EMT Paramedic Stories

How many of us in EMS have had these type of calls?

I was a new medic about 8 years ago in a rural volunteer system. I was out grocery shopping when the tone went out for a possible cardiac arrest of a 80+ year old lady. She was known to us as we had transported her before for diabetic and cardiac problems. I went in service and the I followed the squad to the scene. We go into the residence, with me in the lead carrying the Lifepack. I open the bedroom door, and as reported, the lady is unresponsive to voice. I set the Lifepack down on the bed and immediately begin checking abc’s. I shake her and she opens her eyes. She looks at me and my crew standing around her and says “What are you doing in my room?” I start to explain that her son had called us. She points to her ear and then to the nightstand next to her bed where her hearing aids are. Turns out she was only sleeping. But she was still happy to know we were there to help but she told me “Young man, NEVER wake me up from a nap again”.

It was a beautiful early summer day. In addition to being a volunteer medic, I volunteer for a local search and rescue group. We get toned for the SAR group and since I knew I had radio contact with the incident commander, I let him know SAR units were enroute. The search was for a man in his early twenties who went berry picking and had been missing from his group for 4 hours. Time was 1300, tempurature in the low seventies. I was the closest SAR member, 15 minutes from scene. As I gather my stuff, I continue to listen to radio traffic. Just then, I hear the radio call cancelling SAR. As it turns out, the “missing” man walked up to the incident commander and asked that was going on. The IC says we’re looking for a lost man, then turns around, looks at the man, and realizes that he is the man he is looking for. The missing man was indeed not missing, but he had gotton up earlier than he was used to and he found a nice sunny spt to take a nap.

Is it me, or do all EMS professionals look like they live out of their cars?

I know a Paramedic that has no home at all. He lives from one station to another, and does all of his laundry at the local Laundromat. He works 3 jobs that are 24 hour shifts each, and has managed to schedule his hours around each of them, so that he can leave one and still get to the other on time. He also works part-time as a flight medic for a local air ambulance.

Now, this guy makes pretty decent money, for a Paramedic. He has been at it for several years, and has some experience under his belt. I am going to make a rough estimate that between all of his jobs; he is making mid 6 figures. But, he has no home; so therefore, he pays no rent, water, lights, heat, electric, and not even something as simple as a cable bill. His only real expense is his transportation, and that is nothing elaborate. He is not married, and has no kids. He is a single, middle aged guy that lives, eats, and sleeps EMS.

This scenario, although a bit extreme, is sort of typical. Most of the EMS workers that I know, work more than they are off. Most of them carry at least 2 changes of clothes with them, and almost all of them carry at least one duffle bag to work with them every day. Many even bring personal items, like books, crafts, blankets, bed linens, and any of the other comforts of home that a lot of people take for granted. I use to tease some of my partners about “Moving in,” every time they came to work.

I think the majority of full-time EMS workers are very dedicated people. While some will claim to only be in the job to “Help people,” the majorities are just addicted to the job, and let it become the priority in their life. About half of them are single solitary people, and the ones that are not single, soon find themselves that way. The divorce rate among EMS professionals is astounding.

If you are like me, and somehow make it through many years in the business, and still be married, you learn what the real priorities are, and end up holding the job responsible for a lot of problems in life. Though the job is exciting, and many times very rewarding, there is just no substitute for a “real life” with a family.

Since my partial exit from EMS, I have a new look on life. My family is the most important thing to me now, and the regret I have for all of my wife and daughter’s Christmases and birthdays that I missed while at work, will never be made up. However, I have a lot more to come, and I look forward to them all.

My car is empty now. I don’t carry a change of clothes with me any more. I don’t even have a first aid kit. I cleaned out the back seat, and swept the floors. I can tell me daughter that I will be at her basketball game next week, and not have to tell her “I will try.” I am not afraid to watch a 2 part movie anymore, because I know I will be home to see the conclusion.

It is just the little things in life that we miss. We become accustomed to being gone for a day or two at a time, and don’t even realize that a different life is going on without us in our own homes. While some people are just designed in a way that suits them perfectly for the job, others like myself, never even knew what we missed, until we had a chance to see it.

Remember the guy that lived his life in EMS? He died at age 48, of a heart attack. Never knowing what it was like to do something as simple as sit and watch TV with his family.