We've all spent enough time on shift to have a close call story. Some of us aren't so fortunate, and the stories I have heard are quite hilarious. My story came right out of the gate. A "shotgun start" if you will...

Third week on the job; I passed my training shifts without issue, and in no way felt ready to start on my own. But I'm not sure I wouldv'e ever felt ready... Shit, I will comfortably say it took me about a year to not be nervous about the unforeseen. Anyway, I was about 70% of the way into a shift bid so I was granted the remaining night shift. Little did I know, I was going to meet one of my great buddies. 

I was definitely skittish this shift. I was the one in charge of stocking, making patient decisions, and standing my ground in any of those decisions. I've been used to being a team member for so long, but now it was different. I knew I would be stressed, but the stress REALLY presented itself when I realized I didn't have my safety net. My new partner for this shift bid was solid though. He has been working in the city on nights for a few years, and he had a solid reputation. So this made me worry that I wouldn't perform well in front of a seasoned EMT. All this aside, we get a post towards the West end of the city. "Do you wanna get Sonic? The corndogs are on sale today.". Of course I responded with a solid "Hell yeah" because I had never had it before. But hey the corn dogs were on sale so I inhaled two of them. Shortly after a forceful inhale we get our first 911 for the night. Reported assault. Stage until the scene is clear...

All of my training went out the window and my mind started spinning for all of the terrible things I might walk into. The worst part was that we had to stage and that gave me all of the time to dig my pit of worry. Sweating, I looked at my partner "Hey J... I need to use the bathroom". "After this call don't worry we'll get to a bathroom". That wasn't what I needed to hear... We were sitting on the road with a field to our left and a neighborhood to our right. I had one choice because my stomach was full bubble. The last thing I needed to do was crap my pants in front of a patient. So I told my partner to keep watch, and I grabbed all the gauze I could. It's easy to say that "J" and I became close friends. 

For awhile this went unmentioned, but it wasn't very long until I heard all the various "crap myself" stories people have had. One of my favorites happened during a gurney unload with a trainee. My buddy said his partner could not unload the patient so he needed to bear the weight. He had to toss his underwear, socks, and change his pants... Lol. Happy New Years everyone!