Open Airways: Stories from the back of the ambulance
Being There
Scott Snyder
“I was ashamed. And from that day on I went out of my way to make sure — whenever I was dealing with someone who in the past I may have said, ‘Well, this is not worth my time as a paramedic; I could be doing something better,” to take a step back and just talk to people and be nice. And realize that, no matter what we get called for, that’s our job and those people are worth our time.” Listen as EMS instructor Scott Snyder relates how he learned the value of every call and every patient.
Open Airways is a project to capture an oral history for the benefit of the EMS Community. EMS responders share some of the most meaningful cases of their careers, sometimes with humor and always with compassion. We hope that they will help us improve your practice and inspire a new generation of caregivers.
This series is produced by FISDAP with the support of EMSResponder.com. Listen to the latest features here and look for the series archive at openairways.net.
To share your most meaningful case and the lesson it taught you, call FISDAP Open Airways at 1.651.314.7424
Dear Scott
I personally felt every word of your story, having a similiar one of my own. Mine occurred shortly after upgrading to paramedic. I worked night-shift for a very hi-volume service in Atlanta. We were late getting off and received another dispatch to a distant location. I was dead tired after running all night and angrily decided -enroute- that I was NOT going to transport this “BS”. Of course on arrival our elderly, ambulatory pt wanted to go to a hospital all the way across town in rush hour traffic.
I am mortified to tell you I was absolutely nasty to this gentleman. I will never forget after finishing my “not going to take you across town” speech that the man, with tears in his eyes, asked me why I was so angry with him. I have never felt so ashamed before or since. At that, I started crying myself (cried all the way through your story, and crying while I write this).
I did take him to the hospital of his choice, and I am ashamed to have to admit further the pt spent that long trip apologizing to ME and trying to make ME feel better.
I am not a sentimental person, but I think of that pt as my personal angel. Or perhaps he is the angel of all the patients I have encountered since. I do know that experience forever shaped the way I approach every pt, in all the ways and for all the reasons you listed in your tale.
It is an unexpected gift that our patients can teach us so much about ourselves.