…that has little tiny numbers that tell me what the time is in the 24 hour clock. I’m so slow at figuring out times in military time and it’s becoming a problem - especially since my primary hobby operates entirely in military time.
I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my time working on ambulances. I’m pretty much okay handling anything. You see so much blood, guts and throw up that it stops bothering you after a while but one thing that really scares me is cardiac arrest.
Its one of the only types of calls that I’ve never handled yet. Tonight, I was doing my EMT homework which was some reading on cardiovascular and respiratory emergencies including cardiac arrest.
The textbook basically spells everything out and explains how to handle the situation, what to do, the signs to look for and the treatment so that you’re totally prepared for it. But think about how weird that is. The book is like “remain calm and refer to your mental flow guide to process the steps in order”.
Okay cool, so this guy just stops breathing and their heart stops and you have screaming kids and family members saying “HELP HIM” and he’s gasping for breath or shaking or seizing and you’re supposed to just nonchalantly put them on the ground start pumping their chest and hook up an AED like it’s nothing. And while that’s happening, you got other people running around hooking up tubes and slipping IV tubes in their arms and pushing air into their lungs and trying to get moving as quickly as possible.
I guess experience will make it easier, but I know the first one is going to be rough.
In New York State, among other places, volunteer fire and EMS personnel are given what is called a “courtesy light” that is either red, blue, green, amber or white (depending on your state’s rules and regulations on emergency vehicles). While this light does not entitle the vehicle to the same legal privileges as an emergency vehicle (i.e, you’re not legally required by law to pull over), the purpose is the same.
So please, if you see an EMT or fireman rushing somewhere with a flashing light in their vehicle, pull over. Think of it this way, when you’re in trouble and you need an ambulance, it doesn’t matter how fast the ambulance can get there if it doesn’t have people to drive it and to take care of you when it arrives.
So many times, people just ignore my light and keep driving. I usually assume they don’t know what it means, but it pisses me off. Today, this one lady not only would not yield the right of way to me, she drove below the speed limit while talking on her phone.
If you’re going to call 911 and say there’s an emergency, it’s probably a good idea to know what the problem is.
Page Sent Out:
“You’re responding 12-D-2 to an unknown age infant with unknown problem somewhere on [road removed] road. Units responding call Medcom.”
Translation:
Delta, is a high level serious response. The 2 stands for “Life Status Questionable”, meaning there was an infant somewhere dying.
Actual Problem:
Some woman hit a little dog or squirrel and some lady passed by and thought she hit a baby. A baby just wandering around on a county road. In a thunderstorm.
Michael Jackson’s 911 Call (via TMZ)
Being an emergency dispatcher myself, I know that this is the scariest kind of call to receive. The person on the phone is so worried that they just don’t even realize that while he’s asking all those seemingly unnecessary questions, he’s also dispatching ambulances, fire trucks and emergency personnel to the scene and just keeping the caller on the phone in case the situation gets worse.
