Happy Emergency Medical Services Week!

[Julius Sedaire]

Many don't know, but Happy EMS Week to all my ER/ED Doctors, Nurses, Techs, Aids, CT/X-Ray, Housekeeping, Dispatchers, and more... May15th-21st is a 'week' of recognition for all those Emergency Medical personnel... And this year, 2016, marks the 50th year anniversary of the modern EMS system. So to all the wheels in the cog that run this crazy place we all love and hate, I salute you!

As an EMT in one of the most violent and busy EMS systems in the Country and World, it is a week I will be filling with work, school, and clinicals. Maybe some posting on Chaos. I'll probably have a potluck tomorrow in class before more exams (almost done!!!). Maybe see a movie after with the missus. We often sacrifice more than others realize, for less 'return' than many would accept. But we rarely take time for ourselves. This is a week to be celebrated, and to take that time.

This is not the week to demand recognition. This is the week to set aside differences as Clinicians and Technicians and Professionals, and be there for one another good and bad, and to celebrate the brotherhood and sisterhood that few outside of the house, station, or ER can understand. You Military types, and Cops, and Fire experience it...

We, in a profession with a worse incident of PTSD, Depression, Alcoholism, Suicide and more than the Military, get this week. So stand a little straighter this week. Be kind to your dispatcher when they send you to THAT address for the fifth time in two days, because despite the glowing eyes they are not evil. Smile at the rookie struggling with loading the stretcher, and show them that trick you know, because someone taught you it once when you were them. Show compassion to the 0300 toe-pain x3 days, because to them they may truly be scared, and because they are someones mothers, father, sister, or brother and how would you want your loved ones treated?

Happy EMS Week to the oddly large populace of associated workers here on Chaos, and for civilians... If you want to say thank you, but aren't sure how (like some of you tell me)? The best thing possible is to buy that weary medic a nice hot cup of java. Drop off some Krispy Kreme or coffee to a fire station for the medics and firefighters there.

Or to take a moment out of theirs and yours day, and stop them and shake their hand, look in their eyes and say thanks. The best feeling I ever had was an elderly woman walk up, hug me, and say 'You saved my mommas life. Not you, but you medics. Thank you'... I've been at it a few years now, and that's the only incident I can remember. It will make a difference.

Failing any of the above, if you hear us toning out with our sirens, slow down, move to the right side extreme, and please don't throw things at the ambulance. We have to clean it, after all.

I leave you with some interesting videos I've collected.. Some of them are documentaries, and may not always blur out the injuries recorded. So, watch at your own discretion.

Spoiler

https://vimeo.com/33995938

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoIdaM5TaS4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prADFHH-uL0

 

[Kadala Kotyc]

[member="Ijaat Mereel"]
If you worked up near Seattle instead of wherever you are now (Detroit, right?), I'd buy you a cup of whatever drink you wanted. I've only had to work with EMS a few times in my life (once when I was maybe 4, cuz my brother knocked me out and split some of the skin on my head open, again when I was maybe 10 because of a swollen lymph node that hurt like hell, then another time when I was 11 because of a migraine caused by dehydration, and most recently when I was 14 because my heart rate had been around 150 for over 4 hours), but each time has given me a bigger appreciation for the EMS folks. Compared to a couple of the people I saw go by during my trips to the ER, I've always been one of the milder cases, and I know I've certainly never seen the ER at its worst.

My mom's a nurse who currently works at a transfer center. She has to talk to a lot of EMS workers for the job, since a lot of transfers happen because some of the smaller hospitals in the area aren't as equipped as the one she works for (which is arguably the biggest in the county). The stories she brings home sometimes are... well, let's just say I can't imagine what it might be like to deal with being at the front of things all the time. I understand it's not always big things you have to deal with- I mean, c'mon, I'm not the only one who's gone to the ER for not-so-serious things- but I don't know how anyone could deal with that kind of stress. It's safe to say I respect the EMS folks a lot because of that.

So, Ijaat, if you're ever in the northwestern part of Washington state, feel free to let me know, and I'll buy you a drink.