The Day That I Cannot Unsee

Alissa Mattes

September 28th, 2016

English Composition

Jennifer McIntosh

The Day That I Cannot Unsee

        “Unit 881, you are being requested for a two vehicle 10-50, multiple injuries, one possible PNB, near the intersection of X and Hollow Road.”

        This was the sound of my ambulance tones going off so fast through my pager; it was like a bullet had gone right through us. The day was August 12th, 2016, at approximately 1420, when not only my life changed, but one of the worst days in my career occurred. This day was the day that forever changed my life.

        My partner for the day was another Critical-Care Paramedic, with a solid ten years of experience. We were the second ambulance out to this vehicle accident. My partner and I had an estimated arrival time of 29 minutes, due to a long distance between our ambulance station and this accident scene. My lights and siren blared loudly throughout the town, people making quick maneuvers to the right side of the road, allowing our ambulance unit to be able to successfully maneuver at the fast rate of speed we were going. It was days like this that made you feel like your ambulance couldn’t drive fast enough. Dispatch opens the microphone, “881, it sounds like this is pretty bad, we have ThedaStar Air Medical Helicopter on their way.” As I picked up the radio to respond back to the dispatcher, I froze. To this day, that line spoken from the dispatcher’s mouth is something that still haunts me.

        My partner and I arrived on scene 29 minutes later. What we were both about to see was something that was straight out of a horror movie, one of the scenes you swore sitting at home on your couch had to be fake. That something so vivid and devastating couldn’t happen in real life.

        There were a total of two blue minivans involved, both looking more like crushed tin cans. The amount of mangled debris, loose tires, and shattered glass lying around was enough to fill a junkyard. I couldn’t help but to notice the beach ball and beach bag lying in the roadway. It was the reality that this was a normal beach day for a family, until a matter of ten seconds forever changed their lives.

        As I approached the first minivan, my co-worker looked at me and said, “We don’t think mom has a pulse, but I need your help in the backseat.” The next ten steps I took to enter the backside of the car were the most dreadful. I was lead to a 14 year old boy screaming in pain. Any Paramedic knows that a screaming child is a treasure, because it means that they’re alive. As the firefighters, first responders, and I worked our maximum efforts to get this child out of the car, I couldn’t help but notice the mom who was in the driver seat, completely unconscious, barely holding onto her life.