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Akash Patel
Dr. Peter Blair
English 1101, 016
6 February 2014
EMT-P (Excellent Man Teaching People)
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Station One, Engine One, and Alamance County Rescue based
pagers respond to unknown medical at 1307 South Church Street. Cross streets Arlington
Avenue and Country Club Drive. When I heard the page go out, I could feel the adrenaline rush
through my body. This medical call was not my first call as a firefighter but it was my first call
as an emergency medical technician, as known as an EMT. I hopped into the fire truck, which
was the finest engine in Alamance County, with my fellow brother firefighters. Captain Davis
gets on the radio, Engine One in route to 1307 South Church Street, unknown medical. The
location was only two minutes away. It took me awhile to figure out that we were responding to
my high school. At that point, I knew that it was my chance to show off to my classmates the
work I do in the field. I had been out that day to work with the fire department to train new
recruits into the Explorers Program.
I hear a voice on the radio, Communications to Engine One.
Captain Davis turns to me saying, Lieutenant Patel, since its your call, you take it.
I hesitate to agree with him, but I get on radio, Communications, go ahead.
The dispatcher goes with her transmission, Engine One, you are responding to Williams
High School to a 17 year old female, who has difficulty breathing. She will be located at the field
house. No further advised.
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I tried to respond back but there were no words coming out of my mouth. Captain Davis
snaps his fingers at me. I told dispatch, 10-4, Engine One copy and will be arriving on scene.
I searched the cab for my medical gloves and could not find them. Then I realized that I
have a pair in the pouch on my belt. As I was going to the EMT compartment of the fire truck, I
was thinking to myself the necessary steps to approach this situation. We arrived to the patient,
she was located near the field house next to the most beautiful football field in the county. I
checked the scene to see if there were any dangers. I noticed there were bees flying around but
other than that the coast was clear. The patient was sitting in a chair, bent over with her hands on
her knees to prevent her from falling over. The position she was in allows gravity to expand her
chest cavity so her body does not stress on using the accessory muscles. She said it helped her
breathe easier. I told Captain Davis to get her demographics from the school nurse, who was also
on scene. f
I asked her what happened to her. She told me she was standing in line to practice for the
homecoming court. Then she all of the sudden she had trouble breathing. I reached into my EMT
bag for the stethoscope. When I checked her lungs, I could hear wheezing. Then it hit me. I
remembered there were bees flying around. I asked her if she was itching anywhere. She told me
she was feeling itchy on the abdomen. I lifted her shirt and there was the key for me to treat her.
I saw hives and a rash on her abdomen. Hives plus the wheezing equals anaphylaxis. I asked her
if she felt a sting anywhere on her body before the incident and she said, Yes. I reached into
the bag for the allergic reaction medication, which was epinephrine. Captain Davis on the other
hand disagreed with treatment but I stood my ground. I told him it would too late if I explained
why the treatment is the best solution. I got medical control to clear me to use the adult dosage
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on her. After a few minutes, her symptoms were gone and we reassessed her vitals. She was
transported to the hospital for further evaluation.
We clear from the scene but Captain Davis stopped me before I packed the EMT bag
back together. He asked me how I knew it was anaphylaxis. I told him after arriving on scene I
noticed there were bees flying around. As soon as, I heard wheezing in her lungs, I checked for
hives and than I clicked in my head that there are bees here and she may have been stung by one.
I told him upon those signs I decided to give her epinephrine. Captain Davis was so proud of my
work. I told him I learned from the best instructor.
I have been in the Fire/EMS service since 2011. The past summer I took an emergency
medical technician class to become a North Carolina certified EMT-Basic. It was one of the
greatest classes I ever attended. It was the greatest class because I had a great teacher. His name
was Larry McCauley. His ability to be a good teacher was due to his professional appearance,
lectures, and toughness when it came to scenarios.
From day one when I met Larry in the class, he had a professional appearance. We were
not on first name basis in the classroom setting. He would call me Lieutenant Patel or Lieutenant
Kash. I would call him Paramedic McCauley or Medic McCauley. He told us out in the field we
were going to address other personnel by their rank. So he made us call everyone by his or her
rank. If you didnt have a rank than you were called, Cadet During scenarios, he would
address us an EMT.
We had to wear a uniform for the class. The yellow polo shirts reminded me of a
highlighter but they achieved their purpose. Larry told us that the shirts were for us to look
professional. Larry, too, had a uniform for the class. He would be in the same uniform as us or in
this work uniform, but no matter what he looked professional everyday of class. He has zero-
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tolerance if someone did not have his or her uniform that day or even if the shirttail was not
tucked. He would send the student home or he would deduct points from the final exam, all
depending on his mood that day.
Sitting through a two-month class that would take normally six months would be difficult
with all of the lectures and readings but with Larry it seemed that we were not rushed to learn all
of the material. The lectures in Larrys class were very unique. He would have discussion-based
lectures, lectures where we would have a guest speakers and lectures where we as students would
teach each other the material. During his lectures, if a student were to be confused, he would stop
and explain the concept in details. He would do hands-on activities that would help us on our
scope of practice exam. One day, he taught us the proper way to put a 12-lead on a patient. The
12-lead helps the paramedic to monitor the hearts function. As EMTs, we are not allowed to
interpret the EKG reading. He asked for a volunteer to be the manikin. We all looked around and
surely one of most annoying students of the class volunteered. We all got excited hoping some of
the leads would rip some hair off of his chest. . In other words, we hated the poor kid. The
student took his shirt off as Larry told him to do so. Larry showed us where to place the leads on
the chest and rib cage. He mentioned that the colors on the lead are very important and to pay
close attention. Though many of us did not know how to, he would stay after class to teach us the
skill again.
Larry would invite guest speakers, who were also instructors, to explain chapters from a
textbook. He would said to us that its always good to learn from a different person in a different
way because in the field we would be taught things in many different ways and shortcuts. Larry
would have us work on projects in class to present to the class. By doing the projects we would
learn the material and it would be easier for us to teach the material to the class.
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Larry was a tough teacher. His exams were very harder. Lecture notes were only a forth
of the exams. From day one, he told us that we had to read not matter what. When to came to
doing scenarios, Larry was a totally different person. He was very strict. If you fooled around, he
would fail you and thats history for you. If we made a mistake, he would make us redo the
scenario when everyone got through with it. I asked him why he was a tough teacher. He told
me, he wanted us to be the best EMTs out in the field. He also said that we are not God, so we
cannot control life or death. We can only gamble with him. If we become the best of the best, we
can understand the reasons why we were able to a patient or why we were not able to the patient
in cardiac arrest.
Larry did not have any influence on my life by taking his class. But he influenced me as
an EMT. Every medical call I run, I always ask myself what would Larry do. He helped me
understand the importance of being an EMT and the importance of saving a life. His influence
has influenced me do this service as a volunteer. The biggest outcome to being an EMT is saving
a life. Without Larry McCauley teaching, I would have not been able to be professional like him,
my classes that I teach out not be interesting like his and I, myself, wouldnt be a tough teacher.