"A man's been shot! Get here fast!"

"Alright, now. Slow a little. What's the location?"

In the call received above, practical training was working in unison with academic skills. Normally, this was not an injury in which the victim would survive to speak. Don Elbert had taught me most everything I knew. Before the dispatcher even got off the line, Don and I were already in Unit #6601. We knew the initial direction of the distress call, and we were on our way. The exact location was quickly radioed to us.

When we arrived, we found innumerable lights flashing and what seemed a legion of law enforcement officers. As is not unusual in a violent call such as this, there were no witnesses to the act except the victim. As I approached the victim, it was apparent that this was not a shooting. It was, in actuality, a man lying in the water filled gutter stabbed through the breastbone. He lay on his stomach with his head turned to the right. He had a punctured heart. After perhaps 30 seconds of a field assessment, I saw a man with an extremely light pulse, the slightest of breathing, and a bl

ood pressure of 40/0. The intruding knife used was no larger than a small blade pocketknife, one-quarter inch at its breath. It was similar in size to the knife that my father carried religiously in his pants pocket. The signs I noted in my evaluation, coupled with the knowledge of other signals, pointed to one thing . . . pericardial tamponade.

In the area of my work, I hear unusual things such as "Stat," and "massive MI," and "a flatline." There are always the "DOAs," and the "CVAs," and the "ET tubes." When "stat" is heard, the game rules change from tranquil and relaxed to a rapid responding to the call involving issues such as a complete heart stoppage, or massive myocardial infarction, to a "flatline" of no cardiac or brain activity. The "dead on arrival," could possibly be the result of a cerebrovascular accident, or stoke. There is the inserting of the endotracheal tube to administer oxygen and sustain life a little longer.

What is wrong with these statements? Every one of them is a much too easy way out of a difficult situation. Anyone is able to surrender to circumstances . . . and allow, possibly, another father or mother to die. The question I am forced to ask myself is, "Would I want someone to 'throw in the towel' for me?"

After what seemed an eternity, but was in fact only approximately fifteen minutes, we arrived at the emergency room. I continued breathing for the victim even as we were hurrying him into Trauma Room 2. As was customary, the physician relied on the Paramedics for patient history, the treatment given, and our preliminary diagnosis. Upon hearing all that had been done and observed, and see

Some common words found in the essay are:
Don Unit, CVAs ET, Doctor Thomas, DEAD HOSPITAL, Medical Center, Trousers MAST, Pericardial Tamponade, Alright Slow, OK Ma'am, Don Elbert, pericardial tamponade, blood pressure, east texas, trauma center, medical center, doctor thomas, center east texas, trauma center east, center east,
Approximate Word count = 1111
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)