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Emergency Medical Technician

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Small Stones
Small stones make great waves. This is something we experience every day. In Fact, It’s how I earn a living. As an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), I feel like a tiny stone when faced with the afflictions of my patients. How could I create a difference? As I’ve come to find out from my patients, such a task could be attainable, and not only to myself. In the grand stage of life, each and every one of us is a player; Our roles being meaningful, and far-reaching outcomes.
The humblest acts play a large role in the grand scheme.
I once transferred an Eleven-year-old boy from a hospital to a mental facility. He had been the victim of neglect and abuse by his parents. He had been withdrawn from us upon our arrival, not saying a single …show more content…
A curious attitude is to be expected from a boy with ADHD. I entertained him. Object by object, he investigated every nook and cranny of the apparatus, and every time, I would be ready for each inquiry with a response. His attitude had changed from quiet and introverted, to that childish curiosity and inquisitiveness befitting his age. By the time we had arrived at the facility, he did not seem like that same child I had found in that hospital bed. I did not want to leave him; I wanted to do more. But perhaps this is all I could do. There is no magical cure-it-all for any illness; for his affliction, time would be the only remedy. In the meantime, all I and others can do is to show him kindness. That is my role.
On another instance, I had transported a 60-year-old woman from a nursing home to a nearby hospital for an appointment with a respiratory therapist. The first word I’d heard from the nurse was how grateful she was for us taking her off her hands as if we had heard of their agony and thought it incumbent upon ourselves to grant them a much-needed reprieve. The nurse complained, “She is not particularly friendly, and doesn’t like to talk much.” This proved true …show more content…
In fact, for the first leg of the drive, there was no kind of talking at all! None, at least, until she noticed a book sitting on the shelf in my ambulance. I could tell from the way she had eyed it that this was something that piqued her interest. The book was The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. And so, a conversation of Gothic-American literature was sparked. It seemed to me as though this woman has not been able to converse with anyone about this, not for a long time at least. She complained to me,
“The nursing home is full of nothing but TV! Mindless TV! There’s not a single book to be found.”
It seemed as though the remedy to her misery would be found in the pages of a decent book!
After dropping her off, I had wanted to ask the nursing home to start building a library for their residents. After all, all I can do on her behalf is complain. But I’m glad to have met her. I’m glad to have engaged her in much-needed conversation. I would hope that because of this, perhaps the nursing home staff will be aware of this particular resident’s needs, and so serve them better; I hope that I made a difference.
Though my interactions did not provide the much needed definitive care that my

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