10/18/18

Critical Care Clinical Experience: American Medical Response (AMR)

Brent Skall

Instructor – Georgia Kirby, RN

This week I had the pleasure of doing a ride-along with paramedics at AMR. I would like to say
what an amazing job the paramedics, Lori and Kyle did. While riding in the ambulance I learned a lot
about the role of medics. During my shift, we responded to a few different calls. I think my favorite thing
about this experience was the adrenaline rush. To elaborate on this “rush,” every scene that we arrived
on was different than the next. No two scenarios were the same and that’s what the paramedics said
was the favorite thing about their job. The ambulance was literally a mobile hospital and had everything
you could possibly imagine. They even had schedule II narcotics locked away in a cabinet for the most
severe patients. Most of the patients that we had during my shift weren’t critical and only required IV
starts. In addition, the patients, regardless of their status were hooked up to an EKG to give an accurate
description of the heart rhythms. After responding to the calls, and taking care of the patient, we drove
them to the nearest hospital (mostly main campus St. Elizabeth’s) to be admitted to the ER. The
continuity of care was exceptional between the medics, nurses and doctors once we arrived. In sum, I
had quite the experience at AMR and have a great appreciation for the medics who work day in and day
out to save people’s lives.