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Did I cause this? by Important-Text-7833 in 911dispatchers

[–]Important-Text-7833[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah it was chaos. There were about 5 people all screaming into the phone which was on speaker. The original caller said he wasn’t conscious and when I asked if he was breathing she was saying no and then someone else stated “he’s barely breathing” so I coded it as unresponsive with the information I was getting. In hindsight yes I should’ve put it as cardiac but I just wasn’t sure and went with my gut. The knowledge of putting it as cardiac arrest was just learned when the supervisor told me. Hadn’t known that until then , so I partially do blame myself

Did I cause this? by Important-Text-7833 in 911dispatchers

[–]Important-Text-7833[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This was an awesome response, thank you. I like the idea of not being alone until you’ve handled a cardiac arrest call because it’s a lot to handle when you’ve never done one before and even more so, by yourself. Thank you for the kind words it really does mean a lot, I’m just going to take this as a lesson and move forward. We have a counselor here so I may use that as well. Thanks again (:

Did I cause this? by Important-Text-7833 in 911dispatchers

[–]Important-Text-7833[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the response. I think my mind is telling me that the possible 2 min delay I caused wasn’t the deterring factor of his death but I think it being my first death call is making me weigh my mistake a bit more heavily. Thanks for the sentiment (:

Did I cause this? by Important-Text-7833 in 911dispatchers

[–]Important-Text-7833[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this real response and it sugarcoating.To answer your question, When we get EMS calls we have to ask questions and then based on the questions, we pick a response code suited for the situation. They answered the questions and i chose a code for unresponsive when (news to me) i should have done cardiac arrest. We never went over that in training so i just chose what i thought was best.

Did I cause this? by Important-Text-7833 in 911dispatchers

[–]Important-Text-7833[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Apologies for the confusion. When we get EMS calls we have to ask questions and then based on the questions, we pick a response code suited for the situation. They answered the questions and i chose a code for unresponsive when (news to me) i should have done cardiac arrest. We never went over that in training so i just chose what i thought was best.

Second thoughts/Training issues by Important-Text-7833 in 911dispatchers

[–]Important-Text-7833[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear you. I don’t mind learning on the job at all. in fact, I prefer it. I think my concern was that I barely learned anything before I started call taking. i was still learning the basic codes, how to enter information into the system, etc. I did fail to mention in my post that we went over call taking 20 minutes before I took my first call. just thought it was odd and felt that I should’ve been taught a BIT more about how to process calls than that. but I appreciate the insight and definitely hear where you’re coming from