Calls
I love the exciting medical calls.
Some medical mystery that I get to solve (or, at least, attempt).
Some life-threatening issue where I can take action, intervene in a way that makes a difference. Medication, electricity, intubation, decompression…
Even a traumatic arrest, when you know the chances statistically microscopic. Because there is a chance; an opportunity to help, to change, to try.
The exciting calls are flashy, fast-paced, and dramatic. They’d make compelling television, I suppose. Those are the calls for which the fire service likes to hand out medals.
They make great stories. Bringing the stretcher into the ER drifting around corners, monitor blaring, interventions in progress, suddenly a pulse where there wasn’t one a moment ago.
Broken down, however, my part amounts to performing an action. There is some skill and practice involved in identifying the right action and implementing it successfully, given the patient’s illness/injury/presentation; but it’s still just a physical set of movements. A card trick or a dance step, some carpentry or knitting, an ollie on a skateboard. Physical actions that can be practiced and perfected, honed and refined.
I think my true value as a paramedic—as a medical provider—my real strength, lies in my empathy. The calls where I feel that I make the most profound difference are the ones where I can be human and present and kind, connected in the moment.
You don’t get a medal for telling a wife of 48 years that she is now a widow—sitting with her and holding her hand as she cries, telling you how she and the love of her life met and fell in love.
There are no accolades for spending someone’s last living moments with them, for placing a hand on their shoulder and saying, “you’re not alone…it’s ok…” as they die.
You don’t get a high-five for giving a child a tour of the fire truck, keeping him distracted and entertained while his father is getting arrested nearby.
These are the calls when I feel I get to make the greatest difference in someone’s life. These are the calls that stay with me.
These are the calls of which I am most proud.