978-1-4222-3398-6

your training and your skill will be able to help the situation. “You need to be ready for hard stuff, but you’re never ready for it until the first time,” said Rich Davis. “You need to understand what it is, and why it’s happening, and then it becomes not as big a deal. I think of the human body as a mod- el I’m working on. That helps me handle that.” Along with learning to handle tough experi- ences, paramedics might have to deal with some emotional pain. Sometimes, the call for their ser- vices comes too late or the person is just too in- jured, sick, or old to save. Then the paramedic has to be the one to give the bad news. “You don’t ever get used to telling someone their relative is dead,” said Davis. “That never gets easy. It’s hard every time.” Surprisingly, some paramedics have also come under attack by people even as they are trying to help. Some of the attacks are by gangs or criminals, while others come from people un- der the influence of drugs or alcohol. Paramedic

22