Chaplain Report

[Christianbookworm]

That's why I'm not working in certain jobs. Don't I could handle not being able to save everyone. Thank you for what you do, even in the moments when it sure would be nice if Jesus was standing there instead.

[Teallaura]

Yeah, some of my "Police Stories" are pretty gut-wrenching, just because they are.

It's a lot easier for me to talk about disease morphology (and bore everyone to tears) than some of my patients.

[Cow Poke]

Update....

On Thursday, last week, I had an opportunity to meet with the crew of the ambulance from "the bridge incident" in a "debrief".

One of the paramedics, a female, had only been with EMS for 6 months, and this was quite a rattle for her.

It occurred to me, after the fact, that, when I got to the ER, I made an initial "are you ok?" with the EMS crew, then turned my attention to the patient who was there on the bed and was quite agitated.
It occurred to me that I may have looked less concerned about "our guys", and fixed my attention on the patient.
So, I wanted to meet with the crew and make sure they understood.

This is NEW -- they haven't had a Chaplain in AGES, so we're basically establishing protocols.

More on that later, but back to the crew.

They fully agreed that my attention should have been on the patient - that was part of triage - he had a greater need, and I'd always be able to track down "the crew", but not the patient.

Then, it got gooder.

I explained to the crew (on Thursday) that, when I told the patient that the ambulance wasn't even responding to his situation - they were simply "passing by" on their way back to the station, that his face lit up and he declared what he said about "I was gonna do it unless God stopped me". They were visibly impressed that God put them at the right place at the right time to stop this suicide.

THEN..... they explained to me that they were at dinner that evening with several other EMS crew members, but neither of them was really hungry, and they just decided to leave the others and head back to the station. RIGHT ON TIME to be crossing the bridge as the man was leaning out over the edge.

So, I'm there (on Thursday) to help them realize it "really was a God thing", and they drove the point home --- "yeah, we wouldn't have even been there if we both hadn't had this feeling that we just wanted to get out of there and head back to base".

God is good, and gets gooder and gooder!

[Cow Poke]

So, the protocol....

we agreed that my first responsibility is to "our people", unless there is greater need elsewhere.
If I ask the paramedics "are you OK" and they say "yeah, I'm OK", it's not my job to stand there and say "are you SURE you're OK....." :)

So, at our managers meeting on Thursday, we'll explain...

The Chaplain assesses the scene, and does "triage" just like you (as a paramedic) would, turning attention to the greatest need first.
After the fact, he will "circle back" to those who were on the scene to compare notes and do a "debrief".

IN FACT, by turning his attention to the patient, the ambulance crew has a clear sense of "we're done here, it's in somebody else's hands"
AND, when MHMR or whoever (in this case it was the parents) then that's MY clear sense that "I'm done" and I can go home.

We're still figuring it out, but, so far --- everybody seems VERY happy with how things are developing.

[Cow Poke]

They can move to a two tier system. "We're working toward a more professional, more tailored chaplaincy that better fits the needs of those we serve..." Basically, those with training are used as primary' those without training are the B team (when you can't get anyone else). Offer a path from the B team to the A (training) and let the guys sort themselves out. Those willing to train will; those content with being a back up that is rarely called upon can stay there. The rest will likely consider the commitment and decide to focus elsewhere.

And stop adding to the B team.

Just saw this, but, yeah, that's what I'm gonna suggest.

[Christianbookworm]

That's awesome!