I went to the DMV not too long ago to get a new tag for my car and was helped by the young lady I woke up from a heroin overdose. We recognized each other.
Did you nod in acknowledgment or pretend like you’d never had met her before? I know you said you recognized each other I’m just curious about the exchange
I knew who she was the moment I walked in the building. I wasn’t looking her way or anything while I was in line, but I’m pretty recognizable.
Unlucky for her, she got me as the next customer when it was my turn. She just kinda sheepishly said “uh, hi” and we carried out her transaction. I thanked her when we were done, and told her to take care. No big deal.
But she definitely knew who I was and where she recognized me from.
Yea, but I’m sure that after the transport they were Alert and oriented enough to be able to remember the faces of people who might’ve just saved your life
Agree to disagree.
Patient had bigger fish to fry like “why did this asshole ruin my high” and “why do I feel like I’m dying” (effects of narcan) rather than the starry-eyed omg this man is a hero 😍😍 fantasy bullshit you’re hoping happens lmao
Also, to me, what the original commenter was saying was that there is something about his physical appearance that is notable. Based on his profile pic (I forget what they’re called in the Reddit world) he could be a large man with a big red beard, which is what I think he was saying.
You sound like a bit of an arse tbh. I’ve responded to one guys overdose three times, the second time, he cursed me out a bit, but once he calmed down we talked and he made a joke about how we’ve got to stop meeting like this. The third time i saw him, after he got over the whole “fuck you you dickhead” phase, he recognized me. he thanked me,I think by this point he realized he fucked up. Definitely one of the highlights of my short career. This was over the span of 6 months. I haven’t seen him in 4 months, and I hope if I ever do again that it’s not in that situation. And I’m sure if I ever do see him again, he’ll recognize me. If your patients don’t recognize you you must be shit for conversation.
Had a pt who would fake seizures for ativan. Big deal, multiple hospitals knew them and their scam.
I teach college in my real job and...one day, there that person is, sitting in my class.
They dropped that day.
you know I see the same regulars multiple times a week, every week for over a year, and everytime I have seen them off duty I don't think they recognize me in the slightest.
Not the exact thing, but in college, a girl who worked with my mom was killed in a car accident. She was a nice girl. Ended up driving past a pizza place months later and my heart skipped as I saw her. Found out later, it was her sister who looks ridiculously similar and no they aren't twins.
When I was a student para (6-7y ago), I ran a hypotension/presyncope call on a mid40s F inside a butcher shop in a neighboring city (about 15mins from base, not unusual but also not our normal region). She was pretty nice and spent the entire ride back venting to me about how shitty her workplace is, how mean and unfriendly her coworkers are and how much she wants it all to burn down. Also said she'd always wanted to be a hairstylist but never really managed to even really think about starting it, due to life in general, so I said that maybe this could give her a push and she should do what she always wanted. Dropped her off and thought that was it.
Two years ago, I was at a massive volley FD get together with a friend of mine, had a few beers in me at that point and this woman comes to my table and asks if I'm a paramedic and if I remember running a call where "a woman had a midlife crisis, broke down and threatened to burn her workplace down". Said I did. It was her. She said that two months after that incident, she enrolled in a hairdresser programme, was able to quit her job and now has a hair salon and is doing quite well. She thanked me and we had a laugh about it.
Yes, but it was nice. We get the same call for the same lady that falls over 1-2 times a week. She’s never injured she just needs help getting up (family isn’t physically capable of getting her up). Anyways I saw one of her daughters at a wedding of all places. She just came up to say hi and we chatted for a couple minutes. Small world.
I've seen plenty of regulars and other previous patients off duty, but I have never been recognised. I'm a firm believer that all people see is the truck and the uniform, and as long as you're not getting into a row with anyone, or do anything to stick in the mind, we're pretty interchangeable
I responded to a bicyclist who was AMS post falling off his bike, with significant trauma to the head, he did have a helmet on. I met him many months later while I was out on a bicycle ride on a trail near the call, and he was all fixed up and right again, it was pretty cool 👍
Yes, it’s been terrible. Usually it ends up being crack heads and other crazies that we’ve had altercations with. Luckily they’ve been relatively cool each time but very nerve racking.
Had a stroke patient a few weeks ago. My mom had a stroke around the same time. My pt had experienced a TIA w/ Race of 7 on scene which resolved entirely en route to the hospital. Pt called her son who was on scene still, told him she was better. Asked me to explain what a TIA was to him.
We get to the hospital and her symptoms return. TPA given, whole nine yards. No follow up from the first hospital.
Fast forward to me visiting my mom in the ICU at a different hospital (Specialty neurology hospital) the next day. Who do I walk by? My patient and her son. Fastest GTFO walk I’ve ever done.
Dude who had ripped out a Prince Albert piercing several months earlier recognized me at the grocery store. Awkward conversation as his wife thanked me and assured me everything still worked as it should.
I was in a pet store once. Kinda walked past a guy, didn't think much of it. He asked my name was and if I was a Paramedic. I said I was. He told me I delivered his baby boy a few months back. He thanked me and we talked briefly about how everyone was. We shook hands and I asked him if he had to replace the carpet in the living room where the baby was born, and told him I was sorry about that. We laughed.
I work and used to live in my district in my large-ish city. I had a a dude approach me in the grocery store that I gave narcan too a few days before. He came up and told me I was “gonna regret doing what I did to him” and started to approach me aggressively and fiddled in his pockets. I carry a pistol and put my hand on it and he backed down thankfully.
All the time, small community. The coolest was a guy we had for a PE who arrested as we transferred to the ER bed. He came up and shook my hand and asked to meet my partner.
Twice now (2 separate people) in the past year I've been recognized as the medic who saved their daughter from her febrile seizure. I haven't had a febrile seizure kid in ages, I'm per diem. It wasn't me lol.
When I worked rural Ems and lived in the area yeah all the time. I would walk into the grocery and see some patients or the family. Also good experiences often it was the grandkids thanking me for helping pick meema off the floor.
I’m a RN at the ER I transport to the most and I routinely go in from one job strait to the other.
“Hey weren’t you on the accident this morning at blah blah blah..”
“Nope.” - *me trying to hide my department shirt I wear with my scrubs*
When I was an EMT / baby medic I lived in a rough neighborhood. Naturally, towards the end of medic school I wanted to work a busy area with the smallest commute possible.
I ended up working very close to my house.
On one of my rotations I sedated a woman who lived two doors down from me after she had been awake for 3 days smoking crack, and then decided to fight the cops when her family got sick of her shit.
No one in her apartment recognized me but I did get some looks from our mutual neighbors who were all having a bbq on the sidewalk between our houses.
Someone bought me lunch once and I had no idea why. It was like the non-villainous version of the “But for me, it was Tuesday” scene with M Bison in Street Fighter. They were so appreciative and I had no idea what the fuck they were talking about at all.
Also wasn’t recognized by a patient but a friend of the patient who knew who I was introduced me to them when we were at the same bar on New Years a while back. Part of why the patient didn’t recognize me was that she was semi-conscious when we were getting her to the helicopter, and the other part was that the brain damage from when she got waffled by the drunk driver not only made her blind, she *lost all her visual memories*. So that was a “woah what” moment.
Years ago I had a young lady who'd had a seizure and bonked her head outside a liqour store. Long story short she ended up verbally and physically assaulting her gf outside emerg while we were standing right there.
Fast forward one week, I'm at said liqour store as a patron. She works there. It was awkward. I've never gone back.
Wouldn't say I personally have been recognized but my father (EMT/Firefighter for 25 years) gets recognized all the time.
The most memorable moment was nearly 20 years ago. I rode with my dad to a call for chest pains. My dad was the first to show up on scene and was greeted by the wife of the patient. He ran inside to see a 40 something year old man unresponsive, not breathing. My father did CPR all the way from the scene to the hospital and they managed to bring the guy back to which he lived for another 20 some odd years.
As a token of gratitude, the family invited my father and the rest of my family over for Thanksgiving and it got to the point where the patient's wife, children, and grandchildren recognize him whenever they pass by
Funny you mention it, I actually do. What I’m saying though is what kind of interactions are you having with patients and patients families that you’re concerned about one of them attacking or trying to harm you? I’ve sedated a ton of violent edps, been to more than my fair share of shots, stabs, homicides and just run of the mill shitty medical assignments. Utilizing deescalation techniques, entering with a calm demeanor and making an effort to build rapport with my patients, I have found that running into patients again has been an overall positive experience. Going to an address multiple times has generally gone well and people are ok with seeing me again. Now this isn’t to say every patient contact is a sunshine experience, sure not everyone is gonna leave 100% satisfied. I’ve never really had any high level of concern that someone was going to make an active attempt on my life. So back to my original response, are patient contacts so poor and negative that this is concern enough to carry a firearm all the time off duty?
I remember my preceptor talking about how she ran a call on an abused lady and reported it to police and the husband found out and was fully intending to kill her and would follow her and call her with death threats etc. It was bad enough to where she needed armed security for like a week until he was put in prison.
Something like that. Not my story and was awhile ago so details are very hazy.
Yes. It is. And I am referring to your question asking if carrying firearms is necessary… one of my mentors, the man who literally built and shaped me into the female first responder I am today, was killed from an aggressive man arising from a single dose of narcan (0.4mg.) A man we all looked up to and a man who saved lives for years DIED. All because he was trying to save someone. And the same person whos life he saved, is the same person that killed him. This story will never make me quit being a first responder, nor make me ever discourage anyone who chooses this lifestyle or has hopes of choosing this lifestyle one day. If you are brave enough to commit to this career, than you are brave enough to pass on duty.
Personally, I carry because I can.
I've worked almost thirty years in EMS. I worked 10+ years dealing with three prisons.
I have a family to keep safe and defend.
I work in a high crime urban city and don’t feel the need to carry a gun to protect myself from former patients. I have been recognized by former patients and family members who usually tell me how nice I treated them.
working city ems is not an excuse for a comment like that, your probably overthinking and scared of something happening. cause i know you don’t get that man violent calls in a month or even a week. 80 percent of the time those people don’t even remember you
Actually working city ems is a great excuse to carry….have you ever taken away someone’s high? Have you ever narcan’d their last 3$ of heroin? Have you ever saved a man who was shot due to gang violence? And then the opposing gang is mad at you? I can tell you have no idea what it’s like. Come at us when you’re scared for your life saving someone else’s.
MOST people don’t hate us as they hate cops, you can just says your scared of something happening to you because of what you seen. to me even still it’s not a reason. i’m not anti firearms cause i own myself. but it just sounds like a excuse
Had a pt who does tattoos, the same place where my partner made an appointment to have hers done a few days after we admitted him for SI/SA.
Needless to say, she had an awful experience listening to the other tattoo artists talking about the pt.
She did see him back afterwards while she was having touch ups done, but he didn't remember her.
Saw the mom of a patient I had run on the week prior at the grocery store. Was a total bls call kid just had tip of finger slammed in a door jam. But her first kid and all so no harm no foul but kid was totally fine. She tried to pay for my groceries which I just politely said no thanks. Worst part was how much whiskey I had bought. My brother in law and I always buy each other whiskey for each other birthdays/Christmas so I had got him 1 for each and then myself 1. So 3 total. I just remember her face when she saw how much alcohol I had in the line lol.
Never, and I usually try to keep it that way. I live 20+min from work across county lines for a reason. I like work/personal life separation where possible
No, but I’ve legit been stalked by a patient. She used to wait at the gas station every morning from 5 am to 10 am. I never ran into her, because after a few coworkers telling me for months she was there, I avoided it. I also changed shifts.
She even showed up at our office looking for me and her son showed up and dragged her out after two hours of her waiting for me to come back after shift. Of course management did nothing and thought it was “sweet” even after explaining she’s been trying to track me down daily for months.
She even went as far to ask a new coworker how I was doing and they spilled the beans I was getting married. I heard she was trying to find out my wedding information to crash my wedding.
To this day I have no idea who this lady is or what she looks like, and I have no idea if she’s still looking for me, but I’ve moved states and told my coworkers to tell her that I’ve moved to a completely different state than I’m in now.
She pulled that shit for at least a year, maybe a year and a half by the time I moved, and the new place I work insists on is having our full names sewn onto our uniforms with no regard for safety. Not cool.
Scary shit for sure.
I live next to a family who I did cpr in the house on one of their family members and later they were pronouncedat the hospital. There nice people though keep to themselves
I’ve recognized patients in public before. I don’t know if they recognized me, but I’m okay with that. I did have two cases when I was approached. Once by a patient and once by a family member of a patient. Both times to tell me thanks and even catch me up on how they were doing. It was nice.
i’m pretty recognizable and have some recognizable/unique tattoos so i’ve been recognized a few times it’s always incredibly awkward for me but everyone (so far) has been very polite. At my old job i had a regular drunk who recognized me and we always picked him up around the corner from my apartment and he would leave “gifts” (typically whatever dubra / nips he didn’t drink before getting picked up again ) on my car. that was scary considering i lived on a first floor apartment
Maybe?
I have a crap memory for names and faces, so I would have no idea.
But there's been 2-3 times people have approached me like "I feel like we've met before but I can't put my finger on where that would've been!"
And I'm thinking "please don't remember please don't remember"
last year i had an mva pt, a drag queen coming off a gig ~3am, she had all her drag stuff in the back of the uber (made sure it all made it to the hospital with us, including the wig). en route she told me all about her show and said i should come to the next friday gig. i went a couple weeks later, she actually recognized me and bought me a drink. i still think about her
I work full time in a nearby large city, never run into anyone from there.
Then I also run ambulance on my hometowns volley truck in a town of less than 2000 people. So I basically know everyone on those calls or atleast recognize the face
The family of a guy we worked a really long code for- they come hug every last crewmember from that call when they see us at the local markets. We got him back- he healed in the hospital. Sends us milestone pictures with his family to thank us. Always writes “thanks for keeping our hope alive” on the back of them. I remember that night while we were cleaning up at the hospital his mother and his sister found us and had Chief take them to all three trucks that had attended. They said “we want to remember always who came” now it’s just kinda “normal” to be caught buying eggs and getting hugged.
Yup happens all the time.
A lady that was severely injured from a rollover worked at the grocery store around the corner from where we lived.
Actually became friends with her and her spouse
I got recognised when I was out drinking by a patient, I was absolutely wasted. We had a quick chat and carried on our separate nights! I also ran into the family of a patient who I declared a few weeks prior whilst doing my food shopping. Had a pleasant exchange and wished each other a happy Christmas.
I worked at two places. The second one I was recognized a few times by families of frequent flyers.
The first one I worked on a college campus at the student run EMS program. I was recognized frequently and most people did thank me when I took them and also asked that I did not say they went to the hospital. But there were only around 5000 students and maybe 60 EMTs at the height so that is not unexpected.
I used to work in a town of 300 people, it wasn't uncommon for me to see my patients at all. Infact I think it made my job much easier, you had quite a good relationship with every patient you went to and word got around the small town if you were a "good fella". My neighbour would Often call for anxiety and reassurance because he was scared to take his sleeping pill, we would sit on my front step with a cup of tea and I'd wait with him while we talked bikes and gardening. I had a regular COPD patient who was very poorly managed because he had issues getting transport we arranged community transport and got him properly diagnosed and started on medications and stopped seeing him as a patient and started seeing him as a man in the street able to mow his lawn and play with his grandchildren.
So last week I was helping my mom with her groceries, an older gentleman comes up to me, taps me on the shoulder, calls me by my name and asks if I remember him.
Now I won’t lie, man’s looked pretty rough, he was my middle school besties dad, haven’t seen him since that time, so many years have passed. It looks like he has a lot of health issues going on now. My EMS voices were whispering at me to assist this man in ambulating over to an e-scooter and pushing him over to the nearby LTC I was sure he just escaped from… My mom cuts into the conversation, not recognizing him, and asks if he was one of my patients… super awkward when he called my mom by her first name and sheepishly corrected her. It wasn’t until that moment I realized either 😶🌫️
Nope. I'm a guy with long hair that I keep up in a bun, I wear Stoggles at work, as well as a baseball cap that's got a wonky shape because of the bump cap in it (highly recommend for my fellow tall folks, takes the bonk outta the bumps, ya know?), and a uniform that's way different to how I dress out of uniform. So like I wear no hat, my hair down, different glasses, and generally just carry myself differently off duty. I've recognized a few patients out of work, but they've looked right through me in return. It's awesome to have a Clark Kent Effect.
No but I just took my dad’s high school buddy to hospice. It was actually very sweet as the friend asked if we could call my dad to surprise him and they got to catch up. Usually hospice transfers don’t really get to me but that paired with getting a text that my friend had a baby about the same time was a lot.
Went to the eye doctors office the lady helping me to fit my new glasses recognized me from helping to save her husbands life. I didn’t remember that call at all, it was bussiness as usual. I felt bad telling her I didn’t remember.
Yes, one of the high intox patients I dealt with on a regular basis recognized me on the street as I was walking with my date. The guy was drunk as usual but actually mobile and had a score to settle. He followed along behind us screaming at me for taking him to the hospital all the time. He wanted to know I kept bothering him when he was just trying to nap. Apparently he didn’t appreciate having to walk back to the shelter from the ER. My date knew I was a Medic but he’s like wth?
A patients daughter thought she recognized me from a serious car accident she had been in. Our company covers a large area but her accident had happened in the far west region and I’d worked in the Eastern region for awhile. She kept insisting she recognized me but she guessed maybe she was wrong because if I had there was no way on earth I could forget her. I asked her why and she said she had rolled her purple truck decorated with pink flames. I told her, yes, that would definitely have left a impression. She said no, that’s not why, she sells adult novelties at parties and her car was loaded down. When the car rolled 🍆 of various types, lingerie, lube and fuzzy handcuffs were ejected from her car and responders had to walk thru 🍆🍆🍆💦 to get to her.
I went to the DMV not too long ago to get a new tag for my car and was helped by the young lady I woke up from a heroin overdose. We recognized each other.
Awkward?
Nah. Not for me at least.
Did you nod in acknowledgment or pretend like you’d never had met her before? I know you said you recognized each other I’m just curious about the exchange
I knew who she was the moment I walked in the building. I wasn’t looking her way or anything while I was in line, but I’m pretty recognizable. Unlucky for her, she got me as the next customer when it was my turn. She just kinda sheepishly said “uh, hi” and we carried out her transaction. I thanked her when we were done, and told her to take care. No big deal. But she definitely knew who I was and where she recognized me from.
I gotcha. Why are you pretty recognizable?
Maybe it’s because he woke her up after an OD lol
Why would that make someone recognizable? When you wake up after an OD, you’re not exactly with it lmfaoo Source: personal experience
Yea, but I’m sure that after the transport they were Alert and oriented enough to be able to remember the faces of people who might’ve just saved your life
Agree to disagree. Patient had bigger fish to fry like “why did this asshole ruin my high” and “why do I feel like I’m dying” (effects of narcan) rather than the starry-eyed omg this man is a hero 😍😍 fantasy bullshit you’re hoping happens lmao Also, to me, what the original commenter was saying was that there is something about his physical appearance that is notable. Based on his profile pic (I forget what they’re called in the Reddit world) he could be a large man with a big red beard, which is what I think he was saying.
You sound like a bit of an arse tbh. I’ve responded to one guys overdose three times, the second time, he cursed me out a bit, but once he calmed down we talked and he made a joke about how we’ve got to stop meeting like this. The third time i saw him, after he got over the whole “fuck you you dickhead” phase, he recognized me. he thanked me,I think by this point he realized he fucked up. Definitely one of the highlights of my short career. This was over the span of 6 months. I haven’t seen him in 4 months, and I hope if I ever do again that it’s not in that situation. And I’m sure if I ever do see him again, he’ll recognize me. If your patients don’t recognize you you must be shit for conversation.
Sure. Have a good night.
Had a pt who would fake seizures for ativan. Big deal, multiple hospitals knew them and their scam. I teach college in my real job and...one day, there that person is, sitting in my class. They dropped that day.
Legendary 😂 Makes me wonder what class it was.
Bro said “my real job” 💀
Probably a volly
Probably the job that pays more than peanuts
you know I see the same regulars multiple times a week, every week for over a year, and everytime I have seen them off duty I don't think they recognize me in the slightest.
I don’t even recognize my own coworkers without their uniform on
All the time. Rural EMS means you’ll eventually see all of your patients at the grocery store…unless they didn’t make it.
Or if you see them, you suddenly believe in ghosts until you learn their cousins or siblings
Not the exact thing, but in college, a girl who worked with my mom was killed in a car accident. She was a nice girl. Ended up driving past a pizza place months later and my heart skipped as I saw her. Found out later, it was her sister who looks ridiculously similar and no they aren't twins.
I saw not 1 not 2 but 3 pts of mine in a single trip to the grocery store.
This.
When I was a student para (6-7y ago), I ran a hypotension/presyncope call on a mid40s F inside a butcher shop in a neighboring city (about 15mins from base, not unusual but also not our normal region). She was pretty nice and spent the entire ride back venting to me about how shitty her workplace is, how mean and unfriendly her coworkers are and how much she wants it all to burn down. Also said she'd always wanted to be a hairstylist but never really managed to even really think about starting it, due to life in general, so I said that maybe this could give her a push and she should do what she always wanted. Dropped her off and thought that was it. Two years ago, I was at a massive volley FD get together with a friend of mine, had a few beers in me at that point and this woman comes to my table and asks if I'm a paramedic and if I remember running a call where "a woman had a midlife crisis, broke down and threatened to burn her workplace down". Said I did. It was her. She said that two months after that incident, she enrolled in a hairdresser programme, was able to quit her job and now has a hair salon and is doing quite well. She thanked me and we had a laugh about it.
Yes, but it was nice. We get the same call for the same lady that falls over 1-2 times a week. She’s never injured she just needs help getting up (family isn’t physically capable of getting her up). Anyways I saw one of her daughters at a wedding of all places. She just came up to say hi and we chatted for a couple minutes. Small world.
I've seen plenty of regulars and other previous patients off duty, but I have never been recognised. I'm a firm believer that all people see is the truck and the uniform, and as long as you're not getting into a row with anyone, or do anything to stick in the mind, we're pretty interchangeable
I responded to a bicyclist who was AMS post falling off his bike, with significant trauma to the head, he did have a helmet on. I met him many months later while I was out on a bicycle ride on a trail near the call, and he was all fixed up and right again, it was pretty cool 👍
Yes, it’s been terrible. Usually it ends up being crack heads and other crazies that we’ve had altercations with. Luckily they’ve been relatively cool each time but very nerve racking.
Had a stroke patient a few weeks ago. My mom had a stroke around the same time. My pt had experienced a TIA w/ Race of 7 on scene which resolved entirely en route to the hospital. Pt called her son who was on scene still, told him she was better. Asked me to explain what a TIA was to him. We get to the hospital and her symptoms return. TPA given, whole nine yards. No follow up from the first hospital. Fast forward to me visiting my mom in the ICU at a different hospital (Specialty neurology hospital) the next day. Who do I walk by? My patient and her son. Fastest GTFO walk I’ve ever done.
Dude who had ripped out a Prince Albert piercing several months earlier recognized me at the grocery store. Awkward conversation as his wife thanked me and assured me everything still worked as it should.
Yeeowch Cringed reading about that
I was in a pet store once. Kinda walked past a guy, didn't think much of it. He asked my name was and if I was a Paramedic. I said I was. He told me I delivered his baby boy a few months back. He thanked me and we talked briefly about how everyone was. We shook hands and I asked him if he had to replace the carpet in the living room where the baby was born, and told him I was sorry about that. We laughed.
I work and used to live in my district in my large-ish city. I had a a dude approach me in the grocery store that I gave narcan too a few days before. He came up and told me I was “gonna regret doing what I did to him” and started to approach me aggressively and fiddled in his pockets. I carry a pistol and put my hand on it and he backed down thankfully.
This kind of interaction is exactly why I don't live near where I work, and why residency requirements are bullshit
All the time, small community. The coolest was a guy we had for a PE who arrested as we transferred to the ER bed. He came up and shook my hand and asked to meet my partner.
No, but I was recognized on shift by a former Pt while I was getting food, shit was strange, she remembered me perfectly, I didn’t remember her at all
Twice now (2 separate people) in the past year I've been recognized as the medic who saved their daughter from her febrile seizure. I haven't had a febrile seizure kid in ages, I'm per diem. It wasn't me lol.
When I worked rural Ems and lived in the area yeah all the time. I would walk into the grocery and see some patients or the family. Also good experiences often it was the grandkids thanking me for helping pick meema off the floor.
I’m a RN at the ER I transport to the most and I routinely go in from one job strait to the other. “Hey weren’t you on the accident this morning at blah blah blah..” “Nope.” - *me trying to hide my department shirt I wear with my scrubs*
When I was an EMT / baby medic I lived in a rough neighborhood. Naturally, towards the end of medic school I wanted to work a busy area with the smallest commute possible. I ended up working very close to my house. On one of my rotations I sedated a woman who lived two doors down from me after she had been awake for 3 days smoking crack, and then decided to fight the cops when her family got sick of her shit. No one in her apartment recognized me but I did get some looks from our mutual neighbors who were all having a bbq on the sidewalk between our houses.
Someone bought me lunch once and I had no idea why. It was like the non-villainous version of the “But for me, it was Tuesday” scene with M Bison in Street Fighter. They were so appreciative and I had no idea what the fuck they were talking about at all. Also wasn’t recognized by a patient but a friend of the patient who knew who I was introduced me to them when we were at the same bar on New Years a while back. Part of why the patient didn’t recognize me was that she was semi-conscious when we were getting her to the helicopter, and the other part was that the brain damage from when she got waffled by the drunk driver not only made her blind, she *lost all her visual memories*. So that was a “woah what” moment.
Years ago I had a young lady who'd had a seizure and bonked her head outside a liqour store. Long story short she ended up verbally and physically assaulting her gf outside emerg while we were standing right there. Fast forward one week, I'm at said liqour store as a patron. She works there. It was awkward. I've never gone back.
Had a frequent flier come up to my balcony while I was smoking to ask for money. Called me an asshole when I said hello by name
When you live in a rural community that’s just normal every day life.
Saw our hypoglycemic frequent flyer at a bar a few weeks ago. He's pretty nice when he isn't trying to fight me!
I saw my dad whilst picking up a patient once. Quick fist bump almost made it into the pcr
Wouldn't say I personally have been recognized but my father (EMT/Firefighter for 25 years) gets recognized all the time. The most memorable moment was nearly 20 years ago. I rode with my dad to a call for chest pains. My dad was the first to show up on scene and was greeted by the wife of the patient. He ran inside to see a 40 something year old man unresponsive, not breathing. My father did CPR all the way from the scene to the hospital and they managed to bring the guy back to which he lived for another 20 some odd years. As a token of gratitude, the family invited my father and the rest of my family over for Thanksgiving and it got to the point where the patient's wife, children, and grandchildren recognize him whenever they pass by
Hence why I exercise my Second Amendment rights when not working.
What calls are you going to that this is that much of a concern?
Tell me you don’t work city EMS without telling me you don’t work city EMS
Funny you mention it, I actually do. What I’m saying though is what kind of interactions are you having with patients and patients families that you’re concerned about one of them attacking or trying to harm you? I’ve sedated a ton of violent edps, been to more than my fair share of shots, stabs, homicides and just run of the mill shitty medical assignments. Utilizing deescalation techniques, entering with a calm demeanor and making an effort to build rapport with my patients, I have found that running into patients again has been an overall positive experience. Going to an address multiple times has generally gone well and people are ok with seeing me again. Now this isn’t to say every patient contact is a sunshine experience, sure not everyone is gonna leave 100% satisfied. I’ve never really had any high level of concern that someone was going to make an active attempt on my life. So back to my original response, are patient contacts so poor and negative that this is concern enough to carry a firearm all the time off duty?
I remember my preceptor talking about how she ran a call on an abused lady and reported it to police and the husband found out and was fully intending to kill her and would follow her and call her with death threats etc. It was bad enough to where she needed armed security for like a week until he was put in prison. Something like that. Not my story and was awhile ago so details are very hazy.
So many ppl are commenting saying this job isn’t scary and witnesses shouldn’t be scared…..ya right. Your preceptor’s story is my biggest fear
Yes. It is. And I am referring to your question asking if carrying firearms is necessary… one of my mentors, the man who literally built and shaped me into the female first responder I am today, was killed from an aggressive man arising from a single dose of narcan (0.4mg.) A man we all looked up to and a man who saved lives for years DIED. All because he was trying to save someone. And the same person whos life he saved, is the same person that killed him. This story will never make me quit being a first responder, nor make me ever discourage anyone who chooses this lifestyle or has hopes of choosing this lifestyle one day. If you are brave enough to commit to this career, than you are brave enough to pass on duty.
Personally, I carry because I can. I've worked almost thirty years in EMS. I worked 10+ years dealing with three prisons. I have a family to keep safe and defend.
I work in a high crime urban city and don’t feel the need to carry a gun to protect myself from former patients. I have been recognized by former patients and family members who usually tell me how nice I treated them.
working city ems is not an excuse for a comment like that, your probably overthinking and scared of something happening. cause i know you don’t get that man violent calls in a month or even a week. 80 percent of the time those people don’t even remember you
Actually working city ems is a great excuse to carry….have you ever taken away someone’s high? Have you ever narcan’d their last 3$ of heroin? Have you ever saved a man who was shot due to gang violence? And then the opposing gang is mad at you? I can tell you have no idea what it’s like. Come at us when you’re scared for your life saving someone else’s.
MOST people don’t hate us as they hate cops, you can just says your scared of something happening to you because of what you seen. to me even still it’s not a reason. i’m not anti firearms cause i own myself. but it just sounds like a excuse
Oh and have you ever had to go to a scene just to pronounce someone dead? And typically it’s from violence, so it’s a gruesome scene…have you ever?
Shit, I carry because I worked in EMS and one of my coworkers threatened to shoot me. He’s dead now (I didn’t do it) but *fuck*.
I work in a different county than I live in
Um, might wanna reread that
Live in ahaha
I read off shirt at first. Guy takes his shirt off and everyone’s like HEYYY you saved my life!!
Had a pt who does tattoos, the same place where my partner made an appointment to have hers done a few days after we admitted him for SI/SA. Needless to say, she had an awful experience listening to the other tattoo artists talking about the pt. She did see him back afterwards while she was having touch ups done, but he didn't remember her.
Yeah, patient’s toddler-aged kid recognized me at Dunkin. He shrieked “ambulance man!” and hugged my leg.
Saw the mom of a patient I had run on the week prior at the grocery store. Was a total bls call kid just had tip of finger slammed in a door jam. But her first kid and all so no harm no foul but kid was totally fine. She tried to pay for my groceries which I just politely said no thanks. Worst part was how much whiskey I had bought. My brother in law and I always buy each other whiskey for each other birthdays/Christmas so I had got him 1 for each and then myself 1. So 3 total. I just remember her face when she saw how much alcohol I had in the line lol.
Hahahaha
All the time. And friends/acquaintances on calls. Small town life.
Twice, both were good interactions.
Never, and I usually try to keep it that way. I live 20+min from work across county lines for a reason. I like work/personal life separation where possible
No, but I’ve legit been stalked by a patient. She used to wait at the gas station every morning from 5 am to 10 am. I never ran into her, because after a few coworkers telling me for months she was there, I avoided it. I also changed shifts. She even showed up at our office looking for me and her son showed up and dragged her out after two hours of her waiting for me to come back after shift. Of course management did nothing and thought it was “sweet” even after explaining she’s been trying to track me down daily for months. She even went as far to ask a new coworker how I was doing and they spilled the beans I was getting married. I heard she was trying to find out my wedding information to crash my wedding. To this day I have no idea who this lady is or what she looks like, and I have no idea if she’s still looking for me, but I’ve moved states and told my coworkers to tell her that I’ve moved to a completely different state than I’m in now. She pulled that shit for at least a year, maybe a year and a half by the time I moved, and the new place I work insists on is having our full names sewn onto our uniforms with no regard for safety. Not cool. Scary shit for sure.
Shit like this is why I'm glad my department got one taste of this and stopped issuing uniforms with sewn on names.
Yeah sometimes, the one downside of living in the small ish town you work
Yeah a crazy guy in Walmart once. He knew me right away. I didn’t recognize him for a few minutes. Guy was huge too. Thankfully he was not being wild
Yeah. Then there are the people who know me and didn’t recognize me when I responded to their house.
I live next to a family who I did cpr in the house on one of their family members and later they were pronouncedat the hospital. There nice people though keep to themselves
I see one of my semi regulars at the grocery store I shop at. I blend right in with the background and don't think about it too much
I’ve recognized patients in public before. I don’t know if they recognized me, but I’m okay with that. I did have two cases when I was approached. Once by a patient and once by a family member of a patient. Both times to tell me thanks and even catch me up on how they were doing. It was nice.
All the time. I live and work in the same county. I have yet to have a negative interaction.
i’m pretty recognizable and have some recognizable/unique tattoos so i’ve been recognized a few times it’s always incredibly awkward for me but everyone (so far) has been very polite. At my old job i had a regular drunk who recognized me and we always picked him up around the corner from my apartment and he would leave “gifts” (typically whatever dubra / nips he didn’t drink before getting picked up again ) on my car. that was scary considering i lived on a first floor apartment
Maybe? I have a crap memory for names and faces, so I would have no idea. But there's been 2-3 times people have approached me like "I feel like we've met before but I can't put my finger on where that would've been!" And I'm thinking "please don't remember please don't remember"
All the time
All the time. At least once or twice a week.
last year i had an mva pt, a drag queen coming off a gig ~3am, she had all her drag stuff in the back of the uber (made sure it all made it to the hospital with us, including the wig). en route she told me all about her show and said i should come to the next friday gig. i went a couple weeks later, she actually recognized me and bought me a drink. i still think about her
I work full time in a nearby large city, never run into anyone from there. Then I also run ambulance on my hometowns volley truck in a town of less than 2000 people. So I basically know everyone on those calls or atleast recognize the face
I work in a small rural community. This is a part of daily life.
The family of a guy we worked a really long code for- they come hug every last crewmember from that call when they see us at the local markets. We got him back- he healed in the hospital. Sends us milestone pictures with his family to thank us. Always writes “thanks for keeping our hope alive” on the back of them. I remember that night while we were cleaning up at the hospital his mother and his sister found us and had Chief take them to all three trucks that had attended. They said “we want to remember always who came” now it’s just kinda “normal” to be caught buying eggs and getting hugged.
all the time. it's odd depending on the circumstances of why they called.
Yup happens all the time. A lady that was severely injured from a rollover worked at the grocery store around the corner from where we lived. Actually became friends with her and her spouse
I got recognised when I was out drinking by a patient, I was absolutely wasted. We had a quick chat and carried on our separate nights! I also ran into the family of a patient who I declared a few weeks prior whilst doing my food shopping. Had a pleasant exchange and wished each other a happy Christmas.
I worked at two places. The second one I was recognized a few times by families of frequent flyers. The first one I worked on a college campus at the student run EMS program. I was recognized frequently and most people did thank me when I took them and also asked that I did not say they went to the hospital. But there were only around 5000 students and maybe 60 EMTs at the height so that is not unexpected.
I used to work in a town of 300 people, it wasn't uncommon for me to see my patients at all. Infact I think it made my job much easier, you had quite a good relationship with every patient you went to and word got around the small town if you were a "good fella". My neighbour would Often call for anxiety and reassurance because he was scared to take his sleeping pill, we would sit on my front step with a cup of tea and I'd wait with him while we talked bikes and gardening. I had a regular COPD patient who was very poorly managed because he had issues getting transport we arranged community transport and got him properly diagnosed and started on medications and stopped seeing him as a patient and started seeing him as a man in the street able to mow his lawn and play with his grandchildren.
So last week I was helping my mom with her groceries, an older gentleman comes up to me, taps me on the shoulder, calls me by my name and asks if I remember him. Now I won’t lie, man’s looked pretty rough, he was my middle school besties dad, haven’t seen him since that time, so many years have passed. It looks like he has a lot of health issues going on now. My EMS voices were whispering at me to assist this man in ambulating over to an e-scooter and pushing him over to the nearby LTC I was sure he just escaped from… My mom cuts into the conversation, not recognizing him, and asks if he was one of my patients… super awkward when he called my mom by her first name and sheepishly corrected her. It wasn’t until that moment I realized either 😶🌫️
Nope. I'm a guy with long hair that I keep up in a bun, I wear Stoggles at work, as well as a baseball cap that's got a wonky shape because of the bump cap in it (highly recommend for my fellow tall folks, takes the bonk outta the bumps, ya know?), and a uniform that's way different to how I dress out of uniform. So like I wear no hat, my hair down, different glasses, and generally just carry myself differently off duty. I've recognized a few patients out of work, but they've looked right through me in return. It's awesome to have a Clark Kent Effect.
No but I just took my dad’s high school buddy to hospice. It was actually very sweet as the friend asked if we could call my dad to surprise him and they got to catch up. Usually hospice transfers don’t really get to me but that paired with getting a text that my friend had a baby about the same time was a lot.
Yes lol bums never forget.
Went to the eye doctors office the lady helping me to fit my new glasses recognized me from helping to save her husbands life. I didn’t remember that call at all, it was bussiness as usual. I felt bad telling her I didn’t remember.
Yes, one of the high intox patients I dealt with on a regular basis recognized me on the street as I was walking with my date. The guy was drunk as usual but actually mobile and had a score to settle. He followed along behind us screaming at me for taking him to the hospital all the time. He wanted to know I kept bothering him when he was just trying to nap. Apparently he didn’t appreciate having to walk back to the shelter from the ER. My date knew I was a Medic but he’s like wth?
A patients daughter thought she recognized me from a serious car accident she had been in. Our company covers a large area but her accident had happened in the far west region and I’d worked in the Eastern region for awhile. She kept insisting she recognized me but she guessed maybe she was wrong because if I had there was no way on earth I could forget her. I asked her why and she said she had rolled her purple truck decorated with pink flames. I told her, yes, that would definitely have left a impression. She said no, that’s not why, she sells adult novelties at parties and her car was loaded down. When the car rolled 🍆 of various types, lingerie, lube and fuzzy handcuffs were ejected from her car and responders had to walk thru 🍆🍆🍆💦 to get to her.