how do you feel about watching people die?

[BotanyBoy]

maybe you detach less for animals. because they're less traumatic.
?

idk....maybe, but animals and kids get my goat something fierce. Adult humans? not so much.

 

[Fala]

I have been present during the death of exactly 12 people: 2 family members, and ten people as a result of volunteering as an EMT for 8 years. I cannot speak to the family members (don't ask) but the 10 people I worked who didn't survive each had an unusually blissful expression on their faces. It seems almost cruel to interrupt it by trying to bring them back.

My lucky number 13 was in total cardiac arrest, shock was not happening but paramedic was pushing lactated ringers while we did CPR. Only after arriving at the ED and going through paperwork did I discover this patient had survived. Though not privy to any personal information, my life, after literally pulling a life back from death, has not quite been the same.

Kudos! Atmas, you walk, talk, live life with the tools that may enable others to live as well.

That's quite sexy, yano.

 

[warrior queen]

thanks, guys.
do you think we talk about death enough? too much? do we wrap it in too many clichés or are we too blunt?

No, we definitely do not talk about death enough.
Most people are completely unprepared for their first experience of death, and most are left traumatised because they don't understand the process or how to deal with the finality of it.
We teach about birth, why not teach a little about death?

 

[loquere]

Not a dinner table question clearly!

 

[atmas]

Kudos! Atmas, you walk, talk, live life with the tools that may enable others to live as well.

That's quite sexy, yano.

Thank you! Very nice of you to say. Let's fuck.

 

[Fala]

Thank you! Very nice of you to say. Let's fuck.

Gosh, there was a time one could admire another without wanting to fuck them.

But yeah, I'm in.

 

[Very_Bad_Man]

yeah, i asked.

Can I pick a Lit poster and get back to ya?

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

I have been present during the death of exactly 12 people: 2 family members, and ten people as a result of volunteering as an EMT for 8 years. I cannot speak to the family members (don't ask) but the 10 people I worked who didn't survive each had an unusually blissful expression on their faces. It seems almost cruel to interrupt it by trying to bring them back.

My lucky number 13 was in total cardiac arrest, shock was not happening but paramedic was pushing lactated ringers while we did CPR. Only after arriving at the ED and going through paperwork did I discover this patient had survived. Though not privy to any personal information, my life, after literally pulling a life back from death, has not quite been the same.

Wow. I am assuming you are being truthful. For what it is worth, I truly have a lot of respect for EMT's. I had considered pursuing that field after I got out of the Navy many years ago. My Emergency Damage Control training and experience on making life or death decisions on board submarines clearly qualified me to pursue that field. However, I do not think I could handle the every day burden of holding someone's life in my hands.

 

[atmas]

Wow. I am assuming you are being truthful. For what it is worth, I truly have a lot of respect for EMT's. I had considered pursuing that field after I got out of the Navy many years ago. My Emergency Damage Control training and experience on making life or death decisions on board submarines clearly qualified me to pursue that field. However, I do not think I could handle the every day burden of holding someone's life in my hands.

Thank you. To be clear, I was a volunteer. I live in a mid-sized town, and though we are trained to exacting DOT standards, as volunteers personalities and dominance find their way in. Thus being being an EMT, with the posturing and such, is one thing. Doing the work of an EMT is something else.

You have much of the training. I'd suggest you give it a try. But understand, there are three parts to it: saving people, which makes all the rest worthwhile; bus driving, involving (typically elderly) frequent fliers; and those you lose, which are only mitigated by being with a crew working just as hard as you are.

Though there was that time we picked up a woman at a restaurant who was code "yellow," imminent threat of suicide (read: drunk). I was in the back with her talking soothingly and taking her vitals. I'll never forget when we arrived at the ED. First thing out of her mouth was, "Hey, this isn't my house!"

 

[parodyluvr75]

I think also, not enough. People do tend to use cliches to mask it, to down play it. I was raised in a way that death was spoke about and examined. It sounds morbid but it prepared me to deal with the losses that came. I accepted death could be random or a slow build up. That no matter how much I know I don't know anything and nothing prepares me for the pain of loss of a loved one. That loss can be by a bullet, a car, a hideous disease....

It happens to everyone. So I know when I talk to a person I care about on the phone or see them and give them a hug, it might be the last time. It's always in the back of my mind, but I don't dwell on it. I do try to make the best of the times I have with my dear ones. Because in the end we have no choice of how we are to go, only how we live. I think thinking that way has made me more patient and accepting of others. But I have my shameful rash moments, we all do.

There is no solution for grief and loss, we only have time and how we chose to continue. I don't allow myself to grieve for a dying loved one, I do my best to make them feel loved, to be strong and supportive of them. That means if they make jokes about death I laugh, if they want to retell a story I've heard a thousand times I listen a thousand and one, if they want to talk about arrangements I make notes. It's not easy, but for me anything else won't work. I found when I let go of 'why,' I'm free to concentrate on now and the person who needs me.

It may not be the best way for everyone, but it's the only way that makes sense for me.

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

Thank you. To be clear, I was a volunteer. I live in a mid-sized town, and though we are trained to exacting DOT standards, as volunteers personalities and dominance find their way in. Thus being being an EMT, with the posturing and such, is one thing. Doing the work of an EMT is something else.

You have much of the training. I'd suggest you give it a try. But understand, there are three parts to it: saving people, which makes all the rest worthwhile; bus driving, involving (typically elderly) frequent fliers; and those you lose, which are only mitigated by being with a crew working just as hard as you are.

Though there was that time we picked up a woman at a restaurant who was code "yellow," imminent threat of suicide (read: drunk). I was in the back with her talking soothingly and taking her vitals. I'll never forget when we arrived at the ED. First thing out of her mouth was, "Hey, this isn't my house!"

You are welcome.

Much has changed since my military days. Back then, I was surrounded by fellow servicemen, and women, who instinctively allowed the first person on the scene to call the shots until a more experienced person took over the charge. We all had the same level of basic knowledge and how to make certain decisions in varying situations. No civilians, save for the few we did search and rescue on. Though there was one remote, isolated situation I chose not to call upon others for assistance. (I actually received an award for original thinking on that one. And the victim lived to thank me profusely. I also felt that award was uncalled for.)

Today, I am 47. A bit old to consider such an endeavor. I am now a recovering alcoholic on the rebound. There are so many silly requirements in the qualifications or prerequisites, most of it from a political or PR pov, that requires me to release personal records I think have no bearing when it comes to assisting less fortunate people or saving lives.

I have happened upon several situations since my enlistment days where that training and experience paid off handsomely.

 

[SithLord13]

I've never witnessed anyone's final moments but several years ago I lost all of the close relations on my father's side within 4 years, first my grandfather, 2 years later my father to cancer at 52, then my grandmother 2 years after that. Over the last decade I have lost several close friends to various means, from od's, disease and one was murdered. I will not say I am used to it, actually kinda freaks me out as I'm running out of friends and family.

 

[SithLord13]

idk....maybe, but animals and kids get my goat something fierce. Adult humans? not so much.

I feel the same way. I lost a cat I've had for 13 years a year ago and it kinda messed me up for awhile.

 

[Phelia]

I've never watched anyone die. I don't like watching it on television. 9/11 footage makes me profoundly sad. I cannot imagine what seeing it in real life would be like.

I saw my grandfather crumpled on the floor right after he'd had a heart attack and after his death at the mortuary. I was very young, but I remember it vividly, and being very scared, and very sad. And it's not the same as watching a person die, but I was there when we put my dog to sleep, and that was pretty brutal. I think it would be very, very difficult for me to watch someone die, as I'm sure it is for everyone.

 

[BotanyBoy]

I have happened upon several situations since my enlistment days where that training and experience paid off handsomely.

Ain't that the truth! Be careful though, I saw a lady come of the interstate and not slow down enough before the turn and she ate a ditch at about 50mph. Unconscious and gas pissing everywhere I pulled her out, put tourniquet's on both arms (they were crazy smashed and arterial bleeding was evident where the bone was exposed) warped her in a blanket and had IV's going 10m before the EMT's showed up.

Bitch tried to sue me for the medical bills on the cut's incurred to her while pulling her from the car and the infection I supposedly cause by putting tourniquet's on her arms.

It was a huge turning point in my asshole development, now I just drive off. I might call 911 if I'm not roaming.

I feel the same way. I lost a cat I've had for 13 years a year ago and it kinda messed me up for awhile.

Yea, people are fucking assholes. Little critters are honest, and will love you forever as long as the food keeps coming.

 

[dolf]

now I just drive off. I might call 911 if I'm not roaming.

they might have an injured kitten in the car with them though. god forbid.

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

Ain't that the truth! Be careful though, I saw a lady come of the interstate and not slow down enough before the turn and she ate a ditch at about 50mph. Unconscious and gas pissing everywhere I pulled her out, put tourniquet's on both arms (they were crazy smashed and arterial bleeding was evident where the bone was exposed) warped her in a blanket and had IV's going 10m before the EMT's showed up.

Bitch tried to sue me for the medical bills on the cut's incurred to her while pulling her from the car and the infection I supposedly cause by putting tourniquet's on her arms.

It was a huge turning point in my asshole development, now I just drive off. I might call 911 if I'm not roaming.



Yea, people are fucking assholes. Little critters are honest, and will love you forever as long as the food keeps coming.

I was not intent on turning dolf's thread in this direction, but yes, I do indeed agree with you on some level.

Back in the day, it was considered naturally instinctive to preserve a human life. If someone saved someone's life based upon the unselfish belief that every human life is worth saving, then the life saved would be eternally grateful. The savior would likely think they would do the same in kind for them, without a second thought nor demanding a payment of some sort.

In today's world, if you save a life, you are more likely to be sued as a way of saying thanks, but no thanks because they are alive.

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

they might have an injured kitten in the car with them though. god forbid.

The way people are these days, I think I would choose the kitten first.

 

[Ishmael]

People say if you see it enough you become imune...... I have seen a lot and do not think that is true. It sucks each time. You just learn how to hide the feelings better.

I don't know how to respond to this, ambivalent.

I don't know how anyone could rejoice. I've taken life, and so have you. You were there when I was trying to breath life back into your brother.

The whole subject bothers me. While life itself is ubiquitous, individual life is fragile.

Ishmael

 

[theault_b]

It is a shock. Every freaking time. I've seen several. Planned ones, sudden ones, wrong ones and... "others". There is a strange visceral reaction - a true shock - that ranges through the extremities - in almost all instances. Being-there death looses that in me. A stepfather died - at the time a true blessing - the blink-out was a shock through the system. A great grandmother... I was too young to take the call but... did and asked what was wrong and knew... a shock. A co-worker I pried with a piece of lumber from an electrical box.... dead as shit. And Ed - who was dead - down a slip off of a winter's morning mountain. He'd been tripping with a buddy who'd been found whimpering on a trail... We'd shared bad wine and stories and food before they'd left and climbed before us in the early morning... .Death is final. Death is promised and personal and eventual and owned eventually. I'm a Libra. I feel all of it. That's the excuse they give me for what I actually do feel. I've watched people die and have always felt it to the very tip of my penis. Don't ask.

 

[bra_man69]

yeah, i asked.

I seen a guy get shoot twice in the chest fell to the ground the person doing the shooting walked up to give him a head shoot missed hit the ground I was standing behind the person when it all happened. I was in wrong place wrong time just trying to pay the company I work for temporary labor bill. I later found out in court it was over a cell phone. I wish never to someone die again.

 

[koalabear]

When I was a sniper,.......oops wrong thread, sorry.

 

[dolf]

I've watched people die and have always felt it to the very tip of my penis. Don't ask.

i wouldn't be me if i didn't.

 

[theault_b]

Fuck! That first post only scrapes a part. Death as an observer isn't clean. Watching people die is a welt ... no, a tattoo.

 

[theault_b]

i wouldn't be me if i didn't.

Skype is a bitch goddess.