EMTs AND PARAMEDICS REPRESENT!

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paramed2premed

paramed2premed

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This thread is for all those applicants who are prehospital providers, from volunteer EMT to professional paramedic. The topic of how such experience plays as an EC and "exposure to medicine" in the application process has been ground well tilled in many threads; e.g. "what will make me look better, an MS or an EMT?" None of that here.

Does working "in the field" make you more cynical, more idealistic, or just make you tired? Did you decide to become an EMT after deciding on applying to med school, or did working on a rig inspire you? Any good war stories?

I have a gut hunch that, per capita, more DO applicants are sirenheads and transfer monkeys than are MD applicants. Lets represent here!
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I haven't worked as a lead in the field for about six months, but I have been flying with my nurses quite a bit as of late and have been providing a supporting role in those transports.... I took the EMT class at my school (UC Davis) during undergrad with the intent of beefing up my med school application, but I ended up landing a job for a small ambulance company in the bay area... I eventually worked my way up to the position of field supervisor overseeing the operations of ten BLS ambulances and one CCT rig, along the way becoming a AHA CPR instructor and emergency medical dispatcher. With the skills I picked up with that company, I was able to score a great job with the UC Davis Life Flight Helicopter program...

Just this evening we picked a victim of an assault... multiple stab wounds to the chest... my nurses decompressed the patient's chest bilaterally after placing a tube with a big mac, after a cold offload, the patient was cracked in the resus room of our ER where he dropped a good 3 liters of blood and clots and our trauma attending relieved the patient's tamponde... within four minutes the patient was in the OR were it was discovered that one of his ventricles was lacerated... he is all patched up now and recovering...

I have seen both sides of the spectrum, from the over idealistic to the ridiculously cynical, but in the end we are all working for the same goal...

I applied to a local community college's paramedic program... there is a limited number of seats that are awarded by lottery.. a lottery i didn't win, and thus i am still just an oxygen and glucose admistering EMT... I hope to one day to work in the field as an EMT, then if the situation elevated, start providing paramedic level skills, then once i walk into the ER, continue patient care as a physician (how's that for overly optimistic?).

I also work closely with several pediatric intesivists who always seem to have all the answers, so that too has peaked my interests. Because I have worn glasses since the sixth grade, I wouldn't mind becoming an opthalmologist either. Then there is OMM... I'm glad i don't have to decide right now...

I find myself driving my personal vehicle as if I was rollin code three, but I have only set off the photo-enforced red lights with an ambulance. I can't imagine every working anything short of a twelve hour shift.

Right now I am doing my best to prepare for my March 4th TUCOM interview by collecting my thoughts on all the good times I have had so far...

That's my story...

Brian Enriquez
[email protected]
 
EMT Representing!

I've been an EMT for almost a year and have worked in both field and hospital settings. My first interview (COMP) is next Tuesday so I'm hoping I can share some of my wonderful war stories... I agree that there's more DO applicants that have been EMT's - simply due to the fact that they tend to have more experience and apply later in life than MD applicants.

Being an EMT has made me everything that you mentioned (especially cynical), however it has also confirmed my desire to be in medicine. I obtained my EMT cert while doing my pre-med work during my undergrad - so my decision to enter the medical field was prior to becoming an EMT.

In respect to the "non-issue" of a better applicant -- it's better to devote yourself to what you enjoy -- NEVER do anything just to make your application look better. ADCOMS can see through this. If you want to be a pre-hospital health provider -- do it for the sake of helping people -- not for adding an EC on your application.

-Michelle-
 
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I'm an EMT as well, however, I have a different take. I became an EMT to help, but find I'm doing very little of that.

I cannot even begin to count the number of hours I have spent down at the station waiting for a call to come in. So far, in a years time, I went on ONE call!!!

Now that I'm doing premed class work, I do not have time to hang around at the station doing nothing - how do you people handle that? I really can't study at the station due to its setup. I'm thinking of just dropping it - what other options are there?
 
EMT for four years
EMT-Intermediate for two years
Paramedic now for eigth years

Got woken up at 3:30am the other day by the Sheriff's Department to evaluate a guy with schizophrenia who was walking around in circles on the road in the rain. Said he was trying to get to New Orleans for mardi gras. That's excitment.
 
emt/er tech for 5 years
paramedic for 5 years
emergency med pa for 7 years
d.o. here i come.....
 
After graduating with a BS in Life Science and realizing that the job market was less than ideal, I enlisted in the US Air Force and earned my EMT-B. I have had the opportunity to provide prehospital care, but in the military EMT's more often act in a nursing role... we administer meds, start IVs, and do Foleys. I cannot wait to move on to med school this fall at AZCOM. Being an EMT is cool, but I'm ready to move on to a bigger challenge.

Cyndi
 
So, I'm in the class right now for becoming an EMT.. and of course.. DO school is where I plan to go in the next couple of years. I can't wait to get out and actually do something.. reading the text is fine.. but I need to start doing stuff!!! Anyone have any good advice or stories in Contra Costa County.. I saw a UC Davis grad.. I go to UC DAvis as well
Christine:)
 
Actually I just got off my 05:15-17:15 friday, my 08:00-16:00 saturday and 05:15-17:15 today (plus I'm full time undergrad)shifts, I'm way to exhausted to get into right now. I promise I'll give my advice and insight tomorrow...

EMT little more than a year, I work for urban EMS agency. When we hit the road we usually run 1 call/hr, I worked 52hr weeks all last summer, I've seen more than 500 patients in my time with the company and oh the stories I could tell you...

more to come, sorry... *sleeps*
 
Volunteer EMT

One call in a year, I wish I had that luck. I have been on the box for over 2 years and I have run about 300 calls. I love being in the field, I just wish I had time to become a medic. Have fun and be safe. Remeber: A truama code is a dead code.
 
EMT representin'

Four year DO student, who will *hopefully* be matching at an MD Emergency Medicine residency... I've got 22 days to find out IF I matched, and 25 days to find out WHERE I matched.

Anyways, I was an EMT up in Virginia while I was in college. I think the experience is great, and besides being somewhat of a good CV fluffer, it helps you realize the continuum of acute patient care. A lot of my fellow medical students, and even most non EM residents, dont' understand WHAT the pre-hospital medical force has to go through... They only see a "new chart on the rack" when they do their EM rotation. So I think the experience gives you a better view of the environment the patient is coming from and how they got here...

Actually I still think my EMT license is still valid, although it is expiring in a few months.
Q
 
Two years BLS, going into my thirteenth year working the ALS fly-car.

Good job, great experience.

Need to move on before my umpteenth zillion third-floor carrydown snaps my spine in two ...

- Tae
 
Navy Corpsman 4 years
EMT 1 year
NREMT-P 8 years
PA-C Family Med 4 years
DO class of 2006 TCOM

I think EMS work builds character, instills pride, makes you confident, and develops patience. I don't plan on being an EM physician but I will be involved forever in teaching EMS, and hope to be a medical director for a volunteer squad in some small place where I can ride more to hang out and mentor than to actually be responsible!! Basically I don't ever want to hear those stupid Minitor tones go off at 3AM for a structure fire with 3 trapped. I might make the scene, but I want to do it on my terms :)
God bless the grunt, and the medics are the civilian version of the grunt. HOOOAHH
 
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hello fellow prehospital workers. Ive been a paramedic for 7 years now and an RN for 2 (had to have a BS in something and nursing would help the medic part). Will be applying for the entering class of 2004. I hope all the 24 hr shifts will help for residencies assuming I make it that far. Well im at work now and gotta go.
Good Luck To all and congrats to those accepted or already in.
 
My Stats:

EMT-Basic 1year
EMT-I 1year
EMT-P 5years
EMT-P CFP
AS-Paramedicine
AS-Health Science
BS-Biology

I have been actively working in EMS since 1996. For the last year and a half I have been working full time as a Flight Paramedic for a Rotor Wing service in Idaho. This fall I will be a MS 1 at LECOM.

Bottom line, hats off to all those pre-hospital providers who have done time in the streets and have choosen to go on into medicine for the right reasons. For all of you out there who simply obtained your EMT beacuse it looks good on your application will never know the experiences to be gained, or experience the other side of medicine not even seen in the ED (i.e. the full arrest at 4:00 am in the bathroom while the pt. is stuck between the toilet and the wall, or the family who does crack cocaine, momma's working the street and my baby can't breath.....deal with it!).

It's great to see all of you out there taking the next leap. When Med school is all over let's not forget our roots and always remember to respect our fellow EMS providers (a thankless position in health care).

Until August look for me in the friendly skies!
 
You know, I thought you folks were out there...

I've been a paramedic for 5 years, working in a hybrid role, both in a dedicated 911 truck and in the ED of a community hospital. It's a unique role; in a single shift I may be doing RSI in someone's bathroom, then wiping butts in the ED. Or, I may be performing thrombolysis in the cardiac room, and then going on a 911 call for conjunctivitis! To qoute Roy from Bladerunner: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..."

Except, you guys and girls would. And then top my story with one of your own!

To stay in EMS, let alone pursue medical school, ya gotta have the love. Many disgruntled straight-to-med.school-from-high-school docs could have been prevented if they had just done a few ridealongs. To all those who become an EMT to just buff their CV, keep your eyes open.

To all those who have found purpose and meaning in fifth-story back pain, brutal trauma, failed resuscitations, scornful nurses, illiterate coworkers, and ****ty pay, I say Keep the faith. It's great to hear your stories.
 
Oh the stories we could tell.

Full arrest yesterday with bystander CPR in progress. When I asked her to stop for a moment to check for a carotid, he was gasping on his own :eek: She got an "A" for effort though :)
 
Hey green912, something similar to that story. We got called to a nursing home a while back for full arrest, arrived and the LPN met us at the door to take us to the room and said they were doing CPR but having a hard time because he was combative(i would have been too), he was asleep and the CPR woke him up. Then 2 weeks later or so, went back to the same nursing home for a fallen pt, and walk into the dining room and 2 aides setting on a counter top said there she is (pointing at the pt) and she was actually in full arrest. Oh well sorta funny, im sure yall have come across some of these.

Good luck to all.
 
Two weeks ago I responded to a possible accident pin-entrapment. The weather that night as lovely 34 degrees with lots of of rain and wind. We were the second unit onscence and we discovered one f$%#ed heavy duty pick-up but no pt. This was on a very dark two lane road with big ditches on both sides(both full of running water) and woods. We started combing the woods in search of an ejected body. By this time 3 engines, 2 ladders, a squad truck, EMS 5, support 9, 7 police units and my box we searching through dense woods. After an hour and a half the victim has found. He decided to run home to avoid a D.U.I. Needless to say I was very cold and wet, since I don't have turn-out gear on the box.:mad:
 
Back about 10 years ago, when I was still volunteering as a medic in Prince William County VA (the most incredible volunteer county in America for EMS and Fire), I was on my way to the station for duty. I was driving down Route 1 in my jeep in the snow and I came across an accident. I stopped to help and found a basic truck on scene. It was just south of the county line so I had no medic priviledges there, but as usual, what the hell!!! In the front seat of the car I was checking I found a passenger, 60's woman still strapped in without any obvious trauma other than the engine 3" from her at this point. She was dead, likely the victim of an aortic tear off the ventricle. I recall telling the EMT following me around to "get her a sheet". After working on a couple others, and by this time the medic truck being on scene, I decided to get in my jeep and head back for Dale City where I volunteered. It was as I was waiting for the trooper to let me through that I noticed the EMT putting a non-rebreather mask on the lady who was dead. I unzipped my passenger window and shouted, "I said a sheet"!!! :)
I miss those days...somtimes.
 
Oh, it's war stories you be wantin', eh? ;)

Called to an old health clinic, where one of the kitchen workers collapsed. The clinic staff had *dragged* her by her feet to the elevator, then to the clinic. That explained the lacerations to the back of her head. :eek:

We get there, and the doc is trying to tube the woman - only, he's standing to one side of the woman's head, and inserting the *handle* of the laryngoscope blade into the mouth.

He sees us, and literally tosses the blade to me as if the thing were on fire.

We work her up, get a quick-look - asystole ...

Packaged and about to leave, when one of the nurses gives us a couple of EKGs that they did on this *cardiac* *arrest*.

First EKG - coarse v fib - in all 12 leads.

They did a second one, five mintues later - fine v fib - all 12 leads.

As we were wheeling her out, the doc tells the staff that they did a bang-up job ... :rolleyes:

- Tae
 
For people who have interviewed already; how well do you think you related your prehospital experince to the interviewers?

It seems like ADCOMs are more likely to understand research experience or non-medical volunteer work. My fear is that the interviewer's mental image of "ambulance drivers" is that of two guys in white smocks throwing the patient onto the gurney (after the firefighters have saved their life...) and driving fast to the hospital while the attendent shouts back from the passenger's seat "DON'T YOU DIE ON ME!"

In 2 interviews I have felt frustrated, not knowing if I was explaining too much or too little. One fellow referred to my EMT experience, and I interjeted (perhaps a bit too quickly; us ALS types are sooo defensive) "I'm a paramedic." He said he knew the difference and continued with his question.
On the other hand, during an interview with a MD/PhD student, in an effort to illustrate my responsibilties, I mentioned that I am credentialed to administer succinylcholine & etomidate as part of the RSI protocol. My interviewer's eyes got real wide for a moment. Hmm, guess I should use that example next time too!

Anybody have any thoughts on how best they have explained the unique world of EMS, any (hilarious or distressing) misunderstandings of their experience, or interviews with current MD/DOs who are former EMTs?
 
I look at my paramedic experience as a valuable tool in my application box, but not the cornerstone piece. I listed the experience on my application and included some lessions I've learned in my personal essay as anyone with healthcare experience would. During my interview I was asked how I deal with stressful situtations and I gave one paramedic and one non-medic situtation to answer the question. I think most adcoms are very familiar with EMT/paramedic experience, however some, like your eluded to, may not realize the total scope of medics. I value my medic experience very much and use it however I can during this crazy process, but I also want to balance it with my more academic accomplishments.
 
5:45 am I am leaving the hospital heading back to the station for shift change when I get punched out of an 'Injury" call. The comments stated that a man had suffered a hip injury 5 years prior and the pain had resurfaced 4 days ago. As soon as the ambulance pulls up in front of the house, a man walks out to our unit and yells "I am your patient." He climbs in the unit, gets in the jump sit and tells me he needs to get checked out. I am pretty sure he had just ran out of his pain meds. Then he starts to tell me how he called for rescue so that he would be seen faster, he stated "I hate to wait in the lobby." We pulled up at the hospital and I walked him right into the triage lobby. The look on his face was priceless.:laugh:
 
Hey, I didn't realize there were so many of us in here!

I'm an EMT, have been for almost 3 years now and I am currently working as an ERtech. I love every minute of it! and for fun I ridealong with the local ambulance service, yep when my friends ask me what i'm doin for fun that's what i tell them. most of my non-EMS friends find it hard understanding why i work 3-4 12 hr shifts during the week and then on my time off, i work another 12 hr shift on the rigs. i guess you just gotta be in the "family" to understand.

at first, i became an EMT to pad my applications for med/do school, but after that summer i found i really love it! in fact, i've decided if i don't get accepted, i am definitely becoming a paramedic, no doubt about that. the only reason i haven't done it yet is b/c between work and my premed classes (a full load) i don't have the time for it. but anyways, hats off to all EMS people in here, keep up the good work!
:clap: :clap: :clap:
 
Hey all,

I just finished my EMT-B class a few days ago. I obviously haven't had a lot of time out on the rig or in ER yet, but have had some pretty unusual things happen. My second clinical in ER, I got to do CPR for the first time...unfortunately, my pt , an elderly lady with a very long medical history, ended up dying. It's definitely different than CPR on a dummy!!

I originally signed up for the EMT class so that I could see if I liked working in the medical field...If I wasn't hooked before, I certainly am now. While I'm waiting to take my NREMT EMT-B exam, I'm trying to get in as much extra ride time as I can. You can't do too much of this!!
 
Congrats Radionut about finishing your EMT course. I've been an EMT for a year and currently work in an ED. I must admit that I love rig work, but I think that continued care in the hospital setting is more rewarding - but I find myself always waiting for that code 3 ring down to get the excitement you find on the streets.

During my first responder course and my EMT course, no one ever revealed the fact that when you do CPR you break ribs. The first time I did CPR I did 2 compressions then 5 or 6 ribs broke. Scared the crap out of me. Then I realized that I'm doing CPR because they're dead and not much is going to hurt them at this point. Still wish someone would have told me that before so I could have expected it...

My worst code happened when a 50 yr old male came in for SOB and a possible AAA. He was speaking in full sentences and his EKG was decent. I took him over to CT scan, where I'm guessing he dissected completely, and that's when he coded. I hated not being in the ER with drugs/docs/any resources of any kind when he coded, but I got him back quickly and ended up doing CPR on him for over 45 minutes. Crazy day at work that night...

Anyway, I wanted to give credit to all of the EMT-B's and EMT-P's for their hard work and dedication. I know it will make us all better docs!! :hardy:
 
Hi guys and gals,
i just stumbled into the DO forum by chance and was happy to see such EMS chatter going on.
i guess i'm a bit of a traitor, but i'm going to MD school in august and have to leave EMS behind (for awhile anyway).
EMT- 1 year
NREMT-P- 2 years
I graduated with a BS in bio in may 2000 and realized i couldn't get a job!!! since i wanted to see what medicine was like before applying to med school, i enrolled in my community college's EMT basic class. It snowballed from there...i went to work in the rural area where i had gone to college and then was enrolled in paramedic school before i knew it--i always felt stiffled by being a basic. the knowledge i gained in paramedic training i wouldn't exchange for the world!! since then, doors have opened and i've been able to train in RSI, 12-lead ECGs, get my instructor cards, etc. i feel well prepared for rotations.

as far as my interviews...i talked little about specifics (i doubt must of them would have understood anyway). they may think of me as an ambulance driver, but i relayed stories about the first time i had to tell a family their mother was dead and the time i had to tell a 10 y/o boy his mom had died. ahhh, those memories still bring a tear.

anyway, it's all about bablance and that's what EMS has taught me. those bad calls mixed with those crazy calls prepares you for real life and medicine. luckily, i got in on my first try and feel that my experience as a medic helped a good bit. but to those
of you still trying or getting ready to apply, best of luck!
hats off to all those first on the scene!

streetdoc
 
Take a look at the latest issue (march 2003) of JEMS. It has a five page article about going from medic to physician.
 
I have noticed that this thread is two pages long, and we have yet to devolve into bitter and pointless internecine scrapping.

Where are the bitter diatribes against para-gods written by the Basics? Where are the lamentations of the medics, illustrating how their perceptive diagnoses and heroic treatments have been ignored by physicians and nurses? Where is the perspective of the physicians who think that us ambulance drivers should just concentrate on getting the patient to the ED quickly? And no one has attempted to hijack the thread with some irrelevant digression. :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by paramed2premed
I have noticed that this thread is two pages long, and we have yet to devolve into bitter and pointless internecine scrapping.

Where are the bitter diatribes against para-gods written by the Basics? Where are the lamentations of the medics, illustrating how their perceptive diagnoses and heroic treatments have been ignored by physicians and nurses? Where is the perspective of the physicians who think that us ambulance drivers should just concentrate on getting the patient to the ED quickly? And no one has attempted to hijack the thread with some irrelevant digression. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well, I did a lot of bellyaching mentioned above for many years.

I tried a creative outlet for my frustrations by writing about my experiences and posting on the internet. That helped, but became stale quickly.

Then, I stopped all that, and did something definitive - I applied to med school. :D

- Tae
 
Funny story about saving lives...

A fifty year-old gentlemen wanted to get the toilet really clean, so he mixed ammonia and sodium hypochlorite. BAM, chlorine gas. Two friends of mine went out on the call. This guy already had COPD, and attacking himself with chemical weapons did not help.

So, his mentation was going south, and it was bringing along his SaO2 as a traveling companion. During transport the paramedic realized that the guy need airway and ventilatory control, and initiated a RSI intubation.

It was touch and go, my friend told me later. They paralyze him, and he takes a look. Alll he sees is HCl-seared mucous membrane and lots of exudate; nothing looks like a glottis. Partner takes a look; nothing. Third attempt, after repositioning, is the charm, and the patient's SaO2 shoots up to the 90's. Life saved.

In the ED, my friend is walking around, letting the adrenaline burn off, when the patient's wife accosts him.

"His dentures are missing," she tells him firmly, "and if they don't turn up you're buying him new ones."

I missed the episode where that happened to Johnny and Roy. :mad:
 
Hey guys! Paramed pulled me over here from the MD forum. Great thread you got going here! About me...

-starting either Loyola or Rush in the late summer
-got my EMT-B in Israel two years ago while studying abroad in Jerusalem. Returned there this summer and got the equivalent of an EMT-I. Volunteered there both trips for public EMS.
-Illinois gave me reciprocity for the EMT-B from Israel this previous summer :)
-Currently working as an EMT-B for a private company in Chicago for a year

I loved working in Israel- although it was hectic and crazy at times you really learned a lot about EMS and the country and so much more... and the EMT's, medics, and paramedics (there are distinctions there) in Israel are the most amazing people.

Working for the private comp. has it's good and bad parts- but I love that it's Chicago and that I'm experiencing the city and its people.
 
volunteer EMT-B for 3 years

I love being an EMT. My county doesn't recognize EMT-I, and I just don't have the time (full-time job and all) to get my EMT-P, but I really do love being an EMT. I seem to get the weird calls on our Squad...on the last code I had was a 87-year old end stage cancer patient. We ended up perfusing him so well with compressions that he WOKE UP and started grabbing my partner's hands (compressions hurt. go figure.). When my partner stopped compressions, the pulse once again disappeared. Very, very, unsettling to have your supposedly-dead patient wake up!

While I've had good shifts and bad shifts, I think being an EMT has really strengthened my commitment to medicine. The county I work in is about half poor rural and half wealthy university, and it's been really interesting to see the differences in the types of calls in different areas of the county. The most frustrating thing is that I often don't know what happens to patients I bring into the ER. Sometimes the ER staff will tell me, sometimes they won't. So frustrating.
 
Hi.

I have been an EMT for 17 yrs - started in high school, an EMT-I for 6 yrs and an EMS-Instructor for 8 yrs (just expired). I have always worked as a volunteer.

Its great to see so many EMTs/paramedics who are taking up the challenge of medical school and I love some of the 'war stories' posted here.

When I make to transition from EMT to physician I will miss that certain something that can only be found in people's homes and on the street. Although plenty of crazy stuff happens within the hospital walls, I will miss my frequent flyer George whose duck Bobo lives in his living room and dances for us. No, Bobo is not housebroken
:eek: and yes, George has severe pulmonary issues and should not have feathered friends. There are so many people with so many stories who helped lead me to the decision to change my career and dedicate myself to becoming a physician. Our patients make us laugh, they make us cry, and they make us shake our heads in disbelief, but I really love this stuff!!

Some other stories to amuse you:

The dead guy who died standing up in his bathroom. No, he wasn't hanging, he was standing up; wedged between the toilet and the wall and was stiff (and naked) as they come.

The young, drunk Einstein who needed to urinate and was faced with a decision: should I wait till my friend finishes up in the loo or should I go out on the ice covered roof (2nd story) and take a leak there. I'll let you guess what option he chose. While laying in the snow with his pants still unzipped his biggest concern was would he be arrested. 'Unfortunately no,' said the police officer, ' I can't arrest people just for being stupid.'
 
Hi again,
Nobody has posted about one of the virtues of working as an emt- gaining muscle :). Little 105 pound female me now takes pride in being able to lift with the best of 'em, and that's without weight training on the side. And my dispatchers know it. Hehe. I still think stairchairs are evil though.
I just posted over in the MD thread about starting a forum dedicated to emt's and medics (I think it fits in the medical professionals column). What do you think? I also filled out the form out to those in charge of the forums suggesting it. There are enough of us and it would be a great place for us to chill, share concerns and stories.

Ok, story time for me. The days all run together so as I remember some I'll add them. I've said this one before over in MD. This is from when I just started working in the privates. A lot of our patients are able to stand up with support out of their wheelchair and pivot and be led to sit back down. Well, my partner and I get to an eye clinic to pick up a female patient who is sitting in a wheelchair with a sheet over her like a blanket. So we set to move her over and didn't look at the paperwork first (I don't do that anymore). Me, as I sometimes do, ask the patient, "can you stand up with our help?" She answers, "nope, I aint got no legs honey." Oops. I don't do that anymore. I felt like running and hiding in a corner. Worse is that we take her to dialysis regularly. I don't think she remembers it- but she does remember the crew that dropped her and reminds me of that because it's one of my friends at the company that did it.

I also like to pay attention to funny things I see around the city...
-on a church bulletin boards:
-dogs are happy because they wag their tails, not their tounges
-give the devil an inch and he'll take a yard
-G-d wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts
-on a sign in front of a cemetary: Drive carefully, we can wait!
-on a sign in front of a store: WE ACCEPT ALL CREDIT CARDS (and in teensy letters, "except american express")
 
the first code i ran as a paramedic was at a house with a raccoon on the couch. no joke...he watched us from his place on the couch. talk about performance anxiety!
streetdoc
 
heh. i went to an animal bite call where a rabid racoon had wandered into a house, bitten someone who lived there, and was in the process of destroying the place. i didn't know sounds like that could come out of a racoon...she was hell bent on attacking everything that moved. the person who was bitten, the other 2 residents of the house, my partner, the medic, and i were hiding in a bathroom waiting for animal control to get there and capture the darn thing. yes, that's right...6 people cowering in a small bathroom afraid of the attack racoon!! :laugh:

(see, i told you i get bizarre calls)
 
You know, you don't see a thread where all the lab monkeys are sharing war stories about eluting and titrating!

Pluckyduk8, way to take the initiative to get our own forum! I'm in!

By the way Sweet Tea, I read a story, about CPR "waking up" a patient, very similar to yours in a book. It's a great collection of anecdotes from ED physicians and nurses, but I can't find it right now! This makes me wonder how often this phenomenon occurs.

I had a code in the ED last year where the monitor clearly showed VF, but the patient was breathing and speaking, and had no palpable pulse. The next hour was the mega-code from hell, and we called it when the patient had been asystolic for awhile. BUT HE WAS STILL BREATHING! There was no doubt; the man was dead. We don't know what we saw, but it was very disturbing.
 
Originally posted by paramed2premed
; the man was dead. We don't know what we saw, but it was very disturbing.
Click to expand...

From a neuroscience perspective it's not all that amazing that the nerves feeding the diaphram muscle were still spitting out action potentials causing the "breathing", it can take a while of ion gradients to even out and especially when you are injecting gallons of ACh enhancers and agonists to keep the muscles going in the first place.

Afterall, a chicken can run around with no head for minutes before finally kicking the bucket...

:p ;)
 
Well, mister smarty pants, ten minutes after we called it, the man got up, grabbed the doctor's head, and ate his brains.

Turned out it was a zombie!
 
bump

I just want to keep this prominent for a little while longer, as some people have been pleased to find a pre-hospital presence on SDN.
 
ok, how about a(personal) list of things about ems that you don't see/experience anywhere else:
I'll start:
1.intubating patients in a ditch at the side of the road in the rain
2.having people shoot at your ambulance during the LA riots
3. having pts meet you at the door with either
a. a loaded firearm
b. a screwdriver stuck in their rectum
c. a bodypart in their hands(their own)
d. the (live) rattlesnake which has just bitten them
4.starting an IV inside a car that is being cut from around you
5. seriously considering that the top of someones head looks like a punchbowl filled with koolaid( vs 357 mag at close range)
6. running a code by yourself (fortunately on pt with iv already established)
 
Ok, so let me put out my best story ever. That is a challenge that others will take up, I am sure!

Called for a "worker caught in a machine" at a manufacturing plant. Arrive to find a body underneath a sheet, next to a large machine. Somebody says "he's dead." I pull the sheet down, and the man's face has been ripped off, gone. There is just muscle over bone, like those melting faces in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

In a strained whisper, the patient says "I'm not dead."

This long-haired man had walked under a spinning shaft extending from the machine, and his hair had caught. He was twirled by his hair, flung around in circles attached to the shaft. When someone hit the stop button, the shaft instantly stopped, his neck snapped, and his scalp and face, down to his mandible, was torn free.

I looked at the shaft next to the patient. From it hung a scalp and face.

Two of the doctors in the hospital told me they had nightmares for a couple nights afterwards.

Ok, it's not a screwdriver in the rectum, but it's still a good story! (I have a feeling that emdpa has a few better than mine.)
 
hard to top that one.....
but how about this.... the dreaded "farming accident"
2 guys moving hay with a forklift(I think you know where this is going), and one accidentally pins the other to a wall through the abd with a blade of the forklift. the guy is in pain, but conscious and talking . this is back in the days of mast pants, so leg compartments applied and inflated 2 lg bore iv's wide open, dopamine at 20 mics/min, surgeon came to scene because pt could not be extricated without removing blade. blade removed, pt bled out in less than a minute from the abd aortic perforation that had been self tamponaded.....I think your story is better though
 
Your story freaks me out. I have had patients die on me, go from talking to dead. These were unexpected, though, and their deaths happened quite in spite, not as a proximate cause of, my interventions.

I did not have any nightmares from the faceless man because, I think, I talked with him quite a bit, and saw him as an injured person, rather than some horrible deformity. A nurse in the ED felt the same way as I did, and wasn't too traumatized.

I would wager that you had some idea of your patient's probable clinical course, and were horrified to see it play out. That element of inexorability, and knowing that any possible therapy would likely be deadly... That would mess me up. Ugh. I need more Zoloft now.
 
I remember a call a long time ago ...

Responded for a 'well-being' check, there was a sign on the apartment door that said 'Warning - Attack Cat". Yeah right - funny.

Fire does a forced entry, and when we get inside we can see the woman on the floor, moaning. Between us and the woman, is a cat.

My partner walks toward the woman, and the cat jumps on her and starts to rake her with its claws.

"Get the f*cking thing off me!" she keeps yelling.

So the cops start to whack her with their Mag-Lites, to try to knock the cat off of her. Only, they keep missing and hit my partner instead.

"Leave the f*cking cat alone!" she yells, after being whacked a couple times.

As soon as she moves away from the woman, the cat jumps off of her and runs into another room.

Guess the sign wasn't a joke.

- Tae
 
Medic here too....worked in private EMS and vol. FF dept. & ambulance service.

Paramedic 7 years
EMT for 1 before that
ECA before my EMT by a couple months(still in high school)

I bet some of you are like...."What the hell is an ECA?" Only in Texas my dear friends....one month long of training, no hospital rotations or ride-outs required...we are talking the basics...stands for Emergency Care Attendant.....but we prefer Extra Cot Attendant....:laugh:

I'm a second year DO student now....never would've thought it back then....life's funny

There's no way I can top the forklift or Raiders of the Lost Ark stories....but I have a couple that I remember trying not to laugh in front of the patient...

Call #1:
Respond to an woman complaining of abdominal pain...she's lying in her bed holding her abdomen wincing and moaning....of course the stretcher wouldn't make it around the hall corner....and the scoop wouldn't work either so my partner and I just grabbed the arms and legs and carried her down the hall.....funny part is that I noticed the parrot she had in the corner of her bedroom walking in...and it wasn't talking much, but when we started to move her and she started screaming "Oh my god..it hurts it hurts!"....parrot started repeating her...."Oh MY GOD....IT HURTS, IT HURTS....Oh MY GOD!!, (SQUAWKKKK!!!)"........poly wanna cracker?:laugh:

Call #2:
Dispatched to a woman who called 911 saying she was having a miscarriage....said the cord was coming out.....uh oh...Prolapsed Cord!!!!!.....well..it didn't have a pulse....(you probably know where I'm going with this)......yep....the tip of the old tampon that she forgot about..........that's not even the funny part......husband says "that's funny, I never noticed it...." (Thanks for sharing sir...):rolleyes:

Vince
 
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