Today, I did a 12-hour EMS ride along with Acadian Ambulance; the ride along is part of the UIWSOM EMT curriculum and is a medical school graduation requirement. I’ve been a military and civilian medic in the past, so the EMT-B course and the required ride along did not present any new information or situations that I haven’t seen before, but the EMS ride along did serve a useful purpose as far as helping to remind me of my “Why medicine?”
We got started at 0600. Unlike crews that I have worked with in the past, the crew that I worked with today did not take much time preparing their unit for the day. To their credit, they did change out the main oxygen cylinder, but the unit ran low on gloves (I ended up loaning some of mine to the Basic that was on the rig), the heart monitor was on the fritz, the portable oxygen cylinder regulator did not work, and there were a few other key items that were in short supply. Luckily, while we had a very busy day, we ended up having enough to get through the shift.
Our first call came in at 0630; we received a call about a stabbing victim but we didn’t have any other information about the scene or what to expect. When we got to the scene, San Antonio PD was present and the victim, while having a deep stab wound, was otherwise stable. I just threw myself into the day and I think that the Basic was OK with that. That was really the pattern that ensued all day. I would volunteer to do everything that I could, and the paramedic and I worked each patient.
The next call came at 0922; she was a 42-year-old Latina female who had metastatic cancer. Her husband called because his wife had been complaining of worsening right upper quadrant pain and blood in her urine for the previous three days. This was an emotional call for me as Eboni recently lost a 29-year-old cousin to metastatic throat cancer. I had to work really hard to not transfer my emotions to the patient, but I got through it. There wasn’t much that we could do to help this patient, but what stood out to me was her reaction at me holding her hand and helping her to slow her breathing. I don’t know if what I did helped with her pain at all but I believe that I gave her something else to focus on outside of her pain. After we arrived at the hospital, the paramedic gave report to the nurse and the basic took the gurney back to the ambulance. I stayed in the room and asked the patient if I could pray for her; she said yes and we prayed. After our prayer, she looked at me, smiled, and with tears in her eyes, said, “Thank you.”
The day was very busy with different calls but one that left me feeling some kind of way was one of the last calls. We were sent to do an interfacility transfer; the patient at hospital A was a baby that we were to pick up at NICU and then transport to hospital B. When we got to hospital A, the parents were adamant that they did not want a Black man working with their child. The paramedic explained that I am a medical student and that this would be a valuable learning experience for me, but the parents would not back down. The medic asked me if I wanted them to call another unit to handle the transfer, but I told her to continue the transfer, but I would stay at hospital A and then they could come back for me after the transfer. This satisfied the parents and did not delay the care of the child. This still impacted me however and I felt a great deal of sadness at the fact that people would allow their racism to potentially compromise the care of a loved one or themselves. I follow a number Black physicians on Twitter and many share similar stories. I guess I will just have to develop thicker skin.
After our final call, we made it back to the station at 1830. My preceptor gave me a great evaluation and asked if I wanted to work part time for Acadian through my first two years of medical school. I told them that I would think about the offer. For anyone who is considering attending UIWSOM, the EMT curriculum is a nice addition (would be nicer if it were better integrated into our Unit 1, but that is a subject for a different posting…) and if you have never worked in emergency medicine, use this opportunity to throw yourself into what could be an EXCELLENT experience. You will get out of it what you put into it. Next on the docket? I have to take and pass the NREMT-B exam; it will be the final graduation requirement of the EMT part of our curriculum.
