What is a Paramedic?
The average person does not know what a paramedic is and what his/her job actually involves.
The definition of a paramedic is:
Paramedic: par-a-med-ic (par' e med' ik) n. a person who is trained to assist a physician or to give first aid or other health care in the absence of a physician.
Paramedical: par-a-med-i-cal (par' e med' i kel adj.) Related to the medical profession in a secondary or supplementary capacity.
A paramedic is an individual that has special, well-defined skills and knowledge in emergency medicine. He/she is one who is concerned for the health and well being of others and who exercises in his/her daily work, painstaking attention to all assigned tasks in order to promote the well being of others.
The paramedic is a professional, a "lifesaver" and a caregiver, a clinician, a technician and a diagnostician. He serves as a make×shift lab tech, a make×shift cardiologist, a make×shift psychiatrist, a diplomat, and a public servant. It is hard to understand a paramedic unless you yourself are one, or are involved in the life of one. You might think they are morbid or weird. You also might think the job is gory and always ends in a bad way, that they "scrape people off the street". In actuality, most of the responses end in a positive way.
In the words of a Paramedic:
I have seen horrible things and I have seen beautiful things. I have been confronted with very emotional and stressful situations. Sometimes I have nightmares and I frequently dream of responses. I have brought new life into this world and I have resuscitated many more. I've watched many people struggle to breathe and take their last breath. I may have been the last person that they saw on this earth. I have seen children die. I watch families grieve. I see the suffering. I have had partners cry. I have cried myself. I have pulled people back from the self-inflicted attempts at suicide. I have been in dangerous situations. I go into neighborhoods that most people never go near in the daylight let alone at night. Sometimes, "I get no respect"! People bleed on me, vomit on me, spit on me, curse at me, strike and assault me. I have been shot at. Sometimes, although I try my best, patients die in front of me.
When someone is not breathing; I breathe for them.
When someone is bleeding; I control it.
When someone's heart stops beating, I artificially make it beat,
then, I "jump start" it.
"I make sure the blood goes round and round and that the
air goes in and out".
"I knew the job was dangerous before I took it!"
"Courage is not the absence of fear,
But the mastery of it".
Mark Twain...
I have to think quickly and make life and death decisions rapidly when someone's life is hanging in the balance. I usually look calm on the surface, but I am constantly planning, plotting and strategizing. I am resourceful, creative and innovative. I am exposed to terminal diseases and life threatening hazards. I am rarely thanked and always taken for granted. I never get enough sleep and I always seem to be called out during dinner. When I do eat, it is usually on the run. I sometimes have to do three or four tasks at the same time, like driving, talking on the radio, reading a map and listening to my partner. I am multi-talented and ambidextrous. I can be instinctive. Sometimes I feel underpaid and overworked, but my job is challenging, exciting and rewarding. My office is "the streets" and the conditions are "always less than perfect". You are my patient and I am your servant. Regardless of your sex, race, color or creed or your financial status, I am always there.
The "Trust" that we have in each other and the
"Quality of Service" that we provide,
is based on our performance...
Never shall our performance falter!
The Paramedic, an American Hero
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