Because she inspired me
My little sister Suzanne and I were always very different…right from childhood. She looked like my mother, blonde and very pale – she always hid from the sun. I was brunette and tanned easily, just like my dad. Her hair was kinky curly (she hated it), while mine was straight. She lived in a world of her own creation and got into trouble at school and at home. I was the “good child” with straight A’s who rarely was cause for concern. And boy we hated each other…According to Suzanne, life came easy to me…anything I wanted I would always get, while she would struggle so hard, “felt stupid” and would always come up short. Her greatest joy was wreaking havoc on my “perfect little world”. So I separated myself as far away from her as I could – physically, emotionally – so many of the choices I made were to distance myself and “not be like her” in any way I could.
Suzanne had a very difficult time growing up – and though I was part of it – I know there was quite a bit I did not really see until years later. She struggled with drugs and attempted suicide when she was still a teenager, and depression for a number of years after that, apparently always hating herself more than she hated me.
And just when we all thought she didn’t have anything left to give – Suzanne found a new path to follow. To our amazement she chose EMS – to save a life instead of taking her own- she wanted to make a difference. And not only did this “little girl” work as one of the EMS crews that helped secure the scene after the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, but this same girl who thought she was “stupid” invented the device I blogged about earlier that will one day make it safe for all little kids to ride on ambulances. (…I read this and remember why we teach children that “stupid” is a bad word)
Several years ago Suzanne had to quit EMS. Every day since then, like many of us she struggles with questions of am I good enough…smart enough…am I deserving…can I still make a difference… and every day no matter what anyone tells her, I don’t know if she believes it.
I grew up not wanting to be like her…but I would be half the person I am today without her. So much of what I am, what I have and what I do that I am proud of is because of her. And I hope someday she reads this, because I want her to know, if I make a difference with my life…that will be because of her too.
An EMT’s Story
-
The safety seat shoulder straps had to be removed from the infant/child
-
The infant/child had to be removed from the seat. (Remember that at this point in time, someone is standing up in a fast moving ambulance, holding a non-breathing infant in their arms, trying to support themselves and the child without falling over)
-
All of the sheets and blankets that were previously holding the seat in place on the stretcher have to be removed. (These get tossed on the floor and everyone involved keeps kicking them out of the way so that they can help during the trauma…in effect more time wasted).
-
The straps holding the child seat in place have to be found (under the bar of the seat) and released, and the seat has to be removed from the stretcher.
-
A short back-board must be placed on the stretcher so that heart compressions may begin
-
The baby is positioned on the board, and resuscitation can begin.
But that is not the end to this emergency. The infant/child is still sliding all over the place. The technician’s hands can easily be misplaced while doing compressions and there are many other dangers that can occur to this un-restrained child while racing to the hospital.
My partner and I conducted a run-through of this procedure using a doll as a prop Going as fast as we could, it took us 2 minutes and 4 seconds. According to the “Brady Emergency Care” book, “all cells in the body need oxygen for survival. Lethal changes will begin to take place in the brain within 4-6 minutes without a constant and adequate supply of oxygen. Brain cells begin to die within 10 minutes.” It’s clear that two minutes without air for an infant or child is way too long!”
The EMT went home and drew what she believed was needed to solve this problem. It is my hope that somehow, someday, I will help her do that.
