I was doing clinical time with a local Fire Department, which basically means I was doing their job for free in order to practice my learned skills in a real world scenario. We were returning to the fire station after just completing a call and dropping a patient off at the hospital. I sat quietly alone in the back of the ambulance, listening to the two paramedics up front talk and banter back and forth to one another, out of nowhere, right in the middle of their normal conversation, we hear the alarming sound of tones going off across the radio in the front …show more content…
Once I heard those words, my adrenaline shot higher than I have ever imagined it could. Over all the sounds happening around me, I could only hear my heartbeat. It was almost as if it were right next to my ears. My anxiety level was beyond anything I had experienced up to that point. Here I was, this EMT student, not even out of class yet and having to do this. This was going to be my first serious call that I may actually make a difference in the outcome of someone’s life. My emotions were torn between excitement and terrifying nervousness.
The thoughts ended instantly when, without me even realizing it, we had pulled up to the scene of the incident. The side door to the ambulance opened and the paramedic said “We’re here. When you get out, take over CPR for the firefighter currently doing it.”
I was so intent on doing what I was told, that when I attempted to get up, I was held into the seat by the seat belt. As I got the seat belt unfastened, I rushed to the side door of the ambulance to get out, and in doing so I nearly fell out of the door. When I finally made it out, I looked around and saw people rushing to the other side of a car parked near a building. I assumed that was where I was needing to