The siren was wailing at the unmoving traffic. The drivers either unaware or uncaring as to our presence, stubbornly refuse to move. Repeatedly I blow the air horn at them, hoping they will move. I don’t understand how they can’t hear it. The sound is deafening inside the cab of the rescue. “Rescue 14, you’re responding to a 48 year old male in cardiac arrest. CPR is in progress.” The words of the dispatcher through the radio resonate in my head. This is the moment I have been simultaneously waiting for and dreading. As I head to my first cardiac arrest as a paramedic, the culmination of years in training, I have no idea the lasting impact it will have on my life. My feelings will forever be altered by the events about to unfold.
“Turn left on the next road, then it will be the third house on the left,” I calmly tell the driver. I must keep my demeanor professional and show no emotion. It feels to be an impossible task, I want to yell, scream, jump anything to show the emotions I’m repressing! My mouth is so dry I can hardly swallow. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, and every major muscle in my body is tense. As we turn onto the road, there is nothing out of the ordinary. A few toys discarded by children are left front yards. Trash bins sit by the roadside patiently waiting to be serviced. Several people down the road are having a conversation, perhaps discussing their plans for the evening. All of them unaware a person is fighting to survive inside the peaceful facade of a home. We arrive on scene and I jump to work.
Time seems to stand still, as I run towards the house. It’s a simple home, with white paint that is peeling. A brown lawn crumples under my every footstep, and a tired patio set th...
... middle of paper ...
... hard and emotionless as the peeling walls of the home we’ve just departed. I leave him with the hospital staff and tell them this man’s story. Then I slump in a chair to take in all that just happened. The world seemed to stop for the time I was with him; I had so many feelings it’s time to process them. I look at my watch and realize this whole time has only been 15 minutes.
As the years have gone by, I have hidden my feelings away from the world, as I had done this day. To be the best at what I do, I must stay stoic as a Spartan. Happiness and sadness are no longer things I’m able to express. They are my own, hidden away inside of me. Just as the house contained this man’s struggle for life. I’ll always remember all the things I experience in life. The emotions invoked and the events surrounding them, but they will forever be locked away inside of me.
Although years have gone by, these recollections are still affecting how he lives. Simply standing in front of the wall reminds the speaker of all of this. The Veterans Memorial takes on a life of its own. While the speaker is in its presense, the wall controls him. It forces him to remember painful memories and even cry, something he promised himself he would not do.
It is incredible how a couple who seemed to have a comfortable semiretirement near Dallas, Texas though they were ready to live life calmly as possible. Rebecca and her Husband Scott both worked part time. During the evening of March 4, Scott started having trouble breathing; Rebecca rushed him to the closest emergency room at the
The American Heart Association gives sufficient evidence for the need of change by acknowledging that sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death (2012). These fatalities affect both adult and child victims. Statistics also show that 70% of people feel helpless during a cardia...
Cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of increased morbidity and mortality rates throughout the nation. There are over 177,000 reported deaths in the United States and Canada per year. The immediate initiation of bystander CPR upon occurrence can increase the survival rate by 4 times compared to patients who do not receive the lifesaving technique. Unfortunately, less than 5% of bystanders engage in these actions when needed. Explanations for the low rates have been reported as low socioeconomic status, physical hindrances, emotional and religious beliefs, and knowledge deficits. However, advanced practice nurses have the knowledge and skills necessary to improve the rate of bystander CPR within all environments. In this paper, I will discuss bystander CPR
The tones go off, there is a scramble for shirts, ties, and boots. Dispatch announces a motor vehicle accident five blocks away. EMTs and Paramedics climb into ambulances. Police are reporting multiple personal injuries. There is a rush of adrenaline through all those involved. The street comes alive with flashing red and white lights and screaming sirens. Ambulances tear down the street to the accident scene. They arrive to find four cars involved in a high-speed collision. There are seven people involved in this particular accident. Additional trucks are requested and the original scene repeats itself as three more teams join the first two at the scene. Emergency personnel work to disentangle patients from the wreckage of the vehicles. One patient is in full traumatic arrest. Three emergency medical workers operate together to intubate the patient and start IVs while they perform CPR and set up the defibrillator, while simultaneously searching for the patients identification. The team lifts the patient into the back of the ambulance, and while still compressing the patient's chest, breathing for the patient, administering medications, and defibrillating all in an effort to help this patient avoid death, they speed off to the hospital. The EMTs and paramedics in the back of the ambulance continue their efforts enroute to the hospital while the ambulance ricochets off bumps and the workers are bounced all around the back of the vehicle. They finally arrive at the facility where one of the members of the team tells the triage nurse what is happening. They take the patient into a trauma room and lift the patient from their stretcher to the hos...
Through the sound of the thundering rain and howling wind, an ear-piercing scream slices through the air. Never in my life have I heard a sound quite like this one. It’s the type of scream that’s so desperate and horrific that its cuts right through your body and down to your soul and shakes the life out of it. Just on time, the well-known Virginian winds whipped open the door to the privy to let me out into the blasting wind. Through the rain and sleet assaulting my face, I heard the terrible scream rip through time and space again. Right away, my feet start taking off without me, trying to reach the main house, to my family. Through the raging storm, I can see the blue side door come into view, or the spot that used to be where the blue door was.
I sat in my friend's Oldsmobile with her three year old in the car seat resting in the back, as we traveled down the street towards my former residence behind the city park. My friend, Sarah, now a MOM, was eager to show me the transformation to the front of my old home. She kept saying, that I would never believe it as we approached the house, I could only see bareness. All of the bushes, flowers, and gardens that surrounded the house were removed. The windows appeared naked without curtains or blinds to dress them. Disappointment and disgust ran through my veins as I thought about the care and attention my mother had given to our home only to be stripped of it all by the new occupants. What a bad sale my parents had made!
11:14 p.m.-I slowly ascend from my small wooden chair, and throw another blank sheet of paper on the already covered desk as I make my way to the door. Almost instantaneously I feel wiped of all energy and for a brief second that small bed, which I often complain of, looks homey and very welcoming. I shrug off the tiredness and sluggishly drag my feet behind me those few brief steps. Eyes blurry from weariness, I focus on a now bare area of my door which had previously been covered by a picture of something that was once funny or memorable, but now I can't seem to remember what it was. Either way, it's gone now and with pathetic intentions of finishing my homework I go to close the door. I take a peek down the hall just to assure myself one final time that there is nothing I would rather be doing and when there is nothing worth investigating, aside from a few laughs a couple rooms down, I continue to shut the door.
I remember feeling quite puzzled by a sight during my first week in Boston; I walked by an individual someone who was lying down with eyes closed on the street and I was unsure as to whether he was just asleep, heavily sedated or unconscious. Even more disconcerting than this puzzling sight was the realization that I wasn’t confident in my ability to be of help if he was in fact in need of resuscitation. This disconcertion was taken care of in a few days when I completed a CPR course for all first year medical students at the end of our orientation
I cried as we locked up the house for the last time. I felt like we had just spackled, primed, and painted over my childhood. I felt as if my identity had been erased, and like the character in the song, I had lost myself. There was no longer any physical evidence that I had ever lived in, much less grew up in, the house.
The car was hot and stuffy when I slipped back into the driver's seat. I found the most depressing music I owned and drove out of Glenwood as the sun started to set. Two more hours until I was home, two more hours of thinking what a terrible day I had gone through, and two more hours of cussing myself for being so naïve. The drive was a long one.
Oh Sh*t! The door slams shut in my face, and suddenly I am stuck in a tight, dark room, where I can’t even move my arms to be able to scratch my nose. It feels as if I have been buried alive, as if I am stuck in a coffin. Every second goes by painfully, seconds feel like hours, and minute’s feel like days.
It was a dreadful afternoon, big droplets of rain fell directly on my face and clothes. I tasted the droplets that mixed with my tears, the tears I cried after the incident. The pain in my foot was excruciating. It caused me to make a big decision of whether I should visit you or not. I decided I would. I limped towards my bright, blue car where my bony, body collapsed onto the seat. I started the engine up but at the same time being cautious of my bleeding foot. I then drove to the destination where I was bound to meet you. I was bound to meet you after three years of counselling from my last appearance with you. I guess all I can remember is the scarring....
Suddenly I awake at the noise of sirens and people yelling my name. Where am I? Those words radiate out my thoughts but never touching my lips. Panic engulfs me, but I am restricted to the stretcher. “Are you ok?” said the paramedic. I am dazed, confused, and barely aware of my surroundings. Again “Yes, I am fine” races from my thoughts down to my mouth, but nothing was heard. Then, there was darkness.
After completing my first aid course, I have learned many things that I could put to use if I ever encounter a situation involving life or death. I learned that the first thing to do before performing CPR on an unconscious person is to check, call and care. First of all, I must check for hazards. Next, I have to tap the person’s shoulders and call out to them along with checking for any signs of breathing. If all of a sudden, the person takes a breath, this does not mean the person is conscious; in fact this is a sign of cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest means that the heart has stopped beating; therefore it cannot pump blood to the rest of the body. Immediately, I have to call 911. If I do not have my phone with me, I must call someone else for help. For example, if I see a person wearing a blue shirt, I must speak boldly: “Hey you, in the blue! There is an unconscious person lying on the ground. Call 911 immediately, and get back to me!” Even though I know that help is on the way, I still need to perform CPR. I can either give two breaths by tilting the head and lifting the chin, or I...