I've been watching this TV show called Nightwatch. by 1KIKI

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

I've been watching this TV show called Nightwatch.

POSTED BY: 1KIKI
UPDATED: Monday, September 13, 2021 01:13
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Monday, September 13, 2021 12:26 AM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

I've been watching this TV show called Nightwatch. And it's about emergency responders - police, fire, and EMS but mostly EMS - on the 20:00 to 04:00 shift, mostly in New Orleans, but sometimes elsewhere like Tampa or Dallas. And I've been somewhat interested to see what today's EMS is like compared to the EMS of my day.

So today a couple of the EMS crews were taking a retrospective on the first season, and talking about their jobs.

My EMT scope was very different from theirs. We were taught how to use advanced medical equipment like airways and femur traction devices, pop out a windshield or other window and the logistics of getting a person in a car on a spineboard and in a collar and getting them out of a wrecked vehicle safely, how to do a fireman's carry or drag, how to remove someone from electrocution, and so forth - rescue was very much part of my training. But it's not at all part of theirs. But with my training, aside from starting an IV to keep a line open, and administering epinephrine for anaphylaxis or a few other other common meds and treatments (like glucose), administering medicines was strictly for hospital personnel. But while the people today have to call in to get approval for some treatments, they can administer a significant number of medicines on their own.

One thing stayed the same: in a multiple victim scene, the first to arrive does triage, counting victims, honchoing priorities by making the same rough cuts we were taught: dead or irretrievable lowest priority, walking wounded next lowest, highest priority are people for whom immediate care will make a difference. The first on scene literally directs everyone else - who, where, what to do. And the person who arrives first and triages stays in charge till all victims (literally counted and accounted for) are dispatched.

One of the things the crews talked about was the level of people who experienced "senseless violence", especially on the night shift, and how it was different from dealing with people who were having medical emergencies or who'd suffered accidental trauma. When I was going through training, I asked the instructor - how many were medical, how many were accidental trauma, and how many were violence - and the instructor said about half were victims of violence. I don't know why it made enough of a difference to me to ask, but it did. Watching the show, I was interested to find out it also makes a difference to well-experienced EMS.

They also expressed that though everyone does their best to 'compartmentalize' what they experience, "there are doors we just don't open". In a previous job I'd seen literally hundreds of people die. And yeah - there are some things you just don't talk about - except maybe rarely, with other people who've been there, done that.

They talked about how non-stop physical the job is. It was in my day, too.

They talked about how quickly many people burn out. They did in my day, too.

Anyway, there were other things they talked about that got my interest. I enjoyed getting new perspectives. And it did reaffirm my decision to not make EMS a full-time permanent job. All in all, it was nice to check out the current state of EMS work, and to hear people talk about their experiences, and to compare their perspectives to my own.

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Monday, September 13, 2021 1:13 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I'm a nosy sort of person, as dear daughter will tell you! So thanks for the insight in your former life.

Seeing hundreds of people die... that's got to leave a mark. Most people maybe see one or two ... their parents or grandparents possibly, altho most people die away from the family. I think people aren't familiar enough with birth and death. They're part of life, aren't they?

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

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