On A Happier Note…..

The last few blog posts I have written have been a little dreary. I figured this one, we could keep a little more upbeat.

Have you ever wondered if the patient on the other end of the phone made out ok? I know I have. There have been several instances where I wish I could have found out. Whether it be a non-breathing person that the paramedics were able to get ROSC on, a baby just born in a pre-hospital setting, or a psych patient that just needed someone to talk to, but got the police instead. I have often wondered what became of some of these callers.

All too often, we are forgotten when it comes to patient updates. Sometimes we are able to get in touch with the fire or EMS personnel that were on scene and we can get what little information that have. More often than not, no body knows what happened. There have been so many calls that have taken up rent in my off-duty mind, simply because I wonder what happened. Did the person make it back home? Are baby and mom both doing ok? Did that person who was considering unaliving themselves get the help they so desperately needed?

In the days that follow, all we, as dispatchers, can do is wonder. On the rare occasion, we will have another call from the same number or residence. I know my mind goes straight to “Oh, no. What happened now?” When it’s just the patient from the previous call wanting to let us know how grateful they are that we were there in their time of need.

Some of these calls, I just wish I could jump through the phone and give them a big hug or tell them that everything is going to be ok, but I can’t say that because I truly don’t know that it will be. We are trained to never tell people that they’re going to be ok. Sometimes, that’s all I really want to do. Even if they already know it’s not going to be, just hearing those words can sometimes be just enough to calm the caller down and get through until help arrives.

For all those calls that we never get closure for, it helps me to think that, ultimately, the situation had a good outcome. After all, every situation has a good outcome until proven otherwise and if I never hear anything else about it, then it stays good in my mind.