What I Learned In My EM Training (EMT)

Pencil in the eye, gunshot wound to the chest, amputation of the arm—these are the calls for which I was prepared during my EMT training. I wanted to perform CPR, I wanted to deliver a baby. I could not wait to ride in the back of the ambulance treating a patient in dire condition, speeding down the street with blaring sirens. I failed to foresee that the only time the ambulance would speed to the hospital, sirens fully blaring, would be when my patient direly needed to use the bathroom.
In the suburban town of Montgomery where I volunteer, there is not as much blood, guts and glory as was present in the tales of my EMT instructors⸺not to say my EMS career has been completely bereft of excitement; I have treated serious cases of heat exhaustion,