Monday, April 21, 2008

Okay here it is a new post

Phew, I know I know I know. Been a long time. But I have good reason I promise. Had a bout of writer's block. Then I found out my lease is up alot sooner than I thought so I had to find a place to live otherwise I was gonna be living at the women's shelter that I have grown to know and love. But I have found a wonderful place to live. A place that is ALL my own. My first place that is mine all mine. I don't have to share with anybody. More rent and I have to work a little harder to actually afford it, but a space that is all your own is worth that extra two shifts a month I think. And it has a pool. So seriously, yeah, two extra shifts is worth a pool.

Man, yall...we were crazy busy this weekend too. That full moon thing is so true, and all but one was some BULL-shit. The one was one of our frequent flyers that everytime you see she is actully sick, but because of crack. You just go "Goddamnit!, You were doing so good! What the hell happened?!" and she shruggs, all while fighting to breath. You CPAP her, load her up with NTG and haul ass to the hospital, go any slower and you will be tubing her. You just pray the whole way that she didn't wait too long to call you, because you can't get a line so you can't RSI her and you for damn sure don;t want to nasally tube her, she doesn't care for the CPAP, so you know she ain't gonna like that tube shoved down her nose.

The rest were all just alot of uncooraperative people who thought that EMS were either taxis to downtown or "unresponsive" who were gonna "faint" everytime we tried to stand them up. And every one of our "fainters" were a good 3 bills give or take. i've already has back surgery once, I'm not having it again. so I' not gonna catch you. You can faint. Not one of our "fainters" hit the ground. They all somehow made it to either a sofa or a chair or somewhere soft. One even made it clear across the room to the sofa. It was a fucking miracle.

Then there was the drunk college kids. How do you drink that much? No Seriously? How? I've been drunk, really drunk. I broke my foot in five places I was so drunk. But I have never been so drunk that I was unresponsive and EMS had to suction vomit out of my airway.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to date an EMT, & I just have to say that you guys have an important job and you do it well. But seriously, every EMT that I have met really needs to keep their god complex in check. If you have not seen the movie "Bringing out the dead" I sugest you do.

painter in hiding said...

Yep, see the movie. Its' one of my favorites. And like the protagonist. I too see the ghosts of the ones I couldn't help. I also feel like a "grief mop" as he puts it in the movie and if you had taken the time to read more of my posts you will find I do not in anyway have what you say is a "god complex" I know my limits. I write about them in in several posts. I also know, unlike my paragod counterparts, know when to call for help and when I can't do anything more. SO as that I am somewhat offended by your comment. I will leave it in its place. I invite you to read more of my blog. Find the humor in it. But know that I am the type of Medic you want in the back of the ambulance with your loved one, not those paragod types you speak of

Anonymous said...

I have several comments:
Welcome back. I missed you.
I, too have come to know and love drug addicts. I also have a very soft place in my heart for the college students who drink too much. I even have the opportunity to talk to their parents on the phone sometimes; they are so proud!
Finally, I freely admit I have a big ego. I can drive down the street of my little city and see the faces of the people I have saved. I can also see the ones that I didn't. I will never be able to talk to my family or non-EMS friends about the horror of my career; my family shouldn't know this stuff and my friends don't want to.
To the anonymous poster who accuses a fine medic (whom he/she has clearly never known) of a "God Complex": People like you pay people like us to fix your messes so you don't have to see it or deal with it. You want me to have a big ego. When it's your child-parent-spouse-loved one on the floor you don't want me to run off shrieking, you want me to calmly get down to business. You NEED me to be so damn good that I get it right the first time. There isn't a "Super 911" I get to call when it gets really, really bad. I have to buck up and do it.

No

painter in hiding said...

Damn right No! Well said! If I ran away shrieking from every call that scared the shit outta me I would not have a job.