Sids

Kaisu said:
Now this is an interesting point. What is right for the family that you as a paramedic can or should do? Do you help them make phone calls? Do you sit down and talk to them? What do you do? What have you done?
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Yes and yes. You go and talk with them. Ask what you can do, if there is someone you can call, answer the questions they have about what will happen next. And yes, I've done it. (not that it's that special; everyone who is a medic OR EMT has done this, or should have)

It will depend on the person though. Some need someone to comfort them and hold their hand for awhile, and some just want you out. A lot will depend on how they react to the death; if it's a brand new baby...gonna be bad. If it's grandpa who has been on death's door for 6 months and they were allready prepared...not gonna be as bad.

You can't ever forget, no matter what your EMT cert is or how much experience you have, after the death of a loved one, the people left standing will need you. Even if it's only to ask if you can do anything, that'll still be some comfort.
 
The area where I started in EMS, if we could calm the family down to a lower level of histeria we would wrapp the baby in one of its blankets and tell the family that there is nothing that can be done and ask them if they would like to say goodbye to their baby. Just let them rock the baby and say goodbye privately. If the situation was just kinda "off" and things didnt seem right then it was handled differently. If the family was just going bonker we would transport without family.
 
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