Dealing With Bad Calls

[spnjsquad]

Hey I was just wondering how everyone on here tends to deal with certain types of serious incidents. My towns call volume is alright, about 5 a day, so I get on a few and once in a while there is a bad one. One of my worst was a 98 year old female found dead floating face down in her bathtub, PD said the family (who was away) tried to get in contact with her for a full two days but no answer, so they decided to call 911. I actually didn't take it that bad, even with that being one of my first calls. I've done CPR plenty of times, even once on an infant, and still I haven't reacted bad about it. I sort of just brushed it off. So what about you? Does the occasional bad call usually get you down, make you lose sleep? Is there any aspect of a call that will cause it to really hit you hard?

 

[Ewok Jerky]

I've been on a few bad ones, but like you I just brush it off. I don't really dwell on it. I haven't been in a situation where the patient reminds me of a friend or family member though, I think that is what gets a lot of people.

I do not talk about this stuff with peeps outside of medicine/EMS. I will talk about funny stories with family an friends, but the real Debbie Downer stuff I do not bring home with me. I do talk it out with my partners at work though, and supervisors. When a bad one comes along I think talking about it out loud, explaining what went down to someone who wasn't there can help give you perspective on your role in the situation. We do what we can with the tools and information we have, and when it doesn't work out with a happy ending, you have to accept that you COULD NOT have changed the outome no matter what you did. We are not god, we are not lifesavers, we are human beings with medical training.

 

[STXmedic]

I've been in the field for 6 years in a busy, high-volume system. I've yet to have a call really get to me beyond the quick "Wow, that's f'd up." I'm sure I'm not impervious to it, though.

For stress in general, including from work, running is my biggest stress reliever. It helps me tremendously. I've yet to find an issue that a nice 10 miler through the trails can't ease.

When you do have that call that gets to you, you can't be afraid to talk about it or get help, though. There's a terrible stigma on getting counseling or sharing bad calls, but it is truly important. One of the members here has actually created an organization to address stress in EMS, specifically raising awareness of mental health, substance abuse, and suicide among first responders:

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=39515

http://codegreencampaign.org/

 

[TechMedic]

Calls don't seem to bother me. I've never felt anything after a code and my first major trauma was a guy who got stabbed in the heart and I just thought it was cool to see. I don't feel anything towards patients

 

[Leatherpuke]

Calls don't seem to bother me. I've never felt anything after a code and my first major trauma was a guy who got stabbed in the heart and I just thought it was cool to see. I don't feel anything towards patients

Not trying to bash you, but I really don't think that's a positive attitude for EMS work. You have to have a certain level of empathy for the patient. It can be taken too far, obviously, but if you literally don't feel anything after a code then there may be something pathologically wrong with you.

Again, not trying to bash on you, just saying.

 

[LACoGurneyjockey]

^^^ I had a reply typed up a couple days ago in different words, saying the exact same thing. Just didn't feel like it was going to get thru, but I agree completely.
You don't feel anything towards patients? Do you feel anything at all? Ever? Or is that just too difficult that you've completely shut that part of yourself down?
You don't feel anything for the patient, or the patient's family after you quite literally beat a dead horse in front of them, even though you and your partner both know damn well this 300lbs lifetime smoker is not coming back, VF or not.
You don't feel anything for the terminal cancer patient who's slowly progressed to a point of being unable to take a breath, because intubation is just that cool.
Or that rollover, with 2 black tags and one unresponsive with posturing and exposed brain matter. Nothing, for the families of those lost, or the one you "saved" who's going to live out the last 40-50 years of his life on a ventilator with a GCS of 3, maybe 5 if he's just that lucky.
If you really do this job, and are convinced you don't feel anything, I'm deeply, genuinely concerned.

https://www.facebook.com/thecodegreencampaign

 

[STXmedic]

I've got to disagree with you two, Leather and LACo.

Not everybody experiences emotion the same way. Some people legitimately don't feel many emotions, and there's nothing wrong with that. That should not have any effect on his patient care.

To expound on my first post, I am very much like wannabe in that regard. I rarely feel anything at all towards my patients. When I'm on a call, my patients are puzzles that I need to find a solution for. My care is very dehumanized. However, and this will come off as arrogant, but I am a damn good paramedic. I stay up on my education. I provide appropriate care. I even have my supervisors pass on phone calls of gratitude from my former patients on a fairly regular basis. According to you two, though, I should be a terrible provider due to my lack feeling.

I am not some "real men don't cry" machismo. I am a huge proponent for mental health, addressing emotions and fears, and especially The Code Green Campaign. I realize that many people don't experience emotion in the same manner as I do. However, I am not going to belittle somebody because they don't share the same feelings (or lack thereof) that I do. So maybe you two should realize that, like patients, people don't fit into one single mold and may actually be different than yourselves. And just because they don't think like you, they just might still be good providers... [emoji47]

 

[LACoGurneyjockey]

I'm not saying it makes you any less of a medic because you don't express emotion in the same way I, or any other completely unique person does. But I don't think you can truly feel nothing. You can distance yourself, and realistically you have to do something of that nature to cope with this job. But to say you have no feelings after a difficult call, I just don't see that to be true, not for any medic I've met.

 

[STXmedic]

I'm not saying it makes you any less of a medic because you don't express emotion in the same way I, or any other completely unique person does. But I don't think you can truly feel nothing. You can distance yourself, and realistically you have to do something of that nature to cope with this job. But to say you have no feelings after a difficult call, I just don't see that to be true, not for any medic I've met.

I'm sorry you don't see that to be true. Unfortunately, your view of truth isn't consistent with the way things are. Just because you can't comprehend it doesn't mean it's not possible.

 

[DesertMedic66]

I've been in the field for 6 years in a busy, high-volume system. I've yet to have a call really get to me beyond the quick "Wow, that's f'd up." I'm sure I'm not impervious to it, though.

For stress in general, including from work, running is my biggest stress reliever. It helps me tremendously. I've yet to find an issue that a nice 10 miler through the trails can't ease.

When you do have that call that gets to you, you can't be afraid to talk about it or get help, though. There's a terrible stigma on getting counseling or sharing bad calls, but it is truly important. One of the members here has actually created an organization to address stress in EMS, specifically raising awareness of mental health, substance abuse, and suicide among first responders:

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=39515

http://codegreencampaign.org/

Same for me so far. Most I'll say is "wow, that's messed up". But that's all. I just move on after I transfer patient care.