I Should Have Been a Teacher!: Through the Eyes of an Er Nurse

By R. G. Thomas

On a cold, snowy day in 1991 as R. G. Thomas, his wife, and young son traveled to go Christmas shopping, their car rounded a curve in the road, revealing a horrific car accident. After Thomas stopped to assist in any way he could, he felt helpless as he watched a nurse expertly attend to the unconscious driver and other passengers. If only I could do something, he thought to himself. In a matter of minutes, the course of Thomass life had changed forever.

After he witnessed the gruesome car crash, Thomas decided to train to become an EMT. While the work was rewarding, it was not long before Thomas craved something more and enrolled in school to become a flight nurse. He embarked on a journey that took him down a path of challenging tests, both academically and personally. In this memoir, Thomas reveals how he battled insecurities and fears, soon discovering the emotional roller coaster ride nurses must take while training and caring for a variety of patients.

I Should Have Been a Teacher provides an eye-opening glimpse into the unpredictable life of a nurse, the emergency room, and all those who have a dream of making society better by making it their lifes mission to care for the injured, sick, and dying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abbott Press
• Release date: Oct 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781458204462

R. G. Thomas

R. G. Thomas has been reading books from an early age. As a young gay man, however, he found very few characters with whom he could truly identify. Now that he’s an adult—or at least older than he used to be—he likes to write stories that revolve around gay characters. The Town of Superstition is his YA fantasy gay romance series that includes wizards, witches, and other magical creatures.When he’s not writing, R. G. loves to read, go to movies, watch some TV, and putter around in the small suburban patch of ground he calls a yard. He visits his mother often, not just for the free cookies, and enjoys spending time with close friends drinking wine and making up ridiculous things that sometimes show up in his books. Although he hates the process of travel, he does enjoy experiencing new places. His dream trip is to one day visit the country of Greece, and he is currently saving his nickels and dimes to make that a reality.Over twenty-five years ago he met a man who understood and encouraged his strange, creative mind, and who made him laugh more often and more freely than anyone else. Today they are legally married and still laugh often as they live in a suburb just north of Detroit with their cats who act as both muse and distraction to him while he writes.

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Copyright © 2012 by R. G. Thomas.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0445-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0446-2 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-0447-9 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910508

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Abbott Press rev. date: 09/26/12

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen:

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter One

Only in the movies

When I first thought about becoming a nurse, the thoughts, images and stories of the media filled my head. There were also a couple of TV shows that were in their first season. One show had Goose from one of the coolest movies about being an F-14 Tomcat pilot, and Darryl Jenks who was the rival of Prince Hakeem. And the other show had some actor with, what sounds to me like a lisp, playing a Dr. Shutt and another actor with a feminine first name. (Really? Who names their son Mandy?) I thought to myself, ‘I could work in the emergency room, and have my hands on people who are hurt real bad and save lives!’ Plus, I heard it was good money and I would always have a job, no matter where I lived. So I made my decision to go to nursing school and become a nurse. What I was ignorant of at the time was all the bullshit I would have to put up with after becoming a nurse. Those images and stories of the media were only a small part of the realm of being a nurse in the emergency room. What the hell was I thinking!?!? I should have been a teacher.

Here’s where my journey begins. My then wife, our young son and myself were traveling in snowy weather to go Christmas shopping. We were northbound, rounding a curve when we came up on a three vehicle crash. One was an older truck that was off the side of the road to the left. The other two sedans had massive front end damage and it was pretty obvious they met each other head on. The red sedan was facing south in the northbound land with a single occupant, while the blue sedan was facing north in the southbound lane with a father and son aboard. Looking around, there was snow on the ground; the trees were holding the snow that had fallen on them. It was cold that day. There wasn’t any snow or ice on the roads because the Department of Transportation had snow plows out clearing the highways.

The other people, who were there before us, were running about trying to find anything to serve as some sort of first aid. The best I could tell, it had just occurred because there weren’t any emergency vehicles on-scene. I parked and stepped out to see if I could be of any assistance. I didn’t know of what help I could be since the only first aid training I received was in the military. And that was only a one day course.

I looked over to the blue car. I heard some crying. So, like anyone else, I had to take a closer look. There were two other people in the car consoling a boy in the back seat. One guy had a rag pressed against the top of his head. At first I thought he was holding the boy’s head still. You know, holding his head in place to prevent movement. That lasted until the guy moved the rag and showed me the boy was literally scalped. The skin and hair were still attached, but it was peeled back about four inches and blood was pouring out. I swallowed hard and looked at the driver. He was unconscious and having a hard time breathing. He was pinned. His head was slumped over the steering wheel, which was crushed into the right side of his chest. I felt absolutely helpless at that point.

I then heard someone say, We need to get him out of the car, referring to the boy in the back seat. I instantly remember that moving someone with a head injury might have damage to the neck. I also remembered elevating the feet and legs was a way to prevent shock. I suggested not moving him and turned to look for something….anything to prop up the boy’s feet until the ambulance arrives. When I returned, the boy was out of the car and lying on the ground. That’s when I heard a siren approaching from the north.

I then looked at the red car. The hood was crinkled up to the windshield. The mangled, twisted metal that was once an engine was exposed. There was some guy throwing snow into the engine compartment. I looked at him perplexed. He answered, So the car won’t catch fire and blow up. And I thought, ‘that only happens in the movies.’ At that time, I heard another siren coming from the south.

There was another guy standing next to the driver with his hand pressed against the driver’s throat. The driver was unconscious. I could see blood oozing out between the other guy’s fingers. It was apparent the steering wheel had lacerated the driver’s throat upon impact. Needless to say, he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. I watched the driver tense up like he was retching. The guy looked at him then tilted his head forward to allow the blood to spill out of his mouth. I again thought, ‘that only happens in the movies!’ I heard the boy crying, so I turned my attention back to him. At that time, a couple of other people were tending to him. They were dressed in scrubs. I felt hopeful. Just then, a highway patrolman came to a screeching halt, took one step out of his vehicle, leaned back in, pulled out his radio and began calling for help. I didn’t know how long he had been at his job, but I noticed a look of astonishment on his face. And as he radioed for help, there was panic in his message. He even mentioned the Jaws of Life. I was like, ‘cool! I’ve seen that in the movies!’ I knelt down next to the boy, looked at the woman tending to him and asked, Do you work in a hospital? Yes, she responded. I’m a nurse. I told her the guy in the red car wasn’t breathing. She immediately left and began tending to the driver.

As the ambulance arrived on scene, one medic ran straight for the blue car. The other medic grabbed some equipment and ran toward the red car. He wasn’t there long before he turned and ran over to the blue car. I watched in bewilderment because although I didn’t have all that much medical training, I knew the driver of the red car was in far more serious condition than the other driver. I turned back to the red car and the nurse was draping the driver’s head in a sweater. I’ve seen that in the movies and knew what it meant. The only thing I knew was to say a prayer for him. More sirens were closing in. ‘Please hurry!’

The first medic was doing his best to care for the driver of the blue car. He was checking for breathing and pulses. The second medic went to the passenger’s door. We need to get him out! the first medic shouted. They immediately started extrication.

As more emergency vehicles arrived, the initial bystanders backed away to allow the others to work. I could only watch. I thought to myself, ‘I wish I knew more. I might have been able to do something.’ I got back into my car and informed my wife of what all I witnessed. I was watching other people returning to their vehicles as well. I spotted this one gal. Tall, attractive, arms folded before her, wearing a blue coat. She was walking with another gal. She walked by my car but didn’t notice me. ‘Oh, wow! I know her! I used to date her!’ No, I didn’t say it out loud! Are you crazy?! My wife was sitting next to me.

A police officer was now directing traffic. He waved us on and I looked in the direction of the blue car. The driver was out and one medic was doing chest compressions. I quickly turned away. But it was too late. I carry that memory with me to this very day. ‘If only I knew more…’ I decided a mile away from the crash site to be a medic. I didn’t ever want to feel that helpless again. I told my wife and she thought it was a good idea and supported my decision. We went on to finish our Christmas shopping. All the while I thought of the little boy and that he lost his dad four days before Christmas. Makes you wonder if he enjoys the holidays anymore. That was back in 1991. Sad.

Chapter Two

What a feeling!

Spring semester started in January. I was signed up for the Basic Emergency Medical Technician course. I arrived early and took a seat. As more people filed in, I began recognizing some of them. A few I went to school with, two others I’ve worked with, and some of the others I’ve met through mutual friends. There were a handful I didn’t know, but it was going to be a good semester.

Our two instructors came in and introduced themselves. One was a military medic and had been a paramedic for several years. The other instructor had been a paramedic for nearly 20 years. He started out as a fireman. They were both pretty cool and very knowledgeable. Each one had a dark, almost morbid, sense of humor. They mentioned throughout the semester that a warped sense of humor is almost necessary to work in this profession.

As the semester went on, we learned how to treat lacerations, burns and broken bones. We also learned how to render care for children, adults, and the elderly. We were taught ways to approach scenes involving car crashes, hazardous materials, and situations involving an injured victim with an armed and dangerous person still in the area. Our instructors showed us how to dress wounds, apply a variety of splints (those MASTs were challenging), and putting patients on backboards and cervical collars. We all were a patient at some point during the course. Those who volunteered to be victims were put in a pretty easy scenario. Those who were selected, well, the instructors had special incidents planned for them. They weren’t easy but they were indeed funny. They didn’t teach us how to start IVs though. That was in the curriculum of EMT-I.

As part of the course curriculum, we were required to do a ride-along with other medics. I chose an evening, called to see if there was availability and went to the hospital. I wasn’t there long before a call came in. It was an assault victim with profuse bleeding and decreased level of consciousness. My instructor was one of the medics and reminded me to expect the worst and be thankful for the least. So we go hauling ass out to the scene with lights and sirens cutting through the chilly night air. A sense of power rose within me as I watched cars pull off the road abruptly, nearly crashing into ditches and road signs. Not to mention the hard on I was getting because, you know, this was my first ambulance call! Cool! Too much information? Oh, sorry. Umm, so anyway…..yeah.

We get to this house, which bordered on being labeled a shack, to find this guy sitting on the couch with towels on his head and blood trickling down his swollen face. He also complained of his ribs and arm hurting. We put on our gloves and removed the towels to get a better look at his head. There was about a 3-4 inch gash on his head. We quickly applied pressure and put some clean bandages on. He was also placed in a cervical collar and onto a backboard. ‘Just like in class.’ After a few minutes of gathering information on what happened, we put him into the ambulance and made our way to the hospital. Once again, tearing up the streets with lights flashing, siren blaring and me with my, you know, doing what I can to help. While in route, my instructor established an intravenous line and started saline solution. He monitored his victim’s vital signs and called in to the hospital. ‘This is what I want to do!’ This was my first taste of trauma and I was hooked.

I finished up my required number of hours of clinicals for my class. There were a couple of other calls we went out on but nothing came close to that first one I had. You know, kind of like your first hit of some drug; you can use it after that but never get the same feeling as you did the first time. Oh, oops, that another story. Later on in the semester, we were paid a visit by another team of medics who gave us a course in PHTLS; Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support. That was a pretty interesting and cool class. We were taught some lessons and tricks on dealing with severe trauma, triage, hazardous materials and much more.

Our instructor had managed to have a physician come to class and give a lecture on infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis C and Tuberculosis (TB). He had given the latest statistics on each at that time. Again, another interesting and informative class. We learned to wear gloves at all times and change gloves in between patients. Those bugs are nasty!

My classmates and I had all become good friends and the semester’s end was closing in. We all had a good time and even managed to squeeze in a couple of movies while in class. We took the final exam and came back the following week to find out our scores and how to schedule our time for our EMT license. We also had a last class party of which we took time to remember the classmate we lost during a car crash earlier in the semester. I still remember him to this day.

Throughout the summer, I had volunteered as much I as possibly could to get in as much experience as I can. Plus, in doing so, I got to know the nurses & doctors. That was also on the minds of my fellow classmates because when I arrived at the facility, there one of them sat. You