Frank's First Day at Medic 12
Doe Painting
Web Source: Daily Paintings
It is 0700 and time for shift change.
James arrives at Medic 12's station with an uneasy feeling this
morning. Medic 12 is a busy station, with a very unusual demographic.
However, that is not what is making James uneasy this morning. Today
will be James' first day with his new partner. His new partner, Frank,
is fresh out of the
training academy and has been assigned to James for field training.
There are always some growing pains with new recruits and chances are
this will not
be any different. James, on the other hand, has been a medic for
several years and is one
of the company's Field Training Officers (FTO), so training new medics
is nothing new for him. However, this will be James' first recruit
since being
assigned to Medic 12.
Once Frank arrives, the usual general introductions take place and James gives him a brief tour of the station and the ambulance. The morning unit check is completed to make sure that all the necessary equipment is properly working and clean. After the morning unit check, the medics eat breakfast and then clean the ambulance and do a few station chores. Suddenly, station tones interrupt the last of their daily chores:
*** BEEP.....BEEP.....BEEP*** "Medic 12 respond 5419 East Elm Street for the traumatic injury. Medic 12 respond 5419 East Elm Street for the traumatic injury. Time out 1018."
James and Frank drop what they are doing and head for the ambulance. Within a minute they are pulling out of the station bay.
James grabs the radio, "Medic 12 responding". The lights and sirens are on as the ambulance weaves its way through traffic, headed for the given address. During their roughly six-minute response, James tries to prepare Frank for the patient population found in this part of the district. James says, "Now you understand these patients are different then anything you learned in school. Most of these patients are talking animals."
"Talking animals!?" Frank replied. "I don't know how to treat talking animals!"
"Sure you do. Just treat them like you would any other patient. You'll be fine!" replied James. Although, in the back of his mind James knows this call is going to be rough. It is always difficult for medics to adjust to treating patients in this crazy district. As the ambulance pulls up to the scene and stops, James again grabs the radio, "Medic 12 on scene." It is now time for James to see how the newbie handles himself.
They both exit the ambulance and see several police cars at the scene, along with a large crowd gathered around the side of the house. "Must be over there!" says Frank. They gather a few pieces of equipment from the ambulance and head towards the crowd. As they approach the crowd, they are met by a police officer who says, "She is hurt pretty bad. We have the suspect in custody. She is around back in the shed."
Frank and James approach the patient, who is lying on her side in a small shed. The patient is a mid-sized doe. It is immediately obvious that she is significantly injured. She has several lacerations and is surrounded by a large pool of blood. James tells Frank, "Well, get in there and start treating her!"
Frank approaches the patient and asks, "Ma'am, can you hear me?" Frank is trembling like a leaf as he gently shakes the patient. The patient only moans. Frank begins to assess her injuries, but looks at James with a sort of 'where do I go from here' expression on his face.
James calmly says, "Control what bleeding you can and we'll get her loaded." As James kneels down to help, he asks a nearby officer, "So what happened here?"
The officer replies, "We were called out for a possible assault. The neighbors called and said there was a lot of yelling coming from this shed. When we arrived on scene, we found a male lion attacking this young lady. He was taken into custody and we called you guys."
James asks, "Any idea why he was attacking her?"
The officer replies, "No, all we know from the bystanders is that she was arguing with someone down the street. She was seen running down the street and into this yard. Then they heard a lot of yelling."
As James and Frank are attempting to control the bleeding from the patient's multiple lacerations, the patient says to them, "I am an idiot! I was running from one threat, and ran right into this lion!"
The severe bleeding is controlled, and the patient is moved to a stretcher for transport. Frank works quickly to start IV's, while James places the patient on oxygen and attaches the cardiac monitor. The cot is loaded into the ambulance and Frank gets in the back to treat the patient during transport. James drives as the patient is rapidly transported to Mother Healing Trauma Center for surgery.
During transport to the emergency department, Frank asks the patient, "Who were you running from?"
The patient weakly answers, "There was a guy wearing a bright orange vest. I thought he was a hunter."
The patient is delivered to the emergency department alive. Frank gives a report of the events to the awaiting trauma physician. After transferring care of the patient to the emergency department staff, both medics begin cleaning their equipment and preparing to return to service.
As they are cleaning James asks Frank, "Well, how do you think that went?"
Franks answers, "I felt like I had no idea what to do! I was not prepared to take care of talking animals."
James says, "You have a lot of things to work on, but you will get the hang of it. You ready to head back to the station?"
Franks replies, "Ready when you are. Maybe on the way back you can explain a few things about this district."
Smiling James says, "OK, not a problem."
Frank grabs the radio, "Medic 12 in service, returning to district"
Once Frank arrives, the usual general introductions take place and James gives him a brief tour of the station and the ambulance. The morning unit check is completed to make sure that all the necessary equipment is properly working and clean. After the morning unit check, the medics eat breakfast and then clean the ambulance and do a few station chores. Suddenly, station tones interrupt the last of their daily chores:
*** BEEP.....BEEP.....BEEP*** "Medic 12 respond 5419 East Elm Street for the traumatic injury. Medic 12 respond 5419 East Elm Street for the traumatic injury. Time out 1018."
James and Frank drop what they are doing and head for the ambulance. Within a minute they are pulling out of the station bay.
James grabs the radio, "Medic 12 responding". The lights and sirens are on as the ambulance weaves its way through traffic, headed for the given address. During their roughly six-minute response, James tries to prepare Frank for the patient population found in this part of the district. James says, "Now you understand these patients are different then anything you learned in school. Most of these patients are talking animals."
"Talking animals!?" Frank replied. "I don't know how to treat talking animals!"
"Sure you do. Just treat them like you would any other patient. You'll be fine!" replied James. Although, in the back of his mind James knows this call is going to be rough. It is always difficult for medics to adjust to treating patients in this crazy district. As the ambulance pulls up to the scene and stops, James again grabs the radio, "Medic 12 on scene." It is now time for James to see how the newbie handles himself.
They both exit the ambulance and see several police cars at the scene, along with a large crowd gathered around the side of the house. "Must be over there!" says Frank. They gather a few pieces of equipment from the ambulance and head towards the crowd. As they approach the crowd, they are met by a police officer who says, "She is hurt pretty bad. We have the suspect in custody. She is around back in the shed."
Frank and James approach the patient, who is lying on her side in a small shed. The patient is a mid-sized doe. It is immediately obvious that she is significantly injured. She has several lacerations and is surrounded by a large pool of blood. James tells Frank, "Well, get in there and start treating her!"
Frank approaches the patient and asks, "Ma'am, can you hear me?" Frank is trembling like a leaf as he gently shakes the patient. The patient only moans. Frank begins to assess her injuries, but looks at James with a sort of 'where do I go from here' expression on his face.
James calmly says, "Control what bleeding you can and we'll get her loaded." As James kneels down to help, he asks a nearby officer, "So what happened here?"
The officer replies, "We were called out for a possible assault. The neighbors called and said there was a lot of yelling coming from this shed. When we arrived on scene, we found a male lion attacking this young lady. He was taken into custody and we called you guys."
James asks, "Any idea why he was attacking her?"
The officer replies, "No, all we know from the bystanders is that she was arguing with someone down the street. She was seen running down the street and into this yard. Then they heard a lot of yelling."
As James and Frank are attempting to control the bleeding from the patient's multiple lacerations, the patient says to them, "I am an idiot! I was running from one threat, and ran right into this lion!"
The severe bleeding is controlled, and the patient is moved to a stretcher for transport. Frank works quickly to start IV's, while James places the patient on oxygen and attaches the cardiac monitor. The cot is loaded into the ambulance and Frank gets in the back to treat the patient during transport. James drives as the patient is rapidly transported to Mother Healing Trauma Center for surgery.
During transport to the emergency department, Frank asks the patient, "Who were you running from?"
The patient weakly answers, "There was a guy wearing a bright orange vest. I thought he was a hunter."
The patient is delivered to the emergency department alive. Frank gives a report of the events to the awaiting trauma physician. After transferring care of the patient to the emergency department staff, both medics begin cleaning their equipment and preparing to return to service.
As they are cleaning James asks Frank, "Well, how do you think that went?"
Franks answers, "I felt like I had no idea what to do! I was not prepared to take care of talking animals."
James says, "You have a lot of things to work on, but you will get the hang of it. You ready to head back to the station?"
Franks replies, "Ready when you are. Maybe on the way back you can explain a few things about this district."
Smiling James says, "OK, not a problem."
Frank grabs the radio, "Medic 12 in service, returning to district"
Author's
Note:
This is a retelling of Aesop's fable "The Deer and the Lion". In the original story, a deer is attempting to escape some hunters by hiding in a cave she comes across. What the deer did not realize was that the cave was the home of a lion. The lion then attacks the unsuspecting deer. I felt like this was a good story to tell through the eyes of EMS because of the injured deer, and the range of complexity of the setting. The fact that the deer is injured after attempting to escape another danger, is very fitting for the setting of EMS and its ever changing environment. Actually, in the original story the deer was killed. In this story, I left the outcome of the patient to the unknown. This was done intentionally because medics usually do not immediately know the outcomes of their patients. I used this story as a setup for the rest of EMS stories. This gave me the opportunity to show how the responding medics interact with the patient and others on scene during a call for service. As the storybook moves forward, I will continue this trend using more of Aesop's fables. Further stories will continue to show Frank trying to learn the intricate details of responding to calls in Medic 12's district, and James trying to mold the young medic.
Bibliography Information:
Story: The Deer and the Lion
Author: Laura Gibbs
Book: Aesop's Fables. A New Translation
Year Published: 2002
Web Source: Aesop's Fables
This is a retelling of Aesop's fable "The Deer and the Lion". In the original story, a deer is attempting to escape some hunters by hiding in a cave she comes across. What the deer did not realize was that the cave was the home of a lion. The lion then attacks the unsuspecting deer. I felt like this was a good story to tell through the eyes of EMS because of the injured deer, and the range of complexity of the setting. The fact that the deer is injured after attempting to escape another danger, is very fitting for the setting of EMS and its ever changing environment. Actually, in the original story the deer was killed. In this story, I left the outcome of the patient to the unknown. This was done intentionally because medics usually do not immediately know the outcomes of their patients. I used this story as a setup for the rest of EMS stories. This gave me the opportunity to show how the responding medics interact with the patient and others on scene during a call for service. As the storybook moves forward, I will continue this trend using more of Aesop's fables. Further stories will continue to show Frank trying to learn the intricate details of responding to calls in Medic 12's district, and James trying to mold the young medic.
Bibliography Information:
Story: The Deer and the Lion
Author: Laura Gibbs
Book: Aesop's Fables. A New Translation
Year Published: 2002
Web Source: Aesop's Fables
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