I have reverted back to the "shakes" when calls get toned and I am responding. You know, the mixture of excitement and absolute terror you felt as a rookie? Or better yet, that feeling you get when you hear MVC, multiple vehicles, extrication needed or CPR in progress. What the heck man? It was a "routine" dispatch. Blah.
I do not like this Sam I Am. This too shall pass... right?
8 comments:
Better the shakes than absence of anything, about where I'm at at the moment, again.
6 years into my EMT, I sometimes still get the shakes....mostly home responding in the middle of the night, but they can appear suddenly. I'd say its ok....if you got totally relaxed about going on every call, that would be time to worry. You gotta keep your wits sharp!
I know *exactly* what you mean.
Let me know if you figure out the answer... Also, if you would have a time frame for this..
I'd be forever grateful :)
Again? That sucks. :(
AM - See, I still got the shakes and diamond reaction, but appropriately so with the calls I outlined. But still... this is lame. I'm glad I still feel something, but it's still kind of annoying. Heh.
Epi - Well, this is an observation in progress, so I will get back to you on that one.
It will pass. (except on those calls, we all get a flutter on those!) you just have to get back in to the swing of things.
I like to think that shakes can keep us fresh.
... of course sometimes I shake when I haven't had my lunch, but I think that's something different.
I have a theory on this, and it is contrary to what we all think. I talked about it in one of my old posts called "scary babies", but the gist of it is this:
When we are newbies and for the first few years, everything is exciting, we get the shakes, but these are the good shakes, the ones that get the adrenaline working and get us all excited. Then, we go through some tough jobs, we have the ones that could have gone better, the ones that we wish we hadnt seen or been part of. We gradually realise that not everything is exciting and that sometimes (in fact most times) when someone is critical, the back on an ambulance isnt the best place to be!
So then we change, we become a bit nervous of certain jobs (and not in the good exciting way). A job might come though on the MDT or via the radio and we think "Oh shit!), but guess what, we go, we deal with it like we always do, the patient gets the best standard of care and hopefully we come away thinking that we did the best we could for that patient.
BUT, we still feel nervous and shaky. This is because we are no longer newbies. We are now experienced practitioners who know that bad things happen to good people. If we didnt feel nervous and shaky, we would be all cocky, cavalier and end up making mistakes.
Maybe what you are going through is an actual realisation that you are now becoming an accompished paramedic. It may feel uncomfortable but it will settle back down and you will see most if not all of the upcoming paramedics and EMTs behind you going through the same thing at one time or another.
Or I may be talking a load of rubbish!!! But thats what I tell myself when I get that nervous feeling again.
Take Care.
Mark.
Thank you all for your comments! I have found that the more calls I go on, the better I get. The trust I have in the crew that is on duty that day makes a HUGE difference.
This too SHALL pass. I'm talking to you Epi... Hang in there! ;)
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