Slow down and be very calm and deliberate in your actions and communications. Be very patient and very polite. Everything gets easier and your team gets into the right groove.
It magically helps make chaos more manageable. The curious thing I learned is that the more deliberate your actions, the faster everything gets done. Don’t ever run from the ambulance to the patients’ side.
It will wind up slowing you down or getting someone hurt. It will reduce your ability to fully absorb and process the scene visually. It will prevent you from noticing peripheral risks to safety or mechanisms of injury. Last, it will actually slow you down in the long run. A jitters-induced IV start failure or missed intubation, equals lost time that matters.
When folks gesture or scream for you to hurry up when they see you walking, just smile and keep moving with deliberation. Keep smiling and nodding politely while you keep thanking everyone. That way the patient will get better and safer care more quickly and you get to go home afterwards.
About Dan White
A retired Paramedic and EMS Instructor with 35 years EMS and emergency medical product experience. He love canoes, cars and EMS. He write about EMS Technology on the Paramedic Blog, the Insights on Innovation column for EMS1.com, on AmbulanceWorld.com and Multibriefs.com.
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