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Paramedic Stories, Part XXXI: Trying Not To Cry...(By Kendall V. Smith, Paramedic/EMT) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Friday, December 10, 2004
Rated "PG" by the Author.
One of Nashville's Finest talks about some of his most heartwrenching cases he has encountered in his years as a paramedic/EMT.
If I could wish for one thing, I wish people didn't have to get injured or sick; but in real life, it isn't that simple. People can and DO get sick or injured, and when they do, it is up to us to try to help them through their trauma as best as we possibly can.
I have seen many a patient in rough shape, and no matter what we do or how hard we try to work on them, they end up dying anyway, and it really puts a huge damper on things, especially if it's a person we happen to know--or if the person is a child or an infant. I have also seen some tragic cases, as in terminal patients who somehow manage to hang on just "one more day", and whenever I am done helping them, I feel so spent and worn down, and I wonder why I have decided to go into this crazy, stressful occupation called Emergency Medicine.
I have also had to deal with people at their very worst: people who are abusing drugs or alcohol, and they end up getting smashed (it is up to us to put the pieces back together again, and trying to show at least some sympathy for these losers who will only again end up back in the rear of a moving ambulance, their bodies ripped to shreds, or whacked out on powerful drugs that have severely altered their mental status, and you don't know what they are capable of doing or saying), people who call themselves humans, but are only animals, as they regularly abuse their children or their spouses, or people who are living on the streets, and all they want is a friend or a warm place to sleep, so they call us to pick them up and take them to the hospital. You also have these people who take advantage of Emergency Medicine: they will do anything to gain notoriety (or a ride in our ambulance), just so they can brag to their friends that they went to the hospital.
In addition, I have had to deal with children and adults who are facing serious physical or mental disability, and some are so bad off it's a wonder how they keep on living or thriving. I know a little guy (now aged 11; he'll be 12 in a few weeks) who has a serious neuromuscular problems, and he's been a "frequent flyer" in our ambulance (one who regularly needs our services), for one reason or another; and he's nearly met his Maker in the Sky several times, but somehow, through an unexplained Miracle, he ends up surviving, and whenever we have to deal with Johnny (or others like him), I can't help but to cry. It doesn't seem fair that some kids who are good-hearted in nature get screwed in life by having horrible diseases or illnesses while other kids who are uncontrollable street urchins or spoiled brats seem to have it all, and nothing really bothers them. The same applies to a kid with chronic health conditions such as asthma, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, kidney disease, or disabilities like spina bifida, cerebral palsy, or JRA (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis). These kids seem to have it against them, but somehow, they remain incredibly upbeat, and they are among the smartest (not to mention, the sweetest) kids I have ever met in my life! The adults are just as amazing as the kids, and they all make me feel glad to be alive and to be grateful for a healthy, working body to where I can help others like them, people who don't have it as well as I do.
Just as heartwarming as those kids and adults with special health needs are the elderly in our society. They are often even-tempered (unless they are suffering from dementia; but that is an entirely different story altogether), and I never end up tiring of hearing of their delightful stories of their families or back when they were young, and they appreciate each and every little thing that we do for them, and they are extremely apologetic for "being such a pain" or "being such a burden", and a few of them have gone as far as "adopting" us into their families, calling us "honorary sons or daughters" (or even "honorary grandkids")!
Every time I deal with these senior citizens, I end up crying too because it seems a lot of them are not that well off, and some live in deplorable conditions that rips your heart out. I wish I could do something for these unfortunate souls whom society has abandoned, and I wish I could take away some of the pain and suffering that they have had to endure.
We often have to deal with death on a daily basis: chances are, any one of our patients is going to die, and when they are near death, we have to act fast and try to save them (unless they are under a "DNR" code, or "Do Not Resuscitate", such as the terminal patients we deal with). Sometimes we are successful (as in the cases of Johnny Sandusky and his sister Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux; both kids have cheated death more times than I'd like to count, and they continue to defy the odds even now!), but more often than not, we often meet with failure, such as the man we tried to save after he had a heart attack while playing the piano at his home last year (he was 77 years old, and his name was Charles P. Overton; we knew him simply as "Charley", and he was one of our regular customers; he had a lot of health issues), or the little girl who was hit by a car during the summertime of this year. She was only three/four years old at the most, and no matter what we did for her, we could not save her: she died while in the emergency room; nothing could be done to revive her, and we then had the grim task of telling her mother that her child had died. We also couldn't prevent the permanency of brain damage setting in the young mind of Hezekial Michael Rosenberg, whom we pulled out from a pool (the kid was blue and limp as a wet dishcloth; he is now in a wheelchair, a shell of his former self), or paralysis in the body of young adolescent Fair Allen Jones, who was rendered a quadriplegic after a failed dive in the family pool (he is now respirator-dependent, and he has to have others care for his most basic needs). When we see people like Fair Allen Jones or little Hezzi Rosenberg in society, somehow, my heart just breaks, and I can't help but think back to the times when we were trying to save them, and I feel somehow responsible for the shape they are in today.
Yet, despite all the tragedy and heartbreak we have faced as paramedics, we feel we have an obligation to help those who are in most need in our community, and there is nothing more gratifying than the sweet, soft sound of life escaping from the once-blue lips of a child who is returning from unconsciousness, or the "blip, blip, blip" of the heart monitor recording the heart beat of a man who was once without pulse, without breath. This makes it worthwhile, and stories such as these is exactly why we are in this field today. If it were not for these people, I wouldn't have a job, and I thank my lucky stars that there are people who rely on the EMS system for their health needs when trouble comes to call! God bless those special Miracles, young and old, and their brave families who stood tall and courageous in times of dire need!!
an exceptional heartwrending addition to the series--you do these so well, i hope to see more in this series. well done, and BRAVA (BRAVO!) to our paramedic heroes :) (and to you for writing about them)
Rovella is a beautiful woman with a cold heart whom blames herself for an unfortunate old family secret that is literally ruining her life. This secret impedes a gorgeous woman from having happiness in her childhood, and throughout her life. Dark sec
Suspenseful and close to home, Rain of Deception 2 will leave you in Tears. Much like Part 1, this will shocking sequel will keep you on the edge of your fingertips.
If I could wish for one thing, I wish people didn't have to get injured or sick; but in real life, it isn't that simple. People can and DO get sick or injured, and when they do, it is up to us to try to help them through their trauma as best as we possibly can.
