "just couldn't take it any more"; and I have seen some of the weirdest things, too: people stuck in tight spots, kids with their arms or foot caught in the toilet bowl, strange objects protruding from people's bodies (things like ski poles, wood, or steel rods), and so forth.
Believe me, nothing really surprises me anymore; as a paramedic, I can expect to see (and experience) just about anything that life may throw my way. I also have to deal with people who speak a foreign language (fortunately, I am fluent in Spanish; I am Hispanic, myself; I was born in San Antone--San Antonio--, Texas; I grew up speaking both Spanish as well as English; so that is no big deal with me), and I have to deal with people's family members who oftentimes keep me or my partners from doing our job to help their stricken family member. Being a paramedic is no box of chocolates, and it is high stress all the way; not everyone can handle the demands of the job, and when one is a paramedic, we are on call any time of the day or night. We don't get much in the way of sleep or "down time", and so when we DO finally get a day off, or a chance to sleep or actually live life like a normal human being, we really take advantage of it!
Still, even with all the drawbacks that "paramedicdom" has to offer, I really enjoy my job. I meet all types of interesting people, and I always get a feeling of satisfaction in knowing we made a huge difference in helping someone during a time of great need. I also feel a rush of joy and hope in knowing that I helped in saving a life that was once doomed; but on the other end of the coin, I always feel so horrible when someone dies on us. I know and understand that death is as part of life as is life itself, but it is still never easy, especially when the person in question is a young child or baby; it still doesn't make any sense, even now. But we still go on after we grieve; and we put our feelings aside and go on to the next situation.
The only bad part I see about it: not being around my wife, Gloria, or my kids Antonio, Griselda, Maria, or Teresita as much as I would like: I am hardly ever home because it seems that I am at the firestation, waiting for yet another call, another opportunity to save a fellow human life, and hoping that the call isn't a "bad one".
~Written by George Talton ("Goose") Guzman, Paramedic/EMT.
Told in the true style of a paramedic. The strangest thing that I saw was a guy that had a potato in his rectum. It seems he like kinky sex. Now that was a howl so to speak. Gee and the guy was a guest at our wedding. Avoids me now like the plague as you see I can't help but laugh it helps in serious cases.
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My name is George Talton Guzman, but my pals and colleagues call me "Goose". I am a paramedic for the city of Nashville, Tennessee; I have been a paramedic going on for ten years now.
