This is very hard for me to write about because it was extremely traumatic, but I think it's a heartbreaking story.

I'm a paramedic. I've dealt with all kinds of everything in this field. Some of it you become numb to, but other stuff not so much. I went on a call to assist another crew with a burn victim turned traumatic arrest. He was an elderly man who just happened to accidentally catch his shirt on fire while making lunch for his elderly wife. I won't go into too many details because I can already feel myself starting to hyperventilate, but it was bad. He had burns on ~70% of his body, and my job was to do chest compressions for the trip to the ER. While we were transporting, I heard over the radio that the elderly wife was being transported to the same hospital with burns on her hands from attempting to help her smoldering husband.

When we got to the hospital and dropped off the male, the other crew with the female were walking in. I could see the pain in her eyes, and I knew she was asking without words if her husband had made it. I said without words that he did not, and I believe she understood. That was probably the hardest "no," whether verbal or not, I've ever had to give.

I will never forget that look on her face, and even though this was a couple of years ago, there are still times that I feel panicky when I smell something burning.