From the archives of my EMS brain

I am trying to be better about blogging. I know that I will fail miserable if I commit to once a day, so I'm going for whenever I can remember.I have a couple to write about Medic school that were requested but other than that, when I think of something to blog, I'm going to do it!

Here, for your reading pleasure, from the archives of my EMS brain:

I had been an EMT basic for about 3 months, working in a small transport company out west trying to get my feet wet. I loved my job and was still a little (ok, well, a LOT) idealistic about how EMS worked.

We were dispatched one day to the large trauma hospital to transfer a patient to another hospital for an inpatient stay. We arrived at the ED and the nurse looked over at my partner and the trainee (both men) and said to me, "I am glad they sent a female." For a minute I was a little stunned because usually I was ignored for the boys, but ok if she was glad to see me, then so be it.

"Your patient is a 72 year old female who lived alone in a townhouse. She had someone doing some odd jobs for her and some gardening and the like. 4 days ago, after she thought that he had left, he rang the doorbell and said he forgot something. After she let him in, he barricaded the two of them in the house, locking her in the upstairs bedroom. For three days, he drank all her alcohol, destroyed her house, and viciously raped her. He cut her phone lines so she couldn't make a call for help. He stole all her money and beat her."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This lady was my grandmother's age and I nearly had a fit thinking of someone doing that kind of thing to my granny.

The nurse continued, "She begged him to let her go and he would just laugh at her and hit her again. By some grace of God, she managed to escape when he finally fell asleep after binging on alcohol for 3 days. She went to the neighbors house and they called 911. When she got here, she was beaten, bruised, and broken."

With disgust, she also said, "He even bit her breast and took a chunk out of it."

Well with all that, I was about ready to burst into tears. I put my happy face on and steeled my resolve to make her feel secure and safe while in my care.

I listened to her and told her that she didn't have to say a single word if she didn't want to. I held her hand and let her talk. I hope that I showed her some compassion and love.

After we dropped her off, I was beyond words. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried for her. For the sweet woman whose sense of security was shattered. And for the loss of my EMS innocence that day.