Onward
with my First Aider adventures! Honestly, being a FA is fun cause
you get to see A LOT of things. If you like to transport sick people
from their homes to the hospital and deal with the surprises along
the way like spurting blood, dislocated shoulder sockets and trying
to start a non functioning heart, you should opt to be a Paramedic.
Seriously. Everyday is never the same… and it beats working
in the office having paper cuts.
I
have tagged along numerous 995 emergency house calls and cases
can be easily classified as:-
Everyday
is a new adventure! Sign on as a PARAMEDIC today!
Asthma
I look at asthma a whole different perspective ever since I was
a FA. I can say, we tended to A LOT of adult asthma attack cases
and I don’t know how many times I have to prepare the oxygen
mask thingy with Ventolin. And I saw how messed up people were
when they can’t breathe. So for those of you who have asthma,
do get your hands on that ventolin system because it seemed to
work wonders.
False
calls and drunks
Now imagine rushing to a 995 call and when you get there, we are
greeted by a patient who has a tummy ache. Where do you think
we are? France? This is Singapore and 995 is for emergencies only.
Now the paramedic have to calmly explain to the patient that Vicks
vapourub can cure ease minor stomach discomfort or eating food
can actually cure hunger pangs. Back to the fire station for us
and yes, thank you for calling us in the middle of the night because
you cannot fart straight.
Drunks
are another nuisance call we get sometimes. By the time we get
there, the guy would either be wandering on the street ala drunken
master style or just sitting by the curb. This is yet another
waste timer and even when we get there, we health professionals
don’t do much but just tell him to go and get drunk at home
instead or cross the road and get hit so at least we can answer
to a real medical emergency.
Getting
bitch slapped by a drunk guy is
a normal day in the life of a Paramedic.
Suicide
I attended a couple of suicide calls. There was one case involing
an NS boy. He jumped to death from his apartment. Another case
was a suicide attempt by a girl. By the time we reached there,
she locked herself in the house and overdosed herself with Panadol
pills. We did manage to get in her apartment and rush her to
the hospital.
Mental
problems
Now sometimes we get this particular call that also involve
the police. And one of the call I attended was a woman spouting
vulgarities non stop and she have assaulted the crap out of
her aged parents. Another case was a guy refusing to wear clothes.
Its true and when you are actually there, it’s more scary
than funny.
The
Clueless Patient
I did get a call from this patient that complains of breathing
problems and when I took a look at his home, the apartment was
practically a mini petting zoo. Bird cages with "Burung
Tiongs" on top of our heads and cats below on our feet.
Oh well...
Human Drama
Amongst the numerous calls, and attending to patient after patient,
in and out the hospital like a headless chicken, sometimes…
just sometimes, you can actually get carried away with the human
drama that comes with the job. I remember once I attended to a case
where a Malay wedding was taking place and we have to take an elderly
man to the hospital but he refuse to budge and kept saying that
today is his son’s wedding and he cannot leave.
Then throngs of relatives came in the room trying to persuade him
that everything will be taken care of and all will be fine. By now,
I was already tilting my head up and looking at the ceiling because
I was getting teary eyed. I can’t be sobbing while I help
him to the ambulance can I? So die-die have to control lor:P
Caught
in the drama once again!
To conclude this NS First
Aider Indiana Jones adventure, I gotta add that eventually I asked
for a transfer. The blood and gore was getting to me….
The
Gory cases
This is where it breaks the camel’s back. I just realized
that I am not meant for this saving lives thing when the scene
has a lot of blood and other body parts. There was this murder
case near Serangoon where a Bangladeshi man was practically stabbed
to death and when we did get there the carpark smell like raw
meat. And when the paramedic turned him, I saw a gash so huge
and deep, I think I saw his heart. Another one was when we answered
a call on a traffic accident. A drunk motorist hit a metal road
fence and smashed his helmet.. leaving a trail of brain matter.
And when I saw the corpse, which reeked of alcohol, I noticed
a terrible gash from his head to his eye. It was messed up. And
the last one that renders me totally unoperational is when we
answered this call in a factory where a worker accidentally had
his hands in a machine and the machine practically minced his
palm up good. The cuts on his hand were sooo deep that I just
stood aside motionless.
Even
when the Paramedic instructs me to come help her, I did not budge.
It’s a good thing that a trainee Paramedic was there. So
I realize that this First Aider thingy is not my thing and I asked
for a transfer and if you know how the military in Sg works, you
just can’t ask for a transfer just like that, so soon a
lot of struggle with some superiors, not going through the proper
TV channel, being prescribed some prozac pills and having a debate
with some Staff Sergeants and a particular Captain Planet, Civil
Defense have proclaimed me a defunct liability and posted me to
yet another unit. I will share you guys of that crap in yet another
long winded 2 part series, God willing.
Some
people say I have a phobia of blood,
some people say I keng,
Evil Bunny!
