Yesterday was international women’s day. It was a great day to see so many people posting about the women in their lives that have made huge impacts on them.
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) field is dominated by men, although we have seen an increase in female EMS workers in recent years. I am so lucky to be surrounded by some of the strongest, bad ass female police officers, firefighters, paramedics and EMTs in the field. I am blessed to be a part of the female population in the field. I feel really proud when I see young girls wave at the ambulance and watch as their eyes sparkle and jaws drop the moment they realize that the person driving has a pony tail and looks like them. I hope I send a message to these young girls that they can do anything they want to do and that gender doesn’t define nor limit them. I hope I could be a great role model, just like the boss lady medic has been for me.
I got to run a cardiac arrest call with this amazing fire-medic. She was straight up badass. I’ve ran calls with her a few times but this was the first time running a critical call with her. Cardiac arrest calls are where you see the real person behind the uniform. There’s true team work and a lot of people just giving instructions and yelling at each other. How you act in a real emergency, how you work with other EMS personnels-some you’ve never worked with before- and how smoothly you can run the call determines everything.
We usually “ride the side” of the gurney to do CPR while other people move it so that there’s always someone doing compressions. The apartment hallway we responded to was so narrow and with a lot of turns there was no way someone was going to be able to ride the side and do CPR. The medic made a quick decision and hopped onto our gurney and started doing CPR on the patient, basically on top of him, her knees supporting her weight. We pushed the gurney and rushed to the elevator while yelling “watch your head” when an exit sign or low ceiling emerged. I was floored. I didn’t know we can possibly do such thing! Fast thinking is needed in this field and she precisely assessed the situation and did what had to be done in such an elegant way.
The elevator was so small the gurney barely fit, and only my partner and I was able to squeeze in as we tilted up the head of the gurney. The medic had to hop off the gurney for a second while we shoved it into the elevator. Seeing that no one was doing CPR, I jumped on top from the tiny elevator corner and started doing CPR. I felt pretty cool. From the corner of my eyes I saw the medic crawling under the gurney to fit into the other corner of the elevator to help bag the patient. We managed to close the elevator door as crews from the outside pushed and we pulled the gurney in to let the door close on us. I was on top of the patient on the gurney the rest of the way onto the rig , my knees supporting me as I looked over a dead man, doing CPR. There was blood coming out of his mouth every time we gave him breaths and it was a gory scene. Our assumption was that he had internal bleeding prior to going down.
It was a bloody and sweaty call. The medic and I switched turns doing CPR while I assisted in suctioning as much blood as I could from his mouth. Honestly it was a lost cause; he was bleeding so much orally, pouring out at every breath we administered. We gave it all in the back of the ambulance. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
It was chaos in the ER so I was helping my partner clean the bloody hell rig while I waited for everyone to clear out of the room. The medic comes up to me and we started having a casual conversation of the whole call. My partner commented on how badass the medic and I was for jumping on top of the gurney to do CPR, knowing that we might get body fluid on us and all the risks involved. The medic complimented me on my efforts and kept calling me “sistaaa”. It felt really good. A female crew calling me sista and talking about how “the tiny gals can get stuff done”—it was one of those compliments that stuck with me.
I haven’t felt empowered like this in a while. In a male dominant field, I have always felt so out of place, almost burdensome sometimes. I have gotten questioned about my abilities, usually physical abilities than anything, and I always felt like I had to prove myself to everyone. As a tiny female standing at 5ft, I understand why people worry about my strength, but what they don’t know is all the hours spent in the gym to prove them wrong. I can lift a backboard with a 250lb patient’s dead weight on it with my partner that is twice as big as me, and I can do most of the things my other fellow coworkers do on scene. I’m proud of it and many of my coworkers know it. Even the fire fighters I work with know I am capable and respect me for it. The last time a partner I’ve never worked with questioned if I can lift the patient on scene, one of the fire guys said “ohh dude you have never worked with her have you?” and chuckled as he watched me lift the patient. I don’t need help. I will ask if I need help because I know my limits and I know what I can’t do. I have finally started to learn to be confident in my own skin and run calls without second doubting myself.
The medic I ran the full arrest with, she is who I call a “strong” female role model. She can do her job very well, and is simply outstanding among her fire brothers. She is such a boss ass lady in her turnout gear and her pony tail. Watching her in the field gives me hope and courage to pursue what I want to do in my life.
I didn’t get to tell you how I truly felt about your presence, but I hope when I run with you again I can tell you how much I look up to you.
Cheers to all the boss ass ladies out there doing big things in the world. Women are so amazing and don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can do and what you can’t do. That’s up to you to decide.
Ordinary EMT 