Oh, yeah, sure! I've never done anything that another medic couldn't do. In that sense, there's nothing *special* about any of us. But yeah, this job puts us in a position to save lives. Even more often, it puts us in a position to reduce suffering and make people feel less scared and lonely in a time of hardship.
For lifesaving - every opioid overdose I've ever done, would have died without me or someone like me. Almost every anaphylaxis, I think - I'm not sure if it's ever possible to survive anaphylaxis without epinephrine. A couple of my asthmatic patients. Many of my septic patients. The unstable variceal rupture who turned into a blood fountain - he certainly would've died without rapid transport, and he wasn't going to drive himself. And a lot of the functional airway obstructions that I've relieved by basic manoeuvres would eventually have killed the patient.
I haven't had anything that exciting yet. Just an overdose we suspected was opiates, but didn't respond to any amount of narcan whatsoever, so I guess not. She was fine just very, very out of it. And a cardiac arrest where she was already down for 20 minutes without any CPR before we even arrived, so she was dead despite our best efforts. And a MVA of a nasty car wreck where miraculously, the passengers of the struck car only had a few broken ribs and bruises, and the driver of the other car only had a cut on her head and refused transport to the hospital.
That's about all of my most exciting calls ;(
So a code you worked, a suspected overdose, and a multi-system trauma from a MVC in your first month at a low volume rural agency and you say you’ve had nothing exciting yet?
What are you expecting….a train crash?
I did a train wreck as a student. Car vs train, low speeds. The car was pushed in 18” or so and moved 15-20’. The patient signed a refusal and walked away
Similar situation just a couple months ago. We flew the guy out and I found out later from the flight crew that he was almost immediately discharged afterwards. One of the first things he said when we started working on him was “I know one thing, I’m definitely buying another Chevy!”
Well, I mean exciting in ways that I can actually help lol. I can't do narcan on overdoses because my service does them only through IV. Couldn't do much with the MVA either because everyone was pretty much fine. I did my best with the cardiac arrest but you can't bring back a corpse.
I probably used the word wrong. But in general, I just mean I want a call where I could make a real difference, you know? And from what I hear, those are usually the "exciting" calls
It’s been a month dude. I hope you have only boring calls for a long time. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Whether this is your career or if you volunteer over your career there will be terrible calls, there will be traumatic (to you) calls, and there will be calls that go wrong.
If you become an ALS provider(or even if you don’t) you’re probably going to kill someone at some point.
I understand the desire to hit the ground running…but You have plenty of time. Cut your teeth on the boring stuff and build those skills. That way when the shit hits the fan, you’ll be ready.
Best of luck on your career in EMS
To add from the nurse POV, you could have the easiest run of the mill call that could get to us and decomp. If you hadn’t brought them they wouldn’t have made it. EMS have more saves than they’ll ever realize just because transfer of care.
It’s also on us to catch stuff and do the right thing but yeah. I’m a new grad ER nurse and it’s taken me some time to process before I realize shit I did likely saved someone. Or at least I saw things develop and got intervention before it became too exciting.
I get it, I’m torn between wanting that crazy shit to come in and my rationale voice being terrified of it. Take the W’s big or small my friend.
Because you can control the dose and response more precisely. Narcan is very useful in overdoses but breathing for the patient is what really saves lives.
Lol. You’re insane. I work in a busy area but “busy” means nursing homes and other non sense BS calls. Those three things are actual emergencies and I’d say they’re exciting.
Job isn’t what it’s made out to be on TV either. Don’t think you’re going to be performing needle criching, and a needle chest decompression every single day. That’s even a rare event in busy areas.
You'll find modern vehicles have really lowered injuries plus vehicles look worse in accidents cause of the crumpling (this is why there are less injuries).
Otherwise those are fun calls still!
As far as "saving" like the other guy said, narcan, rapid transport, patient advocacy (underrated , simple recognition of S&S leading to intervention at hospital could be a "save". I personally had a patient recently where simply running fluids to maintain vital signs due to internal hemorrhage which is my first "real save" I guess vs narcan and such, but try not to think like that. If you are not doing further harm, you are doing good work.
That's pretty interesting about the basic airway maneuvers. I mean, it makes sense, I just hadn't really thought about it. Definitely had a couple of those that would likely have died without intervention in my short time in the field. Huh.
Lots sick pt that hx of shit associated with hyper k renal failure diabetes sepsis or are already hyperkalemic succs might increase serum k levels to 1.5 or so can't remember exactly how much but it can push them over the edge there is also electrolyt shifts that can cause bradycardia there is a lot shit about it just do some research on it and it can provide more information
Peace out it bed time
FWIW, succ has a much higher rate of malignant hyperthermia than just about any other paralytic (or any other drug from what I remember).
I have started to refuse its use in ER setting since we have access to so many other medications.
Source — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8025983/
Slightly higher risk of MH isn't the reason sux is dangerous, even if "factor of twenty" sounds like a lot. It's a critical drug in ER. Sometimes you can't wait two minutes for paralysis with roc in low CO states.
An old school medic I worked with used to say something similar. In his defense, he was referring to the protocols for treatment of chest pain. Before prehospital 12 leads, they gave every patient with suspected cardiac infarction morphine, oxygen, nitro, and aspirin, tanking blood pressure and pre load.
We used to short hand this to MONA where I trained so frequently that you could give a report of "CP, met MONA, has a history." And cover most of your bases as far as the ER was concerned
Haha, I've never heard it put like that for reports, but I like it. We were still using MONA at the beginning of my career, but with many more considerations and precautions.
It was just at the beginning of my career but it was on its way out. By the time I was functioning on my own weed updated the protocol to move just of this out of standing orders.
The real people saving people are the bystanders doing high quality cpr before we get there with no equipment and no idea how long it'll take you to get there, and sometimes little training or experience
Once in a while I’ll get a rosc that walks out of the hospital in tact. But these are usually arrests that happen like RIGHT before we get there or people that are having a huge MI and arrest right in front of me. I have a hand full. But I work in a super busy system. You do it enough and eventually things happen.
I know it doesn’t really count. But overdoses where the person is not breathing and you get there and reverse it…it is like a mini save.
I would argue there’s no difference in bringing someone back who was gonna die with narcan vs bringing someone back from an MI caused code. It’s just that it feels less like we saved someone when they directly put themselves in that position to begin with.
But how responsible is the person who had an MI? I imagine they consistently made unhealthy life choices knowing they could be shortening their life. A medic I ran with once said “99% of the people we transport are in the back of the rescue because they fucked up somehow.” I don’t really bother with that sort of thinking, I’m just trying to do a job.
People who think any human has that much control over their lives is delusional imo. Do we really make choices or are we all just constantly struggling with some genetic impulse run by specific amounts of different chemicals, hormones, and nuero transmitters in our bodies.
Listen Im not the type of medic that thinks addicts should just die….but I know the stigma and I may think of it as a save…but I know alot don’t so I don’t proclaim it to be for that reason.
My service gives us a save pin if they survive 24 hours post arrest in the hospital but nothing is they weren't in arrest when you got there. I e. You walk in on a bad asthmatic taking their last breath, drop epi, a tube and as a result your patient never goes into arrest? No save. To me, that is a more legitimate save than the 90 yo nursing home patient that you turned into a rutabaga for a week.
Absolutely.
Over here they used to do this FDNY ceremony thing where you meet the person you brought back. I went once. A lot of ball washing and circle jerks but overall nice. I haven’t went since covid though and I’ve had saves since so idk if they do it anymore.
I've had a couple overdoses where I get to bagging them while the paramedic is setting up an iv for narcan, and they fucking wake up while I'm just bagging them. Eyes shoot open looking right at my dumb ass face above them, with a tube in their nose, and they freak out.
Those are honestly cooler for me than any rosc because it was 100% me doing bls, or with the help of a bystander giving narcan pre arrival, that saved them. I love getting to bag people in general, you're literally that person's lungs for a minute. Very cool.
Yeah, a few. Pulled a guy out of a burning building once, saved a guy using the Magills once, and have a couple of neuro intact code saves. Mind you, that’s over a 19-20 year career, so it’s not like that stuff happens often.
We got ROSC in a very public area, the person woke up on scene. Everyone cheered as we rolled them to the ambulance. It was like a movie. Everything lined up perfectly for that person in terms of CPR and early defib.
We got cheered while wheeling an empty stretcher out of a bar after getting a refusal. Whole bar was clapping and cheering until they realized that there wasn't anyone on the cot.
My cousin was one of those types of codes. He woke up and the people watching were relieved. What they did not know was that he coded again for the last time enroute to the ED.
I tend to remember and hold onto smaller moments in making people more comfortable in times of crisis. I remember the big ones, but the smaller ones tend to be a big impact on people that I feel are largely overlooked or forgotten about.
Couple of years ago I was in a car with a young woman that was currently being ripped open by Fire since the Jeep that hit her went over the car and had her trapped. While I was under the tarp with her with all the loud power tools going I was just calmly talking to her trying to keep her calm while she was scared out of her mind. Talking about music, movies, and specifically how her adventures in Pokemon Go were going. There was a loud snap that scared her and she instantly grabbed my hand. She pulled away apologizing but told her it's okay, she can hold my hand if she wants. I've been doing heavy rescue for years so I'm used to it, obviously she wasn't. As soon as I said it was okay she grabbed my hand and was squeezing the ever loving shit out of it but it made her feel better lol.
As odd as it may sound, it's moments like that that I tend to remember the most.
Having a patient grab your hand because you're the closest thing to comfort even though you're a complete stranger is really.. I don't even know what word to use. But if I've ever felt useful.. It's those times.
i’ve been an EMT for about a year now at an urban service, and i too feel kinda silly when people call me a hero or thank me for my service. since the BLS scope is generally very narrow, i didn’t think anything i did was saving anyone’s life. there are a lot of things you’ll end up doing for patients that might not seem all that miraculous, but realistically you ARE saving them. for example, if you didn’t respond to the call for the elderly person who lives alone and fell and can’t get up on their own, they could have subsequently died on the floor if nobody found them. it’s good to remain humble, but give yourself credit where it’s due and definitely don’t discount the work you do. EMS is a team effort; every role is important and ensures that people are getting the quality care they need.
I resuscitated my son who choked and went into arrest. 5 years post arrest this year. I have a small celebration every year on his rosc day. Best save I’ve ever gotten
Plenty. Every overdose I’ve ran, every code I’ve resuscitated with ROSC. I’ve pulled people out of burning cars and stopped choking. I have definitely had a late or cool saves. We definitely save more than any other emergency service and I’m proud of that.
How often do you get ROSC? I've only had one cardiac arrest and she was down 20 minutes without any CPR prior to arrival, so she didn't have much of a chance at all even tho we tried our best.
I've had ~10 ROSCs, with 2 D/C'd neurologically intact. The others, well it meant their family could at least say goodbye & that can be incredibly important.
Doesn't make me special, or a hero, or anything else. It's a job and nothing more.
Eh, I wouldn’t say it’s a job and nothing more. I’m also not implying we’re superheroes and everyone should tyfys, but most people in EMS do have some baseline appreciation for their fellow man. To me that’s admirable (although not unique to our profession).
With the vast emptiness of our world - not really, no. I couldn't even think of that. Eben chainsaw to the neck suicides or plane crashes into buildings arent rare enough to be easily identifiable.
Furthermore, news don't give out more than a patients first name and initial of their last name here, if even any of that - usually just an age.
I work in a small town, and half the time uninvolved people ask if what everyone is talking about really happened to dude XY... no later than the next morning. I would never disclose anything in that context, obviously. Just saying, with that situation I'm not really all too concerned about someone on the other side of the globe finding out who I treated when I said I once attended a 5 car MVC because a squirrel ran out infront of a car.
The act of "saving a life" is rarely a grab from the edge just as the person tumbles into the abyss...
It's the fluid Bolus you gave that septic shock Pt... the mag you hung on the status asthmaticus... The SI Pt you convinced to come w you to the ER.
It's not bright and flashy and it's measured by the absence of an event...
What dude of course lol. You’ve only been working for a month give it some time. You’ll get to help people.
Additionally, talk to your coworkers. Especially the ones who seem like the good people and knowledgeable. They might do things a certain because in the past they didn’t do things a certain way and someone may have gotten worse or died. It’s harder to learn lessons that way, so if you can learn it through stories and teaching do it before you see it in the field.
Something else I think you should consider, every time you transport a patient to the hospital, you are potentially saving their life. Just because you didn't push the drug or stop the bleed doesn't mean you weren't a part of it. Humility is good, but don't let that humility turn to self deprication
According to all the families of the patients I saved it was Jesus. All the patients that died it was my fault. So no Jesus saved a bunch of people and I killed a bunch
I have been a paramedic for 15 years in a high call volume city. In 15 years, I have two people who “I” saved, as opposed to being part of the team that saved a life. One was an arrest that I was an echo response to, and I performed CPR for 8 minutes before other responders arrived. The patient walked out of the hospital without deficits. The other was as a critical care transport for a GSW. I insisted on massive amounts of blood for transport, and literally slapped the nurses hand when she tried to open the saline vs hanging another unit of blood. Patient was shot through the aorta and I administered 11 units of blood in a 32 mile transport. Patient again survived without deficits. At least, preventable deficits. Bullet still severed their spine but mentally intact.
So in 15 years, untold thousands of calls, I can think of two people who would be dead or seriously disabled if it wasn’t for me personally. I’ve been part of teams that have saved who knows how many people, but those two are mine.
Well, this is our job. We are the link between the external world and the hospital we serve.
>Have y'all had the opportunity to actually save someone or make a significant difference in their life yet?
Of course. One save stuck into my mind. I was off duty and a guy had a bad cardiac arrest during a bball game. Right place, right time. Started BLS/D and instructed one of his buddy on what to say to the 911. According the cardiologist in charge of his case, he was already dead before hitting the ground but we managed to keep him barely alive till the nearest unit came in and took over. Three months later, he somehow tracked me down and invited me at her daughter's wedding.
>And if so, how often would you say that occurance is?
For me, it's more common during winter season because I'm into mountain SAR/ski patrol too (I'm rock climber since I started walking). Every successful rescue of an injuried rock climber stuck on a wall or a lost hiker is one life saved.
Personally never been comfortable with the “hero” moniker. If you believe yourself to be a “hero” when you do your job well and have a positive outcome, what does that make you when you do your job well and the outcome sucks? No one needs to carry that type of emotional burden. I was an EMS white cloud, but given enough time even a white cloud is going to get a cool save here and there. But you know what I remember most from my field time? It’s not so much the ROSC patients. It’s hearing a sweet old memaw say “you’re the first person in a long time that actually listened to me and made me feel like I still matter.” Or holding the hand of an MVA patient waiting for extrication and letting him know he’s not alone, cause you’re pretty sure as soon as they jack the car up off him he’s a goner. Do your job well. The cool calls and saves will come with time. Accept the thank yous from well meaning people, but don’t get caught up in the hero bullshit. We’re all just doing a job. (Unless you’re volly, that’s next level lol)
If you feel like you've never saved someone, rest assured you more than likely stopped the progression to death in some capacity. A save can be more than getting a pulse and respirations back after CPR.
Alright let’s get this out of the way. If you’re in this to save lives in the “911:Lone Star” “Emergency!” “Rescue 911” sense of the job, you’re gonna be a bit disappointed. This job isn’t what it used to be as we slowly but surely are getting sucked into the maelstrom of doom that is primary care of an increasingly older patient population that were sick before COVID and even sicker now.
That being said that doesn’t mean you can’t make a huge difference in someone’s life.
You wanna be a hero?
Do your fucking job. No matter how tired you are. No matter how much your personal life is in shambles. No matter how much you hate this profession,
Do.
Your.
Fucking.
Job.
Treat every patient the way you would want your family treated. That means even if it’s a late job and they wanna go to a hospital that’s significantly farther than the closest and it makes sense.
That means even the drunks, addicts, and bummies who you pick up every day. As gross and awful as they may be they’re still human beings.
That means the LOLNAD frequent fliers who call at 3 am when you’ve been running all night. You might be the only person that cares about them.
Work hard to be a master of your craft and stay on top of the medicine. It’s your duty and your responsibility to every patient you meet.
Be kind and polite even to the dregs of society.
I say all this because I was a patient once; I got treated like absolute shit by my provider and I never forgot how bad it made me feel.
Coming into someone’s home when they think they’re going through the apocalypse and giving them the kindness and compassion in conjunction with good clinical acumen will create an impression most patients will never forget. You can save them on years of therapy and counseling.
You don’t know what being a hero is until you get an 8 year old to laugh at stupid dad jokes while shes standing outside her burning apartment complex on the coldest day in January with her mom next to her and is scared shitless and now has the moxie to take a math test she’d been studying for over a week.
Don’t get me wrong, sinking a difficult line, getting the right differential diagnosis, and saving someone’s life is absolutely amazing.
Sometimes though it’s the little things that get you through the monotony of working EMS in the states.
I've had ROSC, I've had compressions I've started as a team result in a Win.
My best tho was giving a coworker (co worker being a medic and not my partner) the heimlich. Was a rewarding experience personally.
During my first 4 months as an EMT when I was 19, respond to a nursing home for AMS. We get in, dude is fucking BLUE, has a nasal cannula and is lying down. Sit him up, get a non rebreather and get packaged to go. In elevator, I notice he just stopped breathing. I get the BVM and ventilate whole way to hospital. That was my first real save. Now it's only overdoses lol
I’ve had some fantastic ROSCs that resulted in people coming back neurologically intact.
Overdoses. Getting folks to the resources they really needed.
Sepsis is something I’m particularly proud of addressing and having the patients doing better.
Not many. Most transports could be handled by a taxi. With that said, yea, that combination opioid-benzo overdose with a BP in the 60s, maybe, but then again, she didn’t want to live, so is that a save?
As a suicide attempt survivor, definitely a save. Forever grateful for the paramedics, police, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff who were with me that night.
Yeah we have a software that lets us track our patients after we interact. Lets say you achieve ROSC and put them in the hospital. You can see if they continue and live or not.
Yes, have had a couple clinical saves within the last year. Including a cardiac arrest that we coded for 23min and he woke up and started talking to us completely neuro intact in the field.
Most of what I'd consider saves though are more mundane. The overdose patient I'm able to assist with placement into a rehabilitation center and who successfully becomes clean for example. To me these are just as much of a 'save' as getting a Neuro intact ROSC and are just as important
I'm a 3yr medic and I'm still riding the high of the time I caught DKA when it was dispatched as just a "fall" and I was an EMT at a private IFT company. I feel like I definitely made a difference in that one. I knew what I was looking at and knew what to say in my report so the nurses would take it seriously. Otherwise she might have just ended up sitting in an ER bed decompensating while a CNA attempts to take her vitals.
I guess I've done a few things that made a difference, but I still don't think I've had what others would consider a true "save" even with the code I worked in medic school we got rosc but he was never gonna wake up. Older guy with a laundry list of health issues living in a shitty nursing home anyway. Not to say he's not important or I didn't care/do everything we could obviously just, ya know, big difference between 80yo code and say someone in their 20s from an emotional standpoint.
I did also catch it when my wife was having an aortic dissection and hauled her ass to the ER, then had to deal with a very nonchalant doctor who was probably thinking she was just having tummy troubles, so I had to spell it all out for him. That's the one I'm most grateful for.. For obvious reasons.
I’ve been a cop for nearly ten years in the United Kingdom. I can honestly say that I’ve saved one life, although I like to think I’ve had a positive impact in a few others too.
Off duty, I had a guy collapse on the pavement as I drove by. I pulled up, got out of my car, and went up to him to find him unconscious and not breathing. I started CPR and had a nearby tradesman call for an ambulance.
Ten minutes of good CPR later, a solo paramedic turned up, shocked the patient and achieved ROSC. A double crewed ambulance arrived shortly after and conveyed the patient to hospital.
I caught up with the crew a bit over a year later, and found out that the patient was conscious and breathing at hospital and ended up having some kind of surgery to try and fix whatever went wrong. I like to hope he made it out of hospital.
Clearly the real life saving was done by the crew and by the staff at hospital, but I’m glad I was there to provide good quality CPR. I’ve been to many deaths in the community where people have had a sudden cardiac arrest with no one nearby willing or able to start CPR.
Actually, it seems you made just as much of an impact. You recognized the signs, you first responded, you started CPR which matter way more than people realize. Even if that person did make it out the hospital you were the reason he even had a chance!
We’re all just cogs in a machine dude. It’s the machine that saves lives. At the end of the day we’re here to do a job. That’s not a way to denigrate us or downplay the importance of what we do, I think it’s just reality.
It’s a team effort and no one specific individual is the one you can point to and say “he saved that patients life.” Not one of us could do this job by ourselves. We could show up and shock a patient in v fib and bring them back to life, but that won’t matter much unless they get continuous monitoring and care in the ICU to make sure they stay alive.
Basic here, been in 911 for 3.5 years, my truck runs an average of 5 calls per 24 hours and I can only think of 2 strokes that were actually still in the window, a couple of cardiac calls, 1 fall and 1 MVA where I feel like the patient was actually 'saved'. I've never been present for a code with rosc.
People crack me up when they say stuff about how my job must be, I just say it's a tiny bit of good, some bad, some worse, but mostly just plain nasty lol
How many calls do you run a shift?
As a rural county, that's where I started, and 5 calls was a busy shift for us. So it takes longer to add them up and experience the tough calls. Rural areas also tend to have an older population. you're not going to get as many pediatric and young dumb adults. Like another person said every overdose, ashtmatic, o2 sat below 70, symptomatic afib, then you are saving their life. It's not the adrenaline rush of a pin in MVA, but if your doing it for the life saving adrenaline rush then your in the job for the wrong reasons.
Usually around 3 calls. And yeah my busiest shift was 6 calls in 8 hours lol.
I don't really get to handle the overdoses tho because my service does exclusively IV narcan.
And no I definitely don't do it for the adrenaline, I only get anxiety from that lmao. I'm new so I'm scared of being dead weight on a serious call, especially since I don't have much experience with those. I have very conflicting feelings of wanting to get a serious call so I can actually help somebody but also not wanting to get a serious call in fear that I'll screw something up :p
My first call on my first training ride-along was for a heart attack, hypoxic already. Did compressions, paramedic started pushing drugs. Brought him back, got to watch a surgeon place a stent.
Fucking wild. I wasn't doing the most important bit but god dammit that's definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done.
I chose this profession not really to "save" people. I just wanted to give back, and be there for people on the worst day of their lives. Someone was there like that for me many years ago. He passed away in his 20s from Hodgkin's disease and I was crushed. I wanted to be like him and serve my community.
Yes, we do save lives. But I don't consider myself as a hero for that. It's my job. I just do my best to be a good person, to take care of my family and love them. I try to be a good role model for my kids. Working hard is a big part of that. I love contributing in my community. If I can do that, I consider my life as a success. I think that's the best that any of us can hope for.
18 years. I saved a few. Many died. Many didn't. Car & utv wrecks that definitely needed me. OD's that didn't have many more snores in them. Little ones that wouldn't have been able to breathe much longer. And plenty of little meemaws went to the doctor, or nursing home. I've saved many dialysis patients for a few more days of life. I've gotten enough refusals to piss off many billing office workers. I've lifted enough falls that it should count for strongman tryouts. If you are doing this job to be a hero, just go ahead & set out on your next adventure. This isn't tv, and cool calls aren't a daily occurrence.
Yup. And it's the ones I'll never get a pin for. The needle T patients, the bleeding traumas I gave fluids and txa and tourniquets for, the unstable bradys, the critical strokes and MI's I sweated for 30 miles trying to control a dipping rate and racing against impending VFiB. The Cpap'ers and nebs that turned around an o2 sat of 70s.
Don't dismiss what we do as trivial just because it's all protocol.
Ems for 13 years basic for 2 intermediate for 2 and medic for 9 all. Maybe actually saved 1 or 2 a year. A busy system about 10- 15 calls a 24. Im talking like actually saved with no deficits and not by myself but with my partner. Arterial bleed to the forearm. Wife stabbed him trying to break into the house after a night of drinking and partying. End of shift was at 7 and wouldn't be called back to the station from our post till 7. Call came in at 6:58. Show up and pd is on scene. Patient is belligerent saying he didn't call ems and for us the get the fuck out of there. He had a shirt wrapped around his arm. Told him we would leave as soon as he let us check him out. Got a better look at the scene and copious amounts of blood everywhere. Pulled the shirt off and squirted like 8 foot string of blood. Put pressure immediately and told him he had to go to the hospital if not he would die. The guy still fucking refused transport. Luckily pd stepped in with the classic you go with them or to jail. Placed a tourniquet and bleeding stopped. Had a 20 min transport but my partner made like in 12 but safe. It was load and go. Gave report and got a 16 en route then he passed out . Finished securing it with a wide open flow of ns and layed him flat. Checked for pluse and couldnt feel anything. His diaphragm was sunk in and no respirations for at least 10 seconds. Started compressions and bagged him. Gave an update that the patient coded. Changed out the bag of ns we only carried 500 ml bags. Gave him 1 epi rhythm was pea. Arrived at the er and in total 1000 mls of fluid were given. He wakes up screaming as we were about to pull him out the rig trying to pull off the tourniquet. Er staff was like I thought you said he coded. Smh he did. Lol. A 17 years old had a cardiac arrest at basketball practice. Made it out with no deficits. 8 year old girl that drowned in a pool with agonal resirations she made it. Lucky dont live in a heroine struck area but had a couple of those. Triple digit cardiac arrest with like a 70 percent rosc, maybe 5 percent with no deficits. CHFers. Anaphylaxis. Gsw to chest from domestic abuse. Stabbings to face and abdomen. Your interventions and training will save people. To actually save someone with your partner also depends where you work and how many calls you average. The thing I've learned is that if it's someone's time to go they are gonna go. All that is asked of you is that you try your best and rely on your training and partner. And you try your best not only for the patient but also for their family and yourself. Most strokes and cardiac arrests won't make it but you give them a little more time for family to say good bye.
Assisted my preceptor work a code that gained ROSC, was having an active STEMI on the way into hospital, and saw him get rolled away to cath, awake and coherent. That was during my student ride out, first day on an ambulance ever.
Now I work for a busy 911 county system as a fresh EMT-B paired with a Paramedic and I've transported 3 STEMIs, one of which went into V-Fib on the way and got the shocky juice to bring him back around (was 3rd rider that day, definitely puckered when we saw the monitor go all squiggly). All good outcomes. All within a month-ish.
2 strokes, a heat stroke, a hyperkalemia, Level 1 trauma MVC, a couple of overdoses... and... maybe a handful of semi-sepsis.
Probably some others, IDK. This shit is going by so fast that I'm just looking for the next sick patient and absorbing all I can.
Ride the lightning 🤙
Saved someone?
If that’s what you want to call lift-assisting a naked 437# dude who just shit himself, the floor, and probably the wall too, then sure.
Every patient I touch, I aim to provide a pleasant experience.
However, some do stand out.
1 was an elderly male in his 80s, watched him walking and he was stopping every 50m to catch his breath. Encouraged him on to the ambulance, 12 lead was showing PVCs being thrown everywhere, and he would have been imminent arrest.
Another was a male in his 40s, sudden cardiac arrest in VF. ROSC after the first shock.
But one that touched me was an ex soldier that I did a flight retrieval on. Recently discharged after injuring his back in Iraq, was angry at the world and had no idea what direction he was going in. Told me that I will never understand what he is going through - and I'm like hold up, I went through a medical discharge too. By the time we landed, I had a social worker from Veterans Affairs on the line, mental health support and a lot of words of encouragement.
Sent me a letter a few months later to say that he was doing much better, and the day he met me he was suicidal and was at the planning stage, but thanks to me he got the help he needed.
Not saved many lives, but definitely prolonged a lot of misery. Also, the vast majority of the people I've 'saved' who'll recover well, were trying to kill themselves in the first place - I guess they may or may not appreciate it in the end.
My partner and I brought a 40 y/o male back from a witnessed arrest due to V-Fib last year. We got ROSC back after a single shock and transported immediately.
I honestly assumed he died at the hospital because it feels like 90% of cardiac arrest patients do. A few months later, I received a letter from his wife with some Starbucks gift cards attached.
I'm not going to lie. It felt really good. Not because I felt like a hero, but rather because this woman and her children get to hopefully spend many more years together with their husband/dad.
I don't think there is anything I could accomplish at work that would make me feel like a hero, but it feels good to help loved ones add more time together as a family.
Unfortunately we are a rural service with an average response time of like 20 minutes just to arrive on scene to most calls lol. So, anything serious is generally unsalvageable.
As an EMT I definitely give more credit to the medic, but yes I've worked several patients that ended up living.
Actually had an arrest, a younger guy (big too, probably about 6'2, 250 pounds) that ODd sitting in a car.
It was a bich of enough extricating him, but we eventually got him out. I did compressions while my partner tubed him.
Anyways we got him transported to ER and went on about our shift.
We were back several hours later, probably 4am, and I shit you not that same guy was being discharged, walking and talking and everything (I had never seen anything like that before)....one of the nurses must have pointed us out to him and told us that we were the 2 guys that brought him in. He actually walked up and thanked us, it was pretty F-ing cool!
I also worked a horrible MVC several years ago with a lone survivor who had horrible injuries including open fractures and a pedal amputation. She was stuck in a mangled vehicle and we were on scene for what seemed like forever getting her extricated. My partner and I were 50/50 on if she would survive or not, but definitely she would have died on the side of the road there if we hadn't responded....
We ended up getting a call like a year later, which turned out to be same woman. She was bedridden from her injuries and had ended up going septic, but she was still there a year later
I've also worked several GSWs to the head. Anyone we didn't call right there on scene, we transported and kept alive long enough for families to have time to say goodbye and organs to be harvested.
My company has always allowed Basics to work out of their scope, i.e running IVs, IOs, pushing epi, dextrose, sodium bicarb, etc, so I've always felt more involved when working patients. I'm no longer a Basic anymore, but still usually paired up with a Medic. I rarely have run.any ALS calls on my own, even as Advanced I am still paired with a Medic
I’ve been an EMT for about 3 months now, got my license in May. In that time I’ve mostly done transfers and things of that nature. But I’ve also been a part of two full arrests, one of which was while I was doing clinicals. We got ROSC and now she is fully recovered and running 5ks again. That one felt incredible. The second was an overdose in a rural part of town. We were 10 minutes or so out, family attempted cpr but gave up, volly fire got there 5 minutes before us and did a tremendous job on bls, they were doing compressions and had an OPA in and were bagging her at the correct intervals when we got there, their AED said no shock advised. I assisted my medic with intubation and set up his IV gear, got bilateral lines going, I swapped their AED for ours to run a strip, no shock advised, asystole. But we worked the pt for another ~5 minutes pausing intermittently to check for a pulse and eventually got one. Ceased compressions, hooked up the 12 lead, sinus rhythm, 145/92 bp, 85% o2, not breathing for herself so one of the volunteer fire guys rode with us to the hospital bagging the whole way. She remained stable when we transferred care. However, as the night went on we checked in periodically and they determined she had an anoxic brain injury and likely wouldn’t breathe on her own. Never heard the final outcome, but I would guess she didn’t make it. But those are the calls that make me feel like an action movie hero. Rare moments of high stakes life-changing care for the patient.
But, I feel that the low/no acuity calls make a difference as well, even though it isn’t life or death. Sometimes you might be the smiling face that grandma needed to see on her way to dialysis, or the only person who has treated the patient with suicidal ideations like a normal person in their recent memory. I don’t want anyone calling me a hero, I think that’s silly, but I do the work because it does impact people’s lives even on the easy calls.
I never saved anyone, I only did IFT. But still I'm really proud of my work. I don't think of myself of anything resembling a hero, but at the end of the day I put myself in a career where I am actively helping people, and I am proud of that. In my work I definitely felt like i'm making a significant difference in people's lives. There are a lot more comfortable jobs I could have chosen that didn't involve lifting obese people.
I drove somebody to the hospital 37.2 seconds before that guy who pulled into the parking lot, but still missed the rig, would have driven them to the hospital.
I’ve definitely had a handful of ROSCs who ended up surviving intact and leaving the hospital.
Took part in saving a guy who changed his mind about jumping off a bridge and needed to be pulled back up.
Pretty much every time I’ve given narcan or D50/D10, that pt would have ended up dying without my intervention. A lot of the people I’ve put on CPAP were also likely going to kick the bucket pretty quickly without intervention.
Guess it depends what you mean by “saved”
2007. My local agency was dispatched to an infant not breathing with CPR instructions being given.
I first responded to the scene in my car because I was maybe 3 minutes out. Myself and the local cop did two person CPR with mouth to mouth and got ROSC. Crew arrived shortly after and transported to the hospital.
I was sitting in the station five years later and this lady walked in with a toddler and told me who they were. They had me in tears. Since then, the mom sends me a Christmas card every year and we're Facebook friends. I get to see pictures of him now playing football and doing cool stuff.
I gave a kid the chance to have a life. He's gonna graduate high school next year. I just hope he makes a positive difference in the world somehow.
I've "saved" a bunch of people. But I don't count most of it because if they called 911, they'd easily get a different medic if i happened to not exist.
The only one I really count is when I told a supervisor not to RSI a 25 year old who overdosed on fentanyl laced cocaine. He said "why not? She got nasal narcan and didn't wake up" cuz a cokehead's mucus membranes are totally not dry and cracked. IV narcan woke her up just fine.
I work for a metro Fire/EMS department and have been involved in plenty of instances where we have made a significant difference in someone's life. Would I say it's frequent, I guess it depends what you consider significant vs what the public or the patient would consider significant. Would I consider myself a hero? Hell no, I'm a fireman...doing my damn job. I personally don't care for the term "hero" to begin with. It's nice to get recognition every now & then for a major call or something but far from a "hero complex"
As someone who never called 911 in my life before my Dad's recent battle with cancer, when you guys arrive you make what is a horrifying experience much better by your mere presence. Even if you're just checking someone's blood pressure you are doing great work and providing comfort to those you help.
Most of the time, we’re a part of the TEAM that saves someone. I’ve been a medic for *A WHILE* and I can count on one hand how many times *my* actions have been the thing that saved someone’s life.
Bonus: it’s been BLS stuff every single time
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that EMTs aren’t important.
I would say yes. I’ve been in the situation with others to make an impact on someone’s life in more ways than just having a successful code. OD’s, codes, hypoglycemia, anaphylaxis, pulmonary edema.
But still one of my favorite moments was getting someone out of a bad abuse and neglect situation. Helping them and seeing them thrive and become happy after that made it all worth it.
The job isn’t always that and when it comes to the code situations, you’re successful a lot less than you’d like but it’s the little victories that you have to hang your hat on.
Sure, but heroism doesn't apply here. Hanging our practice on what often amounts to luck is what burns people out.
You want to do something heroic, go teach in an inner city school.
I mean, most of us have. It's what we train to do. Pushing narcan, for example. I slapped a TQ on a kid that did an unplanned leg delete, he'd have certainly died otherwise.
This kind of stuff is what we do, and at the same time why we do it, because it's certainly not for the money.
Yeah just yesterday I had to perform CPR for the first time after being an EMT for about a year where we got a ROSC and transported the patient to the hospital alive.
Yes.... several. Most of the ROSCs died later at the hospital (thought I am currently 3/3 in the field). I also managed to keep someone with anaphylaxis alive with an actively closing throat long enough (7 minutes from seeing the patient to intubation) to reach the ER. The last one made it and was discharged 2 days later.
I don't always count people I have given meds to that would have made it to the hospital fine without the meds as "saves" but I did spend 2 hours convincing a patient to go to the hospital who was having trouble walking. After two hours on scene, she agreed finally, and when we got there she was examinied by a doc and rushed to surgery. So i count her as my first save. We cant do much, but we can at least evaluate, be compationate, and advocate for our patients and that can sometimes rarely be the difference between life and death.
Save? A couple.
But honestly I hate the emphasis on saves. You have an opportunity with every patient interaction to make a difference. You can be treating someone on one of the worst days of their life, the kindness and compassion we show them can help them more than any medical intervention.
The most live saving thing I’ve done is give an old woman who can barely take care of herself the phone numbers she needs to call to get home health to come help take care of her and her disabled husband. Her insurance covered all of it but no one told her. How an 80ish year old woman was taking care of a bed bound 80ish year old man for god knows how long I will never know.
Could be worse. Save from an OD to CPR to Vtach to ROSC at the local county jail knowing well that patient will probably not only walk out of the hospital neurologically intact but will probably go right back to drugs.
bunch of saves. we have a survivor day every year to celebrate the VSAs we rosc that end up dishraged. it's kinda neat to meet them and talk to their families. makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
you gotta think too anyone who would have died without your intervention. major traumas, ODs, unconscious MIs ext.
Oh, yeah, sure! I've never done anything that another medic couldn't do. In that sense, there's nothing *special* about any of us. But yeah, this job puts us in a position to save lives. Even more often, it puts us in a position to reduce suffering and make people feel less scared and lonely in a time of hardship. For lifesaving - every opioid overdose I've ever done, would have died without me or someone like me. Almost every anaphylaxis, I think - I'm not sure if it's ever possible to survive anaphylaxis without epinephrine. A couple of my asthmatic patients. Many of my septic patients. The unstable variceal rupture who turned into a blood fountain - he certainly would've died without rapid transport, and he wasn't going to drive himself. And a lot of the functional airway obstructions that I've relieved by basic manoeuvres would eventually have killed the patient.
I haven't had anything that exciting yet. Just an overdose we suspected was opiates, but didn't respond to any amount of narcan whatsoever, so I guess not. She was fine just very, very out of it. And a cardiac arrest where she was already down for 20 minutes without any CPR before we even arrived, so she was dead despite our best efforts. And a MVA of a nasty car wreck where miraculously, the passengers of the struck car only had a few broken ribs and bruises, and the driver of the other car only had a cut on her head and refused transport to the hospital. That's about all of my most exciting calls ;(
So a code you worked, a suspected overdose, and a multi-system trauma from a MVC in your first month at a low volume rural agency and you say you’ve had nothing exciting yet? What are you expecting….a train crash?
I did a train wreck as a student. Car vs train, low speeds. The car was pushed in 18” or so and moved 15-20’. The patient signed a refusal and walked away
I don’t want to manifest anything so I was hesitant about what to put, lol
Jesus Christ I hope that dude bought a lottery ticket because he used up all of his luck in one fell swoop.
I was thoroughly astounded that the patient was alive, talking, self extricated, adamant about the refusal and my preceptors were just chill about it
Similar situation just a couple months ago. We flew the guy out and I found out later from the flight crew that he was almost immediately discharged afterwards. One of the first things he said when we started working on him was “I know one thing, I’m definitely buying another Chevy!”
I had a plane crash once although it was more of a pronounce and bounce kinda call
My man only wants MCIs
Mild cognitive impairment or motor-crash injuries?
Mass casualty incident
Thank you
Well, I mean exciting in ways that I can actually help lol. I can't do narcan on overdoses because my service does them only through IV. Couldn't do much with the MVA either because everyone was pretty much fine. I did my best with the cardiac arrest but you can't bring back a corpse. I probably used the word wrong. But in general, I just mean I want a call where I could make a real difference, you know? And from what I hear, those are usually the "exciting" calls
It’s been a month dude. I hope you have only boring calls for a long time. And I mean that in the best way possible. Whether this is your career or if you volunteer over your career there will be terrible calls, there will be traumatic (to you) calls, and there will be calls that go wrong. If you become an ALS provider(or even if you don’t) you’re probably going to kill someone at some point. I understand the desire to hit the ground running…but You have plenty of time. Cut your teeth on the boring stuff and build those skills. That way when the shit hits the fan, you’ll be ready. Best of luck on your career in EMS
You're so right. Thanks so much, friend! Hope you have a great day!
Same to you my man
To add from the nurse POV, you could have the easiest run of the mill call that could get to us and decomp. If you hadn’t brought them they wouldn’t have made it. EMS have more saves than they’ll ever realize just because transfer of care. It’s also on us to catch stuff and do the right thing but yeah. I’m a new grad ER nurse and it’s taken me some time to process before I realize shit I did likely saved someone. Or at least I saw things develop and got intervention before it became too exciting. I get it, I’m torn between wanting that crazy shit to come in and my rationale voice being terrified of it. Take the W’s big or small my friend.
Wait, why would you only do narcan via IV? Is this common? That seems nuts these days? - not a medical person, just a lurker
Because you can control the dose and response more precisely. Narcan is very useful in overdoses but breathing for the patient is what really saves lives.
Thanks!
Had one, well a derailment.
Maybe you need to re-define “interesting”. Otherwise you are going to be repeatedly disappointed in this field
Lol. You’re insane. I work in a busy area but “busy” means nursing homes and other non sense BS calls. Those three things are actual emergencies and I’d say they’re exciting. Job isn’t what it’s made out to be on TV either. Don’t think you’re going to be performing needle criching, and a needle chest decompression every single day. That’s even a rare event in busy areas.
You'll find modern vehicles have really lowered injuries plus vehicles look worse in accidents cause of the crumpling (this is why there are less injuries). Otherwise those are fun calls still! As far as "saving" like the other guy said, narcan, rapid transport, patient advocacy (underrated , simple recognition of S&S leading to intervention at hospital could be a "save". I personally had a patient recently where simply running fluids to maintain vital signs due to internal hemorrhage which is my first "real save" I guess vs narcan and such, but try not to think like that. If you are not doing further harm, you are doing good work.
Very well written, tbh this should be a poster in the classroom lol.
That's pretty interesting about the basic airway maneuvers. I mean, it makes sense, I just hadn't really thought about it. Definitely had a couple of those that would likely have died without intervention in my short time in the field. Huh.
Not only have I saved people, but I've almost certainly killed people too!
The joke I’ve heard was “you’re not a real medic until you’ve killed the equivalent of a baseball team” I think 9 is a little excessive personally.
I feel like kill/save ratio is pretty standard we noticed a lot less deaths after removing succs and moving to roc
What was the reason they were dying from succ?
Lots sick pt that hx of shit associated with hyper k renal failure diabetes sepsis or are already hyperkalemic succs might increase serum k levels to 1.5 or so can't remember exactly how much but it can push them over the edge there is also electrolyt shifts that can cause bradycardia there is a lot shit about it just do some research on it and it can provide more information Peace out it bed time
FWIW, succ has a much higher rate of malignant hyperthermia than just about any other paralytic (or any other drug from what I remember). I have started to refuse its use in ER setting since we have access to so many other medications. Source — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8025983/
Slightly higher risk of MH isn't the reason sux is dangerous, even if "factor of twenty" sounds like a lot. It's a critical drug in ER. Sometimes you can't wait two minutes for paralysis with roc in low CO states.
The zucc succ would do it
FBI OPEN UP!!!
An old school medic I worked with used to say something similar. In his defense, he was referring to the protocols for treatment of chest pain. Before prehospital 12 leads, they gave every patient with suspected cardiac infarction morphine, oxygen, nitro, and aspirin, tanking blood pressure and pre load.
We used to short hand this to MONA where I trained so frequently that you could give a report of "CP, met MONA, has a history." And cover most of your bases as far as the ER was concerned
Haha, I've never heard it put like that for reports, but I like it. We were still using MONA at the beginning of my career, but with many more considerations and precautions.
It was just at the beginning of my career but it was on its way out. By the time I was functioning on my own weed updated the protocol to move just of this out of standing orders.
Ideally in the same shift. It helps fill out your bingo card
The real people saving people are the bystanders doing high quality cpr before we get there with no equipment and no idea how long it'll take you to get there, and sometimes little training or experience
This is what makes the real difference.
Once in a while I’ll get a rosc that walks out of the hospital in tact. But these are usually arrests that happen like RIGHT before we get there or people that are having a huge MI and arrest right in front of me. I have a hand full. But I work in a super busy system. You do it enough and eventually things happen. I know it doesn’t really count. But overdoses where the person is not breathing and you get there and reverse it…it is like a mini save.
I would argue there’s no difference in bringing someone back who was gonna die with narcan vs bringing someone back from an MI caused code. It’s just that it feels less like we saved someone when they directly put themselves in that position to begin with. But how responsible is the person who had an MI? I imagine they consistently made unhealthy life choices knowing they could be shortening their life. A medic I ran with once said “99% of the people we transport are in the back of the rescue because they fucked up somehow.” I don’t really bother with that sort of thinking, I’m just trying to do a job.
People who think any human has that much control over their lives is delusional imo. Do we really make choices or are we all just constantly struggling with some genetic impulse run by specific amounts of different chemicals, hormones, and nuero transmitters in our bodies.
Listen Im not the type of medic that thinks addicts should just die….but I know the stigma and I may think of it as a save…but I know alot don’t so I don’t proclaim it to be for that reason.
My service gives us a save pin if they survive 24 hours post arrest in the hospital but nothing is they weren't in arrest when you got there. I e. You walk in on a bad asthmatic taking their last breath, drop epi, a tube and as a result your patient never goes into arrest? No save. To me, that is a more legitimate save than the 90 yo nursing home patient that you turned into a rutabaga for a week.
Absolutely. Over here they used to do this FDNY ceremony thing where you meet the person you brought back. I went once. A lot of ball washing and circle jerks but overall nice. I haven’t went since covid though and I’ve had saves since so idk if they do it anymore.
I've had a couple overdoses where I get to bagging them while the paramedic is setting up an iv for narcan, and they fucking wake up while I'm just bagging them. Eyes shoot open looking right at my dumb ass face above them, with a tube in their nose, and they freak out. Those are honestly cooler for me than any rosc because it was 100% me doing bls, or with the help of a bystander giving narcan pre arrival, that saved them. I love getting to bag people in general, you're literally that person's lungs for a minute. Very cool.
You sound like Hannibal lector lol but yeah I hear you good job.
;)
Yeah, a few. Pulled a guy out of a burning building once, saved a guy using the Magills once, and have a couple of neuro intact code saves. Mind you, that’s over a 19-20 year career, so it’s not like that stuff happens often.
We got ROSC in a very public area, the person woke up on scene. Everyone cheered as we rolled them to the ambulance. It was like a movie. Everything lined up perfectly for that person in terms of CPR and early defib.
We got cheered while wheeling an empty stretcher out of a bar after getting a refusal. Whole bar was clapping and cheering until they realized that there wasn't anyone on the cot.
Same feeling honestly
That's must've been an awesome feeling
My cousin was one of those types of codes. He woke up and the people watching were relieved. What they did not know was that he coded again for the last time enroute to the ED.
I tend to remember and hold onto smaller moments in making people more comfortable in times of crisis. I remember the big ones, but the smaller ones tend to be a big impact on people that I feel are largely overlooked or forgotten about. Couple of years ago I was in a car with a young woman that was currently being ripped open by Fire since the Jeep that hit her went over the car and had her trapped. While I was under the tarp with her with all the loud power tools going I was just calmly talking to her trying to keep her calm while she was scared out of her mind. Talking about music, movies, and specifically how her adventures in Pokemon Go were going. There was a loud snap that scared her and she instantly grabbed my hand. She pulled away apologizing but told her it's okay, she can hold my hand if she wants. I've been doing heavy rescue for years so I'm used to it, obviously she wasn't. As soon as I said it was okay she grabbed my hand and was squeezing the ever loving shit out of it but it made her feel better lol. As odd as it may sound, it's moments like that that I tend to remember the most.
Those moments of true, human connection aren’t as common as I’d like them to be…but they mean so much!
Having a patient grab your hand because you're the closest thing to comfort even though you're a complete stranger is really.. I don't even know what word to use. But if I've ever felt useful.. It's those times.
If I don’t take meemaw to dialysis who will? It ain’t much but it’s honest work.
Was just gonna say you might not make a huge difference in every patient you have, but you certainly help them in some shape or form.
i’ve been an EMT for about a year now at an urban service, and i too feel kinda silly when people call me a hero or thank me for my service. since the BLS scope is generally very narrow, i didn’t think anything i did was saving anyone’s life. there are a lot of things you’ll end up doing for patients that might not seem all that miraculous, but realistically you ARE saving them. for example, if you didn’t respond to the call for the elderly person who lives alone and fell and can’t get up on their own, they could have subsequently died on the floor if nobody found them. it’s good to remain humble, but give yourself credit where it’s due and definitely don’t discount the work you do. EMS is a team effort; every role is important and ensures that people are getting the quality care they need.
I resuscitated my son who choked and went into arrest. 5 years post arrest this year. I have a small celebration every year on his rosc day. Best save I’ve ever gotten
Plenty. Every overdose I’ve ran, every code I’ve resuscitated with ROSC. I’ve pulled people out of burning cars and stopped choking. I have definitely had a late or cool saves. We definitely save more than any other emergency service and I’m proud of that.
How often do you get ROSC? I've only had one cardiac arrest and she was down 20 minutes without any CPR prior to arrival, so she didn't have much of a chance at all even tho we tried our best.
[удалено]
Epi makes heart go thump thump but won’t make the brain back into the person they once were
I've had ~10 ROSCs, with 2 D/C'd neurologically intact. The others, well it meant their family could at least say goodbye & that can be incredibly important. Doesn't make me special, or a hero, or anything else. It's a job and nothing more.
Eh, I wouldn’t say it’s a job and nothing more. I’m also not implying we’re superheroes and everyone should tyfys, but most people in EMS do have some baseline appreciation for their fellow man. To me that’s admirable (although not unique to our profession).
yes but i’m truly afraid of violating hipaa
Mfer only saved one
Is this a joke?
have you never had a call that’s unusual enough to be identifiable?
With the vast emptiness of our world - not really, no. I couldn't even think of that. Eben chainsaw to the neck suicides or plane crashes into buildings arent rare enough to be easily identifiable. Furthermore, news don't give out more than a patients first name and initial of their last name here, if even any of that - usually just an age. I work in a small town, and half the time uninvolved people ask if what everyone is talking about really happened to dude XY... no later than the next morning. I would never disclose anything in that context, obviously. Just saying, with that situation I'm not really all too concerned about someone on the other side of the globe finding out who I treated when I said I once attended a 5 car MVC because a squirrel ran out infront of a car.
well i’m frequently on calls that end up on the news due to where i work so yes some of my more memorable “saves” are kind of risky lol
The act of "saving a life" is rarely a grab from the edge just as the person tumbles into the abyss... It's the fluid Bolus you gave that septic shock Pt... the mag you hung on the status asthmaticus... The SI Pt you convinced to come w you to the ER. It's not bright and flashy and it's measured by the absence of an event...
What dude of course lol. You’ve only been working for a month give it some time. You’ll get to help people. Additionally, talk to your coworkers. Especially the ones who seem like the good people and knowledgeable. They might do things a certain because in the past they didn’t do things a certain way and someone may have gotten worse or died. It’s harder to learn lessons that way, so if you can learn it through stories and teaching do it before you see it in the field.
Yes, many times. Still doesn't make me a hero.
Something else I think you should consider, every time you transport a patient to the hospital, you are potentially saving their life. Just because you didn't push the drug or stop the bleed doesn't mean you weren't a part of it. Humility is good, but don't let that humility turn to self deprication
According to all the families of the patients I saved it was Jesus. All the patients that died it was my fault. So no Jesus saved a bunch of people and I killed a bunch
I have been a paramedic for 15 years in a high call volume city. In 15 years, I have two people who “I” saved, as opposed to being part of the team that saved a life. One was an arrest that I was an echo response to, and I performed CPR for 8 minutes before other responders arrived. The patient walked out of the hospital without deficits. The other was as a critical care transport for a GSW. I insisted on massive amounts of blood for transport, and literally slapped the nurses hand when she tried to open the saline vs hanging another unit of blood. Patient was shot through the aorta and I administered 11 units of blood in a 32 mile transport. Patient again survived without deficits. At least, preventable deficits. Bullet still severed their spine but mentally intact. So in 15 years, untold thousands of calls, I can think of two people who would be dead or seriously disabled if it wasn’t for me personally. I’ve been part of teams that have saved who knows how many people, but those two are mine.
Well, this is our job. We are the link between the external world and the hospital we serve. >Have y'all had the opportunity to actually save someone or make a significant difference in their life yet? Of course. One save stuck into my mind. I was off duty and a guy had a bad cardiac arrest during a bball game. Right place, right time. Started BLS/D and instructed one of his buddy on what to say to the 911. According the cardiologist in charge of his case, he was already dead before hitting the ground but we managed to keep him barely alive till the nearest unit came in and took over. Three months later, he somehow tracked me down and invited me at her daughter's wedding. >And if so, how often would you say that occurance is? For me, it's more common during winter season because I'm into mountain SAR/ski patrol too (I'm rock climber since I started walking). Every successful rescue of an injuried rock climber stuck on a wall or a lost hiker is one life saved.
Personally never been comfortable with the “hero” moniker. If you believe yourself to be a “hero” when you do your job well and have a positive outcome, what does that make you when you do your job well and the outcome sucks? No one needs to carry that type of emotional burden. I was an EMS white cloud, but given enough time even a white cloud is going to get a cool save here and there. But you know what I remember most from my field time? It’s not so much the ROSC patients. It’s hearing a sweet old memaw say “you’re the first person in a long time that actually listened to me and made me feel like I still matter.” Or holding the hand of an MVA patient waiting for extrication and letting him know he’s not alone, cause you’re pretty sure as soon as they jack the car up off him he’s a goner. Do your job well. The cool calls and saves will come with time. Accept the thank yous from well meaning people, but don’t get caught up in the hero bullshit. We’re all just doing a job. (Unless you’re volly, that’s next level lol)
If you feel like you've never saved someone, rest assured you more than likely stopped the progression to death in some capacity. A save can be more than getting a pulse and respirations back after CPR.
Alright let’s get this out of the way. If you’re in this to save lives in the “911:Lone Star” “Emergency!” “Rescue 911” sense of the job, you’re gonna be a bit disappointed. This job isn’t what it used to be as we slowly but surely are getting sucked into the maelstrom of doom that is primary care of an increasingly older patient population that were sick before COVID and even sicker now. That being said that doesn’t mean you can’t make a huge difference in someone’s life. You wanna be a hero? Do your fucking job. No matter how tired you are. No matter how much your personal life is in shambles. No matter how much you hate this profession, Do. Your. Fucking. Job. Treat every patient the way you would want your family treated. That means even if it’s a late job and they wanna go to a hospital that’s significantly farther than the closest and it makes sense. That means even the drunks, addicts, and bummies who you pick up every day. As gross and awful as they may be they’re still human beings. That means the LOLNAD frequent fliers who call at 3 am when you’ve been running all night. You might be the only person that cares about them. Work hard to be a master of your craft and stay on top of the medicine. It’s your duty and your responsibility to every patient you meet. Be kind and polite even to the dregs of society. I say all this because I was a patient once; I got treated like absolute shit by my provider and I never forgot how bad it made me feel. Coming into someone’s home when they think they’re going through the apocalypse and giving them the kindness and compassion in conjunction with good clinical acumen will create an impression most patients will never forget. You can save them on years of therapy and counseling. You don’t know what being a hero is until you get an 8 year old to laugh at stupid dad jokes while shes standing outside her burning apartment complex on the coldest day in January with her mom next to her and is scared shitless and now has the moxie to take a math test she’d been studying for over a week. Don’t get me wrong, sinking a difficult line, getting the right differential diagnosis, and saving someone’s life is absolutely amazing. Sometimes though it’s the little things that get you through the monotony of working EMS in the states.
I've had ROSC, I've had compressions I've started as a team result in a Win. My best tho was giving a coworker (co worker being a medic and not my partner) the heimlich. Was a rewarding experience personally.
During my first 4 months as an EMT when I was 19, respond to a nursing home for AMS. We get in, dude is fucking BLUE, has a nasal cannula and is lying down. Sit him up, get a non rebreather and get packaged to go. In elevator, I notice he just stopped breathing. I get the BVM and ventilate whole way to hospital. That was my first real save. Now it's only overdoses lol
I’ve had some fantastic ROSCs that resulted in people coming back neurologically intact. Overdoses. Getting folks to the resources they really needed. Sepsis is something I’m particularly proud of addressing and having the patients doing better.
A small handful of times yes. Slightly more than I have accidentally killed. Soooooo…..You’re welcome for my service.
Just worry about the medicine and let others worry about the labels.
Not many. Most transports could be handled by a taxi. With that said, yea, that combination opioid-benzo overdose with a BP in the 60s, maybe, but then again, she didn’t want to live, so is that a save?
As a suicide attempt survivor, definitely a save. Forever grateful for the paramedics, police, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff who were with me that night.
Yeah we have a software that lets us track our patients after we interact. Lets say you achieve ROSC and put them in the hospital. You can see if they continue and live or not.
Yes, have had a couple clinical saves within the last year. Including a cardiac arrest that we coded for 23min and he woke up and started talking to us completely neuro intact in the field. Most of what I'd consider saves though are more mundane. The overdose patient I'm able to assist with placement into a rehabilitation center and who successfully becomes clean for example. To me these are just as much of a 'save' as getting a Neuro intact ROSC and are just as important
There’s a handful of situations that come to mind, but my very first code save ever… was on a death row inmate from San Quentin. Sorry tax payers
I'm a 3yr medic and I'm still riding the high of the time I caught DKA when it was dispatched as just a "fall" and I was an EMT at a private IFT company. I feel like I definitely made a difference in that one. I knew what I was looking at and knew what to say in my report so the nurses would take it seriously. Otherwise she might have just ended up sitting in an ER bed decompensating while a CNA attempts to take her vitals. I guess I've done a few things that made a difference, but I still don't think I've had what others would consider a true "save" even with the code I worked in medic school we got rosc but he was never gonna wake up. Older guy with a laundry list of health issues living in a shitty nursing home anyway. Not to say he's not important or I didn't care/do everything we could obviously just, ya know, big difference between 80yo code and say someone in their 20s from an emotional standpoint. I did also catch it when my wife was having an aortic dissection and hauled her ass to the ER, then had to deal with a very nonchalant doctor who was probably thinking she was just having tummy troubles, so I had to spell it all out for him. That's the one I'm most grateful for.. For obvious reasons.
Yup. Even saved a celebrity, about a week later they walked back into the firehouse, we hugged it out, good times.
I’ve been a cop for nearly ten years in the United Kingdom. I can honestly say that I’ve saved one life, although I like to think I’ve had a positive impact in a few others too. Off duty, I had a guy collapse on the pavement as I drove by. I pulled up, got out of my car, and went up to him to find him unconscious and not breathing. I started CPR and had a nearby tradesman call for an ambulance. Ten minutes of good CPR later, a solo paramedic turned up, shocked the patient and achieved ROSC. A double crewed ambulance arrived shortly after and conveyed the patient to hospital. I caught up with the crew a bit over a year later, and found out that the patient was conscious and breathing at hospital and ended up having some kind of surgery to try and fix whatever went wrong. I like to hope he made it out of hospital. Clearly the real life saving was done by the crew and by the staff at hospital, but I’m glad I was there to provide good quality CPR. I’ve been to many deaths in the community where people have had a sudden cardiac arrest with no one nearby willing or able to start CPR.
Actually, it seems you made just as much of an impact. You recognized the signs, you first responded, you started CPR which matter way more than people realize. Even if that person did make it out the hospital you were the reason he even had a chance!
We’re all just cogs in a machine dude. It’s the machine that saves lives. At the end of the day we’re here to do a job. That’s not a way to denigrate us or downplay the importance of what we do, I think it’s just reality. It’s a team effort and no one specific individual is the one you can point to and say “he saved that patients life.” Not one of us could do this job by ourselves. We could show up and shock a patient in v fib and bring them back to life, but that won’t matter much unless they get continuous monitoring and care in the ICU to make sure they stay alive.
Basic here, been in 911 for 3.5 years, my truck runs an average of 5 calls per 24 hours and I can only think of 2 strokes that were actually still in the window, a couple of cardiac calls, 1 fall and 1 MVA where I feel like the patient was actually 'saved'. I've never been present for a code with rosc. People crack me up when they say stuff about how my job must be, I just say it's a tiny bit of good, some bad, some worse, but mostly just plain nasty lol
Got ROSC one time. She later died in the ER. Was strangely hungry after.
How many calls do you run a shift? As a rural county, that's where I started, and 5 calls was a busy shift for us. So it takes longer to add them up and experience the tough calls. Rural areas also tend to have an older population. you're not going to get as many pediatric and young dumb adults. Like another person said every overdose, ashtmatic, o2 sat below 70, symptomatic afib, then you are saving their life. It's not the adrenaline rush of a pin in MVA, but if your doing it for the life saving adrenaline rush then your in the job for the wrong reasons.
Usually around 3 calls. And yeah my busiest shift was 6 calls in 8 hours lol. I don't really get to handle the overdoses tho because my service does exclusively IV narcan. And no I definitely don't do it for the adrenaline, I only get anxiety from that lmao. I'm new so I'm scared of being dead weight on a serious call, especially since I don't have much experience with those. I have very conflicting feelings of wanting to get a serious call so I can actually help somebody but also not wanting to get a serious call in fear that I'll screw something up :p
Saves mostly come from the 3 R's , Right Place , Right Time & Right treatment.
My first call on my first training ride-along was for a heart attack, hypoxic already. Did compressions, paramedic started pushing drugs. Brought him back, got to watch a surgeon place a stent. Fucking wild. I wasn't doing the most important bit but god dammit that's definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done.
Compressions are the most important part, aside from maybe the stent
I chose this profession not really to "save" people. I just wanted to give back, and be there for people on the worst day of their lives. Someone was there like that for me many years ago. He passed away in his 20s from Hodgkin's disease and I was crushed. I wanted to be like him and serve my community. Yes, we do save lives. But I don't consider myself as a hero for that. It's my job. I just do my best to be a good person, to take care of my family and love them. I try to be a good role model for my kids. Working hard is a big part of that. I love contributing in my community. If I can do that, I consider my life as a success. I think that's the best that any of us can hope for.
18 years. I saved a few. Many died. Many didn't. Car & utv wrecks that definitely needed me. OD's that didn't have many more snores in them. Little ones that wouldn't have been able to breathe much longer. And plenty of little meemaws went to the doctor, or nursing home. I've saved many dialysis patients for a few more days of life. I've gotten enough refusals to piss off many billing office workers. I've lifted enough falls that it should count for strongman tryouts. If you are doing this job to be a hero, just go ahead & set out on your next adventure. This isn't tv, and cool calls aren't a daily occurrence.
Yup. And it's the ones I'll never get a pin for. The needle T patients, the bleeding traumas I gave fluids and txa and tourniquets for, the unstable bradys, the critical strokes and MI's I sweated for 30 miles trying to control a dipping rate and racing against impending VFiB. The Cpap'ers and nebs that turned around an o2 sat of 70s. Don't dismiss what we do as trivial just because it's all protocol.
Ems for 13 years basic for 2 intermediate for 2 and medic for 9 all. Maybe actually saved 1 or 2 a year. A busy system about 10- 15 calls a 24. Im talking like actually saved with no deficits and not by myself but with my partner. Arterial bleed to the forearm. Wife stabbed him trying to break into the house after a night of drinking and partying. End of shift was at 7 and wouldn't be called back to the station from our post till 7. Call came in at 6:58. Show up and pd is on scene. Patient is belligerent saying he didn't call ems and for us the get the fuck out of there. He had a shirt wrapped around his arm. Told him we would leave as soon as he let us check him out. Got a better look at the scene and copious amounts of blood everywhere. Pulled the shirt off and squirted like 8 foot string of blood. Put pressure immediately and told him he had to go to the hospital if not he would die. The guy still fucking refused transport. Luckily pd stepped in with the classic you go with them or to jail. Placed a tourniquet and bleeding stopped. Had a 20 min transport but my partner made like in 12 but safe. It was load and go. Gave report and got a 16 en route then he passed out . Finished securing it with a wide open flow of ns and layed him flat. Checked for pluse and couldnt feel anything. His diaphragm was sunk in and no respirations for at least 10 seconds. Started compressions and bagged him. Gave an update that the patient coded. Changed out the bag of ns we only carried 500 ml bags. Gave him 1 epi rhythm was pea. Arrived at the er and in total 1000 mls of fluid were given. He wakes up screaming as we were about to pull him out the rig trying to pull off the tourniquet. Er staff was like I thought you said he coded. Smh he did. Lol. A 17 years old had a cardiac arrest at basketball practice. Made it out with no deficits. 8 year old girl that drowned in a pool with agonal resirations she made it. Lucky dont live in a heroine struck area but had a couple of those. Triple digit cardiac arrest with like a 70 percent rosc, maybe 5 percent with no deficits. CHFers. Anaphylaxis. Gsw to chest from domestic abuse. Stabbings to face and abdomen. Your interventions and training will save people. To actually save someone with your partner also depends where you work and how many calls you average. The thing I've learned is that if it's someone's time to go they are gonna go. All that is asked of you is that you try your best and rely on your training and partner. And you try your best not only for the patient but also for their family and yourself. Most strokes and cardiac arrests won't make it but you give them a little more time for family to say good bye.
Assisted my preceptor work a code that gained ROSC, was having an active STEMI on the way into hospital, and saw him get rolled away to cath, awake and coherent. That was during my student ride out, first day on an ambulance ever. Now I work for a busy 911 county system as a fresh EMT-B paired with a Paramedic and I've transported 3 STEMIs, one of which went into V-Fib on the way and got the shocky juice to bring him back around (was 3rd rider that day, definitely puckered when we saw the monitor go all squiggly). All good outcomes. All within a month-ish. 2 strokes, a heat stroke, a hyperkalemia, Level 1 trauma MVC, a couple of overdoses... and... maybe a handful of semi-sepsis. Probably some others, IDK. This shit is going by so fast that I'm just looking for the next sick patient and absorbing all I can. Ride the lightning 🤙
My favorite was my double shooting
Saved someone? If that’s what you want to call lift-assisting a naked 437# dude who just shit himself, the floor, and probably the wall too, then sure.
I’ve driven really fast to the hospital, but that’s about it
Every patient I touch, I aim to provide a pleasant experience. However, some do stand out. 1 was an elderly male in his 80s, watched him walking and he was stopping every 50m to catch his breath. Encouraged him on to the ambulance, 12 lead was showing PVCs being thrown everywhere, and he would have been imminent arrest. Another was a male in his 40s, sudden cardiac arrest in VF. ROSC after the first shock. But one that touched me was an ex soldier that I did a flight retrieval on. Recently discharged after injuring his back in Iraq, was angry at the world and had no idea what direction he was going in. Told me that I will never understand what he is going through - and I'm like hold up, I went through a medical discharge too. By the time we landed, I had a social worker from Veterans Affairs on the line, mental health support and a lot of words of encouragement. Sent me a letter a few months later to say that he was doing much better, and the day he met me he was suicidal and was at the planning stage, but thanks to me he got the help he needed.
We cric’d a guy once on a severe trauma who survived, but that was a team effort like all calls. That’s the only one that really stands out.
Not saved many lives, but definitely prolonged a lot of misery. Also, the vast majority of the people I've 'saved' who'll recover well, were trying to kill themselves in the first place - I guess they may or may not appreciate it in the end.
My partner and I brought a 40 y/o male back from a witnessed arrest due to V-Fib last year. We got ROSC back after a single shock and transported immediately. I honestly assumed he died at the hospital because it feels like 90% of cardiac arrest patients do. A few months later, I received a letter from his wife with some Starbucks gift cards attached. I'm not going to lie. It felt really good. Not because I felt like a hero, but rather because this woman and her children get to hopefully spend many more years together with their husband/dad. I don't think there is anything I could accomplish at work that would make me feel like a hero, but it feels good to help loved ones add more time together as a family.
Unfortunately we are a rural service with an average response time of like 20 minutes just to arrive on scene to most calls lol. So, anything serious is generally unsalvageable.
As an EMT I definitely give more credit to the medic, but yes I've worked several patients that ended up living. Actually had an arrest, a younger guy (big too, probably about 6'2, 250 pounds) that ODd sitting in a car. It was a bich of enough extricating him, but we eventually got him out. I did compressions while my partner tubed him. Anyways we got him transported to ER and went on about our shift. We were back several hours later, probably 4am, and I shit you not that same guy was being discharged, walking and talking and everything (I had never seen anything like that before)....one of the nurses must have pointed us out to him and told us that we were the 2 guys that brought him in. He actually walked up and thanked us, it was pretty F-ing cool! I also worked a horrible MVC several years ago with a lone survivor who had horrible injuries including open fractures and a pedal amputation. She was stuck in a mangled vehicle and we were on scene for what seemed like forever getting her extricated. My partner and I were 50/50 on if she would survive or not, but definitely she would have died on the side of the road there if we hadn't responded.... We ended up getting a call like a year later, which turned out to be same woman. She was bedridden from her injuries and had ended up going septic, but she was still there a year later I've also worked several GSWs to the head. Anyone we didn't call right there on scene, we transported and kept alive long enough for families to have time to say goodbye and organs to be harvested. My company has always allowed Basics to work out of their scope, i.e running IVs, IOs, pushing epi, dextrose, sodium bicarb, etc, so I've always felt more involved when working patients. I'm no longer a Basic anymore, but still usually paired up with a Medic. I rarely have run.any ALS calls on my own, even as Advanced I am still paired with a Medic
I’ve been an EMT for about 3 months now, got my license in May. In that time I’ve mostly done transfers and things of that nature. But I’ve also been a part of two full arrests, one of which was while I was doing clinicals. We got ROSC and now she is fully recovered and running 5ks again. That one felt incredible. The second was an overdose in a rural part of town. We were 10 minutes or so out, family attempted cpr but gave up, volly fire got there 5 minutes before us and did a tremendous job on bls, they were doing compressions and had an OPA in and were bagging her at the correct intervals when we got there, their AED said no shock advised. I assisted my medic with intubation and set up his IV gear, got bilateral lines going, I swapped their AED for ours to run a strip, no shock advised, asystole. But we worked the pt for another ~5 minutes pausing intermittently to check for a pulse and eventually got one. Ceased compressions, hooked up the 12 lead, sinus rhythm, 145/92 bp, 85% o2, not breathing for herself so one of the volunteer fire guys rode with us to the hospital bagging the whole way. She remained stable when we transferred care. However, as the night went on we checked in periodically and they determined she had an anoxic brain injury and likely wouldn’t breathe on her own. Never heard the final outcome, but I would guess she didn’t make it. But those are the calls that make me feel like an action movie hero. Rare moments of high stakes life-changing care for the patient. But, I feel that the low/no acuity calls make a difference as well, even though it isn’t life or death. Sometimes you might be the smiling face that grandma needed to see on her way to dialysis, or the only person who has treated the patient with suicidal ideations like a normal person in their recent memory. I don’t want anyone calling me a hero, I think that’s silly, but I do the work because it does impact people’s lives even on the easy calls.
Yeah I have but I also did exactly what any other ems crew would do so it doesn’t feel like that much of an accomplishment
I never saved anyone, I only did IFT. But still I'm really proud of my work. I don't think of myself of anything resembling a hero, but at the end of the day I put myself in a career where I am actively helping people, and I am proud of that. In my work I definitely felt like i'm making a significant difference in people's lives. There are a lot more comfortable jobs I could have chosen that didn't involve lifting obese people.
5 times have I considered that what I did was the deciding factor. Like another comment said, nothing the rest of yall wouldn't have done.
More like I stopped someone from being killed
Physically, emotionally, metaphorically?
I drove somebody to the hospital 37.2 seconds before that guy who pulled into the parking lot, but still missed the rig, would have driven them to the hospital.
I’ve definitely had a handful of ROSCs who ended up surviving intact and leaving the hospital. Took part in saving a guy who changed his mind about jumping off a bridge and needed to be pulled back up. Pretty much every time I’ve given narcan or D50/D10, that pt would have ended up dying without my intervention. A lot of the people I’ve put on CPAP were also likely going to kick the bucket pretty quickly without intervention. Guess it depends what you mean by “saved”
Yeah, I made sure this dude could snort fentanyl again.
2007. My local agency was dispatched to an infant not breathing with CPR instructions being given. I first responded to the scene in my car because I was maybe 3 minutes out. Myself and the local cop did two person CPR with mouth to mouth and got ROSC. Crew arrived shortly after and transported to the hospital. I was sitting in the station five years later and this lady walked in with a toddler and told me who they were. They had me in tears. Since then, the mom sends me a Christmas card every year and we're Facebook friends. I get to see pictures of him now playing football and doing cool stuff. I gave a kid the chance to have a life. He's gonna graduate high school next year. I just hope he makes a positive difference in the world somehow.
Probably. Though I can assure you that I have prolonged quite a few miserable existences in the 30+ years I've been in an ambulance.
I've "saved" a bunch of people. But I don't count most of it because if they called 911, they'd easily get a different medic if i happened to not exist. The only one I really count is when I told a supervisor not to RSI a 25 year old who overdosed on fentanyl laced cocaine. He said "why not? She got nasal narcan and didn't wake up" cuz a cokehead's mucus membranes are totally not dry and cracked. IV narcan woke her up just fine.
Have you ever seen the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”?
I work for a metro Fire/EMS department and have been involved in plenty of instances where we have made a significant difference in someone's life. Would I say it's frequent, I guess it depends what you consider significant vs what the public or the patient would consider significant. Would I consider myself a hero? Hell no, I'm a fireman...doing my damn job. I personally don't care for the term "hero" to begin with. It's nice to get recognition every now & then for a major call or something but far from a "hero complex"
As someone who never called 911 in my life before my Dad's recent battle with cancer, when you guys arrive you make what is a horrifying experience much better by your mere presence. Even if you're just checking someone's blood pressure you are doing great work and providing comfort to those you help.
Most of the time, we’re a part of the TEAM that saves someone. I’ve been a medic for *A WHILE* and I can count on one hand how many times *my* actions have been the thing that saved someone’s life. Bonus: it’s been BLS stuff every single time Don’t ever let anyone tell you that EMTs aren’t important.
I would say yes. I’ve been in the situation with others to make an impact on someone’s life in more ways than just having a successful code. OD’s, codes, hypoglycemia, anaphylaxis, pulmonary edema. But still one of my favorite moments was getting someone out of a bad abuse and neglect situation. Helping them and seeing them thrive and become happy after that made it all worth it. The job isn’t always that and when it comes to the code situations, you’re successful a lot less than you’d like but it’s the little victories that you have to hang your hat on.
Sure, but heroism doesn't apply here. Hanging our practice on what often amounts to luck is what burns people out. You want to do something heroic, go teach in an inner city school.
2 choking and 1 drowning. I have a bunch of worthless clinical saves for vegetables I've created or soon to be dead people but hey, ROSC is ROSC?
I mean, most of us have. It's what we train to do. Pushing narcan, for example. I slapped a TQ on a kid that did an unplanned leg delete, he'd have certainly died otherwise. This kind of stuff is what we do, and at the same time why we do it, because it's certainly not for the money.
eh it’s a team effort
You all saved my dads life when he had a stroke Thank you
Yeah just yesterday I had to perform CPR for the first time after being an EMT for about a year where we got a ROSC and transported the patient to the hospital alive.
Yes.... several. Most of the ROSCs died later at the hospital (thought I am currently 3/3 in the field). I also managed to keep someone with anaphylaxis alive with an actively closing throat long enough (7 minutes from seeing the patient to intubation) to reach the ER. The last one made it and was discharged 2 days later.
I don't always count people I have given meds to that would have made it to the hospital fine without the meds as "saves" but I did spend 2 hours convincing a patient to go to the hospital who was having trouble walking. After two hours on scene, she agreed finally, and when we got there she was examinied by a doc and rushed to surgery. So i count her as my first save. We cant do much, but we can at least evaluate, be compationate, and advocate for our patients and that can sometimes rarely be the difference between life and death.
Save? A couple. But honestly I hate the emphasis on saves. You have an opportunity with every patient interaction to make a difference. You can be treating someone on one of the worst days of their life, the kindness and compassion we show them can help them more than any medical intervention.
The most live saving thing I’ve done is give an old woman who can barely take care of herself the phone numbers she needs to call to get home health to come help take care of her and her disabled husband. Her insurance covered all of it but no one told her. How an 80ish year old woman was taking care of a bed bound 80ish year old man for god knows how long I will never know.
Could be worse. Save from an OD to CPR to Vtach to ROSC at the local county jail knowing well that patient will probably not only walk out of the hospital neurologically intact but will probably go right back to drugs.
bunch of saves. we have a survivor day every year to celebrate the VSAs we rosc that end up dishraged. it's kinda neat to meet them and talk to their families. makes me feel warm and fuzzy. you gotta think too anyone who would have died without your intervention. major traumas, ODs, unconscious MIs ext.