Lives and Sirens

Last night I was up late, digging through an old box of notebooks when I stumbled across some excellent pieces of writing I have done. For as long as I can remember, writing as been my passion, but these pieces are about my career passion. Since last night's shift was short and mostly dull, I figured I would share these bits with you. All of these bits are actual events that have happened in my life; and have definitely made me better for it.

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Almost all the girls I know love to shop. The lip gloss, heels, the sick obsessions that the worshipers of the estrogen throne embrace. Frankly, I find it disgusting; then again, some fine my obsession sick as well. Difference is, I heal people.

My cheap thrills come from a body craving a hormone; Adrenaline. The stimulus of this is so much cooler than it sounds; the sound of a siren heading towards a code delta, The flashing lights heading towards a code Charlie. There is something addictive and sexy about the color of an ambulance, and honestly, I don't know why anybody does drugs.

Clearly, I am not normal, and that's okay. I don't live for normality. I live this life to save others; I am an EMT.

There is this scene that plays in my head, its as if my dramatic life turns into a movie. This scene includes dancing, a catchy tune from Elvis and a horde of firemen. Its the closing scene for my struggles, for when my goals are all met and I finally get my happily ever after. That moment is what I know will never happen, but I still pretend I will land it. Unfortunately I'm pretty aware my life isn't going to end on a moral high note, no matter how hard I try.
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I was a seventeen year old dreamer, full of drive, determination and ambition. I was different from the other girls. They wore lipstick and miniskirts, I wore tennis shoes and my EMT hoodie. I worked on trucks and was obsessed with the sound of sirens, being the first to hear one wherever I was at. I sat on the front row of my EMT class, the more I knew, the more I could do.

Every session of basic class we were allowed a ten minute break, and we spent most of it grabbing food or taking a 5 minute breather outside of the classroom. I had been anxious most of the day and decided to spend the break walking outside, trying to burn off the extra energy. Across the street from our building was a cemetery, and as I walked outside I saw it surrounded by fire trucks, ambulances and police cars, all of which had their lights on.

"Oh my gosh..." I whispered, feeling the cool autumn air against my face.

"EMT John Doe Please Respond." A single voice called out from one of the rigs. Nothing happened, and goosebumps ran up and down my spine. "EMT John Doe Please Respond." They called for him three more times before their final call . "EMT John Doe has fallen."

The sirens wailed and I felt myself try not to cry and I watched the scene. I felt a classmates hand on my back as he joined me and we watched the scene in silence. It was tragic, but it was so inspiring. It was that reinforcer that I needed and taught me that regardless of what happens, your team will be there to the grave.
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The Body Never Lies - How we Communicate

Generally speaking my unit slows down around 5 pm. PACU, Pre-Op and the OR staff all goes home. Doctors either go to other hospitals or home to their families. Nurses slowly make their way out of the building and we arrive for night shift to a generally quiet hospital. Tonight however, was something far different than what I was used to, as I arrived to work. Jumping between helping in PACU and my unit, I got to see snippets of what goes on during the days, during the busy times and during our shifts, and was reminded of a huge factor that is often overlooked as a big part of medicine. Communication.

Verbal Orders, reports, standing orders, charts, rounds, phone reports, written orders; there are literally hundreds of ways we communicate to one another in a hospital. The communication never ends; from physican to residents, residents to nurses, nurses to CNA's, and so on and so forth. Communication is the number one tool to accurate diagnositcs.

This last weekend I went to Las Vegas and got a chance to see the 'Bodies' Exhibit, located at the Luxor. When you first enter the exhibit you see a painted quote on the wall in big bold letters, reading; "The Body Never Lies." When we think about communication, we think of it as one human being to another, but in medicine communication continues down to a cellular level. We quickly learn to listen to the body, not the lies, because as Dr. House says 'Everybody lies.'

A prime example of this was during my clinicals on an ambulance, we got called to a 'unknown cause' to a pretty familiar spot downtown. When we picked up our patient it was a young female who complained of loss of bladder control and abdominal pain. I asked two questions; "Are you Pregnant?" and "Are you sexually active?" Both questions she replied no to. The paramedic I was shadowing placed his stethoscope to her stomach and then asked if he could palpate her abdomen. Whatever kicked his hand in return proved otherwise.

Tonight we asked a patient if he has any allergies. If we were to listen to the patient, we would've given him multiple doses of a medication that would have ultimately killed him should we have listened only to him. However, we noticed the hives appear up and down his the soft tissues on his arms, stomach and back and immediately quit the dosages of that medication. He informed us later on that he knew he was allergic and 'forgot' to mention it to us. Good thing the body never lies.

As I'm writing this communication is going on all around me. Patients are talking to their loved ones, the nurse is figuring out the medication reports, and I have a chart open next to me as I chart the post-op vitals. The phone will ring as physicans call in, gathering information about their patients, and I am sitting here, writing about all that goes on around me, and embracing it.

Imagine a hospital with no communication, with no way of telling others the care you gave, the patients condition, imagine our world without communication. Would we even exsist?