# Your First Call



## MMiz

Do you remember your first call working in EMS?

I had a diabedic pt, from a christian family, attending a pagan convention.  He was out cold on the floor and no one would provide ID because they were scared we would call home.

It's the only call I got in that 12 hour shift.  It was a looong shift sitting as a third rider in the back of a Type II van.

What about you?


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## ffemt8978

Full blown cardiac arrest, outside wedged between a 3 foot snowbank and a car, in January, in South Dakota.  Wind chill was -30F.  Defib x1, Combitube, got him back in the ambulance but he died later that night at the hospital of a second MI.


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## MedicPrincess

Transfer LOL to ED for "altered mental status".  Vitals all better than mine.  No complaints.  Assisted living facility said she began to complain loudly at dinner and that wasn't like her normal self.  Apparently she wasn't one to complain.  Didn't even get her off of our cot.  ED physician looked at her, asked her if she needed to be seen in the ED.  She said No and she told them that at the assisted living place.  He asked if she had any complaints.  She said Yes, its bad enough her hambuger wasn't cooked all the way, but now its going to be cold too.  

Before we left, one of the nurses boxed up a dinner tray that had been sent for one of the pts in the ER and sent it with her.

We returned her to her home with a release from the ED showing normal mental status and a full belly.


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## emtbuff

My first call was a person who had fallen and ended up dislocating her knee cap.  Transfered her to the city and now everything is fine and dandy for her.  Except for some arthritis I'm sure.


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## TTLWHKR

I don't remember...


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## emtff376

Overdose.  Had to have PD kick the door in.  I'll never forget it.


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## NjEMTGirl

*Don't Let my cats out!!*

First call was a resp. emergency..don't remember much about the call other then getting yelled at the entire time by the patient(funny resp emrgency and she has the strength and breath to yell)  she kept yelling about her cats..even in the back of the rig..you better not have let my cats out!!!!   Her cats def weren't in the house when I left..LOL


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## Ecnalubma

hah. I remember it vivdly.

GSW to Left Upper Extremity right on the subclavian artery. We go in and there is blood everywhere. Guy tells us he was "out back" shooting "crows" at 11:30 PM, and he's completely naked. We find a discharged shell for a 12 gauge in his living room and he's all alone, so we're pretty sure he shot himself. Guy was like "Do I have to go to the hospital?" ..umm.. "Yes, you really should go to the hospital, sir.".. "Okay, can it wait tll tomarrow?" HELL NO! "No, sir. You really should come with us." "Okay." So, a FF gets some pressure on the bleed and we get 2 IVs (14's in each arm), put him on some O2 and carry him to the ambulance on a board (with no straps). Then we start the 10 minute haul to the ED. It was crazy. Got there and gave my report to the tech who is going to take care of him (this Tech is an EMT and went to EMT school with me so we go back.) I tell her everything and she just bursts out "He did WHAT?!" and a state patrol officer was like "Did you try and kill yourself?" "No.." "Good, cause you did a bad job."

It was hilarious.


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## divinewind_007

Cardiac arrest. Turned out it was my great uncle. Was lying in bed. His son-in-law was a first responder and noticed agonal respirations. He took his last breath when we walked in the room. Started CPR, got 2 large bores, and medic got him tubed. No shockable rythm. Got 2 rounds of epi and atropine in him and got a pulse back. Turns out he had  a bleed on the brain. They pulled the plug on him about a week later. But it hooked me for life!


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## Medic946

MVC 2nd day of emt-b cert. My best friends little brother and girlfriend. Fatalities. Had to go with PD for notification. Probably the worst call in 12 years.


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## nsmedic393

My first call was a MVC. Snowmobile vs half-ton truck on a logging road. It took us over an hour to get the ambulance back into the woods. Probably don't have to tell you how it ended.


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## Jon

I can't remember my actual "first" call...

There are two calls that I can remember from my first month...

1 - the "skell" at the local PD station... guy smelled like he was trying to pickle himself with ETOH - severely drunk... and hadn't bathed in at least a year. The Crew Chief had me wrap the strecher in an "emergency blanket" (yellow tarp)... The Crew Chief had me ride in the back, alone (would YOU want to be in the back with THAT?)

2 - DOA, at a nursing home... when we went to pick the Pt. up to place in a body bag, pt "burped and farted" - freaked me out... I dropped the patient and said "are you SURE she is dead"??? (cold to the touch, dependant lividity, etc...).

First call as "Primary" - Drunk guy - at a local hotel.... face all cut up. Stated he was playing "hearts" at his sisters... then they played "Spades, Clubs, and diamonds" and his face got cut up when he fell "through" the mirror... not into... through... al la _Alice in Wonderland_...


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## joemt

My first call was a 10-50 (MVA) Rollover with partial decapitation, L arm amputation (driver) and Broken Femur (8 year old unrestrained passenger)... The 1986 Bronco II was traveling S. on the Highway when it met a 1990 White Ford Escort on the wrong side of the road...The driver of the Bronco pulled hard Right to avoid the car and flipped numerous times (think Short Wheel Base)... It left an indention of the wheel in the highway (that if I recall corretly is still there).  
   I was an EMT student at the time and a member of the local volunteer FD... I remember walking up to the scene and the EMT on the scene saying "watch your step"..I looked down and noticed "stuff" on the ground... when I looked at the EMT with a questioned stare she said... "that's what brain matter looks like on the highway".  For those of you who have ever dealt with an open (into the brain) skull fracture, you can probably remember clearly the smell.  It's something I'll never forget... that and the drivers son, screaming for his Daddy.... By the way.. the Drivers wife was an RN that worked in a nearby ER... she reached over to feel for her husbands pulse when the SUV stopped rolling, and knew immediately.


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## Wingnut

Wow Jo, that's a hell of a first call. How were you after? Did your preceptors talk to you about it after?

Mine was pretty cut and dry, early morning it was a minor MVA. Dad and his 2 daughters, only the 6 year old had any injuries and that was just a split frenulum (?) that thing inside and between the top of your lip and your gums. The girls were scared and we had a stuffed animal and calmed them down as best we could. (none of them spoke english) 

No one wanted transport (nor required it) so we went out to breakfast.


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## TTLWHKR

Now I remember...


It was a call for a fall victim at a nursing home. Lac on the head.

We used the 2x2's...


Not every first call is the big one.


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## joemt

Well... here's the best way to explain how it was for me... here I am, 17 years later, and I still remember the color of the oncoming car, and the make and model of the vehicles involved.  I can see the little boy's face like it was yesterday.  Do I have bad dreams about it... nah... but no one really "talked" to me about it either.  I usually tell the story and make a point about some type of debriefing when I teach my students.


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## MariaCatEMT

*My first call ever was while I was still in EMT-B class, doing my ambulance ride time. 92 year old female fell in her home, fractured her hip, and her caretaker had bodily picked her up and put her back in bed. I didn't do much, assisted in packaging, and the paramedic let me take vitals to practice after his assessment. I held her hand all the way to the hospital (she wouldn't let go!). I remember thinking she was awfully calm for someone who just fractured her hip, and that her tolerance of pain must be high. She was so tiny and frail. I never did find out how she did long-term. At her age, I know it probably wasn't that good.*


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## coloradoemt

My first call as a Basic was on a third ride. I do not remember exactly what order they were in but the day consisted of motorcycle versus car, ped vs train, suicidal/homicidal OD, etc. The first call I ever ran by myself with only a first responder to help was a 12 yr old on a 4 wheeler, lost control went over the front end, the bike went over him, bad news, choppered him out.


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## hfdff422

My first run was towards the end of my last training for my 24 hour basic ff. (Prior to EMT school) Myself and the other probie were gearing up to do our blacked out search and rescue maze, when the two instructors looked at each other and said "was that a barn fire" in response to some radio traffic that I could barely hear. That was exactly what it was. So there myself and probie #2 stand wearing full turnouts and SCBA, and I am just bewildered. What in the hell am I supposed to do- drop my pack and put it back on the engine, then get out of the way? No, the instructors had other plans for me and probie #2- get on the engine and roll out for on the job training- which is a no no if your not clear on niosh and other regulatory rules. But there I was riding on the big red truck with my head spinning as fast as the Q siren. As I am trying to catch my breath I see the scene. A white barn with smoke pouring out of the end that we can see and it is surrounded by a corn field that is ready for harvest (dry Sept. afternoon). So the officers (instructors) start calling for an additional engine, a truck co., a grass/field rig, and a full tanker response from area departments. So much for catching my breath! We arrive and I am told to pack up and start pulling a hose line, which I start pulling the yard lay off of the back, having not been instructed on what and where preconnects were yet. Fortunately another firefighter grabbed the correct line and I was instructed to follow one of the instructors who was coming out of the barn after doing a quick 360 plus interior check. He led me in and I followed closely since the smoke was thick to about 4'. We reached the fire which was a small fire that involved a pile of boards, a tire, and one framing member of the structure, but was spreading towards the corn field. The instructor knocks the fire out in about 30 seconds, and I open the door. Much to our amazement the light coming in reveals a man laying on the floor about 20' from the fire. We try to rouse him but he is only marginally pain responsive. So myself and the other probie carry the man outside to fresh air and I retrieve the BLS bag and assist with placing a NRB on the patient until the medic arrives. It seems this person was something of a vagrant and had this fire for some reason unknown ( it was not cold, and there was only alchohol, no food on the premises). After the medic took over, myself and probie #2 helped with extinguishing the brush that was burning as well as overhaul of the framing. In the history of our dept. us probies were the first to successfully rescue someone from a structure fire (even though the structure was only slightly involved).


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## soon2bemt

Don't remember my first but I sure do remember my last one on clinicals-17 month old baby girl coded-didn't get her back


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## ffemt8978

soon2bemt said:
			
		

> Don't remember my first but I sure do remember my last one on clinicals-17 month old baby girl coded-didn't get her back



That sucks. :sad:


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## emtd29

soon2bemt said:
			
		

> Don't remember my first but I sure do remember my last one on clinicals-17 month old baby girl coded-didn't get her back


Yup! that does suck:sad::sad::sad:

Mine was a code, too.  But, on the other end of the age spectrum.
He didn't make it.

Although the most recent code I was on was a save. ( even though I was only the driver that time around and only administered the high flow diesel. but still.)


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## The Gor

Hello, first time to post, love the site.

First call, woman who was dizzy, felt it was probably better if she did not drive herself to A&E so called us, oh then had her flat mates drive behind us all the way. She waited 2 hours for a vehicle to respond, such a waste of time.


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## Chimpie

Welcome to the site and thanks for posting.

A&E?


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## Jon

A&E - Accident and Emergency? Another term for our stateside ED's, I'd assume, kind of like "casualty" in other places.


Welcome.


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## TTLWHKR

Sounds like Italy... A&E that is..


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## EMT2498

This is also my first post ^_^ 

My actual first call was not EMS, but fire (we are automatically dispatched w/ fire).  It was just a C02 check on a residential residence. <nothing fun, just checking V.S.

My first EMS call was the next day.  I was woke up the next morning for an unresponsive pt.  So I grab my pager and radio and go running for my car.  When I got on scene (I was 8min out), my squad was working a full code on this guy.  Since I was on my training permit, I could actually work on the pt., but there wasn’t enough room for me.  I just laid low and worked on the chart recording IV times, times / #of Joules when they shocked him, and such.
When we got him into the rig, I got to bag him, so I guess I actually did get some hands on training .

The Paramedics were happy I was charting for them, because they were all tied up when everything was going on and couldn't.  They also had another call to go to shortly after we arrived at the E.D.  (We use an ambulance service that is in the area when we need medics, since we are only a intermediate department.)


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## Jon

Welcome to EMTlife, Chris - We put the *Fun* in Dys*fun*ction!

From experience - the person charting sometimes has a harder job. As for the CO alarm - those can be pretty important... I've had one minor case of CO poisioning myself (bad exhaust on the ambulance) and a couple of calls... including one where we walked in and the alarm on the bag went off - very easy explaination for why the pt. felt lightheaded.


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## The Gor

Thanks all,
         A & E here is your ED/ER, not quite as busy as yours I would quess, but were kept on the road most days.


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## gradygirl

This, too, is my first post.

My first call was when I was running as a student/Third Responder/Observer with TCERT (Trinity College Emergency Response Team). It was the night of the 80s Party, the first real party of the school year, so everyone was drunk and dressed in 80s fashion. The call was for a female pt. suspected of being drunk. Well, she was indeed drunk, puking all over herself and the hallway, barely able to crawl on the floor...and she was a friend of mine. When we tried to find out how much she had to drink, the best we could figure was between 12 and 14 shots of cheap vodka.

When the double medic truck arrived (TCERT does not transport), the two men (both of whom I am now good friends with) found the entire scene to be quite comical...until the pt. punched one of them. Needless to say, they no longer saw humor in the pt.'s state, but instead turned their ribbing towards me, the rookie.


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## Wingnut

The Gor, EMT2498 & TCERT1987,


    Welcome!!!    

Great stories, thanks for joining in!!! B)


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## FFEMT1764

My first call was so many years ago I forgot what it was...my most interesting and grusome call involved a Piper Cherokee and an asphalt parking lot.  Parking lot won, and as we tried to find all the parts the local racoons movved in on the scene...it was a slightly comical sight seeing all these FAA and NTSB people scurring around trying (unsuccessfully) to rid the scene of our nosey and hungry visitors...and my most scary call was for a shooting, arrived on scene after dispatched told us the SO had cleared the scene, only to find the poor deputy in a gunfight with the person who was supposed to be shot...nothing like reverse at 60 mph on a gravel driveway as bullets fly past to increase the pucker factor a time or two!


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## dizzymedic

My first call was kinda odd.  It was an 16 year old girl who tried to commit suicide.  She bought this stuff (it looked like colgate toothpaste) off the street for $20 and told us it was supposed to kill her within the hour after ingestion.  Still don't know what it was but someone got an easy $20 off the streets.


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## disassociative

*...*

My first call was pretty simple; it was a frequent flyer looking to get some meperdine or dilaudid(those are her faves). It wasn't what I was expecting; To b e honest, I was hoping for(and don't tell me that on your first calls you didn't hope for something specific) a 10-46(Car Accident Injuries), so I could try out my new skills on field. Instead, it was a simple drug seeker; looking back, I can't believe I would wish for an MVA. It's kind of like IV Certification; during your prior medical career, you think wow I want to take blood and do IV's, then you get the cert and you are trying your best to pass the job off to someone else.


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## doc5242

my first call was a DOA, that had been there X 5 months, she was a big ole' lady in a chair , with her pants down, she had an untreated GI bleed and must of bleed out on the pot because there was a trail of stuff following her from the bathroom to the chair.... I threw up on scene, so much for preservation of evidence..


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## gradygirl

doc5242 said:
			
		

> my first call was a DOA, that had been there X 5 months, she was a big ole' lady in a chair , with her pants down, she had an untreated GI bleed and must of bleed out on the pot because there was a trail of stuff following her from the bathroom to the chair.... I threw up on scene, so much for preservation of evidence..



:unsure:  :unsure:


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## JDFEMS

Hmnn..first day of ride-outs, I  spent the first 6 hrs of a 12 hr shift in the Station house because the Crew I was riding with had to do Communicable Disease CE's. I was pretty pissed at the time, missed out on an MVA and MI. Since then, I've had my share of goods, bads, and downright disturbing (Guy has a bad day at work, comes home, blows his wife and 5 kids away with a 12 gauge......) I understand that I"m young,  people have been getting hurt for thousands of years, and people will continue to hurt themselves for a thousand more years, so my job security is secure (Somewhere). My first real call was just rehab for the FD. Got to help clear out some 5" hose after they were done with it, but nothing else. I was on cloud 9 though while I was on scene, it was AWESOME!!!


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## randyb

During my ride time up in Indianapolis, we got a call for 80 y.o. female with SOA.  We get there and I'm riding with two senior EMT/firefighters.  These guys had seen it all and were truly veterans, so when we go in I'm pretty confident that everything is under control until one of them stops in the doorway to the bedroom and says softly "Oh God!".  Well our 80 y.o. is alert and oriented and...........completedly naked.  :blush: .  All I can say is that ET had less wrinkles.  I mean it was bad.  I stil have nightmares......


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## Kendall

That's hardcore... In all the wrong ways!!! :blink: :wacko: :huh:

My first call w/ patient care was when I was a volunteer first aider with the same standby service about 3 or 4 years ago. It was at Rexall Place (at that point was Skyreach Center) for an Edmonton Oilers vs. the Detroit Red Wings game, and we were called to the Air Canada club for someone with SOB and chest pain.

O/a, we observe the pt lying supine on the floor with a crowd of people standing around in awe. Bystanders said he slipped on someone's beer on the floor and hit his head. He was out for about 1 min and he was stepped on several times. Pt had numbness and tingling in lower and upper extremeties and had severe lower back pain. So, the attending EMT-A called for 2 addnl responders, a spineboard/spinal kit and a cot. He had me secure c-spine while he assessed the pt and gave o2.

No bloody wonder he had SOB & chest pain, he had 3 or 4 broken ribs from being stepped on! The pt goes unconscious, we OPA him and give high flow o2 and get him on the board. Edmonton shows up and pushes both the EMT-A, the EMT-P and 2 MFR's and me out of the way, take him off the board, put him on their cot, say  not 2 words to anyone and off they go back up the elevator.

I was so pissed off - not only that we put him on the board and then they took him off, but also because of the fact that he's probably paralyzed and we're left with no spinal straps (they cut them) and a bloody spine board...

Quite aggrevating. We got the crew back, though - the attending EMT-P is a good friend of their superintendent - actually, his wife . Hehehe.


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## IrishEMT

My first call was as a trainee. A man fell from his wheelchair and cut his eye and leg. Transported to the hospital.


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## oldschoolmedic

My first as an emt was a brand-new, bright yellow, Porsche 911 Targa versus telephone pole at over 100 mph. Seems the gentleman in question declined to stop for the officers who wanted to speak with him, so he guns it. Well, that aggravated the boys in blue just a wee bit. They promptly gave chase down this two lane suburban road. One of the new officers had recently learned about this PIT maneuver thingy and was he itching to try it. He got his chance when the Porsche slowed to make a left hand turn. That little love tap (which was caught on dash cam) sent the Prsche spinning across the ditch until it hit the telephone pole, right on the driver's side door.

If you do not know what a Targa roof looks like, picture a T-top with no center bar. Now that places the driver's head right in the middle of the A post, and B post with nothing over it. When the car hit the pole it flipped up on its side, then dropped back on the ground. The guys head was crushed, he dented the pole with his melon. My partner, ever the smarta** told me to put the monitor on the guy, so I did. Upper leads went on fine, however when I put the LL lead on my hand slipped up inside the patient. He had apparently ripped open when his ribs hit the driver's side door with the window down. I told my chuckling partner that all of the leads were in place and he could run his strip and recover the leads (LL still inside the body) I was gonna start the paperwork.

All of this call was caused by a blown headlight, that's all he was gonna be stopped for. He would have gotten a "get it fixed repair ticket" and gone home. 

As a paramedic, a dead guy who had been murdered and stuffed in a hide-a-bed by his ex-roommate. The roommate paid the rent out for a couple of months and skipped town. The body was found when the stench became overwhelming to the neighbors (which was saying a lot in that part of town).

After my first call I thought this was what every call would be like, boyohboy was I naive.


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## ems38155

Hmmm, I can't remember everything, but I think my first call was a few days after I turned 16. I joined the squad as soon as I turned 16. Um. A man was having difficulty breathing, we took him to the hospital and that was pretty much it. It was pretty simple.


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## Sera

hm well I'm not exactly a paramedic yet so this thread doesn't really apply to me.. but I do remember my 1st incident as a lifeguard.

I was instructing school board swimming lessons (you get some of the worst kids in those types of lessons..ugh) and at the end of each lessons I usually would give them 5minutes of free time (depending on how good they were or not which was pretty much never). Well one day two students from my class decided to sneak away and go down the waterslide together. By the time I saw them they were both half way down the slide one right behind the other. Sure enough when it comes time for them to stop, the one kid behind the kid smoked his face on the back of the kids head.. about 5 of his bottom teeth go right through his lip and a few of the top teeth are completely knocked out. I had never seen so much blood in my life and I just remember it smelling really... medally for lack of a better word. I had put gloves on when i went to do treatment but blood was just flowing down my forarms on to my suite =/ not very nice

another time (this one is shorter) a kid came up to me with a hand full of blood.. i asked him what happened.. he told me that he had bitten off his wart...:wacko: He then got offended when I put my gloves on to wrap it up.


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## wyandoteastemt

*My first and almost my Last run*

I run with a volunteer squad in a town of less than 900 people.  So, obviously everyone knows everybody else.  With in my first couple of days running, we were paged for a mvc.  We get there and see a bystander doing CPR in the middle of the road.  I am scared to death 1.  My first run 2. my first car accident 3. not sure if i know this person.  We take over CPR, load him and go.  He is Combi-tubed.  Suction the whole way to hospital because everytime his chest is compressed, blood shoots out the tube.  
Worst part is he used to coach me in baseball and I now coached his girls in softball.  His brother was pulling a tractor behind a truck.  Our patient was on the tractor and when the chain was loosened-the truck jerked to hard.  Tractor on patient-patient gone.  I cried for weeks and still have nightmares.  I thought that was the end of my EMT career-until later that week-we did CPR on a patient and he lived.  Now, I still have the bug and can't stay home from any run!  

It takes a special type of person to be able to see the things EMT's see every day and stick with it.  Remember the ones you lose but remember the ones you save even more!!! :excl:


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## TheDoll

Sera said:


> he told me that he had bitten off his wart....


oh, barf...


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## RH3075

*My First Job*

My first job [we call them jobs here in northern NJ, not calls] was an MVA, car versus telephone pole.  The brand new infiniti, 300 miles on the odometer was split in half on a telephone pole.  Drunk driver walks away from it, his girlfriend istrapped in the passanger compartment.  FD is busy giving the pt the stare of life as they cut her out, and all the driver can do is ask me if I think his car is totalled.  What a tool!!  by the way, the front end of that car was 200 feet from the rear end, and the driver was unhurt, the passanger just a minor head lac...buy an infiniti it is built like a tank!!


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## islandgal

My first was a domestic violence call- man I hate those.  Guy shoved his girlfriend down the stairs.  Being the newbie- I get sent in the living room to look for her purse (the guy took off).  The room is all windows looking to the back yard and all I can think is great, he'll sneak back through the back yard and I'm going to be shot rummaging around in the living room....


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## CodeSurfer

*My first, and 4th and 19th and 28th and so on call...*

My first call was a patient that I would later become very familiar with.  Mister X (HIPAA) pulled out his foley about every 2-3 weeks, and I somehow always ended up on the call. I think my partner was enemies with at least one of the dispatchers.  

I figure that it was probably a good first call to have because even after the water-wiggle type hemmorage, I still loved and do love my job.


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## EMTBandit

8 year old girl going into a seizure, it was like 30 degrees outside and snowing. I'll never forget it because I ripped my pants on my first call lol.


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## wolfwyndd

My first call was an MVA vs. telephone pole at about 100 mph.  Actually, I'm not sure it was my first call, but it was on the first day so that's close enough.  Two guys in this car were drunk and high as a kite (ETOH spilled all over the inside of the vehicle and I found out later that they tested one of the guys and he had just about every illegal substance in his system at the time of the crash).  There were flying down the road, crossed another road through an intersection against the red light, missed two cars going through (thank goodness), but in the process of crossing the intersection became airborne.  The road on the other side of the intersection turned just slightly to the left and there were telephone poles on the side of the road.  They hit it about 4 ft. off the ground.  Broke the telephone pole, which then proceeded to come down on the roof of the car.  The driver wasn't quite decapitated, however, the human head, isn't designed to hinge backward and look out the rear window over top of the drivers seat.  This drivers head was doing just that.  Speculation was that since he wasn't wearing his seatbelt, he went UP when the telephone pole came DOWN.  Passenger, surprisingly, survived.  He was restrained, however he broke just about every bone in both his legs.  Needless to say, we medivaced him.  I believe he survived, but never heard to what extent though.  I did hear later that HE was the owner of the car and was smart enough to realize he was too drunk and high to drive.  He wasn't smart enough to realize his friend was also too drunk and high to drive too.


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## JimH

*First Call*

The first code 3 call I had was on my EMT ride along. I remember nothing about the patient, but I do remember the unit- it was a Superior Cadillac
high top with Schaefer's Ambulance.
The reason it was memorable was it was one of the Cadillacs used in the movie "Mother Jugs and Speed", and Schaefer's put it into service in the same paint as it appeared in the movie in. (Red, White, and Blue- they just installed Schaefer's roof signs)
It was the same unit Racquel Welch was shown evading LA Sheriffs in and later enjoying the sunset from the patient campartment. (unfortunatly the studio removed her before turning the unit over to Shcaefer's )


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## Airwaygoddess

Code 3 for chest pain, I was so nervous I could not remember how to turn on the lights and the poor medic took pity on me to help me do that! anyhow, halfway in route dispatch calls back stating pt is now a full code blue.
We get on scene (at a gas station/convince store) fire is already on scene doing CPR.  I remember looking down at the patient, she was a little old lady that was 86 years old but weighted 200 lbs. Fire had gotten her out of the car before she coded.  I was going to check her B.P. and my medic told me to "drop the cuff and start chest compressions!" So I started chest compressions, she was a load and go, the medic tubed her and gave her several rounds of drugs. I did chest compressions for 40 mintues straight and she was pronouced at the hospital by the time it was all said and done I had a good hard cry, and the next day boy did my arms and shoulders hurt!  Needless to say I learned alot that day!!


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## Epi-do

I don't remember my first call, but there are a couple that really stick out in my mind.

The first one was a GSW.  A couple kids were driving in their car, playing with a 9mm.  The passenger accidentally shot the driver in the head.  Aganol resps when we got on scene and you could still smell the gun powder on the air.  No brain matter that we could find, so we had to work him.  Pulled him out of the car, threw him in the back of our truck and by that time the medic had shown up on scene and jumped in back with us.  The patient's name sounded really familiar to me, but I knew I didn't know him.  Turns out a friend of mine had dated him and a second friend new him because his mom was friends with the patient's mom, so I probably heard the name in conversation.  Needless to say, the guy didn't make it.

The second one that really stuck with me was a single car MVA where the driver was too druck to get hurt.  He was unrestrained and ended up with only a lac on his forehead.  It was pouring down rain.  The only reason this one stuck with me was because when the guy's head hit the windshield, his ball cap got stuck in it.  The bill and front part of the hat was sticking out the front of the windshield, getting soaked by the rain, and the back half of the hat was still in the passenger compartment.  It looked like this guy had simply taken it off of his head and stuck it inside the windshield.


----------



## PUHA

First post.

First Call:

I hired on with a private AMB company (just recently actually), and my first call was a transport from medical center to SNF post Tx for hypothermia/bradycardia.  She had lots of Hx, but the big one that jumped off the paper was DEMENTIA.  Questions that went through my mind: What sets her off?  Does she get violent?  The answers:  anything could set her off, she doesn't typically get violent.  Cool.  You might think this story is about how she gets violent in the back of the rig.  Sorry to dissapoint you, its not.  Transport was "uneventful", but I had the best time with this sweet lady.  She reminded me of my grandma.  She couldn't talk very loud, and she apologized profusely that she wasn't a conversationalist.  After I finished my paperwork I told her old college stories, and where I was from and where I lived.  She told me she lived in Kansas when she was in the 5th grade, so I told her about a girl I had a crush on when I was in the 5th grade and how I used to write little love letters to her (the check yes/no if you like me type).  She got such a kick out of it.  Apparently humor doesn't set off her dementia. ^_^   After we transferred her to her bed she asked if she would see us again.  I said that I hoped so, and she agreed.

Routine transport, smiles all around.


----------



## EMTLVFC4

I don't really remember my first but I'll tell you about the first one I remember. It was January a couple years ago. I was still in class. It had snowed pretty good and we were expecting more. We got put out for the injured subject. We arrived to a 16yof standing in the mud room bathroom. She had been sleigh riding and hit something. She wasn't sure what it was so she walked back up the hill and into the house. What she found was about 10 inches of a 1/4 inch stick jammed into her groin. I took pity on her simply because I was the only female on the scene and she had like 5 guys looking at her crotch. In any case we flew her to shock trauma. He mom called us later that evening to inform us of her condition. She was doing well but the stick was impaled 14 inches into her and lacerated her femoral artery, bowel, and vaginal wall. She's doing well now. She stopped in a few weeks after the accident. No long term damage that anyone knows of.


----------



## Tincanfireman

My first-ever day of ride time I was assigned to one of the slowest stations in the county.  The medics both apologized and told me that they were sorry I had been stuck there, especially on a Sunday.  Within the next three hours we ran back to back cardiac arrests (one was a save, too).  That afternoon, the lead medic told me he was going to tell my preceptor that I was no longer welcome at that station. I'm not sure that he ever carried through with it, but I never rode there again...


----------



## sarahharter

*my first civilain call*

i am in the usaf reserves. i had my first call ever as an emt there but the one that sticks in my head the most is went i went to a civilan ambulance. well that night i decided to run with my fire co. QRS because i wanted to see the difference between that and when i work on the ambulance. anyway, we get a call about midnight. all the dispatcher said was it was an unkown medical emergency. well needless to say i get on scene and the pt coworkers are doing CPR. I was like holy :censored::censored::censored::censored:! i froze for a moment until my medic kicked me in the *** and said hello what are you going to do. but i could not believe that the dispatcher didn't know that the guy was in full cardiac arrest or the caller didn't state it. so i never take for granted what county says anymore because i was preped for somethign simple but know i think the worst until i get on scene.


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## 94accord

My first scene was not a call, however it was the first time I acted with my new training. I was travelling with my friends. 5 of us in all. 2 in my car (a 94 honda accord for those that did not make the connection), 2 others in my friends 2004 camero, and the last in a fixed up civic. Well I was in front, with the camero and the civic right behind me next to each other.



                            -----loooloooloool
                            -----loooloooloool
                            -----looolo*x*oloool  
*m*-->loooloooloool 
                            -----lo*y*olo*z*oloool

X: My car
Y: Camero
Z: Civic

M: MORON!!!

loool : lane of traffic
----  : just there to keep the diagram from messing up.

Well from the diagram I made (not to scale), you can see the position of the cars. Well Mr. M pulled out just as I was going by, and inbetween cars Y and Z. Missed me, X,  by about a foot, missed Y by a few inches, and got T-Boned by Z. I pulled my e-brake in the middle of Rt 13s traffic and left a good 45 ft of tire on teh ground heading back. Car M was filled with kids no more than 17 in years. I did not think it was too bad off even considdering the speed, until I saw that one person from M had been ejected. That puckered my butthole real fast. Despite the 50 mph t-bone, and the ejection, everyone made it out ok, at least relatively. 3x code 3's, 1x code 2's, and 2x code 1's. Medivac from the middle of 13s. My friend that was driving the civic, car Z, was more concerned about the system in his car than if he, or anyone else was ok. 

My first scene as an emt.... I saw it coming, I watched it happen, and I worked the scene. It was very hard not to hate the kids in the other car for nearly killing my friend, but I tried real hard to do my job. I was a wreck. It seemed that as soon as I jumped out of the car, I forgot everything I knew. Still haunts me a little... but I know in time, I will grow.


----------



## VinBin

94accord said:


> -----loooloooloool
> -----loooloooloool
> -----looolo*x*oloool
> *m*-->loooloooloool
> -----lo*y*olo*z*oloool
> 
> X: My car
> Y: Camero
> Z: Civic
> 
> M: MORON!!!
> 
> loool : lane of traffic
> ---- : just there to keep the diagram from messing up.
> 
> *Well from the diagram I made (not to scale),* you can see the position of the cars.


 
heh...Not to scale, you don't say?

Anyway, thats one interesting first scenario...


----------



## trauma1534

My first EMS call ever ran was on an 8 year old (who happened to have grown up in my church at the time) who had cancer, and it was a code.  What a way to start my career!


----------



## jeepmedic

They tell me that the mind is the 2ed thing to go. I can't remember the 1st.


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## fm_emt

jeepmedic said:


> They tell me that the mind is the 2ed thing to go. I can't remember the 1st.



teh abilety to spel certein wurds i thunk it wuz


----------



## Recycled Words

Syncope...pretty straightfoward.


----------



## traumagirl125

Mine was for an electricution (sorry if my spelling is off) turned out the girl was unplugging a curling iron and was simply shocked.  No burn, no redness, no anything...and keep in mind we got this call as our waitress is walking to the table with dinner.


----------



## jeepmedic

traumagirl125 said:


> Mine was for an electricution (sorry if my spelling is off) turned out the girl was unplugging a curling iron and was simply shocked.  No burn, no redness, no anything...and keep in mind we got this call as our waitress is walking to the table with dinner.



Isn't that how it normaly happens. Meal interupted by a Dumb @ss call.


----------



## trauma1534

traumagirl125 said:


> Mine was for an electricution (sorry if my spelling is off) turned out the girl was unplugging a curling iron and was simply shocked.  No burn, no redness, no anything...and keep in mind we got this call as our waitress is walking to the table with dinner.



Got to hate that!  Been there, done that, got at t-shirt!  We had decided on our truck that if we got board and really wanted to run some calls (yeah right), all we had to do was go out somewhere nice to eat.  Automatic tones going off.  Usually for something stupid!!!


----------



## traumagirl125

trauma1534 said:


> Got to hate that!  Been there, done that, got at t-shirt!  We had decided on our truck that if we got board and really wanted to run some calls (yeah right), all we had to do was go out somewhere nice to eat.  Automatic tones going off.  Usually for something stupid!!!




You got that right that happens to us all the time when we go to Ruby Tues. and they wont save our table or hold our order like everywhere else so when we get done we have to start from square one.  Needless to say we quit eating there while we are running.


----------



## jeepmedic

traumagirl125 said:


> You got that right that happens to us all the time when we go to Ruby Tues. and they wont save our table or hold our order like everywhere else so when we get done we have to start from square one.  Needless to say we quit eating there while we are running.



I try to go places that save our meals or tables even when I am not on duty. I will go out of my way to do this. There are some stores that used to give us free Drinks when I was on a truck full time and I still go there now and buy drinks and stuff all the time. They remember me and still try to give stuff to me. But I won't let them because It is something that I think the folks on duty desearve.


----------



## CrazyRower

jeepmedic said:


> Isn't that how it normaly happens. Meal interupted by a Dumb @ss call.



Yeah, that happened with my first call too. I was STARVING beyond all reason, and we all went out to go get dinner. There are a bunch of places all right next to one another nearby and they all serve food to go, which is perfect. I opted for a delicious panini. I was watching the woman grill the veggies, and I was practically drooling over the counter I was so darn hungry. She'd just put the cheese on it when 

*BEEEEEEP!* Rescue 1, Rescue 1, please respond to [insert address here] for an "eye-emergency".

So I SPRINTED back to the truck (sans dinner, damn...) and jumped in the back. It's a boiling hot day (the temp was over 100, and the humidity was in the 90s) and the call was on the top floor with no elevator. Being the rookie, I had to carry the huge med bag. We ran up all the stairs, realize the pt. is at the OTHER end of the building, so we have to go back down and then BACK UP the other stairwell. We FINALLY get to the call completely drenched in sweat... and are greeted by a patient holding a contact lens case in one hand and a bottle of saline solution in the other. Apparently they were having trouble with their new lenses. :glare: :excl:


----------



## Airwaygoddess

Can I get a drum roll please!!!!!.........^_^  ^_^


----------



## fm_emt

Some of the events we work actually have "free lunch" written into the contract.

By the 6th weekend of an event, you end up getting reeeeeeally tired of Steak on a Stick.

Well, my partner did. I didn't. I ate her free lunch in addition to mine.


----------



## JimH

fm_emt said:


> Some of the events we work actually have "free lunch" written into the contract.
> 
> Some of the fairs I worked had that arraingement, and after you treat some of the carnies and see thier living arraingements, you begin to look really carefully at the person serving you.
> I have fond memories of a horse show in the San Diego area, and the concession stand's hot dogs which had a decidedly greenish hue-
> Thanks, I will have a coke, please- in a sealed can


----------



## fm_emt

JimH said:


> fm_emt said:
> 
> 
> 
> Some of the events we work actually have "free lunch" written into the contract.
> 
> Some of the fairs I worked had that arraingement, and after you treat some of the carnies and see thier living arraingements, you begin to look really carefully at the person serving you.
> I have fond memories of a horse show in the San Diego area, and the concession stand's hot dogs which had a decidedly greenish hue-
> Thanks, I will have a coke, please- in a sealed can
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, that's true. Fortunately the county health department comes by frequently to inspect. As long as it's medium well, I oughta be ok. If anything survives the BBQ sauce I slather it with, it obviously has some higher purpose.
> 
> We also bring our own supply of snacks and when the guys from the Sheriff's Dept show up, they sometimes have snacks.
Click to expand...


----------



## Para-Devil

Mine was a full cardiac arrest,pt 75 F., paramedic didnt call it cuz their were no obvious signs of death, so the baic (i was third man) told me to start compressions, I did compressions for 45 mins, ( I will never forget my first bone crunchings!) As doin compressions, some 1st responders firefighters were just laughing at me cuz i was new, i found it not amusing, even if that lady we gone, u still act professional, as me and my crew did. Anywho, the aspiration was horrible and i couldnt handle the smell, and after all that, we ate pizza short after that call. The paramedic did it on purpose, and said "welcome to ems!"


----------



## Mercy4Angels

not funny or a great way to train someone.


----------



## jeepmedic

Mercy4Angels said:


> not funny or a great way to train someone.



oh yes great way to break in a noobie


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## Mercy4Angels

funny for everyone else but not the noob, LOL....


----------



## Tincanfireman

45 minutes of CPR is usually enough to break the "I can't wait to do CPR" syndrome in new folks. Back in the day, I figured my partners always went for the airway management because it was more technically challenging (I finally figured it out...  )


----------



## weretiger13

My first call was a rollover on the interstate.  35M pt was ejected, his car rolled over him, and the car behind him ran him over too.  He didn't have any soft-tissue injuries except a bloody nose, but was combative w/ a distentend, rock hard abd.  We had to have PD handcuff him to the cot in order to work on him.  2 large-bore IVs, fluid, 15 L O2.  Didn't get to intubate since he was still conscious.  We airlifted him out, but he died later from internal bleeding.  Bad day for him.


----------



## Mercy4Angels

wow what a first call. Mine was nothing more than an elderly 78yo M on a ton of Px couldnt breath. started 15L O2 and hist via the wife then the paramedics showed up and took over. after that i was the "bus" since the medics dont drive rigs here just suburbans.


----------



## BossyCow

First call was an MVA but one of the most impressive MVA's I've seen.  76yo man in a bronco on the rural highway following a flatbed trailer with an Excavator on it.  Apparently the extra bucket for the excavator wasn't chained properly, chain broke or something because around a big turn this huge chunk of metal comes off the truck, hits the asphalt taking out a 6' by 4" deep trench, bounces, hits the hood of the old guy's bronco, rolls up and over the roof, hits the asphalt again and then bounces into a ditch.  Pt. had a tib/fib fx and a nasty case of "What was that??????" 
To this day I marvel at the force that it takes to get something that big and that heavy, not only airborn but bouncing.


----------



## Airwaygoddess

Yikes!!  talk about things that Bang! Bang! What amazes me about patients is how some can be SO calm about what had just happened to them.  Meanwhile there have been a few times, I was the poor EMT that on the outside I am pretty calm and can get the job done. On the inside I am chanting to myself "OH :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored: I am going to cry!):wacko: must be my demented coping system! Lord I love EMS!


----------



## firemedic

*My first Call*

My first call as a paramedic was dispatched as a gsw, one person down, unknown injury. Upon arrival, police informed me and my partner where the victim was, a 18 year old gang member had been shot in the big toe with a 22 caliber rifle.  Long story short, he lost his big toenail.


----------



## Fedmedic

I wish I could remember my first call...sometime in 1988.


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## firecoins

Mine was in 1995. A stroke victim.  My second was a head on collision with a tramatic arrest.


----------



## captoman

Warm summer day, Very rural yet heavily populated resort area. MVA. 44yo male single occupant of a small compact car that backed into a tree line at approx 70mph after an unintentional 180 turn. rear bumper was up against rear of driver seat, so was everything else inbetween. Driver had obvious fatal injuries. C1 vertebrae fracture resulting in the anatomy of the neck looking in it's normal foward anatomical position, but the skull had dislocated from the atlas structure, rotating striaght up. his skull met his neck at the upper back portion of skull. amazingly, the skin didnt tear, just stretched. possible aortic dissection and branchial tre rupture led to the pt bleeding out of his mouth, all of which had stopped by the time we got there. the only part worse than the massive truama was the fact that we saw a bit of car seat in the rear of the car, the extrication team was still 18 minutes out. (Rural vacation land remember). I had to climb over the bloody vomit covered corpse into a small hole to see into a cavity of wreckage to see if the car seat was occupied, thank god it wasnt! sad first call though. I obviously pronounced the death right away. no point in even trying to work that one.


----------



## zvi-emt

*1st Call*

My first call was on a night shift, at about 4 in the morning we responded for a frequent-flier homeless man / drug addict.


----------



## ReebTop

After I got out of transport hell, my first call was an MVA.  Just a bunch of RMAs, but a couple white dudes in East Orange, NJ, at 9 pm, in the winter?  Coming from at least an hour south of there?  Twitchy?  Gee, I wonder what they came to the hood for.

As for my first EMS call, which I did a couple of whilst slinging lizards, we got a CHF patient in resp. dist. in this nursing home which is, like most every other nursing home, reknowned for killing their patients through awful care.  We get there, and I can hear the guy breathing, not from the door to the room, not from down the hall, but from around the corner and down _that_ hall.  I ask the nurse, "Has the pt. been suctioned recently?"
"Oh, he's non-secretive."  Beautiful.  Mind you, the poor old guy's laying almost supine, on a simple mask at 5 Lpm.  He was totally topped off, and you could feel the Rales if you put your hand on his chest.  We package, full Fowlers, NRB, high-flow, all that good stuff.  Our dispatcher wouldn't answer us when we tried to raise them, so we said "screw it, we're close enough to not call ALS" and hauled to the nearest ER.  Couldn't get a BP (permanent IV lead in one elbow, dialysis shunt in the other, horrible edema in both legs) and only got one distal pulse.  Get the guy to the ER, get him in a bed, wrap up my paperwork (trip took maybe 5 minutes).  As I get the signed paper back from the nurse, the guy flatlines.  And that's the story of my first actual EMS job.


----------



## fm_emt

ReebTop said:


> "Oh, he's non-secretive."  Beautiful.  Mind you, the poor old guy's laying almost supine, on a simple mask at 5 Lpm.  He was totally topped off, and you could feel the Rales if you put your hand on his chest.  We package, full Fowlers, NRB, high-flow, all that good stuff.  Our dispatcher wouldn't answer us when we tried to raise them, so we said "screw it, we're close enough to not call ALS" and hauled to the nearest ER.  Couldn't get a BP (permanent IV lead in one elbow, dialysis shunt in the other, horrible edema in both legs) and only got one distal pulse.  Get the guy to the ER, get him in a bed, wrap up my paperwork (trip took maybe 5 minutes).  As I get the signed paper back from the nurse, the guy flatlines.  And that's the story of my first actual EMS job.



Let me guess.. language barrier with the nursing home staff, and the pt was a full code?


----------



## ReebTop

fm_emt said:


> Let me guess.. language barrier with the nursing home staff, and the pt was a full code?



Nope, no communication difficulties at all.  At least, not with the staff.  But this guy was toast; by the time they called us, it was just a question of him dying in the home, in the bus, or in the ER.


----------



## emtbuff

> ReebTopQuote:
> Originally Posted by *fm_emt*
> 
> 
> _Let me guess.. language barrier with the nursing home staff, and the pt was a full code?_
> 
> Nope, no communication difficulties at all. At least, not with the staff. But this guy was toast; by the time they called us, it was just a question of him dying in the home, in the bus, or in the ER.


 

They never die in the bus.  They die in the home or ER but never the bus


----------



## fm_emt

emtbuff said:


> They never die in the bus.  They die in the home or ER but never the bus



Yeah, you have to fill out less paperwork that way too!


----------



## mfrjason

30 something year old woman in labor with her second child. Contractions were 5 minutes at the time of the call then dropped down to a minute and a half by the time we got goin with her to the hospital.


----------



## FF/EMT Sam

emtbuff said:


> They never die in the bus.  They die in the home or ER but never the bus



I have only one rule when I'm working as AIC: 
*You do not die or give birth in the back of my ambulance.  *


----------



## destinyemti

My first Call in EMS was to my best friends house her dad had a massive MI and that was the first EMS call I ran over 17 years ago:sad: :sad:


----------



## firecoins

destinyemti said:


> My first Call in EMS was to my best friends house her dad had a massive MI and that was the first EMS call I ran over 17 years ago:sad: :sad:



wow.  Thats one hell of a first call.  Certainly will make you nervous.


----------



## Ridryder911

FF/EMT Sam said:


> I have only one rule when I'm working as AIC:
> *You do not die or give birth in the back of my ambulance.  *




Appearantly, you'll never have worked with me.. I have had plenty die on me.. and yes, even as rude as it might be even deliver !!!

Actually, I don't mine delivering kids.. Mom does all the work!...

R/r911


----------



## FF/EMT Sam

Ridryder911 said:


> Appearantly, you'll never have worked with me.. I have had plenty die on me.. and yes, even as rude as it might be even deliver !!!
> 
> Actually, I don't mine delivering kids.. Mom does all the work!...
> 
> R/r911



lol!  I've yet to deliver a baby, but I have had people croak on me.  <_<


----------



## Airwaygoddess

Or take you for "brisk" midnight dips! :lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## mfrjason

YOur first call is always one that you will never forget. I saw a pic recently of my friend and her 2 daughters and I went back to when I first got the call.


----------



## FF/EMT Sam

Airwaygoddess said:


> Or take you for "brisk" midnight dips! :lol: :lol: :lol:


:glare: 

..............


----------



## Emtgirl21

My first ride out in EMT school was a COPDer, my first day in the ER was a Trauma Code. My first day on a  BLS truck was a transfer. Don't remember many details. Thats sad considering i've just hit my one year. I do remember a lot of calls between then and now.


----------



## Jon

Ridryder911 said:


> Appearantly, you'll never have worked with me.. I have had plenty die on me.. and yes, even as rude as it might be even deliver !!!
> 
> Actually, I don't mine delivering kids.. Mom does all the work!...
> 
> R/r911


But did you pronounce them?

I belive the point of the "you don't die in my rig" is that if someone codes, we work them and the ED calls it... or we call it onscene... It is rare for us to cease resusitation while transporting... except for the DNR patient.


----------



## mfrjason

Jon said:


> But did you pronounce them?
> 
> I belive the point of the "you don't die in my rig" is that if someone codes, we work them and the ED calls it... or we call it onscene... It is rare for us to cease resusitation while transporting... except for the DNR patient.



The only time a patient can be pronounced DOA is either in the ER when all methods of trying to save the patient have failed b/c only a doctor can pronounce the patient.


----------



## JasonA

8 Days ago-

I went for my first ride-along. We got called to a hot springs resort. 32 y/o male fell and hit his head. RP stated "Wasnt acting right." We got there and he was having full body convulsions. He had been walking down some big steps outside and fell and hit his head on a 4x4. Fire was holding him down the best they could so he wouldnt roll onto rocks or anything. 

Oh, and the whole time we were on scene his friend is holding his hand screaming "DONT GO TO THE LIGHT! FIGHT, BUDDY, FIGHT! I WONT LET YOU DIE!"

The EMT-B started a line on him while the Paramedic was asking the wife some questions. She had some ETOH in her for sure, and after a few minuted the Medic got it out of someone that the guy had had two bottles of wine. We loaded him up and went Emergent to the ER (20 minutes away.) On the way in the drunk wife was tailgating the ambulance till the EMT called in and had them pulled over, the didnt get a DUI, but they could have. The Medic started to give him some Fentynyl ( Sorry for the spelling.) and the guy freaking out saying that it would make him violent and that he would kill us both, so he gave him some Versaid/Fersaid? (Which is it?).

Right then he said his stomache really hurt, so the Medic palped and found that his liver/area supposedly hurt. The guy wanted me to hold pressure on the area for him, I did, and the whole time he is like "OMG, Jason, it feels so good!" So in the ER, I am just hanging around watching what is going on. The  PT is like, " I need to pee". So a nurse handed the Medic a bottle. ( He didnt have on gloves, which kinda of scared me." Someone stuck him in the bottle and he started going at it. Well....Right then he convulsis and something pops out of the bottle. Remember, this guy is moving around. So the medic is covered in urnine, right then the EMT pulls back the curtain and sees what is going on. She just whipped it shut and said "Jason. Get in there and help." So the guy is flailing around downt here knocking the Medic's hands out of the way, all the while still urinating. They finally just tossed a blanket over him. 

I am still standing back just like "Oh, wow........"

When we got back to the bay the Medic said that me holding the guy's stomache didnt do anything, it just made him feel comfortable. The EMT heard that and was like "He just liked your strong, soft hands on him." then something about the Budda belly-rub......

I will always remeber that call, and it was my first one ever.


----------



## mfrjason

OMG Jason,that must of been quite a strange call for you?


----------



## mysterl33

my first call was a elderly lady at a senior citzens home. She fell and hit her head. The patient's room was on the 4th floor, we got the cot and our jump kit in with our 4 man crew only to find out that the elevator wouldn't go up to the 4th floor. we then headed back down to the first floor where one of us went to the front desk and told them we need to get to the 4th floor but can't so she said she'll have someone get us up there. we couldn't wait so 2 members grabed the jumpkit and took the stairs, just then the elevator with me and the other meber started going up to the 4th floor. just as we got to the 4th floor, the 2 other members who took the stairs arrived. we found out the lady had high bp, and there was a lump on her shoulder, she hurt her shoulder. so we took her to a hospital.

yup that was my first call. wasn't exciting but oh well haha.


----------



## emtwannabe

Went on my first ride-along last Wednesday. First call was a house fire. First med call was a CHFer in severe distress. 

Jeff


----------



## Glorified

First call was during my clinical a couple weeks ago.  Routine transfer for 60 y/o female.  500+ lb, history of hypertension, anemia, left leg cellulitis, hyperlipidemia, type II diabetic, antibiotic resistant, transferring for a picc-line insertion.  

My last call that day was a hypoglycemic AMS, screaming, SCREAMING patient.  I was just in the back putting her non-rebreather back on because she was screaming so much it was falling off.  I got to tape down the IV with trauma tape, because she was trying to rip it out.


----------



## Nycxice13

My first call was a guy with back pain.


----------



## firecoins

my first call ever was a stroke.  

my first call as an EMT was an RN involved in an MVA. She second guesses everything I did.  Very nerve racking.

my first call back after a several year layoff was a sick woman


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## firefighterchick672

my first call was a sezuires. they were on the interstate and the disatch asked where they were but appartally didn't tell them to pull over and stop. we had to keep asking dispatch where the patient and finally catch up with them. she was pos tical and we took her to the ER


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## SwissEMT

First call was a dispatch for teenager with Chest Pn. Had been lifting weights earlier and started feeling pain at some time. Was checked out by Providence EMS who noted no anomalies in vital signs so they told him he could either be taken to the Hospital or go home. He of course decided to go home. Pain got too bad so he called us.

When we arrived on scene. Difficulty breathing. Pt stated a 6/10 pain upon respiration. No lung sounds on L side. I was surprised that the PulseOX indicated 98%. Suspected a L sided PTX. Threw him on O2, monitor for good measure and TP to RI Hospital. 
Kid was discharged 3 days after having the chest tube removed. We were dead on.


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## firetender

*I was afraid you’d ask that!*

New York. Flushing Community Volunteer Ambulance Corps. 1973. Converted hearses. Load and Go! EMT not required yet. Things were on the verge of humongous change!

Rookie as rookie could be. Just got through Basic First Aid. Showed up at quarters to hang out. One medic present. Emergency transfer call comes in. Hospital in Flushing to Columbia Pres., in Manhattan. The other guy scheduled didn’t show. Not yet trained in driving. Guess I was the patient guy!

Loaded an 80 y.o. man into the rig. Was told the transfer was to Intensive Care, Code Three. My seasoned partner helped me take BP and pulse, both WNL, though the man seemed barely conscious. Before he left, my partner took the man’s hand and clamped a clothes-pin-like device over his pointer finger. A green light on the end of it blinked on and off. 

My partner, beaming with pride said, “We’re getting to test out these new devices. They’re pulse-monitors. It’s lots easier than feeling for it while we’re moving.”

Now this was rush hour. Bumper to bumper on the LIE. New Yorkers, at that time, could give f***-all about an ambulance with lights and sirens blaring behind them. As my partner stopped and started, twisted and turned the ambulance wherever he could to make headway into the City, me and my patient were jostled around mightily. It was so bad that I had all I could do to watch the damn blinking green light! 

We’re talking 68 minutes to go 15 miles. On a Highway! By the time we landed at the hospital, I had the feeling the patient wasn’t doing very well, but that light kept blinking. The Doctor was actually there to meet us. My partner opened the door and took one look at the patient and said, “Doc, you better take a look!”

The doctor got in and as he put his hand under the patient’s nose to check for breathing I noticed the patient was a lot grayer than before. Wasn't moving much, either. There was no breath. I missed something, I thought.

The Doctor paused a couple seconds and then muttered under his breath, “Expected. He’s done. It’s too bad we didn’t get him here in time to get the pacemaker electrode re-embedded properly!”

I looked at the blinking green light responding heartily to the electrical impulses that were not getting to the man’s tissue at about the same time as I noticed a squarish bulge close to the man's left armpit over his chest and under his skin. It was there I got my first critical lesson in the difference between man and machine.


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## bstone

Firetender, wow. That's quite a story.


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## NREMT3138

My first call was a suicide.  She took the time to cover her waterbed with plastic and towels before she cut her wrists and bled out.  Not much I could do except protect the crime scene.  Turns out, after a year of investigating, the husband killed her.


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## SwissEMT

woah!!!! Glad to see the husband was caught.


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## old hand

Unfortunately I still remember my firs call as a basic and that was 22 yrs  ago.
About 0740 tones go off. MVA hwy *** and *** road. We pull up on the scene and immediately recognize the vehicle that was on its side. It was the vehicle of another emt from our station. We approach and find him partially decapitated. 

Finished that run and 40 minutes later we respond to a farm injury. We arrive and the vics wife says I think he is under the bush hog. We check and sure enough that is where he is. He had a massive MI and fell off his tractor and was caught under the bush hog. His wife saw the tractor going across field by itself. My whole first day was fatalaties. 2 more after these then it was quiet and spent the rest of the time talking it out.


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## rescue_dog

Fire standby. I watched one of the firefighters get his first save--A pomeranian that could have just been an oversized squirell.  Seeing this guy (who could have been a stunt double for Michael Clarke Duncan) busting out of the doorway in full turnout gear, mask and tank, holding this 10 lb dog, is a sight I'll never forget.


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## knxemt1983

I remember it like it was yesterday, and will never forget it. I was not even an emt, just a recruit at my local volunteer rescue squad, and I was scheduled to go on duty on my first shift at 1900. I got there at 1845 and met the truck as it was leaving on a confirmed pin, over an embankment. I was green as could be and nervous, but my captain said "get in, you're going on this one" so I jumped in. When we got there we had a convertible mustang over an embankment, with a 17 y/o male pinned by the dash, laying on a bush that was the only thing holding it from plunging 100 ft further. I just did what the officers told me to do, and we got they guy out, and airlifted him to the trauma center. he coded 8 times that day, but lived. 

The reason I will never forget it is because several years later I met a guy through a friend, and he ended up driving me home after a few too many cold ones. He looked at my squad id in the rear view mirror and startedt alking to me about it. Long story short, it was that guy, and so we became friends. a couple weeks agao I was in hid wedding, class "A" and all.


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## firetender

rare to be on scene where the only thing holding things together is a bush (and, no, that's not a political joke but I bet I could make it one!)

even more rare to pluck someone from circling the drain and have them go through 8 subsequent codes and still make it

rarer still to run into the guy later and be able to share about it

what are the odds of ending up in the wedding of a guy you saved, let alone have it be your first call?

Beleive me, even sinking your teeth into the butt of a live cow wouldn't get you a rarer experience!


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## Alexakat

My first call was a minor MVA.  The patient refused treatment.  How anti-climactic!


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## knxemt1983

firetender said:


> rare to be on scene where the only thing holding things together is a bush (and, no, that's not a political joke but I bet I could make it one!)
> 
> even more rare to pluck someone from circling the drain and have them go through 8 subsequent codes and still make it
> 
> rarer still to run into the guy later and be able to share about it
> 
> what are the odds of ending up in the wedding of a guy you saved, let alone have it be your first call?
> 
> Beleive me, even sinking your teeth into the butt of a live cow wouldn't get you a rarer experience!


I know, it shocks everyone. I even got our admin director to pull the report, and the names match. I didn't really do a whole lote, just tons of running to get equipment, but it's still pretty cool just knowing I was there. now we are friends, and I live in a medium sized county with several suburbs. It does me good to see the guy and his familiy, he is now having a baby, it shows me that we really do good, even though we don't always see it.


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## Emtgirl21

old hand said:


> Unfortunately I still remember my firs call as a basic and that was 22 yrs  ago.
> About 0740 tones go off. MVA hwy *** and *** road. We pull up on the scene and immediately recognize the vehicle that was on its side. It was the vehicle of another emt from our station. We approach and find him partially decapitated.
> 
> Finished that run and 40 minutes later we respond to a farm injury. We arrive and the vics wife says I think he is under the bush hog. We check and sure enough that is where he is. He had a massive MI and fell off his tractor and was caught under the bush hog. His wife saw the tractor going across field by itself. My whole first day was fatalaties. 2 more after these then it was quiet and spent the rest of the time talking it out.





If my first day had been that bad....i'd either quit or hung myself. That sucks something awful! I feel then need to give you a hug or something.


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## Gbro

A chest pain,
 Pt had long HX and met us 1/2 way. The EMT i was riding with put him on a short board, I took it out from under him. The EMT didn't like it very much but i guess i felt we needed to impress upon the PT that he was in good hands.
Hauled him several more times in the following years.

I was Advanced 1st Aid (Red Cross) then and it was a prerequisite for EMT in our area back then(1979)
Its like, where and what you were doing when JFK died, the shuttle, your 1st Code, 1st @#$# %# @##, etc.

No pagers, we had a Bar phone system one line for Ambulance and anther (phone) line for the fire dept. the siren was tripped by dialing -O- (on pulse dial phone only)


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## Gbro

joemt said:


> Well... here's the best way to explain how it was for me... here I am, 17 years later, and I still remember the color of the oncoming car, and the make and model of the vehicles involved.  I can see the little boy's face like it was yesterday.  Do I have bad dreams about it... nah... but no one really "talked" to me about it either.  I usually tell the story and make a point about some type of debriefing when I teach my students.



Watched a small car cross 4 lane behind me in mirror, My wife and daughter were in vehicle immediately behind. Big Cadillac hits little car rear left pass. I watch this car spin in slow motion w/upper body, blond hair straight out. Knowing the car is going to flip and crush the young girl, Car comes to a stop in median, vic fall back inside. I got there befor my wife(EMT, RN also). and open airway, was just about to start rescue breathing and she comes to frEEKING! 
4 vic's and she was transfered to regional trauma center (pre-copper days)................

Then i am transporting a Young male ATV accident and the aunt is riding in with us as she was responsible adult, and no car.
We go by this intersection and she pops out with "do you remember an accident here 11 years ago?" My reply was "Just like it was yesterday"
here after the accident nobody would tell her anything about it. She came out just fine considering the impact she took. I know today just like on that day the reason there were no "54's" was none of the occupants saw it coming.


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## clinicallydead44

Okay my first call was last year when I was 16, a Junior member at my agency and I wasn't even in EMT classes yet but yeah it was dreadfully disappointing.
It was toned as a possible overdose and we arrived on the scene and there was already a police officer there and it turned into a patient care refusal -_-.
I'm pretty sure it was only because he didn't overdose on legal drugs, haha!


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## maconEMS219

My First Call As A First Responder With The Fd Before I Got Hired On The Truck Was A Mva Rollover Reported Pd Only 0430 I Pulled Up To Assist With Traffic Control. Four Guys Standing Outside Of A Truck On Its Top. All Was Well For A Min Or Two Until One Ask Where Someone Was. They Relized There Fifth Person Was Missing. I Found Him Between Road And Top Of Truck. Flew Out. He Was Released Three Days Later.


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## BossyCow

maconEMS219 said:


> My First Call As A First Responder With The Fd Before I Got Hired On The Truck Was A Mva Rollover Reported Pd Only 0430 I Pulled Up To Assist With Traffic Control. Four Guys Standing Outside Of A Truck On Its Top. All Was Well For A Min Or Two Until One Ask Where Someone Was. They Relized There Fifth Person Was Missing. I Found Him Between Road And Top Of Truck. Flew Out. He Was Released Three Days Later.



Please Stop With The Capitalization It Makes Your Posts Very Difficult To Read   

[Edited by MMiz in order to make it a tad bit nicer   ]


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## gnh2276

about a week and a half ago I went on my first call as a liscenced EMT. I have been on plenty as a driver and lent a hand from time to time having had quite a bit of medical experiance with the military. This paticular call was a code. when I arrived on scene another member was already doing cpr. I jumped in and started compressions for him untill the medics got there. By the time the medics arrived there was nothing we could do for him he had been down too long. One of the medics commented on my compressions and how well they looked on the monitor I said that I only wish they worked.


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## babygirl2882

my first call was a broken arm...a little boy (probably 7) was climbing a ladder into his above ground pool....fell off....his arm was quiet squigily (sorry about spelling) it was cool cuz I wasn't grossed out or anything...second call that day was another broken arm...kid was at the skate park and fell off his board....


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## Jay114

wow, 2 broken arms in a row? There has to be a lame joke in there somewhere.


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## Onceamedic

A transfer from our emergency room here in Hicksville USA to a larger hospital 45 minutes away.  I read all of the hospital reports.  (I still think its awesome to be able to see all this stuff.)  I was puzzled when the report says the patient rated her pain at a 2 (on the traditional 1-10 scale) and was given morphine.  It turns out that the morphine was supposed to be given to the patient in the next room.  The patient snoozed and smiled all the way to the hospital.


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## babygirl2882

Jay114 said:


> wow, 2 broken arms in a row? There has to be a lame joke in there somewhere.


 ya i know it was pretty amazing...i havn't had one since either...


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## Hightoweruk

My first call was a fall in a nursing home however en-route to the home we were waved down at an RTC (road traffic collision) where the bigest truck i've ever seen had driven over a motorcycle, bi-lateral tension pneumothorax and later found out he'd got 5x spinal fractures.

second job was an intensive care transfer and as is typical for my luck the patients ventilator broke 5 mns into journey


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## Grady_emt

My first call in EMT school was for a crackhead at a dialysis clinic that was having chest pains because his crack had fallen on the floor and the clinic called the po-po on him, he admitted to smoking it, "but I only hit it two times, normally Ill hit it like 5 or 6 times, im doing better with it"

First call working was for a head on wreck for a semi-rural road late at night. one DOA, one transported by an ALS unit, we were BLS that day.


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## RescueShirts.com

First call as an EMT-Basic was a kid at batting cage that got hit in the head by a ball. Yes... he was wearing a helmet, but still... it was those yellow, solid plastic balls they put in batting cages (for some reason). OUCH!


One of my first calls (that I remember) as a Paramedic was an old lady at a nursing home... cold mottled extremities... decreased level of consciousness... rapid A-Fib.

I almost shocked her... was on scene 28 minutes before a code-3 transport to a hospital only 4 minutes away.

The ER doc described it as an "emboli storm"... basically... the blood in her heart was like jello due to the A-Fib... and she was throwing clots to her brain and her extremities. 

Nothing I could have done would have helped her... so my helpless feeling on scene was somewhat appropriate... just didn't need to spend 28 minutes on scene "freaking out". 

Live and learn...


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## Phridae

Gee, hope I didnt already answer this question. I didnt feel like going the the many pages looking. 

Anyways. My first call was for a teenager who claimed he was "jumped" at the library. Black an blue eye, nothing special. :sad:


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## medicdan

My first call (today!) was a 16 y/o f for a Section 12 (I need to learn more about that...). It was a transport from a residential treatment center/school for girls with psych problems or for those who have undergone psychical/sexual assault. I understand that within the last month or so, the service I was riding with had transported 7 or 8 young women from this treatment center for attempted suicide. 
En Route I was warned that these patients may be combative-- to know they may kick (head or stomach), spit (get ready with mask), or fight. I was told to keep my BSI the entire time-- that it could get messy, oh, and to get ready with the restraints. 
We arrived on scene, unloaded the cot and brought it to the patient's room. When she saw us with the cot, the told us that she would rather walk to the ambulance. She was obviously compliant (well, as compliant as one can be for a  mandatory admission...). Once she climbed in, we told her that we needed to put the straps on the cot-- they were not restraints, but like a seatbelt, and she complied as we put them on. A nurse from the program accompanied us. 
The EMT who was caring for her (I'm sorry I dont know his name...) was very nonchalant-- which I think caused problems at some point. The patient (with the help of the nurse) described that she had cut herself about a month ago on the R arm-- and she showed us her scars (well healed). Last night, she had cut herself on the L leg-- very minor bleeding. As well, last night, she tried to drown herself in a bathroom sink. With the help of the nurse, she was able to tell us when she did all of this-- quite precisely. The patient stated that over the weekend, she had walked to Albany, and that it had taken her 20 hours-- the nurse did not confirm or deny-- but said that the patient had run away for about five days-- and had been off her meds for about three weeks-- she rattles off a long list of Meds- that we documented.
The patient let me take vitals-- a good learning expierence for me-- something I need to practice more. 
The transport continued uneventfully. 
After hearing of her attempted self-drowning, the EMT who was caring for her replied (inappropriately, in my opinion) that the toilet would have been much more effective... She gave him the finger, and he proceeded to put on a PulseOx meter-- quite effective you might say... 
On arrival to the hospital, I was sent to help the nurses sign the patient in while the EMTs settled out patient into a room. Having never spent much time in the back of an ER, there was plenty for me to learn. I need to learn more about their computer systems-- they are quite cool. 
All in all, it was a fascinating ride-- but it hit close to home for me-- I have friends who are not much older then the patient who have or are undergoing similar problems.  

I really am glad i rode along for this case-- I learned a lot. I am hanging around the fire station/EMS base as much as possible before taking my written exam-- I want to get as much unofficial expierence as possible before getting my card and working...


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## EMS215

*first call*

hey guys havent been on here in ages, i may have posted this somewhere before, im not sure, but here goes.

At my volly company, we have a paid ALS/BLS crew on 24/7. The hospital pays the medic, the firehouse pays the emt. The cool thing is, a volly guy can run 3rd with the medic rig, so I took advantage of this. 
   It was my first shift 1900 - 0700, maybe 6 weeks out of EMT school. Hung out at the squad building, hit the bunk room about 0130. Next thing I know tones drop, pager goes off, "84 year old woman c/o difficulty breathing" I meet the medic and the other EMT at the rig and off we go.
  En route dispatch updates that pt now has severe substernal chestpain. After what felt like a blink of an eye, we arrive on scene, a middle aged woman comes flying out of the house screaming "hurry up she just went out, shes not talking or breathing and shes turning blue!" The paramedic looked at me and said "grab everything", he grabbed his monitor and went flying into the house. At this time PD shows up and my EMT partner tells him to get the cot out and get it ready, we go flying in drug box, reeves, o2, suction in hand. The medic had started compressions, the other emt took over the chest, i threw in an airway and began to bag as the medic started his leads. No shockable rhythm. Medic began running drugs, (im not sure but when i asked him what he ran, i think he said epi x2, sodium bicarb, atropine and dopamine. i could be wrong about the dopamine). 
   After the first round of drugs the medic tried to intubate, ended up in the belly, he pulled out, i suctioned and got back on the bag, he got on the radio and called to hurry up the second responding medic, seconds later he comes in, tubes right away, i resume bagging. 
   Shortly after the second round of drugs we get a tachy pulse back, (110)
load and go, I was at the foot of the stretcher loading, the second medic hops in behind the cot, throws me his keys and tells me not to get lost.
  I was following the rig to the ED in one of the county's Crown Victorias (damn that thing had some power). The rig cleared an intersection and i stopped to clear the redlight. I begin to advance when someone barrels through the intersection almost smashing into my door. By this time I had lost sight of the ambulance, advised radio, was instructed to return to my squad building, no lights no sirens and wait for my crew.
  As far as i know she had a pulse when the crew transfered care at the ed, but still wasn't breathing on her own. 

So as long winded as it was that's my story. Hell of a first call.


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## rgnoon

And on the other end of the spectrum, My first call was SOB on one of the first 90 degree plus days of the year. Medics released to us and we transported uneventfully. However seemingly unexciting, It was a good way to become familiar with the way our crews operate.


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## Greg

My first call as an EMT-B student was a febrile seizure, which was sad (I hate running calls on kids), but it was a huge learning experience.  

My first call as an EMT-P student was sepsis, but my second call was an attempted suicide.  A physician took 76 vicodin pills and left a timed and dated suicide note.  We found him in the bathroom with agonal resps.  Pushed Narcan and he was puking everywhere and cursing us out by the time we got to the ER.


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## s1080

My first call was within 2 minutes of arrival on my first day, I had just gotten out of my car when the medic started waving me down.  Jumped in and off we went.  It was a 28yoM obviously on some sort of drugs and had a huge laceration to the top of his head.  After bandaging him up and taking v/s he started telling us a story about how he was walking down the street (at 8 in the morning) and a car pulled over, 3 guys got out and beat him with a 2x4.  

the craziest thing ive seen so far was a mva. 15yoF driving by herself, permit only.  She somehow lost control of her car and manged to flip it, at least a couple times from what I could tell.  Not a bump on her.  No bleeding.  No trauma.  When we arrived she was walking around.  After the call we later found out that she was sent home with nothing more then bruised knees.  talk about lucky.


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## MEDIC213

First call as an EMT student:
Got to my clinical site about 15 minutes before my shift. Call comes in 5 minutes later. MVA about 8 minutes out. Middle aged male was driving on a Farm to Market and fell asleep behind the wheel. His car ran off of the road and into a creek bed. Came to rest on top of some massive concrete chunks from when they demolished the old bridge. I got to crawl in the back seat and take c-spine. Had to wait for FD to get on scene to extricate. We had about 8 fire fighters lift up on the side of the car so we could open the door (the doors were jammed because of the concrete chunks.) Packaged pt and began transport. Within view of the hospital, our pt becomes unresponsive (for reasons unbeknownst to us.) The medic pulls out the ammonia capsules (I didn't know anybody still carried these) and the pt woke up freaking out. Pt said that he does that from time to time. It was pretty interesting.

First call as a practicing EMT:
Overdose. 35 y/o female sitting in car. Her family says that she called them and said that she had taken 30 Valium, and unknown amount of Soma, and a ton of other crap. She was unresponsive on our arrival. All I really remember is this was the first time I saw a 14 gauge catheter used, and I remember the MASSIVE hole it left when it was DC'ed. I don't remember much else about the call.


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## mtmedic

I just walked into the station for my first shift, a 12 hour noc shift as a basic, and no one was there.  All the trucks were out on calls and the call crew was activated but hadn't arrived.  Then the emt that was my preceptor arrived and a call comes over requesting a second ambulance for an MVA multiple pts and we have no medic and no one to respond so she tells me to get in the back up rig and drive.  I had never driven an ambulance before but she told there was no time like the present to learn.  Once on scene the on call medic arrived POV and our off duty supervisor showed up wreaking of ETOH saying "I will stand back here and watch cause I can't do anything right now cause I had a beer."  More like a brewery... Anyway kind of a cluster but it was all good and here I am years later as a medic and still loving this job.


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## jeepermedic

*my first!!!*

This is not an easy one to explain, it was my first day I think I was 14 as a third rider in explorer post 88.  dispatched as a cardiac arrest,  enroute it changed to DOA, upon arrival he was a workable code BUT he was 390 KILOS and was in a house with one entrance because the rest of the house was taken up with junk.  I kid you not the wife was a yard sale queen junk staked waist high with a single trail going from the kithchen to the bathroom and back to where the patient "lived" the den. well also when the patient fell he went down on his 40 kilo wife, who in 4 hr we finally cleared enough for the coroner to get the patient out she said my arm hurts and she had obvious signs of a fracture.  so we transported a possible fractured to ulna/radius.  that was the beginning of my EMS career!!!!


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## Meursault

Fairly standard nursing-home call for a 91 y/o F who fell. Turned out it was the fourth time in a month , and she'd fractured a hip. Got her boarded and loaded up, and on the way to the hospital, she starts gurgling. The EMT who was teching (I was a ride-along, although just certified) freaked out, because she had a thing about vomit. Anyway, got the pt. off the stretcher, rolled the board over, and got her breakfast OJ into a basin without any further problems. Fun stuff.


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## EMTinNE

*First trauma call...one of our own...*

FYI, I live in a very rural community of 1200 people, with a combined VFD/EMS. My first true trauma call was was just a couple of months ago while I was a trainee. Call came in as 4-wheeler accident. Further information revealed it was one of our volunteer firemen(86yr old active rancher). He had just finished fighting a wildfire and was headed home on his 4-wheeler(loaded with fencing supplies:roll of barbed wire, fence stretcher, the works). He hit a soft spot on the dirt road and rolled his 4-wheeler. Patient was found by fellow FF's returning to town in rigs. The 4-wheeler had landed upright and the Patient had managed to crawl back onto it. Some obvious lacerations, patient was initially responsive, kept saying he had to get home & trying to start the atv. KED Vest used, patient loaded & started on O2. Enroute(20 min drive) patient became more unresponsive with drop in BP. Patient had crepitation on left side. Patient was transported to larger hospital, diagnosed with TBI (among other injuries) and passed away the next day.

Talk about a somber call, made worse by the fact that eight fellow FF's had witnessed the accident scene. Two of the EMT's in the rig (with me and another trainee)were also FF's that had just returned from that fire. I will NEVER forget that day or the outcome. I realize it is part of the job, but in small communities like I live in where everyone knows everyone, those critical calls can be hard. 

BUT...if I can help save ONE patient, my volunteer time is worth all the money in the world.


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## brassguy

My first call on my own (me and a partner) was just an interfacility transport. Later that day, we were called to a nursing home to take a 83 y/o male with an hx of stroke, left arm paraylsis to the ED for a possible blood clot in the arm. We got there and his left arm was maybe 3 or 4 times the size of his right arm. So we took him code 3 to the ED. Not that exciting but my first "real" call! I am working for a private ambulance company.


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## seanm028

The first pt I actually worked on was in my hospital rotation during EMT school clinicals.  The call came for a code, the rescue was bringing in a pt from a nursing home with a hx of CHF, COPD, diabetes, hypertension, and at the time pneumonia.  Being the eager student that I was, I volunteered to jump in wherever I could (there were two other EMT students and a paramedic student there at the same time).  When they rolled her in, I realized that she was about 150 kg and I think my jaw literally dropped.  That was the first time I did chest compressions on a real person, and I couldn't find any landmarks to go off of.  Fortunately the charge nurse helped me correct my positioning a little.  The ER doc called her after a couple minutes of CPR and pushing more drugs.  After I had dinner, I had to go back to help bag her and transfer her to another gurney for transport to the morgue.

My first call as an EMT was for an infant code, wound up being SIDS.  I'm an EMT with the Crisis Response Unit, which is mainly to help provide resources and counseling for family members, so although I didn't work on the pt it was still a tough call.  Watching my EMT mentor's partner break the news to the mother that medical control had authorized termination on scene was probably the worst part.  However, it was good experience.  About two hours into the call (we have to stay on scene until PD leaves, which means detectives, CSIs, and Medical Examiners.  This call was 4 hours total) the mother starting complaining of chest pain, dyspnea, and tingling in her fingertips.  We figured it was just stressed, but called ALS back just to be safe.  I got some practice doing basic EMT stuff, like taking vitals, getting a hx and starting O2 on her.  Overall, a tough call emotionally but good for experience.


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## Operator 37

My first call was during a corps meeting and happened to be in the house next door. I had just completed basic first aid and was the third member of the crew. This was in 1974 and all crew members were only trained to the standards of BFA.

The call came in as 70 y/o with fractured hip after fall out of bed. We walked over while the bus was pulled around. What we found...a man sitting in a wooden chair speaking on the phone to his sister (as we later learned). The bed he fell out of was in the next room and about 15 feet away. We asked him what happened and he replied "Well back in 1929 I fell from a telephone pole and broke my hip. I laid there untill someone found me. Then in 19..." He gave us a year by year discription of every injury he ever had and by the time he finished we pulled into the ER, a 25 minute ride.

We were met there by his sister who asked the ER Doc to have him commited. After asking the pt. "What happened?" He agreed with the sister and we were asked to transport pt. to the MHU nearby. We arrived at the intake unit of the facility and were told we would have to wait until a doctor came to admit him. I was waiting outside on the steps when an older gentleman wearing plaid shorts, a red tank top, yellow socks and white sneakers walked by me and entered the building. I figured he was just another pt. until I heard my crewmate yell "The doctor is here". We still talk about that call.

To bad not all of the calls are that simple or that funny.


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## certguy

*My first call*

My first call after  I got out of the service , was when I was a call firefighter . I was new to the dept. and we were out training when the call came in for a backhoe rollover at a construction site . When we arrived on scene , we found a single pt. about halfway up a mountain where they were installing a microwave tower and large water tank . the pt. was in trendelenburg , on a piece of plywood , with a blanket on him . When the tractor rolled , he jumped clear , landing on his feet , then went down again in excrutiating pain . He was 26 y/o , about 250 lbs . with extreme lower lumbar pain and tingling in the lower extremities . Vitals were good no LOC or other c/o pain . Some numbness and tingling noted in the lower extremities . pain rated 10 on 1 - 10 scale . Since we were so far up the mt. on a road that had only recently been cut , the decision was to call for Lifeflight and transport him to the top , where the chopper would then load . We did the 1/2 mph crawl all the way up with him very well strapped and an entire engine crew helping to keep him from moving also . They didn't have spiderstraps back then , we sure could've used them .  We thought we had a good plan until we got to the top and found we couldn't land the chopper due to the amount of equipment stored there , though the construction crew had told us there was plenty of room . That was so frustrating that we had to turn around and take him back down . We even requested a military chopper to hoist him out but couldn't get one . On the way back down , I was checking his loc when he suddenly started crying . I asked him what was wrong and he said he couldn't feel his legs . On checking his neuros , we discovered paralysis . I've got to admit , I felt like crying right alongside him , though I didn't let him know it . When we finally got to the bottom , the chopper crew flew him to UCSD medical center . I never did hear how he turned out . It was really frustrating that we did all we could and he still had paralysis .

                                CERTGUY


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## ErinCooley

Got the worst call out of the way before I actually started, but after I knew a little.  My daughter was hit and killed by our bulldozer 4 weeks ago.  I have enough knowledge to know what to do, the injuries were too severe to have saved her though.  I damn sure tried though.

My first "real" call will be in about 2 1/2 weeks when I go on my first ride along.  I'm really excited and can't wait to tell yall about it.


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## Operator 37

I am so sorry for your loss. Good luck on your first ride along.


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