It's On Fire, We Are On Fire, Everything Is On Fire....

Image by F. Muhammad  from Pixabay

 Well, things have not improved! In fact, I would say they continue to get worse. I have heard tell that we are still running super short staffed, and it directly affected me on my last night! 

I won't go into too much detail as the call is still very fresh, both in terms of what happened, when it happened, and how it's sitting with me. Since this pandemic began and responses became longer and longer, and more staff have had to go off due to the stress induced by this nightmare I have had one fear. 

That fear is that I will be alone, on a call, that is critical and back up will be a long way off. Well the other night this fear became a reality. The good news, I got through it! The Bad News, A patient waited for almost 35 minutes for a transport capable ambulance to transport them to the hospital. The result, the patient was far worse off than they should have been on arrival to the Emergency Department. I did all I could for this patient, and managed to keep them alive, and then when my transport arrived we were able to quickly move them to the ambulance and to the hospital. At the hospital the treatments started on scene and enroute were beginning to work, however, the patient still has a lot to go through to get better. 

This type of call should NEVER be waiting that long for a transport capable ambulance. As a Paramedic Response Unit Operator I am tasked with being on scene first to higher acuity calls, however the job of Paramedics remains the same! We arrive on scene, stabilize critical life threats, extricate and transport to the hospital. THAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF A PARAMEDIC. And let me tell you, NO ONE does it better than we do with the wheels moving! 

Did you catch them last three words?........ THE WHEELS MOVING.... When we are stuck on scene due to ambulance and staff shortages, the wheels aren't moving! Many of our calls are time sensitive, even if the patient is stable! 

It's not just that they have to wait, it's the follow up costs that become associated with their recovery that no one is talking about. The longer a patient is delayed from treatment, in some cases, the longer their recovery becomes. Once they have a longer recovery, they are in hospital, or using health care resources for a longer period of time. We are blessed that we have a health care system that will do this, but it's so stretched right now. There are delays in surgeries, which are causing people to rely on health care dollars to help them be at home while waiting. There are back ups in the ED meaning people that are critically ill are being delayed to triage, which is having negative outcomes. This is NOT the fault of our front line staff. The system is decimated, from top to bottom! 

So what's the fix? I don't have a concrete answer. What I do know is that we need to watch out for each other, Paramedics, Police, Firefighters, Nurses, emergency Doctors, Emergency support staff, and so many others. We are all out here, showing up, doing the best we can, and we have to support each other. Stay strong my brothers and sisters and everyone! 

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