Your First Call

[oldschoolmedic]

My first as an emt was a brand-new, bright yellow, Porsche 911 Targa versus telephone pole at over 100 mph. Seems the gentleman in question declined to stop for the officers who wanted to speak with him, so he guns it. Well, that aggravated the boys in blue just a wee bit. They promptly gave chase down this two lane suburban road. One of the new officers had recently learned about this PIT maneuver thingy and was he itching to try it. He got his chance when the Porsche slowed to make a left hand turn. That little love tap (which was caught on dash cam) sent the Prsche spinning across the ditch until it hit the telephone pole, right on the driver's side door.

If you do not know what a Targa roof looks like, picture a T-top with no center bar. Now that places the driver's head right in the middle of the A post, and B post with nothing over it. When the car hit the pole it flipped up on its side, then dropped back on the ground. The guys head was crushed, he dented the pole with his melon. My partner, ever the smarta** told me to put the monitor on the guy, so I did. Upper leads went on fine, however when I put the LL lead on my hand slipped up inside the patient. He had apparently ripped open when his ribs hit the driver's side door with the window down. I told my chuckling partner that all of the leads were in place and he could run his strip and recover the leads (LL still inside the body) I was gonna start the paperwork.

All of this call was caused by a blown headlight, that's all he was gonna be stopped for. He would have gotten a "get it fixed repair ticket" and gone home.

As a paramedic, a dead guy who had been murdered and stuffed in a hide-a-bed by his ex-roommate. The roommate paid the rent out for a couple of months and skipped town. The body was found when the stench became overwhelming to the neighbors (which was saying a lot in that part of town).

After my first call I thought this was what every call would be like, boyohboy was I naive.

 

[ems38155]

Hmmm, I can't remember everything, but I think my first call was a few days after I turned 16. I joined the squad as soon as I turned 16. Um. A man was having difficulty breathing, we took him to the hospital and that was pretty much it. It was pretty simple.

 

[Sera]

hm well I'm not exactly a paramedic yet so this thread doesn't really apply to me.. but I do remember my 1st incident as a lifeguard.

I was instructing school board swimming lessons (you get some of the worst kids in those types of lessons..ugh) and at the end of each lessons I usually would give them 5minutes of free time (depending on how good they were or not which was pretty much never). Well one day two students from my class decided to sneak away and go down the waterslide together. By the time I saw them they were both half way down the slide one right behind the other. Sure enough when it comes time for them to stop, the one kid behind the kid smoked his face on the back of the kids head.. about 5 of his bottom teeth go right through his lip and a few of the top teeth are completely knocked out. I had never seen so much blood in my life and I just remember it smelling really... medally for lack of a better word. I had put gloves on when i went to do treatment but blood was just flowing down my forarms on to my suite =/ not very nice

another time (this one is shorter) a kid came up to me with a hand full of blood.. i asked him what happened.. he told me that he had bitten off his wart...:wacko: He then got offended when I put my gloves on to wrap it up.

 

[wyandoteastemt]

My first and almost my Last run

I run with a volunteer squad in a town of less than 900 people. So, obviously everyone knows everybody else. With in my first couple of days running, we were paged for a mvc. We get there and see a bystander doing CPR in the middle of the road. I am scared to death 1. My first run 2. my first car accident 3. not sure if i know this person. We take over CPR, load him and go. He is Combi-tubed. Suction the whole way to hospital because everytime his chest is compressed, blood shoots out the tube.
Worst part is he used to coach me in baseball and I now coached his girls in softball. His brother was pulling a tractor behind a truck. Our patient was on the tractor and when the chain was loosened-the truck jerked to hard. Tractor on patient-patient gone. I cried for weeks and still have nightmares. I thought that was the end of my EMT career-until later that week-we did CPR on a patient and he lived. Now, I still have the bug and can't stay home from any run!

It takes a special type of person to be able to see the things EMT's see every day and stick with it. Remember the ones you lose but remember the ones you save even more!!! :excl:

 

[TheDoll]

he told me that he had bitten off his wart....

oh, barf...

 

[RH3075]

My First Job

My first job [we call them jobs here in northern NJ, not calls] was an MVA, car versus telephone pole. The brand new infiniti, 300 miles on the odometer was split in half on a telephone pole. Drunk driver walks away from it, his girlfriend istrapped in the passanger compartment. FD is busy giving the pt the stare of life as they cut her out, and all the driver can do is ask me if I think his car is totalled. What a tool!! by the way, the front end of that car was 200 feet from the rear end, and the driver was unhurt, the passanger just a minor head lac...buy an infiniti it is built like a tank!!

 

[islandgal]

My first was a domestic violence call- man I hate those. Guy shoved his girlfriend down the stairs. Being the newbie- I get sent in the living room to look for her purse (the guy took off). The room is all windows looking to the back yard and all I can think is great, he'll sneak back through the back yard and I'm going to be shot rummaging around in the living room....

 

[CodeSurfer]

My first, and 4th and 19th and 28th and so on call...

My first call was a patient that I would later become very familiar with. Mister X (HIPAA) pulled out his foley about every 2-3 weeks, and I somehow always ended up on the call. I think my partner was enemies with at least one of the dispatchers.

I figure that it was probably a good first call to have because even after the water-wiggle type hemmorage, I still loved and do love my job.

 

[EMTBandit]

8 year old girl going into a seizure, it was like 30 degrees outside and snowing. I'll never forget it because I ripped my pants on my first call lol.

 

[wolfwyndd]

My first call was an MVA vs. telephone pole at about 100 mph. Actually, I'm not sure it was my first call, but it was on the first day so that's close enough. Two guys in this car were drunk and high as a kite (ETOH spilled all over the inside of the vehicle and I found out later that they tested one of the guys and he had just about every illegal substance in his system at the time of the crash). There were flying down the road, crossed another road through an intersection against the red light, missed two cars going through (thank goodness), but in the process of crossing the intersection became airborne. The road on the other side of the intersection turned just slightly to the left and there were telephone poles on the side of the road. They hit it about 4 ft. off the ground. Broke the telephone pole, which then proceeded to come down on the roof of the car. The driver wasn't quite decapitated, however, the human head, isn't designed to hinge backward and look out the rear window over top of the drivers seat. This drivers head was doing just that. Speculation was that since he wasn't wearing his seatbelt, he went UP when the telephone pole came DOWN. Passenger, surprisingly, survived. He was restrained, however he broke just about every bone in both his legs. Needless to say, we medivaced him. I believe he survived, but never heard to what extent though. I did hear later that HE was the owner of the car and was smart enough to realize he was too drunk and high to drive. He wasn't smart enough to realize his friend was also too drunk and high to drive too.

 

[JimH]

First Call

The first code 3 call I had was on my EMT ride along. I remember nothing about the patient, but I do remember the unit- it was a Superior Cadillac
high top with Schaefer's Ambulance.
The reason it was memorable was it was one of the Cadillacs used in the movie "Mother Jugs and Speed", and Schaefer's put it into service in the same paint as it appeared in the movie in. (Red, White, and Blue- they just installed Schaefer's roof signs)
It was the same unit Racquel Welch was shown evading LA Sheriffs in and later enjoying the sunset from the patient campartment. (unfortunatly the studio removed her before turning the unit over to Shcaefer's )

 

[Airwaygoddess]

Code 3 for chest pain, I was so nervous I could not remember how to turn on the lights and the poor medic took pity on me to help me do that! anyhow, halfway in route dispatch calls back stating pt is now a full code blue.
We get on scene (at a gas station/convince store) fire is already on scene doing CPR. I remember looking down at the patient, she was a little old lady that was 86 years old but weighted 200 lbs. Fire had gotten her out of the car before she coded. I was going to check her B.P. and my medic told me to "drop the cuff and start chest compressions!" So I started chest compressions, she was a load and go, the medic tubed her and gave her several rounds of drugs. I did chest compressions for 40 mintues straight and she was pronouced at the hospital by the time it was all said and done I had a good hard cry, and the next day boy did my arms and shoulders hurt! Needless to say I learned alot that day!!

 

[Epi-do]

I don't remember my first call, but there are a couple that really stick out in my mind.

The first one was a GSW. A couple kids were driving in their car, playing with a 9mm. The passenger accidentally shot the driver in the head. Aganol resps when we got on scene and you could still smell the gun powder on the air. No brain matter that we could find, so we had to work him. Pulled him out of the car, threw him in the back of our truck and by that time the medic had shown up on scene and jumped in back with us. The patient's name sounded really familiar to me, but I knew I didn't know him. Turns out a friend of mine had dated him and a second friend new him because his mom was friends with the patient's mom, so I probably heard the name in conversation. Needless to say, the guy didn't make it.

The second one that really stuck with me was a single car MVA where the driver was too druck to get hurt. He was unrestrained and ended up with only a lac on his forehead. It was pouring down rain. The only reason this one stuck with me was because when the guy's head hit the windshield, his ball cap got stuck in it. The bill and front part of the hat was sticking out the front of the windshield, getting soaked by the rain, and the back half of the hat was still in the passenger compartment. It looked like this guy had simply taken it off of his head and stuck it inside the windshield.

 

[PUHA]

First post.

First Call:

I hired on with a private AMB company (just recently actually), and my first call was a transport from medical center to SNF post Tx for hypothermia/bradycardia. She had lots of Hx, but the big one that jumped off the paper was DEMENTIA. Questions that went through my mind: What sets her off? Does she get violent? The answers: anything could set her off, she doesn't typically get violent. Cool. You might think this story is about how she gets violent in the back of the rig. Sorry to dissapoint you, its not. Transport was "uneventful", but I had the best time with this sweet lady. She reminded me of my grandma. She couldn't talk very loud, and she apologized profusely that she wasn't a conversationalist. After I finished my paperwork I told her old college stories, and where I was from and where I lived. She told me she lived in Kansas when she was in the 5th grade, so I told her about a girl I had a crush on when I was in the 5th grade and how I used to write little love letters to her (the check yes/no if you like me type). She got such a kick out of it. Apparently humor doesn't set off her dementia. ^_^ After we transferred her to her bed she asked if she would see us again. I said that I hoped so, and she agreed.

Routine transport, smiles all around.

 

[EMTLVFC4]

I don't really remember my first but I'll tell you about the first one I remember. It was January a couple years ago. I was still in class. It had snowed pretty good and we were expecting more. We got put out for the injured subject. We arrived to a 16yof standing in the mud room bathroom. She had been sleigh riding and hit something. She wasn't sure what it was so she walked back up the hill and into the house. What she found was about 10 inches of a 1/4 inch stick jammed into her groin. I took pity on her simply because I was the only female on the scene and she had like 5 guys looking at her crotch. In any case we flew her to shock trauma. He mom called us later that evening to inform us of her condition. She was doing well but the stick was impaled 14 inches into her and lacerated her femoral artery, bowel, and vaginal wall. She's doing well now. She stopped in a few weeks after the accident. No long term damage that anyone knows of.

 

[Tincanfireman]

My first-ever day of ride time I was assigned to one of the slowest stations in the county. The medics both apologized and told me that they were sorry I had been stuck there, especially on a Sunday. Within the next three hours we ran back to back cardiac arrests (one was a save, too). That afternoon, the lead medic told me he was going to tell my preceptor that I was no longer welcome at that station. I'm not sure that he ever carried through with it, but I never rode there again...

 

[sarahharter]

my first civilain call

i am in the usaf reserves. i had my first call ever as an emt there but the one that sticks in my head the most is went i went to a civilan ambulance. well that night i decided to run with my fire co. QRS because i wanted to see the difference between that and when i work on the ambulance. anyway, we get a call about midnight. all the dispatcher said was it was an unkown medical emergency. well needless to say i get on scene and the pt coworkers are doing CPR. I was like holy :censored::censored::censored::censored:! i froze for a moment until my medic kicked me in the *** and said hello what are you going to do. but i could not believe that the dispatcher didn't know that the guy was in full cardiac arrest or the caller didn't state it. so i never take for granted what county says anymore because i was preped for somethign simple but know i think the worst until i get on scene.

 

[94accord]

My first scene was not a call, however it was the first time I acted with my new training. I was travelling with my friends. 5 of us in all. 2 in my car (a 94 honda accord for those that did not make the connection), 2 others in my friends 2004 camero, and the last in a fixed up civic. Well I was in front, with the camero and the civic right behind me next to each other.



-----loooloooloool
-----loooloooloool
-----loooloxoloool
m-->loooloooloool
-----loyolozoloool

X: My car
Y: Camero
Z: Civic

M: MORON!!!

loool : lane of traffic
---- : just there to keep the diagram from messing up.

Well from the diagram I made (not to scale), you can see the position of the cars. Well Mr. M pulled out just as I was going by, and inbetween cars Y and Z. Missed me, X, by about a foot, missed Y by a few inches, and got T-Boned by Z. I pulled my e-brake in the middle of Rt 13s traffic and left a good 45 ft of tire on teh ground heading back. Car M was filled with kids no more than 17 in years. I did not think it was too bad off even considdering the speed, until I saw that one person from M had been ejected. That puckered my butthole real fast. Despite the 50 mph t-bone, and the ejection, everyone made it out ok, at least relatively. 3x code 3's, 1x code 2's, and 2x code 1's. Medivac from the middle of 13s. My friend that was driving the civic, car Z, was more concerned about the system in his car than if he, or anyone else was ok.

My first scene as an emt.... I saw it coming, I watched it happen, and I worked the scene. It was very hard not to hate the kids in the other car for nearly killing my friend, but I tried real hard to do my job. I was a wreck. It seemed that as soon as I jumped out of the car, I forgot everything I knew. Still haunts me a little... but I know in time, I will grow.

 

[VinBin]

-----loooloooloool
-----loooloooloool
-----loooloxoloool
m-->loooloooloool
-----loyolozoloool

X: My car
Y: Camero
Z: Civic

M: MORON!!!

loool : lane of traffic
---- : just there to keep the diagram from messing up.

Well from the diagram I made (not to scale), you can see the position of the cars.

heh...Not to scale, you don't say?

Anyway, thats one interesting first scenario...

 

[trauma1534]

My first EMS call ever ran was on an 8 year old (who happened to have grown up in my church at the time) who had cancer, and it was a code. What a way to start my career!