Thank GOD I'm alive!

[Cindigo]

I'm still a baby student EMT-B, but I was thinking that alot of you probably get this quite alot.

I was just talking to a guy at Starbucks. He saw my books and said, "Oh, you're studying to be a EMT" and then proceed to tell me how he dropped "dead" on the basketball court at 24 hour fitness and the paramedics brought him back in the ambulance. He was in a coma for three days, but was sitting here talking to me. I know just enough to know I don't know jack, but from what I've been learning so for, from what he described to me, he seems incredibly lucky.

But, what I found irritating....after his long story about all the things that came together.....the luck of having a AED available, people at the gym that had just taken a CPR class to begin compressions and respirations immediately, the paramedics who arrived promptly and did everything they were trained to do, the doctors and hospital staff that went to school for years and years.....this guy at the end of his story says.....

"Thank God for his grace. It must not have been time for me to go"

Oh boy did I almost bite my tongue in half.

 

[Veneficus]

I'm still a baby student EMT-B, but I was thinking that alot of you probably get this quite alot.

I was just talking to a guy at Starbucks. He saw my books and said, "Oh, you're studying to be a EMT" and then proceed to tell me how he dropped "dead" on the basketball court at 24 hour fitness and the paramedics brought him back in the ambulance. He was in a coma for three days, but was sitting here talking to me. I know just enough to know I don't know jack, but from what I've been learning so for, from what he described to me, he seems incredibly lucky.

But, what I found irritating....after his long story about all the things that came together.....the luck of having a AED available, people at the gym that had just taken a CPR class to begin compressions and respirations immediately, the paramedics who arrived promptly and did everything they were trained to do, the doctors and hospital staff that went to school for years and years.....this guy at the end of his story says.....

"Thank God for his grace. It must not have been time for me to go"

Oh boy did I almost bite my tongue in half.

Before they ask god for a miracle, they ask for my help

 

[ffemt8978]

Regardless of what anybody in medicine or EMS tries to do to prevent it, when God says you're time is up it's the end of the discussion.

So what was so wrong about the guy making the comment that made you want to bite your tongue in half?

 

[DesertMedic66]

Regardless of what anybody in medicine or EMS tries to do to prevent it, when God says you're time is up it's the end of the discussion.

So what was so wrong about the guy making the comment that made you want to bite your tongue in half?

Some people don't believe in god. God wasn't down there doing compressions to get him back.

Im not a fan when people say "thank god you got here in time". God didn't make me do anything. I chose what to do and what not to do. I wanted to be an EMT. God didn't make me become one.

 

[TatuICU]

Let me tell you something, I'm far from a religious man, but when your number is up, your number is up and there is nothing you're going to do to save them. That gentleman was lucky to be in a circumstance where he was able to be helped because as your career progresses you will inevitably respond to codes where your downtime is too excessive to resuscitate an actual viable form of humanity and despite your bag of tricks, they will die anyway. And I love medics who call it a "code save" even though the person they "saved" is laid up in a nursing home like a vegetable with foot drop.

In any case, nothing to bite your tongue about. Please don't be one of those high horsing self-righteous medics that seem to be running around everywhere nowadays. Please. We don't hold the key to life and death, we just help out when we can. And "thank GOD" can mean many things. he could've been thanking god for putting capable staff there to help him when he needed it. If you're looking for thank you's and appreciation you're probably in the wrong business. You'll learn that when something goes wrong in the field then its all your fault and when the outcome is good, well then the hospital did a great job., lol.

 

[Cindigo]

Regardless of what anybody in medicine or EMS tries to do to prevent it, when God says you're time is up it's the end of the discussion.

So what was so wrong about the guy making the comment that made you want to bite your tongue in half?

I don't believe in god, but if I did I wouldn't believe that he spares or takes people when it's "their time". That doesn't make any sense to me and seems narcissistic.

That's kind of the short form.

I'm not trying to start a flame war or bust on beliefs. This is just where I'm coming from. I'm getting better.....really. I can just smile and let people be.....usually.

 

[TatuICU]

I don't believe in god, but if I did I wouldn't believe that he spares or takes people when it's "their time". That doesn't make any sense to me and seems narcissistic.

Irony defined.

 

[ffemt8978]

Some people don't believe in god. God wasn't down there doing compressions to get him back.

Im not a fan when people say "thank god you got here in time". God didn't make me do anything. I chose what to do and what not to do. I wanted to be an EMT. God didn't make me become one.

I don't believe in god, but if I did I wouldn't believe that he spares or takes people when it's "their time". That doesn't make any sense to me and seems narcissistic.

That's kind of the short form.

I'm not trying to start a flame war or bust on beliefs. This is just where I'm coming from. I'm getting better.....really. I can just smile and let people be.....usually.

This is what I was trying to say, and thanks to TatuICU for expressing it:

Let me tell you something, I'm far from a religious man, but when your number is up, your number is up and there is nothing you're going to do to save them. That gentleman was lucky to be in a circumstance where he was able to be helped because as your career progresses you will inevitably respond to codes where your downtime is too excessive to resuscitate an actual viable form of humanity and despite your bag of tricks, they will die anyway. And I love medics who call it a "code save" even though the person they "saved" is laid up in a nursing home like a vegetable with foot drop.

In any case, nothing to bite your tongue about. Please don't be one of those high horsing self-righteous medics that seem to be running around everywhere nowadays. Please. We don't hold the key to life and death, we just help out when we can. And "thank GOD" can mean many things. he could've been thanking god for putting capable staff there to help him when he needed it. If you're looking for thank you's and appreciation you're probably in the wrong business. You'll learn that when something goes wrong in the field then its all your fault and when the outcome is good, well then the hospital did a great job., lol.

 

[Cindigo]

Let me tell you something, I'm far from a religious man, but when your number is up, your number is up and there is nothing you're going to do to save them. That gentleman was lucky to be in a circumstance where he was able to be helped because as your career progresses you will inevitably respond to codes where your downtime is too excessive to resuscitate an actual viable form of humanity and despite your bag of tricks, they will die anyway. And I love medics who call it a "code save" even though the person they "saved" is laid up in a nursing home like a vegetable with foot drop.

In any case, nothing to bite your tongue about. Please don't be one of those high horsing self-righteous medics that seem to be running around everywhere nowadays. Please. We don't hold the key to life and death, we just help out when we can. And "thank GOD" can mean many things. he could've been thanking god for putting capable staff there to help him when he needed it. If you're looking for thank you's and appreciation you're probably in the wrong business. You'll learn that when something goes wrong in the field then its all your fault and when the outcome is good, well then the hospital did a great job., lol.

It's a personal problem I have with religion......not looking for thank you's and appreciation.

 

[TatuICU]

It's a personal problem I have with religion......not looking for thank you's and appreciation.

But you think that others should conform to how you feel and what you think? I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Not trying to be rude at all, I just really don't understand. Religion has and always will be the opium of the masses and that's not going to change anytime soon. Why? Because people are scared of two things above all else: being alone and dying. "God" gives them a way out of being scared of them. So just think, this guy has a bona-fide Sunday school story about how God saved him to reinforce his beliefs and make his life a little more manageable.

 

[DesertMedic66]

It's a personal problem I have with religion......not looking for thank you's and appreciation.

Same. I've had a couple times where my tongue slipped when someone said "thank god you are here". When I don't catch myself I will respond with "God has nothing to do with it".

 

[Cindigo]

Irony defined.

I'm not really sure what you're getting at? That I'm narcissistic because I don't believe in a magic guy that flies around the skies granting wishes or smoting people? I'm not saying that I know the answers, but I'm fairly confident in saying, that one has more than a few holes in it.

 

[TatuICU]

Same. I've had a couple times where my tongue slipped when someone said "thank god you are here". When I don't catch myself I will respond with "God has nothing to do with it".

Ah hell firefite, that's just a colloquial phrase nowadays. I always felt "Thank dispatch you're here" was far more apropos

 

[DesertMedic66]

Ah hell firefite, that's just a colloquial phrase nowadays. I always felt "Thank dispatch you're here" was far more apropos

Haha. I know it's a common phrase for alot of people. But we still run into really religious people who use it as much more then a phrase.

I think it should be "Thank Ford E-Series you are here" haha

 

[DrankTheKoolaid]

re

As an atheist I find this whole thread offensive......... <_<

On a more serious note though. I truly do not believe in a higher power and think at some point they will find the flaw in the 95% of humans brains on earth that make them believe in one. But as much as I detest the thought of one, the longer I am in medicine the more I realize people with a faith of any kind tend to do better with acceptance.

Lol, better explain that one a bit more. As zealots are not big on acceptance of others. By saying that I mean they tend to accept that things have happened to them or they have become sick and don't tend to dwell on the negative as long as non believers I have known who have become ill. As the later type tended to become bitter.

 

[Cindigo]

But you think that others should conform to how you feel and what you think? I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Not trying to be rude at all, I just really don't understand. Religion has and always will be the opium of the masses and that's not going to change anytime soon. Why? Because people are scared of two things above all else: being alone and dying. "God" gives them a way out of being scared of them. So just think, this guy has a bona-fide Sunday school story about how God saved him to reinforce his beliefs and make his life a little more manageable.

Oh okay, I see what your saying. It just makes me sad. I'm getting better....really. Yes, I will admit I would like everyone to conform to what I feel and think. Personally, that would be great. Is that going to happen....of course not. I'm working on letting people be and doing what they need to do to get through this life that we're all trying to get through. I know that it's not going to change, people need the opium and I have to find my own tribe, but when someone busts out a "thank god" it makes me feel immediately less connected to them. Again....a personal thing......working on it.

 

[Veneficus]

I thought dispatch was god,

You are just sitting there minding your own business when a disembodied voice tells you where to go and without question or thought, you stop whatever you are doing and follow the instructions.

 

[TatuICU]

I'm not really sure what you're getting at? That I'm narcissistic because I don't believe in a magic guy that flies around the skies granting wishes or smoting people? I'm not saying that I know the answers, but I'm fairly confident in saying, that one has more than a few holes in it.

Religion is not the topic at hand. Your attitude toward others feelings is. Again, religion does not affect this discussion in the slightest. He may as well have said "Thank the meter reader!" Doesn't matter. Narcissism when applied psychoanalytically to a group carries a connotation of elitism with it. I was merely pointing out that chastising "god" for being a narcissist while in the same paragraph having your post betraying an air of disgust with regard to another persons belief (presumably because you believe yourself to be smarter or at least a better critical thinker than this gentleman) due to your own feelings is a tad......ironic.

 

[TatuICU]

As an atheist I find this whole thread offensive......... <_<

On a more serious note though. I truly do not believe in a higher power and think at some point they will find the flaw in the 95% of humans brains on earth that make them believe in one. But as much as I detest the thought of one, the longer I am in medicine the more I realize people with a faith of any kind tend to do better with acceptance.

The flaw is very simple. Fear. We are afraid of death and afraid of being alone. Everyone is. Some people can just come to terms with their own mortality and give themselves over to the human experience better than others. Religion is a coping mechanism, no more, no less.

 

[Cindigo]

Also....not that this changes anything.....or maybe it does.....I've been sitting across from this guy for about two hours now, and he's full on "Hidely Howdely Doodely" Ned Flanders.