Excerpt: First, Do No Harm
Excerpt from my upcoming book: Shaking in the Forest
First Do No Harm
On a cold winter night, while still a rookie EMT, my partner and I were called to an automobile accident in the river near Breckenridge. My adrenaline skyrocketed, amped at the thought of saving someone from the frigid river. When my paramedic partner and I arrived on scene, we were told that the driver and passengers had been taken to a nearby home for warmth. We quickly drove to the house and parked in the driveway. My partner, a senior paramedic, told me to grab the medical bag and other equipment and meet him inside. I hurried to the back of the ambulance and grabbed all I could think we would need. I slung the medical bag over my shoulder and sprinted from the ambulance to the house. Like I said, I was excited! This had the potential to be a great call! Adrenaline swam in my system, just waiting to make me do something stupid.
My partner had gone through a sliding glass door into the living room of the home, so I quickly headed in that direction, not wanting to miss anything. Unbeknownst to me, the door had a bit of a lip at the bottom, so instead of being the hero that saved the day, I ended up tripping on that lip and sailing into the room headfirst, conducting an Olympic-medal-worthy plunge into the room. The firefighters, my partner, and even the patients ducked as my stethoscope, IV supplies, and the medical bag flew into the room at high speed. I, on the other hand, skidded into the room on my face, sprawled out on the floor.
The patients were fighting hypothermia, so after the abrupt entry, they immediately disregarded my presence. I obviously was not the one in control here. The firefighters tried to hide their laughter as they continued assisting with patient care. My partner’s head was down as he was getting vitals. His eyes traveled up to my face on the floor, and he slowly shook his head with contempt before disregarding my presence, much like the patients in the room.
Humiliated, I tried to pull myself together. I jumped up and began collecting all the equipment from throughout the room. I asked if I could help with anything, but my partner ignored me. So instead of getting to be a part of a great call, I ended up being the butt of everyone’s jokes for weeks following. I hadn’t yet learned the three primary rules of EMS. First, Do No Harm. The second and third rules are No Running and No Yelling. No matter how bad the call, there is never a reason to run into a scene. If you allow adrenaline to guide your actions, mistakes will be made, and people will suffer.
My guides have an extremely sick sense of humor and take their teaching responsibilities seriously. Becoming the laughingstock of the ambulance service was an excellent motivator to do better. Point taken. Lesson learned.
First Do No Harm
On a cold winter night, while still a rookie EMT, my partner and I were called to an automobile accident in the river near Breckenridge. My adrenaline skyrocketed, amped at the thought of saving someone from the frigid river. When my paramedic partner and I arrived on scene, we were told that the driver and passengers had been taken to a nearby home for warmth. We quickly drove to the house and parked in the driveway. My partner, a senior paramedic, told me to grab the medical bag and other equipment and meet him inside. I hurried to the back of the ambulance and grabbed all I could think we would need. I slung the medical bag over my shoulder and sprinted from the ambulance to the house. Like I said, I was excited! This had the potential to be a great call! Adrenaline swam in my system, just waiting to make me do something stupid.
My partner had gone through a sliding glass door into the living room of the home, so I quickly headed in that direction, not wanting to miss anything. Unbeknownst to me, the door had a bit of a lip at the bottom, so instead of being the hero that saved the day, I ended up tripping on that lip and sailing into the room headfirst, conducting an Olympic-medal-worthy plunge into the room. The firefighters, my partner, and even the patients ducked as my stethoscope, IV supplies, and the medical bag flew into the room at high speed. I, on the other hand, skidded into the room on my face, sprawled out on the floor.
The patients were fighting hypothermia, so after the abrupt entry, they immediately disregarded my presence. I obviously was not the one in control here. The firefighters tried to hide their laughter as they continued assisting with patient care. My partner’s head was down as he was getting vitals. His eyes traveled up to my face on the floor, and he slowly shook his head with contempt before disregarding my presence, much like the patients in the room.
Humiliated, I tried to pull myself together. I jumped up and began collecting all the equipment from throughout the room. I asked if I could help with anything, but my partner ignored me. So instead of getting to be a part of a great call, I ended up being the butt of everyone’s jokes for weeks following. I hadn’t yet learned the three primary rules of EMS. First, Do No Harm. The second and third rules are No Running and No Yelling. No matter how bad the call, there is never a reason to run into a scene. If you allow adrenaline to guide your actions, mistakes will be made, and people will suffer.
My guides have an extremely sick sense of humor and take their teaching responsibilities seriously. Becoming the laughingstock of the ambulance service was an excellent motivator to do better. Point taken. Lesson learned.
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