Attitude

Sometimes the work I do with St John makes me wonder what I'm getting myself into. Don't get me wrong, when I'm on duty with St John and treating people I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life - it's just there are downsides as well as those upsides.

Take this article for example, coming from a very well respected Paramedic from the same city in which I live. I've had the privilege of working with Mr. Eade during my time with St John and have found him a knowledgeable, kind and hard working man - the story does not give him enough praise for his work, but nor would he want it to. But the content of the article raises many issues with the way Paramedicine works in the field - often Paramedics are forced to work in dangerous situations and in increasingly violent environments.

It's not surprising that many Paramedics worldwide want to wear stab vests to protect themselves when on call. Of course a few years back there was the story about an EMS worker wounded by a sniper ambush. There have also been random stabbings, beatings and then there was this story which I don't know where to begin trying to talk about...

I've talked about this with my girlfriend and family and they know some of the risks that are involved in working as a Paramedic - I'm grateful that they all still support my choice. Some might say they are trying to get rid of me, but I like to think they just want me to be happy ;)

Working with St John I've noticed a lot of small things already that make me wonder about some people, I'll run through a few examples so you know what I'm talking about. All the time we get people throwing up behind our vehicles when working at Festival Hall. At the Myer Music Bowl we get people urinating behind (and on) our vehicles. We also get abused when pushing through crowds to get to patients, we get abused by 'friends' of the patient who insist that despite their friends unconscious state 'they don't need [our] help'. Some patients swing at us when we're trying to treat/help them. A while back we were abused for knocking a guys sunglasses off when trying to get to an OD patient, he followed us for a while shouting abuse.

And I couldn't think of any other job I'd rather be in right now.

Now I know (especially when compared to the earlier examples) that what I've experienced so far are only minor irritations compared to what Paramedics encounter every day, but it's the bits that surround those brief moments that make them bearable. It's about getting a non breathing OD patient breathing again that makes a guy following you talking about sunglasses laughable. It's knowing that I enjoy what I do, and that I'm doing something valuable for the community that makes cleaning [censored] covered vehicles easy.

I know I won't always be working in the safest environments (although I will do whatever I can to make them safer for me, and if they're too bad then I won't endanger myself needlessly) and nor will I always receive the respect that I think a Paramedic deserves. In fact, rarely do I think will I receive the respect a health care professional deserves, but at the end of the day I sleep feeling I've done something right - even if things didn't go the way I'd like them to - that makes me love first aid, and wish to continue that into Paramedicine.

And that's the attitude I hope to keep.



Side note; Thursday the 10th of January is my Paramedics Interview and Driving Test (I'm doing two rounds in one day to 'speed up' the enrollment process - their words, not mine *grin*). I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes!