2 minute read
Such Is the Life of an EMT
Zachary Schwartz Such Is the Life of an EMT
Your first shift back is never easy. When you leave for work at 0515 hours, the only things running through your system are coffee, anxiety, and thoughts of what you could’ve done differently. Before you can produce any logical answers, you find yourself at the station, ready to relieve yesterday’s EMS crew. Such is the life of an EMT.
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As you sit down in the far corner of the room, you notice eyes following you like those of a hunter tracking deer. They know what happened on your last shift, but they won’t mention it until you do. You close your eyes and try to rest, but the dark abyss your eyes are accustomed to seeing is replaced by fragments. Gloves. Blood. A mother’s look of dread. Such is the life of an EMT.
An hour creeps by at a snail’s pace. When you awaken from your quasisleep state, it is just you and your partner. You realize you have woken up for a call as a dispatcher spits out an address and a complaint. You stumble into the ambulance and the memories come flooding back. Such is the life of an EMT.
The screams of a mother in the front seat. The bewildered, panicked look of the young firefighter. The desperate attempts to start an IV. The frustration. The agony. The anger at other cars who refuse to yield. The feeble fantasy that the hospital will be able to perform some other intervention that you didn’t consider, when in fact there exists none. Such is the life of an EMT.
But now, sitting in front of you is your new patient. One of your regulars, her putrid odor infiltrating your nostrils. You shrug this off, along with her claims of your incompetence as you treat her. Fifteen minutes later, you have delivered the patient to the hospital and you are cleaning her vomit off the floor. Such is the life of an EMT.
After you have cleaned up, you begin to doze off. You are roused by a knock at your door. You open it and are met by a young man and woman, accompanied by their newborn. They tell you eight days ago you delivered their newborn child at home, saving both the baby’s and the mother’s life. You weren’t working eight days ago, and this would have been one of your coworkers they’re thinking of, but before you can relay this information, the father embraces you, tears cascading down his face. “Thank you,” he says. Such is the life of an EMT.
