what it's like
TO BE AN EMT
notice
Zander Melville hops into an ambulance as soon as he gets to work at 11 p.m. For the next 12 hours, the emergency medical technician (EMT) travels with a paramedic answering 911 phone calls. Melville helps everyone from burn victims to those with gunshot wounds as he helps transfer them to a hospital. Upon receiving a call, Melville is excited to go and help someone, but has to try to keep himself from getting scared. He says it's important to keep your cool and take deep breaths. Melville's philosophy is that getting scared leads to frustration and frustration leads to panicking. By staying calm and reassured, he can be of the most help.
"The hardest thing is just to remember that you're there to provide care and not to worry about whether the patient is going to live or die," says Melville, Rochester, N.Y.
Melville (left) practices giving a shot on a fellow trainee.
junior."That's always on your mind, but you've got to stay really positive. You want to provide as much help as possible."
Melville began his interest in EMT work as a search and rescue volunteer at the Boy Scouts of America's hilmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, N.M. His work at Philmont and as a volunteer for a fire department helped prepare Melville for working under intense pressure for the past six months as an EMT.
He says it's a messy job doing things such as holding gunshot wounds to make sure people don't bleed out. Along with the sheer messiness, EMTs also deal with emotional distress.
"In the medical field, the goal is to try not to lose the patient," Melville says. "But eventually it's going to happen. When you get there, the hard part is knowing you did everything you were trained to do, everything you could to help that person. That's where the stress comes in, dealing with understanding that losing someone is not your fault."
- Rebekah Scaperlanda
THU 17 BITCH & THE EXCICTING CONCLUSION SUZANNA JOHANNES+1,000,000 LIGHT YEARS
FRI 18 THE JOGGERS RUSTY SCOTT
SAT 19 BREAKBEAT BUDDAH
BROUGHT TO YOU BY CICADA RYTHHM
SUN 20 CHARLES MCEVY 9PM ELYR LSOON
ONCE A PAWN KATLYN
TU22 DEADWOOD DERBY RD#3
JOLLY ROVER * THE DACTILS * DEEP THINKERS * GUSE
THU 24 LLOYD LIKES MIKE
THE FAIRER IST-1950 D.A. *BROODY BUSTER BAND
WHISKEY DINNER + A KU BENEFIT FOR UGANDA
FRI 25 THE ROSELINE
FOURTH OF JULY - ARTHUR DODGE
SAT 26 KIOSK BENEFIT W/ VOLUNTEERS
FOX & THE FOREST+ LOVE YOU + MORRIS MARS
SUN 27 THE CAST PATTERN
KNIVES EKCHANGING HANDS
TUE 22 DARK MEAT
DRUNKEN SAUNA
THU 17 ARCHETYPE DJ VEX 1
FRI 18 SNAKEBITE THE COPS
SAT 19 BLUE LEAVES
BENNETT BROS. + EBONY & IVORY ON THE PATIO
SUN 20
420 PATIO PARTY! THE FHOLES (4:20) WISEACRES:
(5:45) THE GNOMES (7:00) THE GLOVES (8:00)
THE DODOS 10PM
BOO & BOO TOO * WITCH & HARE
contact the writer:
rsaanperlanda@kansan.com
interesting fact: Cats can't taste sweets because they have a faulty sweet receptor gene. -www.pawpathlittermat.com
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04.17.2008 07
VOL.5 ISS.28