Decisions in the EMT World

Decisions in the EMT world are always followed by actions and/or consequences. I have had to make some decisions and come upon the consequences of the decisions of others just in the past two days.

While I was at the Matisse and Picasso show the other day, something happened to me that really has nver happened to me before. Within five feet of me, a man collapsed and hit his head on the floor. He had a history of epilepsy, but we don't really know if it was that or the extreme heat and crowdedness of the exhibit. Either way, I stood there in shock for a minute or so.

Andrea, one of my best friends, turns to me and says, "Tamara, you're an EMT! Do something" (paraphrased of course). I still stood there for a minute wondering what I really could do being that all my gear was up in my car. Finally, I came to my senses and made the decision to get in there and do my stuff. It wasn't much, just a matter of checking his head out and asking him how he felt. I checked his pulse, he removed some layers, and made some recommendations. He needed to cool off, take some tylenol the next day, and talk with his doctor.

My decision to get involved could have been more aggressive, such as, as soon as it happened, I could've got in there, stabilized his head and then turned him over rather than letting the lady just turn him over before getting involved. It is risky in this world of lawsuits and malpractice for me to even to get involved, but, consciously, I could not not get involved as I seemed to be the only person around who knew anything that could be done and make reasonable decisions. The next time something like this happens, I will not be as shocked!

Last night, while on duty, I saw the consequences of some bad decisions made by our patients. Our first call, we came upon a car turned over on its side after flipping at least once. It was pretty shocking to come upon the victim from the accident. What was more surprising was the fact that one of my friends was at the scene. He had seen the accident and pulled over. Caringly, he directed some traffic and then left, but I am sure he didn't think I would be one of the people to show up to the scene.

The man we helped was a 27-year-old who had just gotten out of jail. He obviously smelled of alcohol and tried to swerve out of the way of someone when he flipped his truck. He was bi-polar and very confused. He kept asking if he was dead, was this hell, and to let him die. He didn't want to go back to jail. Then his desire would change completely. He would ask us to save his life and then ask God to spare him so he wouldn't go to hell. It was quite weird. He hurt all over and had a 4cm laceration on his head, so we ended up transporting him across town as a trauma alert.

His decision to drink and drive could have cost his life and others, but thankfully it didn't.

The second call of the night came over the radio as a drowning. The mom of an 8-month-old stepped away for a minute while bathing her baby to get a towel, the baby fell forward, and swallowed water. I thought that this might be my first code (death) on arrival. Thankfully, we have some competent firefighters who got there and revived her. We then transported her across town with Dad where she became less lethargic and regained her reactiveness.

Mom's decision to walk away for a split second could have cost her her child. Never, NEVER, never, not even for a second, leave your baby alone in the bathtub.

The third call of the night carried the worst consequences. We got called out of our district to a 10-50, a multiple car/patient incident. We got there and just looking at the one car, I knew it was bad. The one car looked like an accordion and a fireman stood nearby with a hose in case the car caught fire (it sure smelled like it was going to). You see pictures of horrible accidents on the news, but the reality never really hits until you are there.

Three people had been in the cars. Two people survived.

We took one while the other ambulance took the other. Unfortunantely, we got the guy with the colorful language and uncooperative behavior. To put it simply, I had to restrain him with soft gauze so he wouldn't pull off his neck brace and hurt himself. He didn't seem to understand that we were trying to help him, even save his life. He didn't cuss at me nearly as much as he did one my partners, who was the paramedic on the call. But my partner wasn't going to put up with it. A cop rode along with us.

I learned later that the people in the car had been shooting out windows in a nearby town (a felony), and the police gave chase but then lost them. They found them again in the capital, but lost them again. And finally, they found them in another suburb town, where they gave chase and then wrecked their car by colliding head on with another car.

The man we transported was the driver, who was probably drunk. He will live, as well as the female, but he will be living in jail for sure. Their decision to carry on as they did cost two lives and the freedom of at least one. The driver is only 21-years-old and has probably ruined his life with guilt, a criminal record, and a new home behind bars.

Sometimes I don't understand why people make poor decisions, or why it is in our nature to go into shock rather than to immediately act. I guess the point of all this is to think out the decisions you make in life. Really think them out to the extent of the consequences of those decisions. The man from the first accident had it right; ultimately, asking God for forgiveness is where it needs to go in our bad decisions. But, that doesn't mean you won't face the consequences.