Over on The Happy Medic, San Francisco Fire Department Paramedic Justin Schorr writes about his family’s recent experience with a child’s medical emergency. And of course, Justin zeroes in on some EMS related issues. Be sure and go over to read his blog. Good stuff, it is.
But anyways, it kind of got me to thinking. How well do we really take care of people?
It depends upon what you think it involves. Of course, we have protocols to follow, skills to do, and on and on and on. But there are other things that we need to do that are just as important. And they have nothing to do with starting an IV, reading a 12-lead, or any of that other stuff you learned (hopefully) in paramedic (or EMT) school. It’s all about how you take care of people.
Justin mentioned something in his blog about warming a stethoscope. So just how many times do you take the time to warm up a stethoscope before you place it on a patient? Especially in the winter time when it has been hanging in the back of an ambulance, probably on that catch-all-netting at the head of the bench. Even when it is wrapped around your neck it gets cold. Little kids and elderly patients are kind of sensitive to that cold stethoscope. And guess who makes up a large number of our patients? Yep, you got it. So take a few seconds, tuck the bell under your arm. Probably would be a good thing to do when you are introducing yourself to your patient. You do introduce yourself to your patient, don’t you?
Over on 9-ECHO-1, I mentioned that the entrance to Walmart is smoother than the entrance to most of this area’s Emergency Departments. So, do you take it easy over those entrances, or just bump on across? Based upon what I have seen, most of us just bump on across. Probably feels really good with that broken hip, bone cancer, or any one of many maladies that hurt when you move.
And when entering the ambulance entrance to several of the area EDs, it seems that the worse part of the trip is when you are turning into the ED. And we know doubt know it since we do it enough. So how many of you just turn on in, bumping and swaying? And how many of you think about your patient (and partner) in the back of the specialty vehicle you are driving that is NOT known for its smooth ride? If you are the one that just drives on in without consideration for your passengers, I bet you are the one that does not slow down and ease across railroad tracks as well.
But what about other things along the lines of ‘taking care of people’?
Do you explain what you are going to do and why you are going to do it? As I get older I am exposed to the healthcare system just a little bit more. At my colonoscopy I saw a wide variety of ‘explaining’ and the lack thereof. The nurse that started my IV had a good technique (well, her tourniquet technique sucked) but she barked out orders like Gunnery Sergeant Hartman- “Put your arm down”, “Make a fist”, “Hold still”. And when she was done she just walked away. Oh yeah, and there was that introduction- “I’m gonna start your IV”.
Well, she did tell me what she was going to do. And what do to. In no uncertain terms. But ‘why’ would have been nice. So would a personality.
I always tell my patient (even if they are unconscious) what I am going to do, why I am doing it, if it’s going to hurt, etc. And you should too. It is part of the reassuring process. For a lot of people (I like to think most of them) the whole process of getting hurt or sick and calling 9-1-1 is a pretty stressful and frightening event. A big part of our job is reassuring them and alleviating their fears. And to do that you must tell them what you are doing, why you are doing it, and quite frankly, if something is going to hurt. Before we do it.
And how well do you ‘relate’ to your patient? You know, that rapport that you have to establish early on to gain their confidence. I have seen some people that are really good at it, while others…well, some people are really good at it. It’s all of the stuff above, and a little more. In my old system we used Panasonic TOUGHBOOK laptops to complete our call reports. And there was a natural tendency to type as you rode. And that is OK if you can pull it off. By 'pull it off' I mean that you have to maintain that rapport, that relationship, with the patient. And that means you have to talk to them. Pay attention to them. And, egads, reassess them.
Reassess means more than let the Zoll's blood pressure monitor recycle every few minutes and take a look at the pulse oximeter reading every few minutes or so. It means talking to them. It means asking them if they feel better, if the oxygen is helping them. Of if they’re feeling worse. And you CAN’T sit in the ‘captain seat’ and do that. And sitting in that captain seat, typing away, and asking your patient, from behind them, without making eye contact, if they are OK, to me, is worse.
Taking care of people is a total package. Sure, starting that IV and reading that 12-lead is important. But being nice (because nice matters) is just as important. Maybe more so. In the end, it is the total package that matters. It is the total ‘A’ game.
And you have to bring that total ‘A’ game to every call, every time.
Anything less is not doing your patients (or their families) any favors.
