Thinking...

[strippel]

I just left my parents house from our Christmas dinner, and stopped at the grocery store. As I was walking the isles aimlessly, looking for the few food items I needed, a gentleman walked up to me and said, "you don't remember me, do you?"

I stared at his face, and didn't recognize him. He said "I want to thank you". The man explained that he called 911 a few weeks ago, and I was out his house. As he talked, I remembered that he had been at his FMD, and diagnosed with pneumonia the day before. He called us with fever and profound dyspnea. The man stated that he had a long hospitalization, and after 5 weeks was recently allowed to go back to work. He was diagnosed with blood clots.

The man continued to thank me (my partner and our fleet person who happened to be in the area) for our help.

I am occasionally thanked after a call, but it has been a while since I was remembered like this. It felt nice.

This (and a few other events recently) allowed me to reaffirm my feelings on a career choice.

One night last tour, my partner and I got called for a specialty transport. Our hospital does not deliver babies at it's main location, and a (high risk) pregnant woman arrived in the EMD. We we called to take her to the Women's Hospital. We arrived, and the patient was in labor. We watched a baby being delivered. In the next room, an 8 year old boy was injured by a bull, and would be lucky to survive surgery. Nurse walks up and states how ironic it is, and just before Christmas.

Turns out the mother and baby are related to a coworker, and all are doing well. I have not heard how the child is doing.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I have often been thanked for helping someone but it's times like the one you described that makes it all worthwhile.

I had a 12 year old mentally retarded boy come up to me in Walmart the other day and give me a hug. He remembered me from nearly 7 years ago when I took care of him in the ER. I cannot for the life of me remember what he was in the ER for but he was pretty sick. He said "I remember you when I was sick" I talked to his parents and they thanked me also. But to remember someone over 7 years later who took care of you for less than 2 hours really meant a lot to me.

He is the one who gave me my nickname "cornflake" and as he walked away he said "Bye Cornflake" What a neat memory.

[Happiness]

Yes it is true that we are in a thankless profession or so they say. I have been thanked, given appoligies, hugs and recieved cards. It is the greatest feeling in the world to know that you have done something for someone else and they remember. I to have been thanked by a tourist that comes here every few years. He was on north beach and broke his ankle. He was lucky to be wearing rubber boots as they acted as a splint and was becomming shocky as he rode his quad to us. (we don't have a 4x4 ambulance so we had to wait) Lucky my son was on the beach that day with his dirt bike and was the communication between the pt and us. A few years later he came up to me to say thank-you and how nice I was to him. (im thinking the shock was really clouding his memories)

[Dustdevil]

These stories are always cool to hear. Back around 1984, I was in a laundromat washing clothes. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Nothing identifying me. I wasn't washing any uniforms (they all go to the dry cleaners). There were no whacker stickers on my car out front. But a woman in the laundromat had been staring at me for a few minutes, so I knew something was up. Finally, she came up to me and asked, "You're a paramedic, aren't you?" Surprised, I told her that indeed, I was. She immediately threw her arms around me and started crying. Turns out, I had cared for her about a year or so earlier when she was in a serious MVA. I definitely remembered the scene, as it had been a very violent wreck, and she had been in very serious condition. There is no way I ever would have recognised her, as her face was not recognisable the night of the wreck. And I was absolutely stunned that she could have recognised me under those circumstances. But she did. I hope you're all in this field long enough to experience this kind of reward.

[Cookie]

Two occasions that I remember, people that we took to the hospital came back and thanked us personally. The one we took a hospital 60 miles away that has a cath lab, and the premier heart Doctors for this area. He told me four hours after we got him there he underwent quadruple by pass surgery. It's humbling and gratifying to know someone appreciates our services and make the effort to tell you in person.

[mediccjh]

As I was in Paramedic Limbo (Passed the test but not allowed to practice paramedic skills yet), I went out with one of my friends on a chest pain. One of the local rescue chiefs went also since it was down from his house. He looked like crap, and we diagnosed an inferior wall MI a la LP 10. We get him into the truck, and as my partner is trying to start the line, he does the gasp and arrests. I look at the monitor and scream "OH SHIT! V-FIB!!" My partner said to check the leads, to which I replied, "I already fuckin' checked-they're attached!" I grab the paddles (I miss using paddles), to which he grabs them out of my hand and sparks him at 200J. He goes into sinus rhythm, and after I bag him for a bit, he wakes up, asking what happened. We explained it to him, and he didn't believe us. We showed him the strip, and he is flabbergasted (The patient worked for a cardiologist). He walked out of the hospital.

For about the next 2 weeks, he would stop by the station every day to try and thank us; however, every time he was there, we were not.

There is no better feeling in the world than saving someone's life. That's why I do this job.

[Arctickat]

Many years ago I was approached in a similar manner as the OP. A man I did not recognise walked up to me in a store and said those exact same words. Then he proceeded to tell me how he hated me. I stood there, stunned at this verbal assault and unable to comprehend what I had so grievously done to this man. As he raved, I shortly understood the situation. Months earlier we had been called to a baby about 2 mos old in severe respiratory distress. Being a rookie medic I followed my older partner's lead and we began treating the baby as a FBAO. Dad said he put the baby down for a nap 30 minutes prior

Here is the gist of his rant. While he stood there in shock that his baby might be dead (he looked it). My partner and I swooped in, grabbed his son and dashed out the door before he had a clue what was going on. He stood there, alone, and confused. Unsure of what to do next. Finally, he called some family who took him to the hospital to discover his son had died in ER. His anger directed toward me was simply because I was the last person to see his son alive and that he had never had a chance to be there to say goodbye.

Since that call I have always taken a moment to talk to family members at a scene. To tell them what we think is wrong and what we're doing to fix it; I'll even offer one of the calmer ones a ride to the hospital with us. I also made sure that this man who lost his son knows that what he told me has been taken very seriously and has made me into a better medic.

Now, I live in a very small town and everyone knows me. More than a few times I've been called out to a scene or to the hospital for a critical transfer, only to see the family sigh with relief and some even say out loud, "Thank God it's Trevor!!" I don't believe it is a dis about the rest of my staff, simply that I am the only medic here and if I'm not available, their loved one doesn't get the highest level of care possible. My staff and I all have the attitude that when on a call, we have more than one patient. The sick or injured as well as the family concerned for his or her well being.

[Richard B the EMT]

In a career that started with training in 1973, I have been approached by numerous former patients, or family members, thanking me.

I do have to tell them, for the most part, due to the call volume I have handled, I cannot and do not recall all of them, and just mention that I hope I did right by them or the family member.

Do many of you get the "you made my family member so comfortable for what turned out to be their last ride to the hospital before they died" speech from the family member or friends?

[firedoc5]

Many times I've been stopped in stores and on sidewalks by people thanking me for taking care of them or a family member. It does feel good and gives you a feeling of satisfaction.

But I always felt bad if I didn't remember them personally. Sometimes it might have been 8-10 yrs. ago and it's just hard to remember everyone. A few did stick in my mind and I did remember, but most of the time I couldn't remember from one week to the next.