death

this is a very hard subject and touches us all in different ways and in different forms. For me being an EMT I have dealt with some graphic deaths. For example, I was responding to a boat being on fire and heard en-route DOA so I knew the person was dead, but I didn't know to what extent I came to realize the patient was burned completely from the waist up black and charred, but from the waist down there was still intact skin. The next hardest death was we were performing CPR on the patient and I was bagging the patient using the bag valve mask. We performed CPR for a good couple of hours and sure enough the patient didn't make it I never left that position. Death hits us all in different ways and it's how we deal with it is what shapes us. Even though your partners tell you did the best you could you still feel deep down that I could of done better. We had critical incident stress debriefing for both of those calls which helped to bring the feelings out and share what I felt, saw, and did. Sometimes the best thing is just talking about it and getting feedback from people that have been through so same kinds of situations and how they dealt with it. That applies to any kinds of death situations.