Together, through the worldwide pandemic we find ourselves drowning in, stand millions of paramedics, EMTs and frontline ambulance personnel. Despite our numbers, never has the prehospital arena felt so lonely. With so many messages coming from far and wide about how to pave the way through the good, the bad and the ugly of paramedicine right now, it made sense to put some of it down in words.
In every minute of every shift, through this unfolding horror of sickness, uncertainty builds and isolation grows.
For every interaction outside of the ambulance, we have no idea whether we’ll be greeted with relief, respect, ridicule or revulsion.
Commentators may group us in with other healthcare professionals…but for the time being, we don’t really belong anywhere.
No desire for pity or sympathy is sought in these words, it's simply a soothing of the soul for those in similarly contaminated boots. That they feel some sense of belonging. That they know their feelings are shared. By almost every colleague. In almost every ambulance. In almost every country right now.
Once we were welcome in the homes of patients with relief…but now with reluctance. Confronting PPE instils panic, fear and genuine concern that we carry with us a high risk of contamination. Suddenly, we are greeted with wariness instead. Don’t be scared. We’re protecting everyone by covering up.
😷🦠
Once we were welcome to collaborate in hospitals, combining our guidelines for best patient care…but now each emergency department has its own strict protocol. We must adapt immediately upon arrival. Each different from the last. Each different from our own. Each demanding that we adopt without question. Each wondering why the paramedics don’t know how they work. Suddenly we are deemed wrong, or uneducated. Try to remember we’re working to multiple guidelines and protocols, not just one, but all aiming for the same outcome.
🏥🚑
Once we were welcome in nursing homes by staff relieved to have us take over care…but now protocol demands we be assessed at the door. Temperatures checked. Questions asked. Suddenly we are a potential danger to staff and residents. Try finding ways to meet in the middle, maybe by wheeling resident beds to the front door so we can assess or transfer there.
👵🏻👴🏼
Once we were welcome to request supplies and replenish our stock…but now we can't access the basics of what we need. Due to shortage, suggestion that we’re demanding too much, or the impossible difficulty caused by an ambulance being unavailable just to re-stock. Suddenly, we have to make do in our mobile offices with no reserves to fall back upon. Please bear in mind very few of us want to overuse or pilfer, if a whole lot of us say we need things, chances are we really do actually need them.
🧴🛒
Once we were welcome to drop in and interact with support staff and communications centres in our organisations…but now we’re locked out as we're likely to spread disease. Suddenly, outsiders in the very ambulance services we represent. Any chance you get to message or connect with the frontline, please take it, we’d love to feel connected.
📟🙋
Once we were welcome in public, greeted with smiles and waves by families with small children…but now small hands are tugged in the opposite direction. Parents fearful that we're marinated in virus. Suddenly the givers of illness, to be avoided at all costs. Feel free to move away but a friendly smile or wave makes our day and stops kids thinking we’re something to be scared of.
🧸🤩
Once we were welcome (albeit reluctantly) to eat meals in our vehicles…but now our less than ideal dining options are terrifying. For most, with no breaks, there was never a choice and, for those to whom they were allocated, meal breaks no longer exist. Suddenly, we spend entire shifts surrounded by pandemia, but must force ourselves to eat amongst it too. Let’s look after our crewmates and keep the cabin surfaces clean enough to eat dinner off (okay maybe we don’t want to push our luck!)
🍽🥯
Once we were welcome to stand outside of ambulances and briefly catch up with colleagues…but now media cameras and onlookers capture us on screen. Suddenly, we are public property. Let us catch a breather between calls instead of filming us during these rare minutes of much needed downtime.
📸🤦♂️
Once we were welcome arrivals at the scene of most calls…but now we face hostility and frustration from the distraught as we don PPE. "We must have a spotter to ensure full protection.” “We must take our time.” “We must not take shortcuts.” We are told. No matter how dire the emergency, no longer do we soothe, calm and control the chaos on arrival. Suddenly we appear heartless and selfish to everyone nearby. Please be patient and let us protect you, your loved ones, ourselves and everyone we’ll attend to during the incubation period thereafter.
🧤🤿
Once we were welcome over the threshold of our own homes...but now we risk taking work home to our families in the most lethal manner. They know that we are constantly exposed in the community, in our ambulances, in hospitals. They know that we don’t get to escape into clean areas throughout our shifts. Suddenly we cannot escape into our personal lives without guilt and fear. Let’s make the best decisions for ourselves, with our families, it’s not for peers and colleagues to mock or disagree with anyone’s personal choices.
👩👧👦👨👧👦
Once we were welcome to prepare ourselves in private for the constant public scrutiny of prehospital care…but now we don in public, we doff in public and so the cycle continues. Suddenly we stand on pavements in full public view, vulnerable to all manner of surroundings as we attempt to make ourselves presentable. Leave us to get on with this unpleasantly public part of our jobs and please don’t approach during vital social distancing, no matter how well intentioned.
🙅🏼👍🏼
Once we were welcome in triage areas and staff facilities…but now we stand with the sick in public waiting areas and must exit the same way. No access to bathrooms. Nowhere to fill water bottles. No kitchen to make a cup of tea or heat our food. Suddenly we’re not part of the team on either side of the security screen. If you see us looking fed up and stranded in your hospital, please be kind and if there’s time, point us to any clean facilities that we can use.
💧☕️
Once we were welcome to feel safe in the majority of cases…but now we face the wrath and anger of families and loved ones when we can’t provide care in the normal way. When our response times are delayed in dire emergencies. When we must refuse to transport family members with sick patients. When we can’t enter a scene without first being fully prepared. Suddenly the absence of security or means of escape is more noticeable than ever before. Try to understand the reasons behind delays or why we have to say no sometimes. We know it’s upsetting, but it’s not through our choice.
🙏🗣
Once we were welcome to use restrooms in fuel stations or restaurants on the run…but now they are closed. No option but to hold on. No respite from a painfully full bladder without requesting a return to base. Suddenly we’re more isolated from basic human comforts for longer than ever before. If you have facilities that you’re allowed to let us into when paying for fuel or grabbing a takeaway coffee, please consider letting us use your bathroom.
🥴🧻
Once we were welcome in coffee shops and restaurants…but now we are shunned by patrons fearful of their takeaway being contaminated. Suddenly we are the unclean. We go to great lengths to keep our uniforms clean, we have a vested interest in not carrying disease around with us all day, so please be kind, we’re not as yukky as some might think.
😢🛁
There’s no-one to blame and nothing that can be done.
These reactions are perfectly natural in times of pandemia.
But a little understanding and kindness goes a really long way.
For every paramedic stuck in the "no man’s land" of healthcare. 😍🚑
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic is available in eBook, print and audiobook formats online and in stores, visit gbuparamedic.com for details.
A book for best patient care and paramedic professionalism, written by a paramedic, for paramedics at any stage of their training or career. With a friendly tone and non-judgmental approach, each chapter steps through examples of where the reader may sit, on a scale of good through bad and ugly in the prehospital arena, and highlights why it matters in the long run. For information about the author and the book, follow the links below.
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