Week 10: Last Call
Sofia R -
Hello.
This project has finally come to an end, and now I get to bunker down and practice my presentation. My presentation is May 9th at 5 pm at BASIS Prescott. I will be making a final product which is a pamphlet which explains when to call 911 as well as examples of different calls. This experience has been one of the most rewarding and interesting things I have ever done, and I am so grateful to Prescott Fire Department for letting me do this. As I continue on my journey learning more about medicine, I plan on getting my EMT certification and I am confident that this project will not only help me excel in my studies but allow me to better work with patients. From different firefighters, I have learned compassion and lightheartedness, as well as calming techniques for patients.
This last week, I only ran a few calls. One that stuck out was a middle-aged male who called for breathing issues. When we entered his home, he was wheezing so hard that he was not able to catch his breath. After starting off with listening to lung sounds, the medics immediately started him on a breathing treatment, and we took him to the hospital. For this call, the captain and I rode in on the ambulance to assist the ambulance medic in case the patient’s condition worsened. When they started an IV on him, I started talking to him and learned his story. He was a recovering addict who was grateful for receiving help from different medical providers and therapists. He told me that he missed his kids and wanted to see them. Every patient has a story, whether big or small, sad or happy. This project has let me see many different personalities and people from very different backgrounds.
I believe that it is important to remember the humanity within medicine. Many providers have become distant or impersonal because of the tragedies they have seen. I challenge myself to overcome that if I develop the same walls, because a patient’s story can be important in their treatment plan, prognosis, and mental wellbeing.
Overall, this project has not only taught me how to interact with patients, but I have also come to understand most treatments in EMS. I got to explore my personal interest of how to treat symptoms and have seen some very interesting things. I learned about how to assist a patient who can’t breathe, how to stabilize injured extremities, what drugs are used for, how different cardiac rhythms can mean different issues, and how anxiety can have physical manifestations. I saw what options there are for care of older populations and the cons of assisted living, whether in the patient’s home or at a facility. I learned that there are issues with the emergency medicine system, as well as with other systems.
My project might be ending, but I will forever have lessons learned from this experience that I can hopefully use as I further my career in medicine.
Thank you, Prescott Fire.
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