A little while ago I had a small dose of what my future might be like. Nothing too serious, but still interesting... to me.
We used to talk in class about what would happen if we came across an accident while in our school uniforms, which (other than the shirt) look almost identical to what actual paramedics wear around here. We'd worry that everyone would look at us and we'd have to say, "Um, I didn't read that chapter yet! It's next week!". How bad would that look? Luckily we had covered this particular chapter. Just basic first-aid, really.
An older man had fallen outside the Mall. Probably about 65-70. Poor guy slipped on some ice and went face first into an icy snowbank. I was just getting off one of the payphones inside the door when a lady rushed in, gave me a quick double-take, saw the uniform, then said, "Come with me, a man fell on the ice!". I made a quick point of saying, "First of all, I'm just a student... but of course I'll have a look". He had cut himself up pretty bad. Across the forehead, top of the nose where his glasses rested, bottom of his chin was pretty bloody. It was the steady stream of blood from his nostril that worried me, though. No one there had a phone, but I begged and pleaded with him to let us call an ambulance. He wasn't having any of that. Just call his daughter, he said. No pain other than those cuts. I figured he must have broken his nose but it was stable, and there was no pain there, either. So I just bandaged him up with a first-aid kit someone had. Bleeding stopped, but still blood everywhere. Luckily I had some gloves in my pocket from school. Now I always carry at least a pair with me. People still laugh at school when, at the end of the day, I stop by the "glove-boxes" and fill my pockets. You never know.
If I didn't have any gloves with me I would have been terrified to get near this guy's face. That brings me to another thought: It's amazing how much safer and more confident you feel with just a thin layer of plastic over your hands. It's like they aren't your hands anymore. You're controlling them, but they aren't a part of your body. It's quite an impressive psychological effect. Whereas I'd normally hate to simply pick up a rotten grape with my bare hands, with those gloves on, I mean... well you probably wouldn't want to know.
So that little experience had quite an effect on me. Now when I walk home(when I have lots of time to daydream), it's all I think about. That middle-aged lady shoveling snow, what if she clutched her chest and hit the ground as I walked by? That kid in the middle of the cross-walk, what if the truck driver on his cell phone didn't see the red light? What would I do? Would I know what to do? At this point I'm pretty sure I could handle it, but still, that's what I think about.
Because you never know.
I can't wait to get paid to do this.
-AM
i go walking in your landscape
3 comments:
I got goosebumps while reading this. Cognitive thought is so fascinating! I walk from school quite a bit as well...run errands etc and have had the same type of thoughts. It's a mukluk of fear, anxiousness, and insecurity fueled by the desire to be brave and selfless (at least that's what I've boiled it down to lol). A friend of mine, who is a stellar martial astist, shared his personal tool of accomplishment with me. He plays mind games with himself...he lives parts of his days in a make-belief world of 'what-if's' and plays out every detail of this what-if in his mind. Every move is imagined. Conditioning!! It's sooo powerful. Okay, I'm done ranting lol. You're going to make a fabulous medic. :-}
Wow, thanks! And same to you!
Great comment, it's interesting that we're conditioning ourselves to always be prepared :) That's got to be worth some kind of sign-off..?!
Wow Adam...I had goosebumps too!
That was an intense story to read. Like I've said to you before, I could never imagine being a paramedic and being on call 24/7. But you can! You had to make quick judgements and you were amazing! I am so proud of you! I cannot even imagine what you were going through...
And Adam, I can totally relate to the daydreaming that goes on in your head while walking home from school or whatever. I have these "visions" (which is what I've called them since High School to poeple like Jodi and Nicole...they laugh of course) but not of other people's lives at risk...it's me that I envision getting hit by the transport truck. It's me that I see hitting the telephone poll when I'm driving. It's me that I see in the ambulance desperate to breathe... It's creepy Adam....
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