04/30/2013
“A man who thinks he can live without other people is wrong, and a man who thinks others cannot live without him is even more wrong.”
– Hassidic Saying
This quote fully exemplifies what our coworker and fellow dispatcher, Krystal Blackburn, expresses in her follow up writing about Saturday's school shooting exercise. Krystal can usually be heard on the other side of 911 but Saturday she decided to volunteer as a first responder with EMS. Below is her take on the event from an EMS responder's point of view:
They say, “You don’t know unless you’ve been there.” I can honestly say that this is true. I have experienced first-hand what it would be like to respond to a mass casualty incident. I have been first into a building with other medics attempting to rescue survivors of a school shooting. I have looked fear in the face, and fought through it. I had the adrenaline rush, I got the tunnel vision, I put the victims’ safety before my own, and before all the others that I usually have to be responsible for. I was on the “other side.” I got to see things from a completely different point of view.
My partner and I were placed in a scenario where we were the first medics in a building that was “cleared” after an active school shooting. We didn’t know what to expect. We had no idea of patient count, injury extent, or death toll. We passed several “walking wounded” patients being escorted out as we went in. People were screaming and crying and bleeding everywhere. As we walked in the door, the initial scene was un-imaginable almost breath-taking and for a split second I thought about turning around and going back, but instinct and training kicked in. I hit my knees, and rolled an unresponsive man on his back, checked for a pulse and respirations, tagged him as deceased and stepped over him to the next. I ran through those halls and saw my friends, and fellow responders on post with AR-15’s or in turnout gear carrying bodies from the scene. There was a demeanor about them that I have never seen before. We weren’t friends, at this point, not even acquaintances. We were familiar strangers with a job to do, very different jobs, with the same goal.
I would definitely call this a learning experience. Not only from the aspect of caring for critically injured patients, but in experiencing first hand, what I as a dispatcher send people into and expect from them. I learned that not every radio silence is representative of desperation but can just as easily be. I learned that I am not the only multi-tasker in the world no matter how much I think I am at the time. I have learned that hearing things and seeing things are two totally different things that are not even comparable to each other.
Having taken part in this experience has opened me up to a whole new world beyond the radio room. Before, I was responsible for recording on scene times, answering unit numbers that called in, making phone calls to appropriate agencies, and keeping a log. Now I am responsible for Ashley, Cody, Jason, Robyn, Travis, Stacy, Nick, Jason, Scott, Sean, and countless others. I am no longer one person with a microphone. I am a part of a unit much bigger than myself.
"People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for." -To Kill A Mockingbird
We would like thank Krystal for taking the time to write this piece on her experience and appreciates the work she does every day.
