I work in a welfare home. Just a few days ago, we had an unhappy
encounter with a paramedic officer.
One of our resident choked and her life was in danger, and hence
ambulance was called in. Fortunately, our resident was saved and
revived on time by our nurses in the Home.
To be fair, ambulance arrived exactly after 15mins after call
was made. However, when the paramedic officers came, one of our
staff who was extremely anxious about resident's life, kind of
raised her voice and asked "What took you so long?" the paramedic
officer instead of being sensitive of the anxiousness, he flared up
and shouted at our staff rudely. He quoted while pointing fingers
at our staff: " I rushed from braddell, you think I'm a superman?"
He also shouted and said "it's fifteen minutes, if you don't
believe, you can go verify with my doctor!" He was very rude, hence
another staff who got agitated with that reaction also raised her
voice " What kind of attitude was that?" The paramedic then kept
quiet and stormed off to the location of where the resident
was.
Upon seeing the resident, he did not immediately check the
resident's vital signs etc, instead he asked alot of questions, I
am not sure what kind of procedures he is supposed to do, but
usually the other paramedic officers (previous encounters) would
check for vital signs etc first. After checking like for 15mins,
they finally decided to send the resident to hospital.
Before they left, that paramedic officer who was rude earlier,
took the remarks from the staff earlier personally, and questioned
the other staff of the staffs' names earlier and claimed that those
staff accused him and even mentioned that he would lodge a complain
against the staff. He also mentioned that " the resident is fine,
and you do not have to teach me what to do!" (Nobody was teaching
him what to do.) His no sense of urgency really pissed all of us
off. I don't care if he had a bad day or what, but before he reach
the resident, isn't he supposed to see an urgency of a human's life
who is already in danger? Our resident was not saved by him, but by
our staff nurses and nursing team, who is he to be so stucked
up?
Being a certified first aider, I know that if a person
stopped breathing and if oxygen does not reach the brain for more
than 7-10mins, the person would die. He, as paramedic, doesn't he
know?
He is totally rude and I really think he is not fit to be a
paramedic officer. Thank goodness our resident was fine. All thanks
to our wonderful nursing staff.
Do some reflection on
yourself. The paramedic officer is not the driver. And they have to
follow traffic rules to come down there. It is not that they drink
coffee delaying the time. Instead of thanking them for coming, you
all have greeted him with rude remarks.
The staff who raise her
voice, is being very rude. She should say, "thank you for coming. I
will show you the resident"
I think you all have taken granted that the paramedic is
offering you a service. You should be delighted that he came and
not to complain.
If the resident is fine, talking and why do you need to check
for vital signs. Choking will dies within 3-5 mins if he
cannot breathe. If you really know some medical skills, you should
fetch the patient to hospital by taxi. Instead of calling the
ambulance to come.
