SWAT medic Part 1: I wasn't prepared.

00:39:21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtAD6eONL9U

概要

TLDRIn this engaging video, Ginger Luck interviews a tactical medic who shares his journey from being a chef to working in emergency medical services (EMS). The medic discusses the challenges of adapting to high-stress environments, the importance of de-escalation techniques, and the emotional toll of traumatic calls. He emphasizes the need for mental health support and the complexities of working alongside law enforcement. The conversation highlights the medic's commitment to caring for all individuals involved in emergency situations, including suspects and bystanders, and offers valuable insights for paramedic students.

収穫

  • 👨‍⚕️ Transitioning from chef to medic highlights adaptability.
  • 🚑 Tactical medics play a crucial role in high-stress situations.
  • 🧠 Mental health support is essential for EMS professionals.
  • 🤝 De-escalation techniques are vital for patient interactions.
  • 👮‍♂️ Medics must care for all individuals, including suspects.
  • 📚 Recommended reading: 'Being Mortal' by Atul Gawande.
  • 💪 Experience in diverse fields enhances medic skills.
  • 😢 Emotional toll of traumatic calls is significant.
  • 🔍 Self-analysis after calls helps improve performance.
  • 💬 Communication skills are key in emergency situations.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker introduces a rapid-fire exchange format, discussing the transition from a tactical mindset to a medic role, highlighting the challenges of switching from a combat to a caregiving perspective.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The host, Ginger Luck, shares her experiences with medics, emphasizing the universal ideas and habits that emerge from their stories, and invites listeners to engage with her on social media.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The guest, a tactical medic, reflects on his diverse career path, including his time as a chef, and how those experiences have shaped his adaptability and skills in emergency medical services (EMS).

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The conversation shifts to the importance of interpersonal skills in EMS, with the guest suggesting that working in food service can enhance one's ability to multitask and interact with people under pressure.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The guest discusses his journey into tactical EMS, detailing the rigorous selection process for joining a SWAT team and the mental challenges faced during high-stress scenarios.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The discussion delves into the mindset required for tactical medics, emphasizing the need for self-analysis and the ability to switch roles quickly in high-pressure situations.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:39:21

    The guest shares personal experiences with emotional challenges in the field, including dealing with traumatic calls and the importance of seeking support and processing those experiences.

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ビデオQ&A

  • What is the main focus of the video?

    The video focuses on the experiences of a tactical medic in EMS and the challenges they face.

  • What background did the medic have before joining EMS?

    The medic was previously a chef before transitioning to emergency medical services.

  • What is the role of a tactical medic?

    A tactical medic provides medical support in high-stress situations, often working alongside law enforcement.

  • How does the medic handle emotional stress from traumatic calls?

    The medic discusses the importance of seeking support and processing emotions after difficult calls.

  • What advice does the medic give to paramedic students?

    The medic suggests gaining experience in various fields, including interacting with diverse populations.

  • What is the significance of de-escalation techniques?

    De-escalation techniques are crucial for managing agitated patients and ensuring their safety.

  • How does the medic view their role in relation to law enforcement?

    The medic emphasizes their obligation to care for all individuals involved, including suspects and bystanders.

  • What book does the medic recommend for paramedic students?

    The medic recommends 'Being Mortal' by Atul Gawande.

  • What is the medic's stance on mental health days?

    The medic acknowledges the importance of mental health days and taking care of one's emotional well-being.

  • What is the medic's experience with critical incidents?

    The medic shares a personal experience dealing with a line of duty death and its emotional impact.

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  • 00:00:02
    all right this is a new thing i'm doing
  • 00:00:05
    it's a rapid fire exchange where i say a
  • 00:00:07
    word and you say something back you
  • 00:00:08
    ready yep stethoscope
  • 00:00:14
    let's start over
  • 00:00:17
    i had gotten to the point where
  • 00:00:19
    i was
  • 00:00:20
    literally drawing the ketamine up as we
  • 00:00:22
    would walk in the door you know
  • 00:00:26
    and it was really difficult for me to
  • 00:00:28
    change gears from
  • 00:00:31
    firearms shots on target take out a
  • 00:00:34
    threat to suddenly
  • 00:00:36
    oh wait i'm a medic i'm i am the medic
  • 00:00:40
    [Music]
  • 00:00:52
    welcome to medic mindset i'm ginger luck
  • 00:00:55
    i'm having the time of my life sitting
  • 00:00:56
    down with medics one at a time and
  • 00:00:58
    sorting through their experiences what
  • 00:01:00
    ends up being distilled from this
  • 00:01:02
    process are ideas and thoughts and
  • 00:01:04
    habits that are seemingly universal to
  • 00:01:07
    medics and i know they're universal
  • 00:01:09
    because i've begun hearing from you guys
  • 00:01:11
    which has turned out to be the most
  • 00:01:12
    rewarding part of this little experiment
  • 00:01:14
    so please keep sending me your messages
  • 00:01:17
    i'm on twitter at genderlock atx and
  • 00:01:20
    facebook as ginger lock the website with
  • 00:01:22
    show notes for each episode is
  • 00:01:24
    medicmindset.com i've listened to the
  • 00:01:26
    raw audio for this episode at least 20
  • 00:01:28
    times i was searching for a title and
  • 00:01:31
    for a method to properly introduce this
  • 00:01:33
    medic he's a swap medic but he doesn't
  • 00:01:35
    fit neatly in the box we might have for
  • 00:01:37
    tactical medics
  • 00:01:38
    for every descriptor i wanted to use i
  • 00:01:40
    just kept thinking but he's so much more
  • 00:01:42
    than that he's a large guy muscular
  • 00:01:45
    steady stable
  • 00:01:46
    and one thing's for sure he settles a
  • 00:01:48
    room just by being in it the rest
  • 00:01:51
    just check it out for yourself
  • 00:01:57
    thank you for being on the show it's
  • 00:01:58
    absolutely my pleasure talk to me about
  • 00:02:00
    the steps of you getting into ems
  • 00:02:02
    because what i know of you is you are
  • 00:02:04
    incredibly smart you're the kind of guy
  • 00:02:06
    that could have picked to do anything so
  • 00:02:07
    why did you pick ems first thanks for
  • 00:02:09
    that i guess i should preface by saying
  • 00:02:11
    that you know i had multiple other
  • 00:02:13
    careers i was a chef for years and years
  • 00:02:15
    which was a very stressful job
  • 00:02:18
    and i
  • 00:02:20
    quit being a chef because i wanted a
  • 00:02:21
    less stressful job and somehow ended up
  • 00:02:24
    in ems which it turns out is less
  • 00:02:25
    stressful in a lot of ways
  • 00:02:27
    so i didn't know that you had been a
  • 00:02:28
    chef are you professionally trained no i
  • 00:02:31
    started washing dishes when i was 14 and
  • 00:02:33
    just worked my way up so were you ever
  • 00:02:35
    in charge of a kitchen as the chef
  • 00:02:38
    yeah multiple multiples i ran a place in
  • 00:02:40
    uh
  • 00:02:42
    in the caribbean for a while and that
  • 00:02:43
    was very successful and probably the
  • 00:02:45
    most rewarding place and then uh
  • 00:02:48
    another one that in the caribbean that
  • 00:02:49
    was wildly catastrophic
  • 00:02:52
    i love it that you ran a kitchen or
  • 00:02:54
    worked in a kitchen because so many of
  • 00:02:56
    our students have food service
  • 00:02:58
    backgrounds when we're writing their
  • 00:03:00
    resumes or when we're talking about
  • 00:03:01
    their job skills they write that one off
  • 00:03:03
    they don't think of it as being an asset
  • 00:03:06
    to
  • 00:03:07
    healthcare oh
  • 00:03:09
    and i have to quickly dispel that
  • 00:03:11
    because they're so similar yeah in fact
  • 00:03:13
    i was thinking about that this morning
  • 00:03:15
    when i was listening to
  • 00:03:16
    one of the episodes of your podcast
  • 00:03:19
    how lucky i was to have that service
  • 00:03:21
    industry background
  • 00:03:23
    because it allowed me a familiarity with
  • 00:03:26
    adaptability to you know changing
  • 00:03:29
    situations the ability to multitask
  • 00:03:31
    under pressure socializing with
  • 00:03:33
    strangers so all of those things i was
  • 00:03:35
    lucky enough to be really familiar with
  • 00:03:37
    when i came into this and it was an
  • 00:03:38
    immense asset to me and it gave me a lot
  • 00:03:40
    more space to learn
  • 00:03:42
    the things i needed to know about
  • 00:03:44
    pathophysiology and pharmacology i
  • 00:03:46
    currently have a student that's a
  • 00:03:48
    bartender he's one of many bartenders
  • 00:03:50
    that have come through our program we do
  • 00:03:52
    a view from the door when we go to the
  • 00:03:53
    hospital we'll
  • 00:03:55
    sneak a peek and then we'll talk about
  • 00:03:57
    what we saw i would say he saw more than
  • 00:03:59
    me um
  • 00:04:00
    yeah he saw things i didn't see and and
  • 00:04:02
    and later i'm like you were absolutely
  • 00:04:04
    right i didn't notice that thing sitting
  • 00:04:06
    on the counter or whatever
  • 00:04:09
    yeah as soon as they walk in the door
  • 00:04:10
    you pick them out and you're like oh i'm
  • 00:04:11
    gonna have to spend a long time talking
  • 00:04:13
    to this one
  • 00:04:14
    but yeah it was a choice between being a
  • 00:04:16
    police officer or a paramedic i knew
  • 00:04:18
    myself well enough at that point in my
  • 00:04:20
    in my life because i came to ems late
  • 00:04:22
    you know i was already in my mid-30s and
  • 00:04:25
    i knew myself well enough at that point
  • 00:04:26
    to know that i was more wired to be a
  • 00:04:28
    caretaker than i was to be
  • 00:04:31
    a hunter for better or worse i think
  • 00:04:33
    that police these days are often
  • 00:04:35
    thrust into the roles of being hunters
  • 00:04:37
    even though
  • 00:04:38
    in my experience many of them are
  • 00:04:40
    caretakers you know and i wasn't sure
  • 00:04:41
    that i was mentally or emotionally
  • 00:04:43
    prepared to deal with
  • 00:04:45
    the alienation that police officers have
  • 00:04:47
    to deal with um
  • 00:04:48
    that would be really hard on me i think
  • 00:04:51
    so when i heard that i could become a
  • 00:04:53
    medic and then also
  • 00:04:54
    possibly become a tactical medic it
  • 00:04:56
    seemed like an ideal balance to me i was
  • 00:04:58
    listening to a podcast there's a
  • 00:05:00
    podcaster named tim ferriss and he had a
  • 00:05:02
    guest i think her name was whitney
  • 00:05:04
    cummings she's a stand-up comic
  • 00:05:07
    a successful one so he was asking her if
  • 00:05:10
    she could take someone from day one
  • 00:05:12
    they'd have no experiences stand up how
  • 00:05:15
    would she train them he gave her like
  • 00:05:17
    two months she said first night i'm
  • 00:05:20
    gonna throw them up there on stage and
  • 00:05:22
    they're gonna work on stage presence
  • 00:05:24
    because like 90 of the job is just the
  • 00:05:27
    presence and then 10 the actual content
  • 00:05:30
    and this is a hard question and it's if
  • 00:05:32
    someone came to you today they have some
  • 00:05:34
    time right they've got maybe two years
  • 00:05:36
    of paramedic school what would you tell
  • 00:05:38
    them to do while they're in paramedic
  • 00:05:40
    school to prepare them for being a medic
  • 00:05:43
    would you send them to you know go work
  • 00:05:45
    in the field go work in food service go
  • 00:05:47
    work out
  • 00:05:49
    hmm i think all of those things would be
  • 00:05:51
    really appropriate
  • 00:05:52
    i think i might take an even more
  • 00:05:54
    radical approach than that and say
  • 00:05:58
    go hang out with homeless people
  • 00:06:01
    you know every night for two weeks
  • 00:06:03
    get that sense of desperation of
  • 00:06:06
    clinging to something
  • 00:06:08
    and talk to them you know
  • 00:06:10
    my partner at work has a great exercise
  • 00:06:12
    that he does with students who are
  • 00:06:14
    obviously intimidated by strangers he
  • 00:06:17
    tells them to go home after after a ride
  • 00:06:19
    out their homework assignment is to go
  • 00:06:21
    somewhere like the shopping mall or and
  • 00:06:22
    walk up to at least 20 random people and
  • 00:06:25
    just introduce themselves and start
  • 00:06:26
    talking you know and he's like gonna be
  • 00:06:29
    nerve wracking for you but it's really
  • 00:06:31
    really good practice you know and you'll
  • 00:06:33
    find that if you do it in such a way
  • 00:06:35
    that you are
  • 00:06:36
    approachable and friendly and all of
  • 00:06:38
    that you'll often garner a good reaction
  • 00:06:40
    i wonder if the students do that i
  • 00:06:42
    wonder if they do too yeah i know that
  • 00:06:44
    the ones who don't he then
  • 00:06:46
    makes
  • 00:06:47
    stand up and give speeches to the entire
  • 00:06:49
    fire station you know really does he
  • 00:06:51
    really put him through this exercise
  • 00:06:52
    yeah what kind of speech he leaves it up
  • 00:06:54
    to them he says you know you've got
  • 00:06:56
    until your next ride out to prepare a
  • 00:06:58
    speech on
  • 00:06:59
    you know something that
  • 00:07:01
    i don't know if he makes it medically
  • 00:07:02
    related but
  • 00:07:04
    i love that yeah that's good
  • 00:07:06
    because a lot of our job is talking to a
  • 00:07:08
    group of people you know bystanders
  • 00:07:10
    family members
  • 00:07:12
    army of firefighters yeah and and
  • 00:07:14
    learning how to
  • 00:07:16
    control our own emotions so that we can
  • 00:07:18
    impart
  • 00:07:20
    a sense of you know calmness and or
  • 00:07:23
    you know trust to all of those people so
  • 00:07:27
    you got into ems knowing you wanted to
  • 00:07:29
    go down the tactical route and you
  • 00:07:30
    quickly found a tactical team
  • 00:07:33
    to join can you talk about your
  • 00:07:35
    indoctrination into that aspect of ems
  • 00:07:38
    yeah absolutely like any medic straight
  • 00:07:41
    out of school the first year was
  • 00:07:44
    uh
  • 00:07:45
    was a constant nail biter you know
  • 00:07:48
    jumping at the slightest
  • 00:07:50
    indication of a possible pager tone and
  • 00:07:53
    the constant terror that you're gonna
  • 00:07:55
    screw something up and a lot of
  • 00:07:57
    self-analysis after every call so that
  • 00:07:59
    year you know was was filled with all of
  • 00:08:01
    those things i was really lucky around
  • 00:08:03
    the time that year was completed my
  • 00:08:06
    agency's tactical team had an opening so
  • 00:08:08
    i had to do what we all have to do to
  • 00:08:10
    get on the team which is to go through
  • 00:08:12
    first you have to pass a basic fitness
  • 00:08:14
    test in order to get on the team after
  • 00:08:16
    that test you have to go through
  • 00:08:18
    a very stressful day once you get
  • 00:08:20
    through that if they you know feel that
  • 00:08:22
    you're appropriate then you have to go
  • 00:08:24
    through
  • 00:08:25
    basic swat school
  • 00:08:27
    i want to go back to the day how long is
  • 00:08:29
    the day you know it's varied a few times
  • 00:08:31
    since i got on the team
  • 00:08:34
    part of what makes it really stressful
  • 00:08:35
    is that after you've done all the
  • 00:08:36
    fitness stuff and a lot of people show
  • 00:08:38
    up thinking that's all they're gonna
  • 00:08:39
    have to do
  • 00:08:41
    you then
  • 00:08:43
    without going into too much detail have
  • 00:08:44
    to go through a lot of scenarios based
  • 00:08:47
    on what we actually do and uh
  • 00:08:50
    and we're really lucky that we work so
  • 00:08:52
    closely with the law enforcement
  • 00:08:54
    departments that that we
  • 00:08:56
    work with
  • 00:08:57
    a lot of those guys came out to you know
  • 00:08:59
    as a medic
  • 00:09:00
    you know all the medics in your system
  • 00:09:02
    and you think okay you know whatever
  • 00:09:03
    these guys can throw at me i can totally
  • 00:09:05
    deal with because i know these guys you
  • 00:09:06
    know but then all of a sudden you've got
  • 00:09:08
    you know 12 or 14
  • 00:09:10
    swat guys that you have never met before
  • 00:09:12
    in your life
  • 00:09:14
    standing there contributing to the
  • 00:09:15
    scenarios and also analyzing everything
  • 00:09:17
    that you're doing
  • 00:09:19
    and trying to decide even if your
  • 00:09:20
    mindset is appropriate okay i want to
  • 00:09:22
    talk about what you're referencing the
  • 00:09:25
    the mindset what is the mindset educate
  • 00:09:27
    me as paramedics we're familiar with
  • 00:09:30
    really high stress high pressure
  • 00:09:31
    environments when you
  • 00:09:34
    add a lot of other stress factors to
  • 00:09:36
    that such as what we call non-permissive
  • 00:09:39
    environments you know where you're not
  • 00:09:41
    familiar at all with your surroundings
  • 00:09:42
    there's a high potential of danger and
  • 00:09:45
    you're dealing with multiple personnel
  • 00:09:47
    doing their own roles and trying to
  • 00:09:48
    figure out where you fit into that and
  • 00:09:50
    then also doing your job whether it's
  • 00:09:52
    taking care of the officers or taking
  • 00:09:54
    care of people that you know end up in
  • 00:09:56
    the scenes that we're in that's a lot of
  • 00:09:59
    a lot of things to juggle
  • 00:10:01
    and it's a lot to mentally prepare for
  • 00:10:04
    to deal with at the time and then to
  • 00:10:05
    take home afterwards you know
  • 00:10:08
    there are a lot of medical calls in my
  • 00:10:10
    career so far brief as it is i go back
  • 00:10:13
    and go over with a fine-tooth comb and
  • 00:10:15
    and
  • 00:10:16
    think about all the things i could have
  • 00:10:17
    done better or should have done and
  • 00:10:18
    didn't
  • 00:10:19
    i also
  • 00:10:20
    spend a lot of time after
  • 00:10:22
    swat calls
  • 00:10:24
    literally just analyzing how i moved
  • 00:10:26
    from one structure to another and
  • 00:10:28
    whether or not that placed myself or any
  • 00:10:30
    of my teammates in danger yeah like an
  • 00:10:32
    after action review walk your brain
  • 00:10:35
    through every single step you took
  • 00:10:37
    interesting and when you reference the
  • 00:10:39
    team who is the team don't assume that i
  • 00:10:41
    know anything because i don't okay a
  • 00:10:43
    swat team is made up of how many people
  • 00:10:45
    and how many medics sure who's there
  • 00:10:48
    sure usually whether it is a pre-planned
  • 00:10:52
    mission in other words you know if it's
  • 00:10:53
    a warrant that we're gonna serve at such
  • 00:10:55
    and such time tomorrow morning or it's
  • 00:10:57
    something that drops unexpectedly you
  • 00:10:59
    know and we all get called out for it
  • 00:11:02
    usually it's
  • 00:11:03
    at least
  • 00:11:04
    10
  • 00:11:06
    maybe as many as 18
  • 00:11:07
    swat personnel
  • 00:11:09
    and that may also include negotiators
  • 00:11:12
    and other people usually we try to have
  • 00:11:14
    at least two tack medics uh often we end
  • 00:11:16
    up with just one so when i say the team
  • 00:11:18
    that's who i'm talking about all of
  • 00:11:20
    those people and a lot of times the way
  • 00:11:21
    we do it especially if it's a if it's a
  • 00:11:23
    pre-planned thing is that one of us will
  • 00:11:26
    stay with the ambulance stage somewhere
  • 00:11:28
    nearby and the other will go in with the
  • 00:11:30
    team wherever we're going and depending
  • 00:11:32
    on the structure you know if it's a
  • 00:11:33
    really big structure we'll make entry
  • 00:11:35
    and do all the things that the team is
  • 00:11:36
    doing with the exception that we're not
  • 00:11:38
    armed if it's a smaller structure we'll
  • 00:11:40
    just post at the door and wait till
  • 00:11:41
    they've cleared it because then we'll
  • 00:11:42
    just be one more body inside there's not
  • 00:11:44
    enough room for that so you are unarmed
  • 00:11:48
    it's something that we go back and forth
  • 00:11:50
    on a lot it's a very uh uncomfortable
  • 00:11:53
    position to be in
  • 00:11:55
    but on the other hand
  • 00:11:56
    i know there are tactical ems
  • 00:11:59
    teams in the country that have that that
  • 00:12:01
    are armed we are not at this time i
  • 00:12:03
    think
  • 00:12:04
    the intention is that maybe we someday
  • 00:12:05
    will be but our administration has a lot
  • 00:12:08
    of hesitation about that my hesitation
  • 00:12:11
    is not
  • 00:12:13
    well i think i think what it comes down
  • 00:12:15
    to and this is i think one of the most
  • 00:12:18
    important aspects of
  • 00:12:20
    dealing with
  • 00:12:22
    taking on the role of a tactical medic
  • 00:12:23
    what it comes down to is is
  • 00:12:26
    remaining aware of your role the
  • 00:12:28
    officers that we work with
  • 00:12:30
    they're in that capacity of being a
  • 00:12:31
    police officer all the time even when
  • 00:12:32
    they're not on duty you know i know
  • 00:12:34
    these guys i know that their minds are
  • 00:12:36
    you know bent that way that's how they
  • 00:12:37
    do things you know and they do it every
  • 00:12:39
    day so
  • 00:12:40
    it becomes very instinctual to them on a
  • 00:12:42
    lot of levels
  • 00:12:43
    the decision about whether or not to
  • 00:12:46
    employ a weapon becomes very instinctual
  • 00:12:48
    to them in our tactical ems team you
  • 00:12:50
    know we compete in small swat
  • 00:12:52
    competitions and stuff like that so
  • 00:12:54
    we're all able to shoot and to do all
  • 00:12:56
    the things that the swat guys can do
  • 00:12:57
    that doesn't necessarily mean that we
  • 00:12:59
    are accustomed to thinking in that role
  • 00:13:01
    every day right
  • 00:13:03
    so if we were to become armed
  • 00:13:05
    we would have to give a lot of thought
  • 00:13:08
    to
  • 00:13:08
    how that changes
  • 00:13:11
    our mindset and whether
  • 00:13:14
    i'll give you an example i remember when
  • 00:13:16
    i was in basic swat school and of course
  • 00:13:18
    i hadn't deployed with the teams at that
  • 00:13:20
    point we were doing a hostage rescue
  • 00:13:22
    drill on a school bus
  • 00:13:24
    and we were using what we call sims guns
  • 00:13:26
    that shoot little paint bullets they're
  • 00:13:28
    painful but not hopefully you know
  • 00:13:32
    hopefully unharmful you know it's very
  • 00:13:34
    stressful there's all these people in a
  • 00:13:35
    bus you have to run in the bus and and
  • 00:13:37
    so i was very much in a swat role
  • 00:13:38
    because that's what i was doing in swat
  • 00:13:40
    school
  • 00:13:41
    and so i ran in and put shots on target
  • 00:13:43
    and all of a sudden the cadre who were
  • 00:13:46
    training us
  • 00:13:47
    said we've got a pediatric patient down
  • 00:13:50
    outside you know
  • 00:13:53
    and it was really difficult for me to
  • 00:13:55
    change gears
  • 00:13:56
    from
  • 00:13:57
    firearms shots on target take out a
  • 00:14:00
    threat to suddenly
  • 00:14:02
    oh wait i'm a medic i'm i am the medic
  • 00:14:05
    and so that is my job now to go take
  • 00:14:07
    care of this this patient and i think
  • 00:14:10
    i think it's
  • 00:14:12
    probably
  • 00:14:13
    easier in some respects for
  • 00:14:15
    you know people who've been in the
  • 00:14:16
    military in a medical capacity 18 deltas
  • 00:14:19
    para rescue guys because
  • 00:14:21
    they get more used to switching roles
  • 00:14:23
    like that but because we haven't been in
  • 00:14:25
    that other role up until now i think it
  • 00:14:27
    would be a big thing to take on taking a
  • 00:14:29
    tool out of your toolbox so you don't
  • 00:14:31
    even have to worry about the option of
  • 00:14:33
    using it right
  • 00:14:35
    on the other hand there's this whole
  • 00:14:37
    other aspect which is that because we're
  • 00:14:39
    unarmed
  • 00:14:40
    swat personnel have to be detailed off
  • 00:14:42
    to hold security for us at all times if
  • 00:14:45
    something would ever happen
  • 00:14:47
    in those situations and for some reason
  • 00:14:49
    we didn't have security
  • 00:14:51
    we'd be in a very
  • 00:14:53
    delicate situation you know that's the
  • 00:14:56
    argument i've heard that people make for
  • 00:14:58
    you guys to be armed is that if the
  • 00:15:00
    people who are protecting you become
  • 00:15:03
    they become injured or can't
  • 00:15:05
    be a physical barrier for you that you'd
  • 00:15:07
    be exposed right
  • 00:15:10
    yeah and it's a terrifying prospect and
  • 00:15:12
    i could go way down the rabbit hole with
  • 00:15:14
    this for hours but you know one of the
  • 00:15:16
    things i think about is is that
  • 00:15:18
    sometimes
  • 00:15:19
    certain people in our society have a
  • 00:15:21
    tendency
  • 00:15:23
    a sort of reflexive tendency to think
  • 00:15:24
    that force is going to solve
  • 00:15:27
    any situation and even i mean
  • 00:15:31
    obviously the best swat guys that i work
  • 00:15:32
    with know better you know that force is
  • 00:15:35
    is the option you want to employ last
  • 00:15:38
    and that if you are able to think
  • 00:15:40
    critically through a situation there are
  • 00:15:42
    often multiple other avenues that you
  • 00:15:45
    could explore rather than using force
  • 00:15:47
    you know that's the whole reason we have
  • 00:15:48
    swat teams really
  • 00:15:50
    say more about that what are you saying
  • 00:15:52
    the whole reason we have swat teams is
  • 00:15:55
    to quote a really bad movie
  • 00:15:59
    that came out uh i think back in the 90s
  • 00:16:02
    swat was it yeah
  • 00:16:05
    i think in the movie some guys did you
  • 00:16:06
    know some swat guys did some bonehead
  • 00:16:08
    stuff and and their commander afterwards
  • 00:16:10
    was like special weapons and tactics
  • 00:16:13
    where were the tactics
  • 00:16:16
    which may be the only takeaway from that
  • 00:16:17
    movie which would otherwise be a small
  • 00:16:19
    murder of your time you know
  • 00:16:23
    and i think that the swat guys that i've
  • 00:16:25
    been around are really good at that
  • 00:16:28
    they're really good at
  • 00:16:29
    planning as much as possible
  • 00:16:31
    and and considering all
  • 00:16:34
    options and avenues to avoid having to
  • 00:16:36
    use force um and that's something that
  • 00:16:39
    probably doesn't get seen by you know
  • 00:16:41
    society at large very often because
  • 00:16:42
    they're not privy to these conversations
  • 00:16:44
    and these briefings and all of that you
  • 00:16:46
    know i want to sit there for a second
  • 00:16:48
    this idea of de-escalating
  • 00:16:50
    something
  • 00:16:52
    because that is something medics have to
  • 00:16:54
    do i would i'd venture to say it could
  • 00:16:56
    come up every shift where you've got an
  • 00:16:58
    angry patient or bystander or family
  • 00:17:00
    member
  • 00:17:01
    who's experiencing some level of anger
  • 00:17:03
    because i've watched agitated patients
  • 00:17:06
    in the hospital be either de-escalated
  • 00:17:09
    or escalated by the providers around
  • 00:17:11
    them i wasn't formally trained in some
  • 00:17:13
    really great tactics some simple things
  • 00:17:16
    i've watched nurses i mean every every
  • 00:17:18
    patient's different but they will talk
  • 00:17:19
    to the patient but not look them square
  • 00:17:21
    in the eyes really hard
  • 00:17:23
    they'll kind of submit a little bit with
  • 00:17:25
    their eyes but their hands are on
  • 00:17:28
    and talking to them so there's some
  • 00:17:29
    active things going on but they're also
  • 00:17:30
    these passive almost anthropological
  • 00:17:33
    maneuvers they did yeah it's very primal
  • 00:17:35
    you know any part of your background
  • 00:17:36
    that you can help give insight for a
  • 00:17:38
    paramedic student new medic or somebody
  • 00:17:40
    that wants to get better at
  • 00:17:42
    de-escalating agitated patients
  • 00:17:45
    boy that's uh you know i've ridden that
  • 00:17:47
    roller coaster for sure and uh and gone
  • 00:17:50
    at it both ways in fact only a few
  • 00:17:51
    months ago my partner
  • 00:17:53
    confronted me we'd had a whole series of
  • 00:17:55
    psych calls and and i had gotten to the
  • 00:17:57
    point where
  • 00:17:59
    i was literally drawing the ketamine up
  • 00:18:01
    as we would walk in the door you know
  • 00:18:03
    like
  • 00:18:04
    so yeah uh and he confronted me about it
  • 00:18:06
    a little bit he was like
  • 00:18:08
    can i just talk to him for five or ten
  • 00:18:10
    minutes first you know
  • 00:18:12
    and i would say like okay you know but
  • 00:18:15
    i'm right here
  • 00:18:16
    and i should point out that you know
  • 00:18:18
    especially in the case of of psych
  • 00:18:20
    patients you know people with
  • 00:18:21
    schizophrenia bipolar disorder etc
  • 00:18:24
    i hate
  • 00:18:25
    having to sedate and or chemically
  • 00:18:27
    restrain those patients i know that
  • 00:18:28
    they're already dealing with things that
  • 00:18:30
    i can't even possibly comprehend it
  • 00:18:32
    often
  • 00:18:33
    becomes a better option than for
  • 00:18:35
    instance you know handcuffs and being
  • 00:18:38
    piled up on by other people and
  • 00:18:40
    i started my paramedic career very much
  • 00:18:42
    with the intention of like i'm just
  • 00:18:44
    going to talk to everybody you know
  • 00:18:46
    i love everybody we got this you know we
  • 00:18:49
    can solve any problem sure uh and then
  • 00:18:51
    hit that point when i was like drawing
  • 00:18:53
    up the ketamine as i walk in the door
  • 00:18:55
    and now i'm trying to find that balance
  • 00:18:56
    between the two you know where i'm
  • 00:18:58
    getting
  • 00:18:59
    i hope better at gauging
  • 00:19:02
    the threshold for combativeness and
  • 00:19:05
    trying to either you know trying to use
  • 00:19:07
    everything i can to de-escalate before
  • 00:19:08
    that point and then not being too
  • 00:19:10
    hesitant once that point is reached yeah
  • 00:19:12
    to go ahead and do that i mean i always
  • 00:19:14
    say that one of the most important
  • 00:19:16
    things about being a paramedic is is to
  • 00:19:18
    take your shoes off at the door
  • 00:19:20
    uh obviously don't take your shoes off
  • 00:19:22
    of the door because who knows where
  • 00:19:23
    you're going to be stepping in but
  • 00:19:24
    in a metaphorical sense the the sense of
  • 00:19:27
    respect for other people for their space
  • 00:19:29
    uh whether that's a physical space or an
  • 00:19:32
    emotional space that they inhabit not
  • 00:19:34
    only to be able to take your shoes off
  • 00:19:35
    but then
  • 00:19:36
    to try and feel what it would be like to
  • 00:19:38
    be in somebody else's
  • 00:19:41
    especially with these patients who are
  • 00:19:42
    in those really distressed places
  • 00:19:46
    that is something that can only come
  • 00:19:49
    with getting outside your own comfort
  • 00:19:51
    zone whatever is familiar to you and
  • 00:19:53
    makes you feel warm and fuzzy and makes
  • 00:19:55
    you feel like you're in control
  • 00:19:58
    if you're able to either through some
  • 00:20:00
    mental exercise or through an activity
  • 00:20:03
    or through a field trip do something to
  • 00:20:06
    break out of that and try and imagine
  • 00:20:08
    what it's like for somebody else to be
  • 00:20:09
    in that other place that's uncomfortable
  • 00:20:11
    to you
  • 00:20:12
    imagine what it's like for them to be
  • 00:20:14
    there all the time you know
  • 00:20:17
    and then
  • 00:20:18
    to think of what
  • 00:20:19
    you would want to hear if you were in
  • 00:20:21
    that uncomfortable place
  • 00:20:23
    you know and i'm not saying that i mean
  • 00:20:24
    that's
  • 00:20:25
    a sort of dime store
  • 00:20:27
    philosophy response to the question but
  • 00:20:29
    i think i think that
  • 00:20:32
    dynamic is the only way
  • 00:20:34
    that you can approach
  • 00:20:36
    those people with any sense of integrity
  • 00:20:39
    it's not wrong to play a role
  • 00:20:41
    you know sometimes you have to play a
  • 00:20:43
    role in our job in order to you know
  • 00:20:45
    facilitate somebody's well-being
  • 00:20:47
    it's something we all do all the time in
  • 00:20:49
    the case of someone who's dealing with
  • 00:20:51
    psychological or emotional problems
  • 00:20:54
    there has to be an element of sincerity
  • 00:20:56
    to playing that role and that sincerity
  • 00:21:00
    won't come unless you've been
  • 00:21:02
    uncomfortable yourself
  • 00:21:04
    that feels really true
  • 00:21:06
    that's that's those are some true words
  • 00:21:08
    yeah thanks i don't think any patient in
  • 00:21:11
    that situation expects you to understand
  • 00:21:12
    them i think they'd be angry if
  • 00:21:14
    you try to imply that you do i actually
  • 00:21:17
    ran a call you know we tried the talking
  • 00:21:20
    thing for over an hour and and i ended
  • 00:21:22
    up
  • 00:21:23
    poking the bear a little bit you know
  • 00:21:25
    and we ended up in a chemical restraint
  • 00:21:27
    situation
  • 00:21:29
    and i felt really bad about it you know
  • 00:21:30
    but i also recognized that we didn't
  • 00:21:32
    have a lot of other options at that time
  • 00:21:34
    and i ran another call two weeks later
  • 00:21:37
    that was an mvc and it was the same guy
  • 00:21:40
    and i was really trepidatious rolling up
  • 00:21:42
    to their car i was like first are you
  • 00:21:43
    guys okay you know and they were like
  • 00:21:45
    yeah we're okay you know
  • 00:21:47
    and i said well i don't know if you
  • 00:21:48
    remember me but i met you a couple weeks
  • 00:21:50
    ago
  • 00:21:51
    and his mom said yeah i just went and
  • 00:21:52
    got him out of you know the facility we
  • 00:21:54
    were on our way home and got into this
  • 00:21:56
    fender bender
  • 00:21:57
    and i said well you know you look really
  • 00:21:59
    good man and he was like man thank you
  • 00:22:01
    so much and
  • 00:22:03
    i don't know i think he was aware that
  • 00:22:06
    there was no certainly no malice in what
  • 00:22:08
    i did if only we could always see them
  • 00:22:10
    after they get a little healing you know
  • 00:22:12
    we catch people in their moments they're
  • 00:22:14
    in a moment sometimes sometimes it's a
  • 00:22:16
    chronic you know psychological condition
  • 00:22:18
    but sometimes we catch people in moments
  • 00:22:20
    yeah it's a snapshot and they're such
  • 00:22:22
    they're much more complex people than
  • 00:22:24
    that yeah
  • 00:22:25
    i'm sure we could solve a lot of road
  • 00:22:27
    rage problems if we
  • 00:22:28
    could
  • 00:22:29
    could all just get back together later
  • 00:22:30
    and be like hey you remember when you
  • 00:22:31
    got me off and i was feeling this where
  • 00:22:34
    were you from
  • 00:22:35
    okay we're cool now right you know
  • 00:22:38
    i want to go back to you being embedded
  • 00:22:40
    with the swat team and i want to talk
  • 00:22:42
    about well you said you're unarmed so
  • 00:22:44
    there's not the opportunity for you to
  • 00:22:46
    neutralize a threat to kill someone
  • 00:22:49
    well there's plenty of opportunities for
  • 00:22:50
    me to kill someone but it all involves a
  • 00:22:52
    lot of paperwork and possibly my medical
  • 00:22:54
    license so
  • 00:22:56
    right your mission going in is not to
  • 00:22:59
    neutralize the threat right can you say
  • 00:23:01
    what your mission is and this is the
  • 00:23:03
    part that i think gets gets tricky for
  • 00:23:05
    anyone in a medical role in the tactical
  • 00:23:07
    environment
  • 00:23:08
    your mandate
  • 00:23:10
    as it always is in ems is to take care
  • 00:23:13
    of everybody who needs help
  • 00:23:16
    and sometimes
  • 00:23:18
    even in you know regular ems we're all
  • 00:23:21
    familiar at least with the concept if
  • 00:23:23
    not
  • 00:23:24
    having experienced those calls when it's
  • 00:23:26
    somebody that you really
  • 00:23:28
    don't want to take care of
  • 00:23:30
    for some reason you know whether they're
  • 00:23:31
    the drunk driver who caused the accident
  • 00:23:33
    that killed
  • 00:23:35
    you know kids or you know something
  • 00:23:38
    along those lines but we're still
  • 00:23:40
    obligated to do so hopefully would have
  • 00:23:43
    a hard time living with ourselves if we
  • 00:23:44
    didn't that certainly becomes
  • 00:23:46
    exacerbated
  • 00:23:47
    in the tactical role because
  • 00:23:51
    i think some people think that we're
  • 00:23:52
    just there for the officers um
  • 00:23:55
    and that perception is probably
  • 00:23:57
    reinforced by the fact that we look just
  • 00:23:59
    like the officers except we don't have a
  • 00:24:00
    gun on you know but we're not just there
  • 00:24:03
    for them we're also there for
  • 00:24:05
    the suspect and we're
  • 00:24:08
    certainly there for any potential
  • 00:24:10
    innocents that are caught up in
  • 00:24:12
    whatever's going on there
  • 00:24:14
    and i've had some some
  • 00:24:16
    very awkward and uncomfortable
  • 00:24:17
    experiences
  • 00:24:19
    uh attempting to in some way
  • 00:24:22
    assist
  • 00:24:24
    at least you know emotionally with
  • 00:24:26
    people who are caught up in
  • 00:24:29
    somebody else's drama that has elicited
  • 00:24:30
    a swat response
  • 00:24:32
    because in that role we look like cops
  • 00:24:35
    even if we say you know i'm i'm the
  • 00:24:37
    medic you know we're still going to be
  • 00:24:39
    perceived as part of that team and we
  • 00:24:41
    are part of that team you know
  • 00:24:43
    there's a whole other aspect to that
  • 00:24:45
    that i can
  • 00:24:46
    talk about with you if you want
  • 00:24:48
    um
  • 00:24:49
    i want to hear it all yeah
  • 00:24:51
    so we end up in these situations you
  • 00:24:52
    know where we're dealing with that same
  • 00:24:54
    sense of alienation to some extent that
  • 00:24:56
    the cops deal with all the time you know
  • 00:24:59
    which you know really makes me
  • 00:25:01
    empathic towards them
  • 00:25:03
    and then we're also you know dealing
  • 00:25:05
    with
  • 00:25:06
    situations where we may feel
  • 00:25:08
    a lot of anger
  • 00:25:09
    and and maybe judgment uh but we still
  • 00:25:12
    have to do our jobs so there's that
  • 00:25:13
    aspect of it and then the other aspect
  • 00:25:15
    of it is that
  • 00:25:17
    you know you are there for your officers
  • 00:25:19
    and
  • 00:25:20
    and
  • 00:25:21
    you go into some
  • 00:25:23
    really stressful situations with these
  • 00:25:25
    guys
  • 00:25:26
    and so you see them
  • 00:25:29
    dealing with the stress of their jobs
  • 00:25:31
    all the time
  • 00:25:32
    and you worry about them all the time
  • 00:25:36
    do you worry about them getting
  • 00:25:37
    physically injured on their job are you
  • 00:25:39
    worried about them their mental health
  • 00:25:41
    or all of it or both unquestionably yeah
  • 00:25:43
    you know
  • 00:25:46
    i uh
  • 00:25:48
    i've had some rough calls
  • 00:25:51
    since i graduated school and all that
  • 00:25:55
    ah give me a second yeah
  • 00:26:04
    probably
  • 00:26:07
    cry away and then we can either we can
  • 00:26:09
    leave it or not oh i got no issues with
  • 00:26:11
    it uh so yeah i've had some rough calls
  • 00:26:13
    you know i've had pediatric arrests and
  • 00:26:16
    you know various others i've had you
  • 00:26:18
    know domestic abuse cases that were very
  • 00:26:19
    distressing to deal with
  • 00:26:21
    um
  • 00:26:23
    and i've you know cried a little bit
  • 00:26:25
    here and there for some of them uh and
  • 00:26:28
    i've also surprised myself a lot by not
  • 00:26:30
    crying at some of them when i thought i
  • 00:26:32
    should
  • 00:26:34
    but i dealt with uh
  • 00:26:36
    a line of duty death for a police
  • 00:26:38
    officer i was the
  • 00:26:39
    responding medic and it wasn't a swat
  • 00:26:42
    call it was something else
  • 00:26:44
    um
  • 00:26:45
    and i knew
  • 00:26:46
    right away there was nothing we could do
  • 00:26:49
    but we did everything we could and uh
  • 00:26:55
    i wasn't prepared
  • 00:26:57
    at all
  • 00:27:00
    you know i i think
  • 00:27:03
    i think i held it together really well
  • 00:27:05
    all the way through the hand off and
  • 00:27:07
    everything
  • 00:27:08
    and then lost it in the bathroom at the
  • 00:27:09
    hospital
  • 00:27:13
    and i came out
  • 00:27:15
    to find
  • 00:27:17
    a couple
  • 00:27:24
    i came out to find a couple of good
  • 00:27:25
    friends of mine who were also co-workers
  • 00:27:28
    swabbing the back of my ambulance out
  • 00:27:31
    because there was so much blood
  • 00:27:35
    you know and i thought okay i'm
  • 00:27:36
    definitely gonna need some help after
  • 00:27:38
    this
  • 00:27:40
    but even then
  • 00:27:42
    i wasn't
  • 00:27:44
    prepared to
  • 00:27:48
    to walk
  • 00:27:50
    that road even briefly
  • 00:27:52
    with
  • 00:27:54
    that officer's co-workers
  • 00:27:57
    and his family
  • 00:28:00
    because
  • 00:28:01
    you know we
  • 00:28:04
    because we were there and it was an area
  • 00:28:06
    that we work in all the time so we knew
  • 00:28:08
    several of the officers that worked with
  • 00:28:10
    him
  • 00:28:11
    really well
  • 00:28:13
    and uh we were at the
  • 00:28:14
    funeral and all that and
  • 00:28:17
    and it was
  • 00:28:18
    you know i'd obviously dealt with lots
  • 00:28:20
    of deaths in my career by that point you
  • 00:28:22
    know lots of dead on scene where i had
  • 00:28:24
    to console family members and
  • 00:28:26
    help them in whatever way i could
  • 00:28:28
    lots of arrests that you know we weren't
  • 00:28:30
    able to get them back but this was the
  • 00:28:32
    first time that i had to walk down that
  • 00:28:35
    grieving
  • 00:28:36
    process with the people connected
  • 00:28:38
    to that person
  • 00:28:40
    it was really
  • 00:28:43
    a much heavier weight than i thought it
  • 00:28:45
    was going to be
  • 00:28:47
    you know and of course we went through
  • 00:28:49
    you know our critical incident
  • 00:28:51
    debriefing processes and and uh
  • 00:28:54
    you know we're lucky to work in a really
  • 00:28:56
    supportive agency that offers us a lot
  • 00:28:58
    of resources
  • 00:29:01
    and as is typical of me in
  • 00:29:04
    some cases
  • 00:29:05
    i
  • 00:29:07
    was
  • 00:29:08
    absolutely intent on making use of those
  • 00:29:10
    resources and then weeks and weeks would
  • 00:29:13
    go by and months and months would go by
  • 00:29:15
    and
  • 00:29:16
    and i still haven't and now
  • 00:29:19
    you know now sometimes i find myself
  • 00:29:23
    you know tearing up at the silliest [ __ ]
  • 00:29:26
    you know just really tiny things
  • 00:29:30
    and uh
  • 00:29:32
    so you know i tell
  • 00:29:33
    students
  • 00:29:35
    i warn them i guess
  • 00:29:36
    when they show up that uh
  • 00:29:38
    you know i'm not a sympathetic puker i
  • 00:29:40
    can deal with feces just fine um
  • 00:29:43
    if somebody starts crying there's a good
  • 00:29:44
    chance i will too
  • 00:29:46
    so
  • 00:29:47
    and that's new or that's always been the
  • 00:29:49
    case well it's always been the case to
  • 00:29:51
    some extent but
  • 00:29:53
    i think
  • 00:29:55
    i think it's just a lot closer to that
  • 00:29:57
    threshold than it ever was before you
  • 00:29:59
    know
  • 00:30:00
    and i don't know if that's because i
  • 00:30:02
    haven't
  • 00:30:03
    you know i i mean i talk about it with
  • 00:30:05
    my wife because she's
  • 00:30:07
    awesome and you know enormously
  • 00:30:09
    supportive
  • 00:30:11
    but i haven't talked about it in an
  • 00:30:13
    objective setting with anybody
  • 00:30:15
    and i think that's
  • 00:30:17
    i think that's my bad absolutely you
  • 00:30:19
    know it's my bad to myself and it's my
  • 00:30:22
    bad to people who might deal with my
  • 00:30:23
    fallout so i mean if there's anything
  • 00:30:26
    that anybody listening to this might
  • 00:30:28
    garner from it it's that
  • 00:30:30
    you shouldn't stint yourself
  • 00:30:32
    in that way you know
  • 00:30:34
    is it possible that the tearing out more
  • 00:30:36
    easily is a positive side effect
  • 00:30:39
    it's possible sure you know and i i mean
  • 00:30:42
    i guess i would be really
  • 00:30:44
    a lot more worried about me if i wasn't
  • 00:30:46
    you know yeah my mom
  • 00:30:49
    who's
  • 00:30:50
    you know i've spent most of my life
  • 00:30:52
    growing up with my mother and uh
  • 00:30:54
    you know my father's great too but i
  • 00:30:56
    would you know i didn't live in his
  • 00:30:57
    house most of the time
  • 00:30:58
    and she's always been big on you know
  • 00:31:00
    talking through things you know and
  • 00:31:02
    maybe a little too much sometimes and
  • 00:31:04
    she has this tendency now to call me up
  • 00:31:07
    every couple weeks and without really
  • 00:31:08
    even talking about anything else going
  • 00:31:09
    like
  • 00:31:11
    so you okay
  • 00:31:13
    and i'm like yeah i'm fine mom it's
  • 00:31:15
    no big deal we had two calls yesterday i
  • 00:31:17
    slept all night i'm fine
  • 00:31:19
    she's like okay
  • 00:31:20
    i mean you just seemed a little short
  • 00:31:22
    lately
  • 00:31:23
    and i'm always like well
  • 00:31:25
    did i just seem a little short or was i
  • 00:31:27
    just a little short because my mom likes
  • 00:31:28
    to talk a little too much you know i'm
  • 00:31:30
    never really sure yeah um you have to
  • 00:31:33
    look at that though right
  • 00:31:34
    and i'm i mean i'm immensely grateful
  • 00:31:37
    to her the point of
  • 00:31:39
    that story other than
  • 00:31:41
    processes that we go through as medics
  • 00:31:43
    is also that you know in the in the
  • 00:31:45
    capacity of working closely with
  • 00:31:47
    law enforcement officers
  • 00:31:49
    you're
  • 00:31:50
    constantly hyper aware of both the
  • 00:31:52
    physical danger that they're in but
  • 00:31:54
    you're also seeing them
  • 00:31:55
    after they run really bad calls or
  • 00:31:58
    sometimes after they've had to
  • 00:32:01
    use lethal force on someone
  • 00:32:03
    um
  • 00:32:05
    and i mean i i can tell anybody who
  • 00:32:07
    would ask that that's not an easy thing
  • 00:32:09
    for anybody to go through
  • 00:32:12
    as you're describing this process of
  • 00:32:14
    concern for law enforcement it feels so
  • 00:32:16
    familiar because it's the level of
  • 00:32:18
    concern i have for paramedic students it
  • 00:32:20
    also makes me tear up if i think about
  • 00:32:23
    it too hard and i'm wondering you know
  • 00:32:25
    do do
  • 00:32:27
    the professors in the automotive
  • 00:32:28
    department you know
  • 00:32:33
    you know what if jimmy just never gets
  • 00:32:35
    the hang of that carburetor you know
  • 00:32:37
    um no the fact is that that our field is
  • 00:32:40
    is riddled with
  • 00:32:42
    with dangers and hazards emotional and
  • 00:32:46
    physical you know and and
  • 00:32:48
    you know
  • 00:32:49
    when i talk about my my concern for my
  • 00:32:51
    law enforcement co-workers you know that
  • 00:32:54
    of course also applies to all of my ems
  • 00:32:56
    co-workers and
  • 00:32:58
    you know and
  • 00:32:59
    god my poor co-workers who work in
  • 00:33:01
    dispatch you know those guys get
  • 00:33:02
    forgotten all the time and that's one of
  • 00:33:04
    the most emotionally grueling jobs i can
  • 00:33:06
    think of yeah for sure they do get
  • 00:33:08
    forgotten yeah you know there's not a
  • 00:33:10
    whole lot of other
  • 00:33:12
    fields that you could go into that would
  • 00:33:14
    engender
  • 00:33:15
    in in a civilian world that would
  • 00:33:17
    engender the need to be so alert
  • 00:33:21
    to long-term damage
  • 00:33:23
    whether physical or mental what's
  • 00:33:25
    interesting is as students i don't get
  • 00:33:27
    many complaints from them about
  • 00:33:28
    nightmares and
  • 00:33:30
    symptoms of ptsd but as graduates do and
  • 00:33:33
    i think it's because it's a bit of a
  • 00:33:35
    cumulative effect i think it takes a
  • 00:33:37
    little time uh the only nightmares i
  • 00:33:40
    ever have these days are still about
  • 00:33:41
    restaurants you know
  • 00:33:43
    really yeah it's always it's always
  • 00:33:44
    about like you know finding myself at
  • 00:33:46
    some
  • 00:33:47
    walk-in chef gig where the diners are
  • 00:33:49
    all sitting down and i have no idea
  • 00:33:51
    what's on the menu and you know
  • 00:33:53
    i'm wearing an apron and nothing else
  • 00:33:54
    which normally i'm comfortable with but
  • 00:33:57
    in my dreams it's always a little
  • 00:33:58
    traumatic you know it's
  • 00:34:00
    no no bad ems dreams no you know i don't
  • 00:34:03
    i don't think i have had any bad dms
  • 00:34:05
    dreams me neither yeah i've had bad
  • 00:34:07
    teaching dreams yeah i'm late to class
  • 00:34:10
    yeah no that makes perfect perfect but
  • 00:34:12
    no ems dreams yeah you know i don't know
  • 00:34:14
    if it's
  • 00:34:15
    because we're so alert
  • 00:34:18
    to those hazards that our brain i mean
  • 00:34:20
    maybe there's a whole
  • 00:34:23
    lot trunk somewhere in my brain where
  • 00:34:24
    they've just filed all that ems stuff
  • 00:34:27
    you know at some point it's going to
  • 00:34:28
    come out in a really
  • 00:34:30
    i don't know hopefully artistic and
  • 00:34:31
    creative way but uh
  • 00:34:34
    yeah it doesn't come out in that way
  • 00:34:39
    all right this is a new thing i'm doing
  • 00:34:41
    it's a rapid fire exchange where i say a
  • 00:34:43
    word and you say something back you
  • 00:34:44
    ready yep stethoscope
  • 00:34:50
    let's start over
  • 00:34:52
    okay okay type of stethoscope
  • 00:34:55
    type of stethoscope lippmann
  • 00:34:58
    type of boots
  • 00:34:59
    uh solomon
  • 00:35:03
    type type of monitor
  • 00:35:06
    phillips
  • 00:35:08
    have you ever called in sick to work for
  • 00:35:10
    a mental health day absolutely
  • 00:35:12
    what type of phone do you have
  • 00:35:14
    a cellular
  • 00:35:18
    [ __ ]
  • 00:35:21
    no i use it you don't have a bat phone
  • 00:35:22
    no i use an i use an iphone now but you
  • 00:35:24
    know i'm not addicted to it
  • 00:35:28
    why are you being so reactive to that
  • 00:35:29
    question
  • 00:35:31
    because i resent
  • 00:35:32
    my iphone
  • 00:35:35
    do you look at axis deviation on 12
  • 00:35:37
    leads
  • 00:35:39
    ever
  • 00:35:41
    no not really
  • 00:35:42
    have you ever fallen down on a call
  • 00:35:45
    lost your footing
  • 00:35:47
    no
  • 00:35:51
    have you ever had a patient die in front
  • 00:35:52
    of you yes
  • 00:35:54
    you ever done chest start
  • 00:35:56
    no
  • 00:35:58
    do you listen to heart tones no
  • 00:36:01
    have you ever heard of the code green
  • 00:36:03
    campaign
  • 00:36:05
    heard of it not familiar
  • 00:36:07
    do you watch netflix yeah what do you
  • 00:36:09
    watch
  • 00:36:11
    most recently stranger things and luke
  • 00:36:13
    cage
  • 00:36:14
    i know what stranger things is i don't
  • 00:36:16
    know what luke cage is it's one of their
  • 00:36:18
    new based on a comic book series
  • 00:36:21
    yeah
  • 00:36:22
    takes place all in harlem it's good
  • 00:36:26
    last book you read
  • 00:36:28
    tana french's uh suspense novel the
  • 00:36:31
    trespassers
  • 00:36:33
    and then right before that i read
  • 00:36:34
    sebastian younger's book tribe it's a
  • 00:36:36
    good one yeah
  • 00:36:38
    do you use a kindle or do you use
  • 00:36:41
    paperbacks or actual paper man so you
  • 00:36:44
    know
  • 00:36:45
    i grew up
  • 00:36:46
    with a parent who's an author
  • 00:36:48
    which literally fetishized books
  • 00:36:51
    in my house and uh it was really kind of
  • 00:36:53
    sacrilegious to me to consider e-readers
  • 00:36:55
    for a long time but i couldn't possibly
  • 00:36:57
    give it up now
  • 00:36:59
    a book that you'd recommend to a
  • 00:37:01
    paramedic student
  • 00:37:03
    man
  • 00:37:05
    you know
  • 00:37:07
    probably
  • 00:37:09
    any of atol gawande's books but being
  • 00:37:11
    mortal i think is a really important one
  • 00:37:13
    for
  • 00:37:14
    anyone in the healthcare industry in
  • 00:37:15
    america to read i know what i wanted to
  • 00:37:17
    ask you
  • 00:37:18
    it's funny i haven't already asked
  • 00:37:20
    because this is one of my more burning
  • 00:37:21
    questions oh good now i'm excited ask
  • 00:37:23
    away this is what other people would be
  • 00:37:25
    carrying like just your average civilian
  • 00:37:27
    i think would want to know the answer to
  • 00:37:28
    this so try to be as honest as possible
  • 00:37:30
    okay i think there are a lot of people
  • 00:37:31
    that would that wonder about this
  • 00:37:35
    i gotta take this one seriously
  • 00:37:38
    she's so old and sweet she's extremely
  • 00:37:40
    sweet she has some spaniel in her yeah
  • 00:37:42
    uh border collie and springer spaniel
  • 00:37:44
    and
  • 00:37:45
    really bad breath she's 13 or 14. yeah
  • 00:37:48
    yeah wow she's going blind going she
  • 00:37:51
    can't hear she can't hear [ __ ]
  • 00:37:54
    okay so here comes the big whopper okay
  • 00:37:59
    and i know you've i know you've been
  • 00:38:00
    asked before this
  • 00:38:02
    so i hope the question's not offensive
  • 00:38:06
    you really have to work hard i'm giving
  • 00:38:08
    i'm giving this so much preface this
  • 00:38:09
    better be like
  • 00:38:17
    we talked for hours
  • 00:38:20
    this one was an amazing one and i could
  • 00:38:22
    not make myself delete one bit of it so
  • 00:38:26
    i broke it into two parts uh so stand by
  • 00:38:29
    he will be back
  • 00:38:31
    [Applause]
  • 00:38:33
    then we graduate you know and we go off
  • 00:38:36
    and we become terrified paramedics in
  • 00:38:38
    the first couple years on our truck and
  • 00:38:39
    we're like oh god i'm gonna you know
  • 00:38:42
    royally screw this at any moment and uh
  • 00:38:45
    and then you know your third and fourth
  • 00:38:47
    year comes along and you're starting to
  • 00:38:48
    feel better and then your fifth and
  • 00:38:50
    sixth year comes along and you're
  • 00:38:51
    starting to feel like man you've you've
  • 00:38:53
    actually got this kind of wired you know
  • 00:38:55
    and then you kill somebody
  • 00:38:59
    [Applause]
  • 00:39:05
    [Music]
  • 00:39:16
    bye
  • 00:39:17
    [Music]
タグ
  • tactical medic
  • emergency medical services
  • mental health
  • de-escalation
  • SWAT team
  • paramedic training
  • trauma
  • emotional support
  • adaptability
  • Atul Gawande