What was your first 911 call?

Mitchellmvhs

Mitchellmvhs

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Just a little curious for what everyone’s first call was.

I recently just got hired by a company that’s owned by AMR in SoCal And I’m on my 5th field training shift and I’ve had 2 911 calls so far. Also my company is all BLS we don’t have any medics hired. When we get a 911 we work with fire and medics hop on our rig.

My first call was syncopal episode for a guy in the shower, wasn’t too crazy. C-Collar and flatted to gurney, code 2 all the way.

My second call I had yesterday is what I consider my first REAL 911 and man I feel like I was ****ing everything up. It was a Difficulty breathing/ sob. Fire was first on scene and we were code 3 from our post and too hospital. they had her on their monitor already but this lady was in really bad condition with a 77% spO2. When we get her in the rig she’s panicking and we’re not able to get a BP for her on their monitor. The medics had me start a 12 lead and I know anatomically where they go and each intercostal space, but I just ****ed the whole thing as I’ve never really done it for real so the medic had to help me. Mind you she was on cpap with abuterol and man I thought this lady was going to code. Since the BP wasn’t working bc she was a little panicked they asked me to palpate a BP and tbh I’ve never done it that way, but know how due to my emt school but I could not find her radial pulse. I’ve always done it with stethoscope. When we get to hospital she’s in a little better condition because it seemed like the albuterol helped a lot, but I just feel like I added to the **** show.The medics after were pretty cool since it was my first real 911 call and it really makes me wanna learn more and make sure I know my ****. It was a good experience and I’m glad I was with my FTO and not by myself lol.

Curious how it went for all of you.
 
My first was some sort of minor industrial trauma in 1992 or '93. I don't remember the details. I was just glad to get it over with and maybe feel a little less stupid.
 
Doctors Ambulance?
Everyone has different learning curves, but it’s normal to be uneasy the very first time you see a certain type of call. You’ll take what you learned and apply it the next time you have a CPAP pt.

First 911 call was a “Auto vs Bicyclist”. Pt got knocked down by a car that didn’t stop behind the line at a red. Pt was stable and secondary was unremarkable...... I was still nervous.
 
Rano Pano said:
Doctors Ambulance?
Everyone has different learning curves, but it’s normal to be uneasy the very first time you see a certain type of call. You’ll take what you learned and apply it the next time you have a CPAP pt.

First 911 call was a “Auto vs Bicyclist”. Pt got knocked down by a car that didn’t stop behind the line at a red. Pt was stable and secondary was unremarkable...... I was still nervous.
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Yeah I work for doctors
 
Can't remember my first call as the attendant, but I can my first driving call. Was a gsw to the head out of the local state prison. He got shot stabbing someone else to death. He was all loaded up and then arrested...I was so jacked up that I backed the ambulance into the fencing leading out of the place and sardine canned the right front fender. It was awful. Partner was really mad at me. 1984.
 
MIne was in OC too. Auto vs scooter, compound tib-fib fx. Don't stress man, it gets better.
 
Cardiac arrest of an elderly gentlemen who was out trying to shovel snow and was spotted by a passerby collapsed between his vehicle and a snowbank. We arrive on scene to see PD doing compressions. Grabbed the O2 bag and AED, then looked back for my partner. He was still in the truck radioing the ambulance of patient status.

It was so cold our latex gloves actually cracked, but we worked him anyway. Attached AED and got no shock advised, so dropped a CombiTube and bagged him till PD needed swapped out on compressions.

Once ambulance arrived and we got him inside the rig, they were able to get pulses back and he actually was conscious enough to speak with them. PD went and informed his wife what was going on, and learned that he had gone out 30min earlier to shovel.

Unfortunately, he coded in the ICU later that night and passed.
 
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In Torrance, now defunct Gerber Ambulance, stroke call at a SNF across the street from the hospital. We responded code 2 and had patient contact before TFD arrived, I remember them walking in and getting a basic report before entering the actual patient room and saying "Let's upgrade Gerber to Code 3" and we were like "already here". Only other thing I really remember was the patient was some sort of contact Isolation that we had to gown up, and that transport was all of 30 seconds lol. This was back in 2012 or so.
 
ffemt8978 said:
Cardiac arrest of an elderly gentlemen who was out trying to shovel snow and was spotted by a passerby collapsed between his vehicle and a snowbank. We arrive on scene to see PD doing compressions. Grabbed the O2 bag and AED, then looked back for my partner. He was still in the truck radioing the ambulance of patient status.

It was so cold our latex gloves actually cracked, but we worked him anyway. Attached AED and got no shock advised, so dropped a CombiTube and bagged him till PD needed swapped out on compressions.

Once ambulance arrived and we got him inside the rig, the were able to get pulses back and he actually was conscious enough to speak with them. PD went and informed his wife what was going on, and learned that he had gone out 30min earlier to shovel.

Unfortunately, he coded in the ICU later that night and passed.
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I'm nervous for when my first cardiac arrest happens, I think about it all the time and how I need to react.
 
Jim37F said:
In Torrance, now defunct Gerber Ambulance, stroke call at a SNF across the street from the hospital. We responded code 2 and had patient contact before TFD arrived, I remember them walking in and getting a basic report before entering the actual patient room and saying "Let's upgrade Gerber to Code 3" and we were like "already here". Only other thing I really remember was the patient was some sort of contact Isolation that we had to gown up, and that transport was all of 30 seconds lol. This was back in 2012 or so.
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I forgot about my VERY BRIEF time at Gerber. My actual first 911 call was for a septic pt out of a SNF. It’s funny looking back at some of those CA FD’s I worked alongside with. Torrance really believed setting them up a lock was a honor and a bag needed to be stripped in seconds...... and I used to believe it.
 
I forget my first 911 call, but first one off training was at Doctors as well. Was a chest pain if I remember correctly
 
As a fire explorer: miscarriage.
In EMT field training: SVT with synchronized cardioversion in the Costco food court.
As a paramedic intern: 14 year old tib/fib fracture during a soccer tournament.

No clue what my first calls were as a certified EMT or licensed Paramedic.
 
Mitchellmvhs said:
I'm nervous for when my first cardiac arrest happens, I think about it all the time and how I need to react.
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Cardiac arrests are fairly straightforward as an EMT. As a medic they are more involved but as an EMT it still boils down to the ABC's because realistically you can't do much more than any bystander can do.
 
Most clearly remembered. 1960's. No standing orders. All rescue actions only by physician orders over radio. Radio failure common. Man down, side of road, thrown from vehicle. No radio contact. Grab and run. Partially severed left leg, A bleed. About 10 minutes to hospital. Died en route. Ambulance, a retired Buick hearse, looked like it had been painted red inside. Blanket dripped a trail of blood into the ER.
 
I think some sort of psych issue that we running as overflow for Boston EMS. There were buckets of pee in the apartment and that's really all I remember, and that I had no idea what to do on psych calls.

Later when I started working in Colorado for a county service the first call of my first shift was for nausea/vomiting. I remember this only by the fact that I got an IV started in a moving ambulance despite not having attempted one in 18 months since the class. Following that I missed a great many IVs. 🤣
 
I've been an EMT for like 8 months and haven't had a 911 call or run hot. :/

I'll let you know.
 
RedBlanketRunner said:
Most clearly remembered. 1960's. No standing orders. All rescue actions only by physician orders over radio. Radio failure common. Man down, side of road, thrown from vehicle. No radio contact. Grab and run. Partially severed left leg, A bleed. About 10 minutes to hospital. Died en route. Ambulance, a retired Buick hearse, looked like it had been painted red inside. Blanket dripped a trail of blood into the ER.
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So which episode of Emergency did you crib this from?
 
I did my paramedic internship first before I worked as an EMT on a 911 unit. My first call as an intern was a lady complaining of abdominal pain. It was very early morning, the shift had started at 4 am, and she was still in her night gown. Right in front of me, she had diarrhea in her front room. It just came straight out onto the carpet with her family around her.
 
Fun topic. It was a MVC. Granny ran a light and t-boned a minivan. Nothing like starting off with an MCI (small town service). Nothing all too interesting but it was a great way to get thrown into the fire.

At the time we were all Primary Care Paramedics (Canada) so there was no higher level of care to call, or help out. I had a blast, once I realised I was not a student anymore.
 
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