EMTLife August Contest - A Courageous Patient

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
Community Leader
5,521
401
83
While it took courage to pioneer a new profession as one of the first paramedics in the US, sometimes our patients are just as courageous.

Have you treated an especially courageous patient? Share your story to enter to win EMTLife and assorted prizes.

One lucky winner will receive:

Rules:

  • Only posts submitted after August 1st 2012 and before August, 17th 2012 at 11:59 PM EST will be considered for this contest. A winner will be announced by August 20, 2012.
  • Your reply must be your work alone, not from another source.
Good luck!
 
bigbaldguy

bigbaldguy

Former medic seven years 911 service in houston
4,043
42
48
Hey all, only ten days left to get in on this contest. Let's get those entries in.

Here's my example

I once went to a call for an injured person. When we arrived we found a group of construction workers standing around. We walk up and there's one worker there with his hand up in front of him covered by a dirty rag. We look under the rag and his hand is just crushed. Apparently while they were moving some heavy steal beams one of them rolled back over his hand completely crushing his fingers. The guy is pale and sweating obviously in shock but being pretty stoic about it. We get him in the truck and strapped in. The medic starts on an IV and I start talking to the patient in Spanish getting a history. I ask all the usual questions. I get to the point where I ask his name and he tells me. His first name in Spanish happens to roughly translate into English as "lucky" or "fortunate". After he tells me his name I pause then ask him in Spanish "Your name is Lucky?" and he smiles really big and says in fairly clear but heavily accented English "Not today!" He joked with us all the way to the ER, never complained once (before or after the pain meds). The guy was a genuinely great guy and probably the bravest patient I've had.
 
S

shiroun

Forum Lieutenant
167
0
0
Why not.

As some background to my story, I was dating a girl for roughly 2 years, and she'd moved a few states away. She texted me saying she was coming to visit, I told her I was doing a ride-along on an ambulance (I had very nice connections at the time. I wanted to see what it was like.)

It was late december, and we got a call for an MVA on the expressway, a car crossed the median and went head-on into another car. We got to the scene, and had 1 DOAs, the drivers of the car that crossed the median, which had no one else in it. The other car, who was doing nothing wrong, had my [at the time] girlfriend in the passenger seat, her brother in the back, and her mother in the driver seat.
Her mother was ambulatory at the scene, her brother was pinned but marked as a yellow, or delayed. My girlfriend, on the other hand, was marked as an immediate. She had a laceration that ran across her forehead, two severely lacerated arms, vertically, a partially amputated foot, and a puncture wound from the dash of the car. Blood was quite literally pooling around her.
At that point, I told my proctor/medic who she was, and he told me to go over and talk with her, while they cut her out.
She was an absolute angel, she was sitting there talking as if nothing was wrong, asking about her brother and mother, and how they were doing. Ironically, she was more concerned with the cake for me in the back of the car then she was about her injuries. I asked her how her day was going, and she said "Amazing, I get to see my boyfriend even sooner."
They managed to get the passenger door off, and "jack up" whatever dash needed to be moved. We put her on a longboard, and she was talking the whole way through it, talking about what we were going to be doing later, where we were going to dinner.
We got into the ambulance and the medic was doing all the work, patching her up, or atleast attempting to. At one point, something inside her just snapped. She completely changed tones and looked at me, dead serious, and said "I'm going to die, aren't I?"
I looked at the medic, and he gave me a half-nod. Like he was somewhat unsure. I told her, "Don't think like that babe. Just wait, you'll be better in no time." She told me we made a promise never to lie to eachother, which we did.
For the next 3-4 minutes, she talked to me, telling me that it was okay, and that I had to be strong if she didn't make it. She told me to keep my promises, and to better myself more then I already was (I used to be kinda fat, she was a petite girl, I started working out and running, etc. getting into shape to impress her). Then she told me something that really shook me. She said "Tell my mom and brother I love them, and it's not their fault, and when come visit me every-so-often, okay? I love you."
We were walking in as she said that, and then she passed out. They tried to patch her up, and tried to resusitate her, but even after flooding her with a bolus (I think?), it was useless.

Any patients I've had after her, especially young girls in car crashes, always remind me of her. And I always do everything I can to save them. I was a little torn on becoming an EMT when I was younger, but after that day I promised to try and help as many people as I could, so less people would have to go through that.

I'm not sure if I conveyed her courage through it all properly, but she certainly was the bravest and most inspiring patient, and girlfriend for that matter, that I've ever had.
 
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