alt Hacker NewsFriend of mine was an EMT, and he advanced on and became a paramedic.
The work seemed to suit him, he enjoyed it. I'd hang out with him at his base of operations (he was a private paramedic in LA County).
Then, one day, he quit.
He quit, and didn't renew his certification.
And he won't talk about it, and, boy, yea, did he have some stories.
But something got to him.
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I know some paramedics that reached this point.
One I'll call John. He was a fantastic medic. Calm and reassuring in the toughest situations, and he was a great teacher of new EMTs. He had seen everything. Farming accidents (they're terrible), DRTs, MVAs, MCIs, child abuse. The works. Handled it all professionally.
One day John and his partner get this nothing call. Kid fell off his bike and scraped his knee. John's partner puts a bandaid on the kid, looks around and John is gone. They find John sitting on a curb a block away bawling his eyes out. That kid with the skinned knee was John's breaking point. He was done.
It doesn't even have to be one thing, can just be the combined weight. As easily "compassion fatigue" as a big call.
I always thought it odd that people asked what the worst calls I've been on were - like "tell me about an unpleasant experience". But the thing that most people don't consider is that they assume it will be a gnarly trauma call. TBH, for me anyway, when it comes down to it, we're just blood and tissue, and in some ways you can, and have to, just 'disconnect' from that.
The worst calls are the emotionally damaging ones: SA/CSA, elder abuse, domestic violence, tragic accidents, the like. Those add up.
A department in my County has two fulltime therapists on staff.
Reminded me the movie Code 3, it was a great watch.
Talk about leaving us on a hanger. You can't write all that and not share a single story.
This is just a danger in the medical profession, but especially for first responder or trauma focused parts.
My BIL is a pretty highly credentialed RN. He was seriously considering quitting a few years ago and was asking me about software dev or IT as a career path. I didn't ask for any stories as that would be disrespectful & insensitive, but he was working in the NICU (intensive care unit for infants) and had transferred in from the ICU.
Medicine is clearly his calling, but even as an outsider I can understand how emotionally draining it would be to have to struggle (and sometimes lose) to save children's lives and then go home to your young family. It's tough to see death and suffering daily, and this is a big struggle for these parts of the medical field.
My BIL ended up transferring to a specialist organ transplant unit. He continues to apply his trauma experience, but doesn't need to see quite as much trauma and death on a daily basis.
Suicide & self-harm/addiction issues are higher, and it's not uncommon at all for people to need to leave the field after a traumatic event. If you aren't in the field or don't know anyone who is, it's easy to gloss over how soul-wrenchingly difficult it is to deal with having to be calm and professional to help people going through trauma. Some of the stuff these folks need to deal with is truly horrific, and it's no wonder that PTSD is fairly common.
Also not surprising that EMS has a bit of a fratty/military culture. The job demands high periods of physical exertion and exposure to stressful and traumatic experiences. I'm glad there are people who do this work, but I very much understand why it is difficult.