Yes this is a depressing post, but it shows just what ambulance staff have to deal with. We tend to be shielded from death in our everyday lives, but we must thank people like Pete who did a job that few would want to do.
Living with the dead
This is not an anecdote about a specific job, like the other posts in this series. It is rather a reflection on death, and on dealing with it in the role of an ambulanceman. It is not meant to be depressing, though it may read that way. It is part of my reflection on those years, as I get older.
Before I joined the London Ambulance Service, I had seen one dead body. When I was young, my maternal grandfather died. He was only 65, and died suddenly. I was taken to see him in his coffin, which was in my grandparents’ front room, for a vigil before the funeral. My enduring memory of that night, was not of my first dead body, but of my uncle crying. My grand-dad just looked as if he was asleep, and I did not find it distressing.
Decades later…
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Phil Huston said:
The real point is that “we” are often blind to certain realities which, when they’re presented seem somehow unreal. Like fiction. Only, as we all know, rela life? You can’t make that stuff up.
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes, we’re generally shielded from too much ‘real life’. It does read like fiction because it’s difficult to imagine anything so awful. I would imagine though, that after a few years of this, you would become quite hardened to the human suffering aspect. You’d have to I suspect, or you’d sink…
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Phil Huston said:
Or quit. I knew a guy, studied to me an EMS tech. I heard he made it. Saw him a few years ago, told me he’s been a successful locksmith for quite a while. I didn’t figure a guy who wanted to be a hard rock front man and discovered it wasn’t in the cards for him would make a long term EMS tech.
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Stevie Turner said:
Ha, my son wanted to be a rock star and his band did the UK support/tour bus thing back in 2011, when he realised rock star-ing wasn’t as glamorous as he first thought. He’s now general manager of a precision tool company.
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debbiejonesalwaysamused said:
A tough read, but that’s all I had to do, read, thank goodness! I have the utmost admiration for all the emergency services, but the ambulance service is probably the one I’ve had most dealings with. They were called mainly for other family members in need of assistance, only once was I the patient. Thankfully, none of the ambulance service had to deal with a death on any of those call outs. However, I’ll never know if the call immediately before might’ve involved a death, yet through the professionalism of the staff, there was no clue. We were treated with care, respect, knowledge, humility & humour, even though they might’ve had to attend elsewhere for the exact same reason of my call, for the Nth time that shift, or to absolute carnage! What I’m trying to say is, whatever the ambulance professional has had to deal with, every person is treated like it’s the first time they’ve ever dealt with that particular problem. So, one might think after dealing with death on such a regular basis,
their reactions to it could be deemed as blasé. This has never been my experience for what’s turned out to be a minor emergency, let alone a major one, or a fatality. They do an incredible job in ever-increasing, difficult circumstances, deserving of huge thanks! Thank you for sharing, Stevie.
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Stevie Turner said:
They’re heroes really.
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Peter's pondering said:
A fascinating read, uplifting in a way. Definitely a calling that needs a strong partner, both at work and home, and a good supportive group of colleagues and managers. I dare say a sense of humour is required too, probably akin to that we had in the army!
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Stevie Turner said:
Absolutely.
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beetleypete said:
Thanks for the reblog, and your kind words, Stevie. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Stevie Turner said:
You’re welcome. You must have a really strong stomach…
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beetleypete said:
You have to learn how to have one. 🙂
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Stevie Turner said:
Wish I could. I used to retch just rinsing out the babies’ nappies in the nappy bucket!
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beetleypete said:
I soon found out that when you turn up in uniform, it doesn’t do to appear to be squeamish. 🙂
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Stevie Turner said:
Ha ha, I can imagine. If I did that job, the ambulance would have to keep stopping so that I could throw up. Good thing I just type the letters instead…
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beetleypete said:
Some people were very squeamish. They usually didn’t last that long. I always wondered what they expected. 🙂
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