View Full Version : Helped Save A Life Today
jediwill83
06-13-2014, 08:27 PM
I'm working 8 days straight...thats 8 days of 24 hours a day at the station...I dont do it often but it was needed...anyways I really havent been involved in a serious "Life and death is balancing on the razors edge" save in a while...to be honest its been pretty draining and depressing because you get the feeling like you are so ineffective at your job..weighs on you terribly.Anyways we get a call today about someone with a bleeding dialysis shunt..we get there and it was bad....real bad...Not going through the details but lets just say we hung 4 bags of blood and 3 bags of saline and when it was all said and done they airlifted her out and she was pretty stable.
n david
06-13-2014, 08:32 PM
I'm working 8 days straight...thats 8 days of 24 hours a day at the station...I dont do it often but it was needed...anyways I really havent been involved in a serious "Life and death is balancing on the razors edge" save in a while...to be honest its been pretty draining and depressing because you get the feeling like you are so ineffective at your job..weighs on you terribly.Anyways we get a call today about someone with a bleeding dialysis shunt..we get there and it was bad....real bad...Not going through the details but lets just say we hung 4 bags of blood and 3 bags of saline and when it was all said and done they airlifted her out and she was pretty stable.
Praise God! :thumbsup
KeptByTheWord
06-14-2014, 09:30 AM
That is awesome Jedi! Thanks for sharing your story! I can't even imagine the mental things you have to deal with in your job. God bless you for serving your fellow man!
MawMaw
06-14-2014, 12:58 PM
Good job! I'm sure that lady was thankful for
your work too! :nod
jediwill83
06-14-2014, 02:24 PM
I honestly was getting really burned out....I've been doing this for over 4 years and I feel like its what I'm supposed to be doing but I have worked waaay too many deaths in the past couple years...too many deaths...babies with SIDS...families distraught with grief while we work burdened with the futility that what we are doing isnt working because they are too far gone...husbands that have died after being married over 40 years...I'm driving with lights and sirens to the hospital holding the hand of the wife who is alternating between shock and hysteria...shes begging us to save her husband and I dont have the heart to tell her that hes not coming back but I cant bring myself to lie to give her false hope...and in the midst of the rush and the adrenaline I'm reminded that one day...someone may be in the drivers seat holding the hand of my wife...or myself torn between professional distance and empathy while myself or my wife lay on a stretcher.There is no dignity in death and what we do to forestall and intercede in its inevitable enroachment on our vaporous and fragile existence.This job makes you so aware of the fragile nature of life.Its a tradeoff...in one way with technology you stand in intercession between life and death...and sometimes you even win...but its a momentary win at best all the while with each win or loss you are made aware with increasing nagging urgency the unrelenting march towards death that you yourself are making.It makes me regret time I have wasted and cherish the time I have left...its a bittersweet ache where loss makes what little time we have left all the more precious.Where I once would seek conflict I now seek peace.I try to think before I act considering the end results because time is too precious to waste having to backtrack and correct mistakes.I know this is rambling but this is what is constantly going through my head.Needless to say this last "save" brought me out of a mental funk I was going through...I'm gonna be feeling energized over this for quite some time.
Great job at saving a life!
I also appreciate your ramblings. You have an incredibly stressful job.....one I would not want to do. I have sometimes wondered if we, in the US are so dependent on medicine that we forget to remember that we are finite human beings. Sometimes I think maybe we are better off focusing on that and accepting it. Do you have any thought on that?
Abiding Now
06-14-2014, 08:27 PM
God bless your efforts.
jediwill83
06-14-2014, 09:08 PM
Great job at saving a life!
I also appreciate your ramblings. You have an incredibly stressful job.....one I would not want to do. I have sometimes wondered if we, in the US are so dependent on medicine that we forget to remember that we are finite human beings. Sometimes I think maybe we are better off focusing on that and accepting it. Do you have any thought on that?
Medicine can increase the length of life but not always the quality of life.Quality of life largely hinges on us and the decisions we make no matter what life passes our way.Time is like currency...we are all born with a finite amount but we have no idea our spending limit.I think you should live the best life you can while also realizing that we are here only for a brief moment.As with money you cant be overly wasteful and you cant be a Scrooge...you must seek a balance.
I think people are so clueless how precious life is and how close they are to the edge.Death is indescriminatate to morality..denomination...age...political party...sexual preference.It truely rains upon the just and the unjust.There are so many things I dont take for granted anymore...it sounds cliche but a sunrise or a sunset...a starlit night...holding my wifes hand and planting a huge kiss on her in public...a childs laugh or smile.I do my best to seek a peaceful existance and I try to avoid un-needed conflict.I am more understanding and patient in some ways but in some I am less tolerant because life is too short to put up with certain indignities.
I believe life is precious but I believe in dignity as well.There are certain dignities I would never want to be put through in certain situations.I honestly have been doing CPR on some patients that did not have a Do Not Resuscitate order and they were in such bad shape that I almost wished for their sake that they didnt come back...in my mind I'm apologizing for what I'm having to do...the indignity of it all.Its not anything I want to go through myself if I'm in really advanced age or painful debilitating illness.When I'm gone I want to be gone...I want to be left in peace.
This job is a blessing and a curse because I am pretty empathetic...I pick up on so much emotion and share it easily...it helps me relate with others really fast and really well but it also means I'm a raw nerve when I'm around others panicking and grieving...I have to suppress it and stay outwardly calm...I've gotten good at it but under the surface its a roiling tempest.I already had a morbid dark sense of humor before I got into this and its came as a advantage...I use humor to deflect and deal with things alot.
I dont want to do this for the rest of my life...I used to think I did but I dont...but for now it pays the bills so I'm thankful God has blessed me with the opportunity to do that.I'd love to be home every night though...I hate leaving my wife alone for two and three days at a time.I'm so proud of how strong she is and how she takes care of things while I'm gone.
KeptByTheWord
06-14-2014, 09:40 PM
Beautiful thoughts Jedi! I pray that the Lord's love will continue to shine through you with every soul you come in contact with. Life is a precious gift indeed, and thank you for the reminder of how blessed we are.
Medicine can increase the length of life but not always the quality of life.Quality of life largely hinges on us and the decisions we make no matter what life passes our way.Time is like currency...we are all born with a finite amount but we have no idea our spending limit.I think you should live the best life you can while also realizing that we are here only for a brief moment.As with money you cant be overly wasteful and you cant be a Scrooge...you must seek a balance.
I think people are so clueless how precious life is and how close they are to the edge.Death is indescriminatate to morality..denomination...age...political party...sexual preference.It truely rains upon the just and the unjust.There are so many things I dont take for granted anymore...it sounds cliche but a sunrise or a sunset...a starlit night...holding my wifes hand and planting a huge kiss on her in public...a childs laugh or smile.I do my best to seek a peaceful existance and I try to avoid un-needed conflict.I am more understanding and patient in some ways but in some I am less tolerant because life is too short to put up with certain indignities.
I believe life is precious but I believe in dignity as well.There are certain dignities I would never want to be put through in certain situations.I honestly have been doing CPR on some patients that did not have a Do Not Resuscitate order and they were in such bad shape that I almost wished for their sake that they didnt come back...in my mind I'm apologizing for what I'm having to do...the indignity of it all.Its not anything I want to go through myself if I'm in really advanced age or painful debilitating illness.When I'm gone I want to be gone...I want to be left in peace.
This job is a blessing and a curse because I am pretty empathetic...I pick up on so much emotion and share it easily...it helps me relate with others really fast and really well but it also means I'm a raw nerve when I'm around others panicking and grieving...I have to suppress it and stay outwardly calm...I've gotten good at it but under the surface its a roiling tempest.I already had a morbid dark sense of humor before I got into this and its came as a advantage...I use humor to deflect and deal with things alot.
I dont want to do this for the rest of my life...I used to think I did but I dont...but for now it pays the bills so I'm thankful God has blessed me with the opportunity to do that.I'd love to be home every night though...I hate leaving my wife alone for two and three days at a time.I'm so proud of how strong she is and how she takes care of things while I'm gone.
Thanks for sharing this. I think you should share it more often. You might not think people are interested but some of us are. We can't live as close to the edge as what you are so we need people to tell us the truth about what it is like. I think it applies to all of us as we are all going to have to make decisions about our lives and our loved ones lives sometime.
jediwill83
06-15-2014, 02:54 PM
if you guys have any questions im a open book
if you guys have any questions im a open book
It's hard to know what to even ask. I am looking for the balance between "God's will" and trusting science. Does anybody have that figured out? I just think that for you, maybe you have some of it figured out if you would care to share any thoughts.
jediwill83
06-15-2014, 04:17 PM
Ok how do you mean? Are you referring to the idea of "We all have a date with death so should I even resist?" We are created with a strong drive of self preservation I believe that this is God given.I believe that all human effort must be made to preserve life...sometimes this gets complicated when you factor in quality of life and age.Sometimes we may successfully recusitate someone only to have them die again and stay dead at another hospital....while this is upsetting I take comfort in knowing I did the best I could to the best of my ability and training while they were in my care.
I do believe that we all have a date with death...but its not up to me to decide when that date is...so I work as if today is not that day...and if my efforts fail I know that it indeed was that day.I believe in miracles and prayer but if I show up on scene and you are in my way praying I will suggest that you "pray over there"...it may very well be that God has answered your prayer for help with a ambulance and not a instant healing.
I've found that there is this huge disconnect in reality with churches involving sickness and death...I hear "Its not Gods will...rebuke this...rebuke that...by His stripes we are healed" As if it is some sort of confusion as to the nature of life and its struggles as if people think "Im a child of God this isnt supposed to happen like this to me!"...Well it can and it does.Saddest sight in the world is a mom with kids frantically crying and screaming in tongues in a ER right before the doc calls time of death.Miracles happen...but sometimes life sucks...we get sick without rhyme or reason and we die and sometimes we die painfully and horribly with no explanation.Pastors...Pagans...Sinners...Saints... at the point of death their lives meet on a level playing field...the only difference is where they go afterwards.
Again just rambling...I have alot of alone time in my head and these are just my personal views and are subject to change.
Ok how do you mean? Are you referring to the idea of "We all have a date with death so should I even resist?" We are created with a strong drive of self preservation I believe that this is God given.I believe that all human effort must be made to preserve life...sometimes this gets complicated when you factor in quality of life and age.Sometimes we may successfully recusitate someone only to have them die again and stay dead at another hospital....while this is upsetting I take comfort in knowing I did the best I could to the best of my ability and training while they were in my care.
I do believe that we all have a date with death...but its not up to me to decide when that date is...so I work as if today is not that day...and if my efforts fail I know that it indeed was that day.I believe in miracles and prayer but if I show up on scene and you are in my way praying I will suggest that you "pray over there"...it may very well be that God has answered your prayer for help with a ambulance and not a instant healing.
I've found that there is this huge disconnect in reality with churches involving sickness and death...I hear "Its not Gods will...rebuke this...rebuke that...by His stripes we are healed" As if it is some sort of confusion as to the nature of life and its struggles as if people think "Im a child of God this isnt supposed to happen like this to me!"...Well it can and it does.Saddest sight in the world is a mom with kids frantically crying and screaming in tongues in a ER right before the doc calls time of death.Miracles happen...but sometimes life sucks...we get sick without rhyme or reason and we die and sometimes we die painfully and horribly with no explanation.Pastors...Pagans...Sinners...Saints... at the point of death their lives meet on a level playing field...the only difference is where they go afterwards.
Again just rambling...I have alot of alone time in my head and these are just my personal views and are subject to change.
Okay, thanks for sharing. I am not sure how I feel about all this but it's something I think about. If it were not for medical science, my husband would be gone....so I am very thankful he is still here. On the flip-side, sometimes I wonder if we might carry the science thing too far and not trust enough. My thoughts are all subject to change too.....I think it is good to keep an open mind.
jediwill83
06-15-2014, 10:04 PM
You have to ask yourself "Where does wisdom come from?" I believe it comes from God. Science is yet another tool and avenue that God uses.I dont subscribe to the belief that the pursuit of knowledge and increase in technological advances somehow is an affront to God.I can use science and medicine to the benefit of myself or patients and give God the credit.The use of such things doesnt somehow*in my opinion* mean that I am trying to make myself equal to God or lessen the need of His intervention.That mindset *again in my opinion* is derogatory to His power and authority because it entertains the possibility that mankind is able to transcend the Allmighty.I believe that God is so awesome and majestic that if we were here for billions of years longer and knowledge increased by leaps and bounds and we learned every secret there was to know about ourselves and the rest of creation we still wouldnt have a microscopic drop in the bucket of a idea of His power and majesty.
Think of it this way...I can pick a piece of artwork that is complex and I can learn all its secrets...every shade of color every curve of a sculpture...its weight...size...materials used to create but intimate knowledge and familiararity of the CREATION doesnt make me even close to coming close or exceeding the skill and power of the CREATOR.We could discover every secret of the universe...the length and breath of it...know all there was to know and we STILL wouldnt be able to step out in the emptiness of the void and speak one of our own into existance.
Sorry for the mindbending ramble...I said all that to say that I believe that its ok to use technology and knowledge and still have faith and reverence in God.
KeptByTheWord
06-15-2014, 10:27 PM
I love how you share your thoughts about the Creator, Jedi. I agree that it is something hard to figure out, and you never know how you'll react until it is your loved one hanging in the balance of life and death, or yourself. I found myself just yesterday balancing some of those things in my mind on the wild ride to see how my daughter was after she fell off the horse and landed on her head.
I think we should seek for a faith in God that allows us to use the medical marvels of science, as we give Him the glory for the benefit, and use of such things. Although I do agree that medical technology is keeping many people alive, but the quality of their life is so poor that you wonder at the goodness of it. It is like a yo-yo, I think, and each situation different, and unique, and no one easy way to come to grips with the many issues entailed.
jediwill83
06-16-2014, 04:56 AM
I am so glad your daughter is ok...my heart seriously sank when I started reading about that.
I love how you share your thoughts about the Creator, Jedi. I agree that it is something hard to figure out, and you never know how you'll react until it is your loved one hanging in the balance of life and death, or yourself. I found myself just yesterday balancing some of those things in my mind on the wild ride to see how my daughter was after she fell off the horse and landed on her head.
I think we should seek for a faith in God that allows us to use the medical marvels of science, as we give Him the glory for the benefit, and use of such things. Although I do agree that medical technology is keeping many people alive, but the quality of their life is so poor that you wonder at the goodness of it. It is like a yo-yo, I think, and each situation different, and unique, and no one easy way to come to grips with the many issues entailed.
I also think each situation is different. I am not opposed to science in any way. I guess what I think needs to be weighed from a macro view (like when we are considering health care for the masses) is that economic does make a difference. Some might ask how can you weigh human life against money but you have to because there is a finite amount of resources. If you spend a huge amount of money on an elderly person, keeping them alive, doing huge treatments on them for cancer, for example, when they are stage 4 and going to die anyway and the doctor knows it but just goes by the wishes of the family/patient, those resources can potentially be taken from a young more healthy person, who could truly benefit from these treatments.
From a more micro view, it is like your situation, KBTW, to decide not to take your daughter to urgent care because of lack of insurance. This is a financial decision based on what you saw in your daughter. (Not that you wouldn't have if she had been worse.) But if money was no object, she would have been in urgent care, probably.
And then there are all the political questions that come into play and all the questions about big pharma approving things that are not safe and doctors suggesting surgeries that may not be necessary and preventative stuff that may not be necessary.
All these questions come into play when trying to make decisions. In a way, I wish I could just trust more and not think about it! Ha! And then, part of me wants to be like the Old Indian...when it comes my time, I just walk into the woods and die.....
Pressing-On
06-16-2014, 08:57 AM
That is awesome Jedi! Thanks for sharing your story! I can't even imagine the mental things you have to deal with in your job. God bless you for serving your fellow man!
Amen - good job Jedi!
bishoph
06-17-2014, 02:47 PM
Great posts on here so far! I do believe we all have an appointment with death....... and in rare instances through prayer, God can be moved to change that date. However, my quality of life is entirely up to me. If God intends for me to live till I'm eighty, I believe I will....however, my quality of life could be horrible because of mine own failure to eat right and exercise?
jediwill83
06-17-2014, 07:49 PM
It has alot to do with genetics as well...and also even in shape joggers occasionally get hit by Peterbuilts.
I think genetics matter, but it is also difficult to justify spending large amounts of money on medicines for those who simply do not care about health and expect the doc to fix it all.
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