Has this happened to you?

[Chadleez1]

I think we probably all want to be doctors for the same reasons, mainly we want to help people, right? Well, I was at the mall the other day and there was a man there who was having a heart attack. They called the ambulance and luckily there was a doctor in the mall, but I just wanted to be able to help so badly. Has something kind of like this happened to anyone else?

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[Coalboy]

That's kind of the reason I took an EMT class and started volunteering with the fire department. I was afraid I was going to be put in a situation like that and not have a clue.

 

[E'01]

oh gosh yes. I was on the train returning from work when the conductor asked for any medical personnel to come up the front since an individual was having seizures. I went up since I'm an EMT but I felt completely helpless since I hadn't had that much hands-on training at the time. Thankfully, the gentleman had stopped seizing and a physician was by his side. But I felt incredibly helpless and felt like I was just taking up space and getting in the way.

 

[racergirl]

Yeah. The most recent time was last spring. My BF and I were riding our motos to this art opening party thing. It's like eleven at night downtown. I go over this bridge, and I see this shape lying on the opposite side of the road. "is that a motorcycle?" I think...yup, it is. A second later I see a body lying in the road, about 40 feet from the bike. Body and bike are lying in oncoming traffic. I pulled my bike into traffic in front of the body so the cars wouldn't run over him, and my BF pulled his bike in front of the bike lying in the road.

I get off my bike, and start hurrying over to the guy lying in the road. He's lying on his face, he's NOT wearing a helmet, and so far he hasn't moved. Just as I'm starting to think this could be REALLY bad, the guy moans and turned over.

To make a long story short (oops, too late) This guy was wearing a quality leather jacket, caarhart jeans, good boots, AND NO HELMET OR GLOVES. He was awake, and kept telling me his hands hurt (I bet they did--the bone under every knuckle was exposed). One side of his face was all smashed in, and all his front teeth were missing.

Turns out nobody hit the guy or anything. He'd been going too fast, slipped on a metal pothole and high-sided. If the poor guy had only been wearing a helmet and gloves, he would have been calling a friend for a ride home. As it was, he totaled a brand new flat-black Ducati Monster, spent a few days in the hospital, and even more time at the dentist. And the guy was DAMN lucky!

Anyway, He had some trouble with his airway before the fire and cop guys got there, so I helped him with that, and just tried to make him comfortable. It was wild, because every motorcyclist who came by stopped to see if they could help (there are a lot of us in this town), and EVERY ONE was wearing a helmet. Every one except the guy who flubbed and bashed his head, that is. I'm glad he's OK, but I hope he buys a helmet.

 

[Tweetie_bird]

Wow, talk about drama Racergirl!
Something like this happened to me when I was on a bus getting home from an EMT class, when (talk about coincidence!) somebody got on the bus at a stop and said that there is a "dead man" on the road, and the cops need to be called. The bus was stopped, and we were trying to figure out what to do. Being the curious person that i am, I asked them what made them think he was dead and they said "well, he hasn't moved at all!" Apparently, there were people on the road trying to pull and tug at him to wake him up, but he wasn't. To make a long story short, I got out of the bus, and checked his breathing. He had the rattling breathing sound we had just learned about in class that happens to people when they go into MI! I assumed he couldn't breathe, so I had people put him in the right position and checked on his breathing....very very low and shallow. His pulse was so thready, I could barely feel it. I asked the bus driver to call the cops ASAP, afraid I couldn't provide him with much more care. I hadn't even finished EMT school! The cops came, with the medics and they eventually found out that the person was a bum who had OD'ed on something. But boy what a thrill....I don't like to take credit for it, but who knows what could have happened if I wouldn't have checked his pulse and breathing. I went home feeling good that day.

Tweetie

 

[Coalboy]

One day, on my way to my EMT class, I came up on a pretty bad car wreck. Not horrendous, but bad. I felt kind of silly saying "I'm an EMT...student" Anyway, did what I could--which wasn't a whole lot--until the medic got there. Luckily, it was only a quarter mile from a fire station. Anyway, now I carry a little medical bag in my car, just in case. I don't want to be squirrilling on calls I hear on the scanner (I'd get in trouble w/ the BCoFD and my Volunteer FD, I'm sure), but I want to be ready if I end up in the middle of something.