DOH Im a moron

emtashleyb

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This morning my daughter fell down about 12 stairs. I was picking my son up walking out of the room when she said mommy Im going to jump. She does this every morning but this is the first time she didnt listen to me I tried to grab her arm but it was too late she went down.

When it happened everything but dont let her move went out the window. My mind went completely blank I called my husband at work freaking out while I was slowly getting my brains back into order. It took about 5 minutes before I realized I needed to do an assessment. I checked everything she is fine. I had 1 bad call with a child but I didnmt blank out then I guess because she is my daughter maybe thats why I blanked? I feel like a failure now go me
 

Epi-do

I see dead people
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I think when it is your own kid, all bets are off. Fortuantely, I haven't had anything happen with my son that has sent me into a panic, but you never know what could be the "right" scenario for that to happen. He is quite the dare-devil, and has had plenty of the typical little boy mishaps and adventures.

Don't feel bad about not reacting how you think you should have in this situation. It is alot easier to step back, take a deep breath, and do what needs to be done when you aren't emotionally involved in the situation.
 

imurphy

Forum Captain
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Don't worry Ash.

With a patient, there is no pre-existing emotional attachment (generally speaking), and therfore you can do your job without emotional involvement (you know what I mean, not that we're heartless) Whereas with you child it's hard to, nay imposible, to seperate "Mommy" from the EMT. There is emotional attachment and we all know that clouds our judgement.

This doesn't make you a bad EMT. It makes you a good Mom.
 

Tincanfireman

Airfield Operations
1,054
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I feel like a failure now

Failure? Pfft...hardly. Welcome to the club; anyone who has kids and works EMS prolly has a similar experience. I recently responded to a reported "TV fell on a kid" call. The address sounded familiar, but it wasn't until we arrived that I realized it was one of my co-worker's houses, and the kid was her 4 year old. This girl is a seasoned, experienced, knowledgable paramedic who has been around the block any number of times. She was a weeping wreck when we arrived on scene. Even though the kid was asymptomatic for anything, we still boarded him because it *was* a 32" TV that landed on him and there was a ~20 second LOC. Bottom line, you are always a parent first; I'd have raised my eyebrows to anyone who didn't get their knickers in a knot when a situation involved their kid. I'm just glad she was fine; we all learn the same way, and I'm sure it won't the the last time in her life she takes a (figurative) fall down a flight of steps...lol
 

BossyCow

Forum Deputy Chief
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When my boys, (now in their 20s) were babies, my paramedic husband used to give me heimlich manuever drills at the dining room table. "You know, he's no longer an infant and its different for child. If you're going to feed him meat, you should know how to act if he chokes......" My oldest did actually choke once. He had a partial airway obstruction from a piece of hard candy at when he was two and a half. I immediately leapt into action and implemented proper procedure for a choking child. I activated the emergency contact system... and screamed for my husband to "Get in here now!"

I console myself with the belief that had my husband not been in the next room, I would have eventually acted to save my child. Momdom overides EMS training every single time. Think of it this way.. had your child been bleeding, would you have gloved up before treating?
 
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emtashleyb

Forum Crew Member
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I feel a bit better today knowing that its normal. My husband came home because when I freaked I told him to get here now screw what his command said and we were going to the ER then I called him back 5 minutes later with she is fine and Im sorry he made me feel crappy afterwards though saying well if I was hurt then you would be of no assistance to me (thank you a-hole). I was just so mad at myself that I totally blanked out. Maybe I can just convince my 2 1/2 year old to stop being a daredevil??
 

Airwaygoddess

Forum Deputy Chief
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Take a deep breath, Every mooma does that! With each accident we let something new and we do get better!!:)
 

BossyCow

Forum Deputy Chief
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I feel a bit better today knowing that its normal. My husband came home because when I freaked I told him to get here now screw what his command said and we were going to the ER then I called him back 5 minutes later with she is fine and Im sorry he made me feel crappy afterwards though saying well if I was hurt then you would be of no assistance to me (thank you a-hole). I was just so mad at myself that I totally blanked out. Maybe I can just convince my 2 1/2 year old to stop being a daredevil??

LOL.. remember, him lashing out at you is his way of acting like a normal freaked out parent. And on the convincing the 2 1/2 year old to not be a daredevil.. good luck with that. My 23 y/o just got out of a leg cast and will have the 2 titanium screws in the end of his tibia for at least another year.
 

SpudCrushr

Forum Crew Member
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Well, since it's your own daughter, that makes it a lot more personal. At that point you were in parent mode, not this-is-my-job-I'm-an-EMTB mode. :rolleyes:

But yeah, I'd say that's a normal reaction
 

sixmaybemore

Forum Crew Member
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This morning my daughter fell down about 12 stairs. I was picking my son up walking out of the room when she said mommy Im going to jump. She does this every morning but this is the first time she didnt listen to me I tried to grab her arm but it was too late she went down.

When it happened everything but dont let her move went out the window. My mind went completely blank I called my husband at work freaking out while I was slowly getting my brains back into order. It took about 5 minutes before I realized I needed to do an assessment. I checked everything she is fine. I had 1 bad call with a child but I didnmt blank out then I guess because she is my daughter maybe thats why I blanked? I feel like a failure now go me

It happens. I've done it. I did it once when a kid jumped off the couch, and landed face first on the hearth, almost completely ripping out a tooth. There was just so much BLOOD. And yes, somebody in the house called 911. He was out for a moment, and then the blood... gah. I'll just plead to having a tooth rip out of the gum with the other kids screaming doesn't make for a very calm response!

Ditto for the time I had a kid put an arm through a glass pane on a screen door (old style glass pane). Can't even remember how many stitches that one was. The responders were very nice, bandaged it up so she wouldn't bleed all over the car.
 

sixmaybemore

Forum Crew Member
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LOL.. remember, him lashing out at you is his way of acting like a normal freaked out parent. And on the convincing the 2 1/2 year old to not be a daredevil.. good luck with that. My 23 y/o just got out of a leg cast and will have the 2 titanium screws in the end of his tibia for at least another year.


Oh, nice.

What'd he do?
 

BossyCow

Forum Deputy Chief
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Oh, nice.

What'd he do?

He was messing around with his brother.. jumped into his little brother's arms and his brother dropped him.. I'm choosing to look at it as a positive. They are in their 20s and still like each other enough to hang out together and be stupid together.
 
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