I need to get this out.

It's been a while since I have posted, I know. This past week has been some what of a whirl wind for me. I did want to talk about some thing in particular that happen this week. Lets just call this my debriefing if you will.

As an EMS responder, we are trained to deal with emergency situations, and see people at their worst. We are trained to keep calm and let our training take over. All of this is true, but sometimes, when you think you are prepared to see some one at their worst, you get a little shock of sorts. allow me to tell the story. Don't worry, I will not use any names or reveal any specifics about the incident, H.I.P.P.A is protecting that, and like i said, I need to get it out. This is my way of dealing with it.

My partner and I were in the ambulance out side of the hospital when a man came running over to us waving his arms frantically. my partner and i jumped out and asked the man what was wrong. the man just dropped to his knees and started to cry. i asked him again what was wrong and then some one across the lot yelled over to us that there was some one in the car that needed help. We jumped back in the ambulance and drove the 100 yards or so to the car. I approached the vertical, and saw a man sitting in the passenger seat with his head back between th seats. I opened the door on the passenger side and asked the man if he could hear me as I shook his leg. The man just made some noise, but said nothing. i noticed blood splatter on his shirt, and what appeared to be bone tooth fragments. At that point hospital security showed up and called for the police. That's when I noticed bullet holes in the back window. I grabbed my stethoscope and listened to the mans chest, and verified he was still alive. His head was still back between the seats and I was looking at the bottom of his chin. I then grabbed the man by the shoulder and pulled him forward. as his head came up and swung towards me I saw blood running down the side of his face and a ping-pong ball size mass sticking out of his forehead between his eyes. At that instant, I knew the mass I was looking at was the mans brain coming out of his head. I kept my calm, and displayed professionalism, but in my mind, I had a grim feeling about the outcome of this situation. I then asked security to help me get this man out of the car. My partner and I slid a back board under his butt, i then opened the back door of the car, stood on the edge of the floor and leaned over the door, reached in the front and grabbed the man by the shirt. I then looked around and saw a nurse had come up to help. t gave the order and we spun the man and pulled him out of the car and slid him up the back board. As we were doing that, out of the back of his bloody head, some chunks of brain fell out onto the back board. We put the man on a stretcher. My partner, the nurse and myself , physically ran the 100 yards to the entrance of the hospital and took the right in to a trauma room. We put the man on the bed and took the back board out from under him. There were chunks of brain sliding off of it. The trauma team descended on the room, and as the man laid on the bed with a mass of brain coming out of hid fore head, all I could think about was how tragic this all was. We helped the team out with cutting off the mans cloths and bagging him until the team was in place.

now, it takes longer to tell this story than it actually took. From the time the first man ran over to the ambulance until the time we got the patient to the trauma room was all of five minutes. As this situation unfolded and I had a grim feeling from the time I got to the car, I did all that I could do to help that patient. I don't doubt what I did, I just don't think we as EMS are always prepared for what we see. I don't have nightmares about it, I did not get sick over it, I just can't get the vision out of my mind. It's not every day you see that sort of thing.

It truly was a tragic event and by the way, the driver of the car, the man who ran over to us, did not even have a scratch on him. How tragic is that for him.