Comments on: Ten Reasons I Work In EMS

By: The EMT Spot » Did You Save Any Lives Today?

The EMT Spot » Did You Save Any Lives Today? — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:59:31 +0000

[...] 10 Reasons Why I work in EMS [...]

By: Brice

Brice — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:16:48 +0000

why do you work EMS

it is the people that is why not when you save some one it is when you go in that door and see the fear in there eyes and it comes right back at you and your like wow i am scared too. it is thows thank yous for doing your job i didnt start working ems for the glory it was for the PEOPLE

By: The EMT Spot » Litter Begets Litter

The EMT Spot » Litter Begets Litter — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:03:31 +0000

[...] Ten Reasons I Work In EMS [...]

By: Sean Fontaine

Sean Fontaine — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:15:10 +0000

Humbling-you will make mistakes, accept it. Scary-at times you will be scared, accept this too, but be scared on the inside, you’re paid to move towards the trouble not away from it and be calm while you’re doing you’re job (remember being calm means not yelling/people panic when others yell and when they panic their brains shut off), my worst calls were also the most quiet in the back of the ambulance (“never mistake movement for action”-Hemingway). Rewarding-what you can do for your patients and what you can learn from your patients/they’re great teachers. Plus a hug, smile, or a kind word from a patient can make you smile for days. Endless opportunities to learn-this goes back to humbling, when you feel the smartest get ready to learn a hard lesson, embrace learning as a constant during your career, once you think you know it all, its time to leave. Excellent opportunities to reach out to people who have no other viable avenue for a healthcare professional to listen to and help them. Perspective-you will see the world in a manner that few others will ever have the ability to see it/seemingly frozen in time (as in cardiac arrests) and you will realize that for most of us what can be perceived as tough times in our lives, is pretty slight in comparison to many of our patients. The people you come in contact with all leave their mark and you will be better for it if you allow yourself, that contact is powerful and addictive. Unfortunately, there is the fact that you will likely have some calls that you will never shake, never talk away or make complete peace with, you have to find a non-destructive manner to deal with this, I work through them over and over until I find some measure of resolution then they get buried (running helps immensely with this as well) and I remember my beautiful wife and two boys. All in all I don’t know what else I could wake up excited to do each day like I do my job. Looking forward to the unknown of each day, the learning, the conversations w/patients, working through differentials, treatments, and constantly moving forward. The pleasure and the pain of the job are yours alone and as difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t understand as it would be if you were justifying drinking mustard.
Thanks for putting this out there Steve because we really do have the best job and its good to remember why we love.

By: The EMT Spot » The June EMS Roundup

The EMT Spot » The June EMS Roundup — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:57:20 +0000

[...] Here When You're Ready To Head Back To The Home Page Previous Post: Ten Reasons I Work In EMS [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:33:47 +0000

The system I work in has several trucks that handle only routine transfers, a few trucks that handle emergency calls only, and one truck that does both. I currently work on the truck that does both. We gripe about being the busiest rig in the county, and handling all of the difficult calls that the transport only part of our service drops in our lap. Most people don’t last more than two years here before transfering to the 911 only side or quitting. Having been denied a recent transfer request I was feeling the disappointment of having to take a medium distance transfer late in a shift a few weeks back, it turned out to be one of the most memorable calls I’ve had recently. This was a routine transfer from a local hospital to an extended care facility. The patient had developed an infection in his right hand about a year ago. No point of origin had been found and he had spent nearly a year in the hospital undergoing painful wound care treatments attempting to scrape out the infection. The end result was the nearly total loss of function of his dominant hand. “Dave” had such a positive outlook on life despite what you or I would find to be a great excuse for self pity. Speaking with him about his life experience (he is in his late 70s), his family, and everyday life, I felt ashamed about how small the problems I often complain about truly were. I felt honored to be allowed to spend time with “Dave”, and realized that had my transfer request been granted, I’d never have met him.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of the human contact in this job. Even the most routine call can be a true learning experience. EMS is more than just treating acute medical needs. Sometimes, a patient can teach you more than you will ever learn in any classroom.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:16:00 +0000

To me EMS is like witnessing your own childs birth. Sure people can told or taught the procedures or told the details, see movies of it or even be in the room to be a friends coach, but when it’s yours and you experience it there’s really no way to describe it to someone who has never had that experience.

Why am I in EMS? For the human touch, the stories. Wether its a 90 year old telling you about the day he landed on beaches of Normandy, or 9 year old telling you how he had built that ramp for his bike himself, they’re facinating to me. The variables are endless not only in the type of calls we get but the people as well.

Albert Einstein said that he feared that our technology had surpassed our humanity. I think EMS is the one job in which that does not apply no matter what technological advances come along. There is no machine that can be the calm within the storm. That takes …well… us.

By: Walt

Walt — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:12:47 +0000

It’s about a number of things:

Challenge. It is never routine, and it is not always easy, but it is always interesting.

Variety. It’s always something different.

Education – of me. I always learn something new on every call I go on.

Most of all, it’s about the people. Everyone is different, and everyone has a story. And that is what makes it worth going to work every day.

By: Flo

Flo — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:38:19 +0000

Life at its rawest. Life at its most basic level.

Human interactions, emotions. Life on the road.

Philosophical, that midnight transfer, lazily staring out the window with the streetlight swooshing past.
Altruism, Nana needs a lift from the floor, the genuine thanks flowing from her mouth. Energy, the young bloke on drugs kicking and screaming, being restrained by 8 policemen.

And many more.

By: Timothy Clemans

Timothy Clemans — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:38:37 +0000

“Why do you work in EMS?”

There was an interesting section in ABC’s new documentary series “Boston Med” where an emergency medicine resident responded to a code in another unit. It was a disaster. 50 people showed up. The resident who was supposed to be leading stopped leading and tried to intubate. Which she failed. Not a good day.

That’s the very type of situation that interests me. That’s the very reason I’m interested in EMS. This whole notion of leadership in the street, in someone’s home, at 3am.

I just really like this idea of challenges that most people want to run away from. And on top of that there’s the reward of doing emergency care in your patients’ environments. You’re coding a 55 YOM in the presence of family photos. I’ll take that any-day over the ED.

I think another thing that has me interested in EMS is just how young the profession is. Because of how young it is there’s so many opportunities to go out and do things that haven’t been done before. It’s also neat that innovations in EMS are starting to change the way hospitals do business, see EMS Driving Hospital Care.