A Note Of Optimism

I’ve been away from the blog a bit, mainly as a result of some writer’s block.  With an upcoming trip to the Texas EMS Conference to speak (Tuesday, November 22 at 2:00 PM, by the way) and to get some continuing education, I’m more rejuvenated about EMS than usual.  And then, tonight, I heard from a dear friend of mine who works for a large, urban third-service EMS system in Texas.

She proceeded to tell me about her patient earlier this evening (without violating patient confidentiality), while working a high-volume truck in the inner city.  Her patient needed to go to the hospital for treatment of an illness that had been lingering for a long time.  She made arrangements to have all of the patients’ belongings moved as that was one of his objections to getting care.  She then administered pain medicine because “that looked like it <expletive> hurt.”

Honestly, it’s what we’re supposed to do.  But a lot of us miss the mark.  But ultimately, she took care of a patient, got them to care, addressed their pain, and gave them a bit of dignity.  Stories like this don’t make the news.  They don’t make great t-shirt slogans.  But taking care of the least among us is exactly what EMS is supposed to be all about.  Things like this remind me why it’s a privilege to be a medic and why it’s truly a sacred honor to take care of patients.

I’m not a Bible verse kind of guy, but her patient care tonight reminds me of this verse, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”  And ultimately, that’s the standard we should strive for as medics, as public servants, as caregivers, and as human beings.