Whats your most "rewarding" experience in EMS?

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What are some of the most rewarding experiences you have had in EMS to date?
 
Snatching a single homeless mom and her kids out of the reach of arresting officers. She'd been in a fight with her boyfriend, motel manager called police, she had reached the end of her rope and started to go off on them...I slid in, looked quickly at her arm, put a sling on her as I walked her and the kids to the ambulance and dropped them off outside the local ER. Kids were clean and well-fed, had ok clothes, so no regrets.
Medically in PEMS... a few.
 
When little kids come up to the ambulance and want to play with the siren/lights and take pictures.

2 weeks ago we had a family who adopted a special needs child who loves ambulances. They were driving for 2 hours around town trying to find an ambulance when they finally found us.
 
So far for me was a simple thank you from a pt that we transported while I was doing my clinicals.
 
saskvolunteer said:
Going home on time.
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How about going home in general. Same with your partner/ buddy/ crew/ department.
I could care less if I'm ten minutes late or an hour late.
 
Patient in severe anaphylaxsis. Got to the point where patient lost ability to make any sound. Gave an epi-pen enroute to ER, effects reversed and patient was able to breathe again. Never been so scared for a patient in my life. He went downhill much faster than I expected. After completing my report I went and checked on him. He was much better and thanked me.

Female patient with decreased level of consciousness. Patient was elderly and last seen normal 3 hours prior to our arrival. No symptoms of CVA. Fire was no help in determining what was going on. I questioned family and found out son had hx of diabetes though she did not. I started thinking Hypoglycemia. Rush her to ER and gave my report to MD. MD came and got me a few minutes later and took me in the room where my patient was. My patient was smiling and happy as a clam. My "diagnosis" was correct and it was hypoglycemia. Her BGL was in the teen's. Got a huge atta boy from the doctor for that.

Father of little girl who suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her with permanent mental retardation. Taking patient to Childrens for further care. Patient began vomiting enroute and could not maintain her own airway. I suctioned and cleaned her up best I could. The father, a former medic, thanked me for my profesionalism in treating his daughter. Sad call.

Those are probably my proudest moments thus far in my young career.
 
I practice the art of compassion. I always reassure patients and family that they did the right thing by calling us. I am gentle in handling and talking to people. I am gracious and understanding of the odd and frightening circumstances people find themselves in. I help people laugh even when they are hurting, or at least try to take their mind off of the pain.

The gratitude and infrequent 'thank yous' I get from my patients is what keeps me going.
 
Relieving a pediatric asthma attack.
 
I really love bringing calm to chaos. It's what keeps me going. I heard a rumor about myself, third hand, that really made my day. One of my coworkers said, "I like working with Dana because it seems like the emergency is over whenever she gets there. No drama."
 
Doing it again tomorrow.

(I have had people tell me they really like working with me because s**t always hits the fan when I am around.)

Beware of people who are always good at getting out of trouble. Because they have spent a lot of time in it.
 
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Clearing an airway obstruction (rice krispie bar) out of my 2yo cousin at a family get together.. He was losing consciousness, going limp and turning cyan by the time I got across the yard. It felt great because it was someone that I love.

His mom had called out to *ME* for help when he was choking..

I know it's easy-peasy basic first aid, but to have the mom call out my name when she was scared just makes it feel different. I have people that trust me, and turn to me. And watching that slimy thing come out of a face that I've kissed on and nuzzled before felt so good...
 
Finishing a meal without tones interrupting it. Rare.

But in all seriousness, being told a sincere "thank you" by a patient that had a very simple c/c is always nice. It's nice when kids look up to you too
 
Holding an elderly deaf woman's hand and staying by her bedside for a while at the E.R because she thought she was dying and didn't want to be by herself and her loser son wouldn't leave work to be with her. And YES, he could have left if he wanted.
 
17yo M who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He got stabbed in the chest, L 7th intercostal at the midaxillary. Tension pneumo. Then he got dragged through a broken car window. We found him bleeding out in his poor mother's lap after he dragged himself a block home. We were the first unit in, BLS, and ALS was delayed. We packaged him and intercepted. He immediately got darted with a positive release of pressure and we hauled *** to the trauma center.

Fast forward one year...

I was doing my daily rig check when the supervisor barks out that we have a student that day to get his ride along hours. Lo and behold it was the same kid. Made a full recovery and was getting his EMT cert to come work for us. Coolest thing ever.
 
Sleep depravation, dirty boots, dirty clothes, and smelling like crap at the end of my shift.
 
U2623 said:
17yo M who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He got stabbed in the chest, L 7th intercostal at the midaxillary. Tension pneumo. Then he got dragged through a broken car window. We found him bleeding out in his poor mother's lap after he dragged himself a block home. We were the first unit in, BLS, and ALS was delayed. We packaged him and intercepted. He immediately got darted with a positive release of pressure and we hauled *** to the trauma center.

Fast forward one year...

I was doing my daily rig check when the supervisor barks out that we have a student that day to get his ride along hours. Lo and behold it was the same kid. Made a full recovery and was getting his EMT cert to come work for us. Coolest thing ever.
Click to expand...

*gasp*

That's a great story..
 
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