The EMT Spot » geriatric care

The Greatest Generation

A Guest Post By: Matthew Bergland

Matthew is a street paramedic from Colorado Springs, Colorado. I first met Matt well over a decade ago when he was an EMT for Pridemark Paramedic Services. Today he is a flight medic for Memorial Star Helicopter and also works with American Medical Response. I think Matt’s story deserves a place in “The Big Get It” category here at the spot.

In this piece Matt expresses the frustrations that many of us working in EMS feel each day, as well as an insightful revelation about the value of human beings and the meaning of service.

The Greatest Generation

I have been in EMS for fifteen years. I say this not to evoke in the reader some undeserved sense of awe in my longevity, rather to illustrate the depth of my ability to be exceedingly grumpy and “burned out” when it comes to the more routine aspects of pre-hospital EMS. To expand on this sentiment I’ll provide you with what is, most likely, a common thread throughout our industry.

I work long hours and I am expected to stay past my off time should the EMS system be busy. The pay is less than glamorous and I am routinely forced to sacrifice time with my family to spend time at work to make ends meet. Many times it is very difficult to even eat because we are so busy. To add insult to injury the lion’s shares of my “emergency” patients are drunks, psychs, sore throats and headaches. That being said, I also routinely stand witness to people that have been devastated by illness or injury and the impact that it has on their families.

Many people take advantage of the fact that we provide the care we do. They have no room in their criticisms for the understanding of our sacrifices and the constant training and hardship that we endure to bring our skill to their side. The expectation of those that we serve is, many times, far too high. When you fall short of those unreasonable expectations people tend to take it out on you in a personal manner. We all endure these high prices for our commitment to humanity.

It is easy to become cynical by these long hours and lack of sleep, food, family contact and human suffering. The sound of ambulance tones indicating another call no longer excites me. It merely means more work, less sleep and the potential to take on more of other people’s problems or misery. Many times it means another assault or traffic accident. Often it’s another gang banger that has been shot or stabbed. But more often it is a nursing home patient. It is with this patient population that I have found myself becoming very frustrated at the prospect of another sick, elderly person and have struggled, at times, shore up my compassion so as not to inadvertently treat these patients from the context of that frustration.