A chance in a lifetime
By Staff
Melissa Cason
This week I had an unusual experience. I spent a portion of my Saturday with the employees at a local paramedic service. The purpose of me hanging out with them was to see what they do everyday. While I was there, nothing really extraordinary happened but I was able to go on a call with them.
While I cannot divulge specific information about where we went and who was treated, I can say that riding in an ambulance on the way to a call was an experience.
I sat in the back and began to get quite nervous, watching the road as we quickly sped around curves.
I began to get really worried as we passed cars left and right.
Once we got to the patient and loaded them up, the ride to the hospital was a little smoother.
As we rode to the hospital, the paramedic checked the patient's vital signs and began recording other important information in order to give the hospital accurate stats.
I'll be honest, I never really gave much thought to what paramedics and EMTs really do. I always thought they just gave you a ride to the hospital when you couldn't get there alone.
I wish I could say that I have never been a patient of a paramedic but I cannot. When I was about eight months pregnant with Cameron (my youngest child), Jimmy, Jordan and I were involved in a car accident. The paramedics came and loaded me up. They put all this very uncomfortable stuff on me, like a neck collar and a backboard.
The ride to the hospital was very uncomfortable, especially when I began having contractions on the way. Once I got to the hospital, nurses and doctors surrounded me. I wasn't really hurt, just banged up a little and trying to have a baby on them.
Needless to say, I had to have a ton of x-rays before the let me off the backboard.
In the end, my contractions stopped and I had a healthy baby boy two months later.
Even though I lived through the experience, I don't really remember a lot about my paramedic who took care of me. All I really remember is the paramedic asking if I was okay, and helping me time my contractions.
I bet he was really glad to drop me off at the hospital.
It wasn't until I did my little ride along that I realized what paramedics do, even though I was once a patient.
There was only one call while I was visiting the paramedic service.
The rest of the time was really quite boring. I did, however, get to watch a few movies to help pass the time.
Thanks to my EMS friends who let me tag along. You know who you are.
