Charge-shock-Change

The two ems workers had been partners for about five months, and had become close friends through it. they had shared many calls together good and bad. That afternoon, they were posted on one of the many random street corners that thier company covered. The two were engaged in conversation, laughing as they usely did when the 911 call was dispatched. She quickly grabebd the map book to find the location of the call as he geared the engine into drive and turned the orange amber lights on. she told him how to get to the call and then threw the map book back onto the ambulance dashboard. The 911 call was for chest pain. a typ of call that she had responded to many times in her first five months as a brand new paramedic.
With in a few minutes the two were approuching the street, they saw the fire engine parked by a dirt lot and the three firemen huddled around a man sitting on a random cemet block. From what she could see as they parked. The man was middle aged and he was slupted over clutching his chest. The fire depot had the patient on thier cardiac moniter. One fireman was starting an iv, one was getting the patients blood pressure while the captian was asking questions to the responsive patient.
The two jumped from thier ambulance and pulled out thier gurney. As they approuched the four men they saw the patient all of a sudden go completely unresponsive and start to fall over. The fire medic caught the patient as they two wheeled their gurney over quickly to load him. She turned to the fire medic and asked him what he got so far as they placed the gurney seat belts on the patient and lifted the gurney. The fire medic informed her that the patient had been complaining of chest pain and that the collapse ca,e with out signs. They quickly loaded the patient and jumped in. She yelled to her emt partner to head code three to their closest hospital. Within seconds the two fire medics and her felt the gurking of the unit and heard the familiar sirens. The fire captian sat in the jump seat above the patient's head and was bagging the patient, who at this point has stopped breathing. The fire medic sat in the bend and began re-establishing his iv.
'he isnt breathimg" the captian yelled.
'What do we have on the moniter." she asked as she read justed its screne. the normal cardiac rythm was replaced with a rapid heart beat. ( ventricular tachycardia) she reached down and felt his rapid pulse. With sweat from the heat of the dat rolling hown her forehead she truned to the fire medic and stated.
"V-tach with pulsess, dude we got to cardiover him." the fire medic took a quick look at the moniter.
"right." he said as he reached over and adjusted the moniter. She quickly pulled out the defib pads and stuck them on the patient's chest.
"All you after you clear us." he told her.
"Okay, clearing, you guys all clear? Here we go." she yelled.
"clear!" came the response of the two firefighters. She reached out and pressed the charge buttom. the sound of the power charging up sounded like a bomb about to expload. It reached its full charge point and started alarming.
"Clear, we all clear?" she yelled again.
"Clear!" they all moved as far away from the gruney as they could in the small ambulance.
She reached a pressed the shock bottun.

cardioversion: is a bolt of electricity that camptures a rapid heart beat and shocks it. Its goal is to stop the rapid beating with electricity and re-start the heart

The patient few up a few inches from the gurney.
patient: went from not breathing, completely unresponsive, rapid heart rate to sitting up and yelling "where am I? where am I?"

The fire medic turned to look at the five month paramedic and said, "I think we just saved his life." the paramedic's mouth went from wide open to a smile of hope. "ya i think we did." the two stared at each other for a second before doing a victory statement through a high five. They felt the ambulance come to a stop in the ER bay. The emt opened the back doors to to stare at his partner.
"Good job." he yelled with a smile. With in a few minutes the patient was in a hopsital bed surrounded by a doctor and many nurses.
The two paramedics talked as they did their paerpwork side by side. They laughed as they leaned on the counter and cheered as they told the story to those around them. This call would be the begining of a close , trustful working relationship between the new medic and the emperinced firefighter. Before he left to two of them walked over to the patient who stated that he did not remember anything that happend and asked who they were. The firefighter paramedic informed him of everything.
"So you two saved my life?"
"Yeah looks liek it."
"Thank you two so much." after hand shakes all around the fire medic turned to her, "See ya on the next one." he said with a wink.
"Of coarse." she said back with a smile. She walked back over to the counter and finished the last of her paperwork. She took a glace back at the middle aged man who now sat comformtably in the bed watching the busy ER. He was alive, only by a shock of electricity that touched His heart.

What do you let touch your heart? who do you let touch your heart? I heard a man once say "That God is the only one who we are supposed to let touch our hearts." see we were all created with a void in our hearts that only God can fullfill. yes God created us to have relationships with other: human contact. But he is the founder of relationship and the only one that can fill that void in our hearts. He is like a cardiac moniter, captureing your every heart beat in His heart, and when he sees your heart beating unsafely fast, sees you on the road to enternal death He desires to reach out and touch you; shock you with electriciy and re-start your heart anew.
If you have never felt God's touch dont wait too late, cause choosing weather you want God to cardovert your heart or not will be choosing between death and eternal life. Let Him restart your heart for Him while you are living and re-start your heart for eternal life with Him, where there is no death.

"My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." - paslm 73:26

I remember leaving that ER and thinking to myself 'I actuely saved that man's life.' I will never forget that call, seeing someone on the brink of death and living after a bolt of elctricity....let God cardovert your heart and change your life forever...may your heart beat to the rythm of His....

blood, sweat, tears and loss

the call came out as a bike down. she has heard this typ of call go out plently of times but now she was the one that sat in the paramedic seat, she was the one who had to be incharge, whom the liability fell on..nerviousness raced through her heart. This being only her fifth call as a brand new paramedic, this 24 year old's heart pounded to the rythm of the sirens. she grabbed the map book and directed her second day emt partner in. The two raced throught the busy city. With the hour late, the sun had already fallen. The ambulances amber lights danced off of the buildings with beautiful colores.
as they pulled up to the scene the fire department was already on assessing. The captian waved us into the choas of fire engines, police cars and scared bystanders. her partner rolled his window down to talk to the captian.
"This one is dead, if ya have a blanket i can cover him with, that would be great. The other one over there with my medic will be transported." he directed us. The sight of the dead victom made her heart skip a beat. A young teenager laying on the pavement with his head snapped the other way, obvious signs of death. The two pulled thier ambulance closer to the other victim. she directed her emt partnern to get a blanket for the captian as she pulled her glooves on. she grabbed a back board from the back of her ambulance and joined the fire department on the pavement.
There layed a young kid, later he was found to be the age of 15. The boy was combative yelling and screaming in his altered state. The fire department was trying to calm him down. she placed the board next to the kid and looked into the eyes of the older medic onscene. He was holding the boys head still, he looked up into her nervious eyes with urgences and gave his quik report.
"young kid was riding his bike with the other one," he gestured with a knod to the young boy who was being covered with a blanket. "Sounds like they both got hit by another car. rate of speed approx 30-40 mph. his scull is pretty cracked and he has a hole in the back of his head, I can feel his brain." she reached over and palpated the rest of his body, all the other bones were stable. They loeaded him on the backboard and with the help of her partner and the fire dpartment they starpped him down and placed him in the back of the ambulance. in no time they were going lights and sirens to the closest pediatric trauma center.
The young kid fought the whole way. screaming and shouting out in his altered mentation. The older fire paramedic rode in with her and together they assessed and treated. as she held one of his arms down so the fire medic could get iv accesst, she started down at the young kid, he yelled as blood spilled here and there form the back of his head. after they secured the iv access the fire medic looked up at the young girl.
"You new? never seen you out her before?" she looked back at him with an expressions of hope.
"I have been with with company for a few years. but brand new paramedic, its my second shift today..that shows i bet." she admitted. He looked back at her with a smile of encouragement.
"really? for your second shift you are doing ana amazing job. i am impressed."
"thank you." came her reply as they pulled into the trauma center. with in minutes the crew unloaded the fighting patient, took him in, handed him over after a report and walked to the break room to do paperwork. Her partner caught her before she walked into the room .
'you okay?" he asked in a senser tone.
"ya."
"he is gonna have alot of brain damage isnt he?"
"ya..it happends..you know, " she said. "after this call i think we are officialy partners." she said giving him a punch in the arm and a comfortable smile. They next 40 minutes were taken up with decon of the ambulance, paperwork, answering quetions form the doctors, and chatting about the call. before the fire medic departed he looked at the new medic.
"Good job, keep it up... you will be fine out there."
"thnak you." she said as he walked form the break room.

That call started a series of a strong partnership and friedship with her emt partner, a strong friendship and repect between her and the fire crew she ran with, a strong repore with the hospital staff, and tough skin to face the rest of her career. She took a deep breath as she finished her paperwork.
The words from the experienced fire parameidc stuck in her mind, encouraged her and reminded her once agian that God had called her to this and that He was in control.

thank you Lord for all your strength and endurance as i step out and follow you!! be with my mind, my heart, my skills, my hands as i continue to help those in need and offer an empathetic heart. when times get hard may i be reminded of your faithfulness, grace, love, and hope for all humanity.

it has almost been a year since i ran that call, but i will never forget it!

Life is too short not to trust God, too short not to surrender to Him and allow Him to lead your life, cause if you dont you are gonna miss life all together

life is full of blood, sweat, tears and loss; but throught that comes redemption, accomplishment, joy and hope...

"For You are my hope, O Lord God, You are the trust from my youth." -psalm 71:5

2010 gone but not forgotten

2010: learned how to be a paramedic on my own
worked with am amazing emt for my first couple of months
learned how to teach other emts
gained new friends and work buddies
gained a new best friend
moved out on my own
had a pediatic full arest save
took a road trip and and hit eight states in that process
was a bridemaid for a close friend
had a unresponsive,apnec, vt with pulses come back after cardioversion
amazing trip to belize
tougth three emt skill classes
Dancing!!
found out my sister-in law was preganant
first time to vagus
got to work with many emts
found out my sister in pregnant
a thanksgiving full of family and friends at the main
got a close friend as my permanent emt partner
spend three days with my best friend from georgia
on my 25th birthday caught a STEMI that i deverted to LLUMC
christmas with my family and friends!!
NYE: 15 calls but enjoyed seeing all mybuddies form work and at the hosptals

Jan 1, 2011: sitting in my warm bed drinking an orange wheat

Prasie the Lord for His MANY blessings this year!!!!! Lord may this next year be full of blessing, fun, adventure, tears, sweat, blood..may it be full of life and may we not forget the reason, the value and the importance of life!!!

"trust in Him" psalm 37:5

i love ya Lord!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!!