I’m running out of gas about now, the minions of Providence have kept me running. Called to a house on Elmwood Avenue, a boarding house, not known for the upscale clientele. Trudge up the stairs to one of the rooms, heavily fortified and completely unsanitary to find a fifty-nine year old male hunched over in an easy chair racked with pain.
“What’s the matter?”
“I slept in my chair, now my back hurts.”
“Get up and stretch.”
“Can’t. Broke my ribs.”
“Well, sit and stretch.”
“Can’t, broken vertebrae.”
I took a closer look. The visor on his “Dewey Sueem & Howe” cap laid low on his forehead. A handsome black guy looked up at me through eyes filled with pain.
“Come on, we’ll get you to the hospital.”
“My doctor is at Miriam.”
Here we go again. I started to tell him there was no way I was going to take him across town to Miriam when I saw his medications. HIV+.
“How long have you had HIV.”
“Since ’83.”
Miriam Hospital has a program where they do great work with AIDS and HIV+ patients. A cross town trip wouldn’t kill me. We loaded him up the best we could, broken ribs and vertebrae are tough injuries to work around. He was a trooper, only complained a little.
Inspiration comes from the strangest places. This time, the back of Rescue 1, two guys from different worlds talking about the Celtic and Laker years of the eighties. He was a Laker fan, me the Celtics. Didn’t matter, it was as if Magic and Bird were in the rescue with us.
“I remember when I heard about Magic,” I said. “Thought he was a goner.”
“Thought I was a goner.” He smiled and reminisced. Magic Johnson. Larry Bird. Lew Alcinder. Robert “The Chief” Parish. Worthy, Johnson and all the rest. I felt like I was with an old friend watching the game and having a beer.
Turns out he’s a Viet Nam era combat wounded Special Forces Veteran. Marine Corp. Didn’t talk much about that, one of the security guards at Miriam served with him and told me. Marines. Semper Fi. They mean it.
I wonder if the other folks at Miriam saw a destitute former addict with HIV and not much else. I hope not.
Isn’t is amazing the histories of others, if people would only look?I used to care for an elderly couple years ago; after taking the time to talk to them, I learned that they were both scientists who had escaped from Germany, under Hitler. They risked their lives to escape him. It was an amazing first hand account. I will never forget them, and the story of their escape as they made their way in the dark on a tiny boat.
“dont judge a book buy its cover” rings oh so true. never judge on appearance alone. you may never know who you may encounter
That call is an example of what differentiates guy like you from guys who can’t or won’t succeed at this job long term.If you only allow yourself to see the surface of things, urban EMS is an ugly affair with few redeeming qualities.But if you scratch a little below the surface, sometimes — often enough to make it all worthwhile — man, there’s gold there.So far I’ve been privileged enough to care for Holocaust survivors, Gold Glove boxers, a novelist, one of Patton’s drivers and a couple forgotten celebrities from decades past, among others.None of which I’d have ever known about if I didn’t take the time on those calls to see beyond the chest pain, or lift assist, or filthy drunk passed out on the sidewalk.One of our most frequent fliers is a homeless guy whose family holds the millions he made in real estate in trust, hoping some day he’ll kick the sauce.Another guy, one of the most vile drunks in The Big City, went to Parris Island with me back in 1991.Now we’re on a first-name basis (which I suppose can be a double-edged sword), enough so that he’s usually happy to see me and we can get him to the hospital without the usual fighting and wrestling.Great post!
this comment is completely unrelated to your post, but thought you might find this funny:from the creators of Cash Cab comes… Cash Ambulance!-mike day
Awesome post!I couldn’t agree more about looking past what’s on the surface. Same sort of thing up here in Manch – we have a woman regular,, homeless, in her early ’60′s. Some of our folks have a really hard time with her because she has some long-standing mental illness going on, but I’ve gotten to know her and I’ve found her to be one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. And she probably sees things more clearly that most other people do. Last time I saw her she’d been having some trouble breathing – she’d fallen and thought she’d pulled muscles. Other folks thought she was full of BS. Turned out she was having a huge MI….. She survived, still lives on the street. Her choice.I worry about her.
Some of my greatest fulfillment in this job is getting to know our patients, something that I think doesn’t happen as often as it should. Good for you for caring and taking the time.
Thanks for the comments, it’s amazing how many stories are out there if you choose to look.Good to hear from you Mike, loved the cash ambulance thing, I might try that this week!