Hope Lives Where Death Seems to Dwell

Hope Lives Where Death Seems to Dwell "East Texas E.M.S." "I need an ambulance!" "O.K., Ma'am, what's the problem?" "A man's been shot! Get here fast!" "Alright, now. Slow a little. What's the location?" In the call received above, practical training was working in unison with academic skills. Normally, this was not an injury in which the victim would survive to speak. Don Elbert had taught me most everything I knew. Before …

…it. Oh, they would know what to do if they did see it, but pericardial tamponade is not a common case. It was to my advantage that I was next in line to answer an emergency call. I have always held that as long as there is a heartbeat, as long as oxygen is getting to the brain, and as long as there is even the slightest smile from “the Man upstairs,” there is hope.