0945.25
no pulse
ice cold
jeez, he’s my age
what happened
that guys going to be trouble
got to get to the gym
hot in here
look at all these pills
still in the bottle
Vicodin Oxycontin
no sign of a fight
what the hell happened
Narcan
CPR
what’s for lunch
too late
need the cops
where’s the monitor
get the pads
don’t need the pads
this is a crime scene
try an iv
too late
he’s gone
watch that guy
what do I tell him
no coming back
when’s my doctor’s appointment
is that mottling
stiff
dizzy
work him
do something
let him rest
he’s dead
that guy’s going to snap
where are the cops
shit
9:45.30
He was dead, and had been dead for hours. His roommate/lover/husband found him, in bed, not breathing and called us. I knew it was far too late for resuscitation, the roommate/lover/husband did not. He stood by while I assessed the patient, expectantly.
“I’m sorry, sir, he’s gone.”
“Do something!”
“There’s nothing anybody can do, he’s gone.”
“Get out! I’ll do it! Get out of my house!”
I had a dead guy in bed, another guy jumping on the bed attempting compressions and mouth to mouth on the dead guy. Thank god I wasn’t alone. With help from my partner and a firefighter from Engine 15 we separated the living from the dead, and kept them apart.
I briefly considered going through the motions of CPR and all of that for the survivors sake, then some clarity entered my brain, and I thought how inappropriate to desecrate a body at rest for the sake of another persons closure.
Eventually the police came, the hysterical man calmed down and the body was removed.
Been there, done that. Always sucks.
Amazing how our education and training allow us to process so many options and decisions in such a short period of time, especially when so many people believe we are nothing more than lazy GED holders who owe their jobs to nepotism.
You would have been giving the living a glimmer of a false hope.
You did the right thing in not working the dead, Michael.
Great job under highly stressful situation. This is why we are called Professionals. I hope some day the politicians realize what we do day in and day out. Keep up the good work.