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Better Know A NYC Emergency Medical Technician!
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 30, 2011
Modified Apr 30, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 30, 2011
Modified Apr 30, 2011
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Outside of the re-posts of ephemeral Internet regurgitation, Reddit truly is chockfull of great content! And some of the best of that content can be found in the AMA/IAmA section, where everyone from Stephen Colbert to Anthony Weiner to someone who was horrifically abused by their mother will take questions about their lives. Yesterday, a three-year NYC Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) veteran took questions, offered anecdotes, and gave insights into his fast-paced job (he offered photographic proof as well). Some highlights of the conversation below:
- On working around the city: "Most of my city work is in Brooklyn and Queens, however i am in Manhattan every now and then and i LOVE IT! I think its the most fun place to drive an ambulance. plain and simple. In the beginning its hard as fuck but when you have been doing it a while it is just super fun. Zippin around with light and sirens down small city streets can be pretty fun. It can be frustrating as well but you get good at knowing how to avoid traffic and bullshit."
- Most serious injury he's seen: "Head + Rail Road Tracks = Decapitation...He had no head left. DOA"
- Strangest thing he's witnessed: "Its a tie, On the serious side i have seen LOTS of strange things but the guy who decided to jump in front of a train and get blown (yep, blown) into about 30 or 40 pieces, that was very very odd and disturbing. On the less serious side, a woman was pleasuring herself and got the vibrator lost inside her and she was buzzing all the way to the hospital."
- On the last time he was attacked by a patient: "This [85-year-old] woman was being discharged form the hospital and she was all sorts of crazy. She thought we were there to hurt her because shes crazy and she started thrashing around so much that she actually tore her skin on her hand. While I attempted to patch her her up she lunged at me and sunk her nails into my arm. She sliced my arm open a little bit and my partner had to hold her down while i patched her up. Even tho i was looking for help no one came (Bastardos!). after that i drown my arm in alcohol and patched myself up. the hospital then gave her something to 'calm her down'. The crazies always come out on Friday."
- On paying for ambulances: "IF they have insurance they normally foot the bill, but if you don't then it can be a problem. thankfully the average is not that high also. I don't deal with money too much too, i just do my job. One system i work in is funded by taxpayers and all ambulances are free (YAY!). In my other 'pay as you go' system if you don't have insurance and you cant pay we often don't get payed and we take it as a loss. The government does not like footing the bill for us most the time."
- On driving etiquette: "HAHAHA, drivers suck! Honestly, Please move over to the right, TO THE RIGHT. We don't like 'parting the red sea' and driving down the middle, its very dangerous. Move over to the right and everything will be ok. i promise. Also when you pull over, pull over and stop, don't pull over and coast. there is a million more things i can think of, its kinda sad: don't wait as long as you can to pull over don't (for the love of god!) try to follow us never tailgate us if you see us coming into an intersection and you think you can still go before we get to it (coming form a perpendicular angel to you) just stop and wait. If we turn our lights and sirens off while still driving its not because we used em to get through a light, sometimes calls get canceled en route. do not get mad at us if we stop short (sorry, it happens) *WE can run reds, you CANT! I know some of these seem silly but I have seen them happen time and time again. There is a bunch more stupid shit too."
- On what he's learned from his patients: "Sometimes the best thing you can do is sit down, shut up and listen. Next to no one in my field does this anymore and it breaks my heart. I have learned how to treat patients so much better by just listening to them. I have also learned some amazing life lessons just form them talking about their lives. If you ever want to be amazing in the medical field, don't always presume you know whats better and your smarter than everyone else. Listen to them, take them time to get to know them (even if its only a minute) and allow them to understand you so that you can better understand them. An EMT who knows that he is only human and seeks to understand disease as a process that happens to HUMANS, not to nameless and faceless organisms, is a GREAT EMT."
Tagged
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emergency medical technician
emt
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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