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Holy smokes there’s some perspective. Thanks for this.It seems like things aren’t going too well on here. I’m bummed too—I was told practically everyone on this waitlist gets in and don’t have a full plan for how to approach the next year while I reapply. @LabileEmotions I’ve been enjoying your daily quotes. I think now is a good time for a story. I’ve changed some titles but this is 100% factual, and I’ve had it confirmed by others who were there.
A few years ago my fire engine and an ambulance were responding on a call for a “Sick Person.” On our way there, the captain riding up front tells us “Okay guys, dispatch says the patient is both blind and deaf.” To which everyone onboard says something like, “Huh, well this will be interesting.”
I walk up to the front door and ring the bell. A nice person (I’m being vague), who I will call Roommate, answers and brings us inside. It is immediately apparent that Roommate is fully deaf and progressively blind. Roommate moves around the house pretty easily and talks to us, but can’t hear us. Roommate explains that the patient, a new roommate, just moved in. We walk into Patient’s room to find him doubled over on the floor groaning and clutching his stomach.
Patient is fully blind, fully deaf, and nonverbal. The only pertinent signs are obvious abdominal pain. There are no symptoms, because Patient can’t say anything. Our crews are now divided up solving this problem. I’m in the office with Roommate, trying to find out any useful information that might provide us a clue as to what’s going on. The ambulance crew is working on moving the patient, and a few other firefighters are going through Patient’s bedroom and bathroom hoping to find something with Patient’s name on it. Patient has no ID, no wallet, no medications with his name, no photos, no bills, etc. We have no way to identify him.
Now begins the most clever and least efficient form of communication I’ve ever seen. In the office, Roommate has a small computer-like device that I had only read about in my EMT textbook. It has a small keyboard and several rows of ballbearings. Roommate gives my captain a phone number that he calls, which turns out to be a call service. The lady on the other end now serves as the relay in this conversation. My captain asks a question to the call taker, who sends it to the little computer, which converts the message into brail on the rows of ball-bearings, Roommate reads the brail, then either types or says a response. Perfect.
At this point the ambulance crew is outside, loaded and ready to leave for the hospital. I am now relaying their questions from the street back to the house to ask through this call center. The most information obtained is Patient’s first name. The ambulance departs and we all clean up our gear.
Now, this was confirmed by the ambulance crew. The ambulance unit officer calls the receiving ED to inform them of their arrival. She states, “Be advised, patient is both blind and deaf; we will need an interpreter.” They arrive at the hospital and one of the senior doctors walks up. I know this doc to be brilliant at her job. The charge EMT says to the doctor, “The patient is blind and deaf.” The doctor shouts at the patient, “WHAT’S WRONG?” The EMT goes, “Doc, he’s deaf. He can write though if you give him a pen.” They hand him a pen. Patient writes “INTERPRETER.” To this the doc writes back, “WHAT’S WRONG?” The EMT responds, “Doc, he’s blind.”
Two takeaways. First, ya know on every med school’s admissions page where it says Cognitive/Motor Skills? This basically says you can perform the functions every doctor needs (talk to people, read, write, pick things up, put things down). No matter how much this process sucks, all of us are actually doing very well and our lives are relatively easy. Second, no matter how much education and training you’ll get as a doctor, some days you’ll just be plain stupid. Stay humble.
