I worked my first shift as a paramedic in Hartford in January of 1995. Hartford was in the final stages of a gang war between Los Solidos (The Solids) and the Latin Kings. Homicides were at an all-time high. And there were far fewer medics on the streets then. It was a good introduction to…
The patient had lost nearly two liters of blood and was barely responsive. I arrived shortly after the primary medic who told me to get the blood set up while he extricated the patient with his partner. As the rapid response medic, I carry the whole blood (0 negative) in a special cooler. I check…
When recently (seven weeks ago) we saw certain of our heroes, the trauma team, in the Trauma Room, I had just unveiled an item of interest for them: “I give my report in the trauma room. I feel bad to say so but I feel almost like a celebrity chef unveiling a master dish when I finally…
This is a call I did a few months back. I wrote about it then, but didn’t post the story. Part of the reason I didn’t is because while I want to write honestly about being a medic, I have some restrictions. I can’t trash the company I work for or anybody who works for…
It’s raining. The Saab comes around the corner and sees a car pull out ahead of it. The driver turns to the right. Immediately the car begins to hydroplane. Ahead is a telephone pole. We are dispatched to a MVA at a familiar location – a known bad corner. It is ten minutes before crew…
We’re called for a stabbing. Its dark and when we pull up on scene, we can see officers with guns drawn. We stage and wait the word to go in. It’s hard to tell what’s going on, then another cop comes running out into the street right for us. We step out. “You’re going to…