Personal Narrative Essay : A Short Story

I wasn’t sure what our day would entail. I could feel a slight tremor present in my body as I slid behind the steering wheel of the MKZ. Running my finger tips over the leather where the treads to the steering wheel was laced together I contemplated leaping from the car and running like hell. This was a seriously stupid and dangerous thing I was about ready to take part in. Could I do this? My mind wanders to the trunk of the vehicle… What’s back there? How much is back there? Enough to be charged with a misdemeanor…a felony! My heart jack hammered in my chest. Was the benefit worth the risk? Feeling panic setting in I swung my legs out of the vehicle just as Eloy took his seat behind me closing the door. His eyes caught mine in the rearview mirror.

Nearing the end of my shift in the Emergency Department, I was requested to accompany a patient while the nurse readied the discharge papers. Upon entering the bay, I met a very small and fragile patient who was anxious to go home. Conflicted between my primary duties and responsibilities to complete training for two inexperienced volunteers, I decided to put forth my interests in teaching by demonstrating compassionate care to my trainees. Although the patient repeatedly refused my assistance, I gave my best effort to calm her as I cloaked a warm blanket around her. As I listened to her confide in me of all of her hospital anxieties, I was shocked from the lack of quality care she had received which made her feel more sick after the first

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Habersham County, Tom was feeling slightly nervous as he exited the staff lounge and entered the hustle and bustle of County Hospital’s ER to begin his first shift as an RN. The first few hours of his shift passed slowly as Tom mostly checked vital signs and listened to patients complain about various aches, pains, coughs, and sniffles. He realized that the attending physician, Dr. Greene, who was rather “old school” in general about how he interacted with nursing staff, wanted to start him out slowly. Tom knew, though, that the paramedics could bring in a trauma patient at any time.

My name was announced over the loud speaker “Gary Winthrop now up to bat.” I stepped into the box and took a practice swing. I starred the pitcher right in the eyes tempting him to throw me the ball. He wound up and threw me a slow curve ball that felt like it was hanging in the air forever. I took one step and took a smooth swing. The ball popped off my bat like a rocket and flew over the fence to score the winning run. All 50,000 fans in the stands went crazy. I heard my alarm clock go off, dang it was just a dream. I really didn't feel like going to school.

The nurses scattered. They feverishly worked to prepare the room, gather the equipment, and call the necessary staff members. Just a few minutes later, I saw flashing red lights as an ambulance pulled up. The stretcher was rolled in with a paramedic straddled across the patient, pumping on the man’s chest. I often saw broken bones, stomach pains, infections; however, nothing like this. Doctors, nurses, and x-ray technicians rushed into the patient’s room. The man was surrounded by a team of thirty health professionals; however, the situation seemed everything other than chaotic. Each person knew exactly their duties and stayed out of each other’s way. Each second was crucial to the survival of this man, and nurses were frantically on the phone attempting to notify his

Jason stared up at Tyler's eyes; deranged, dilated, discolored. Tyler wore a smile on his face, his usual smirk twice as wide and displaying too many teeth. He held a silver and black pistol in his hand.

was driving home from physical therapy for my knee. It had been aching for the past few days. I had never felt a pain like it before, so I played it off as nothing. As soon as I hit the highway, I went underneath the Lowry Hill tunnel. I lost reception on my radio and I soon realized that it wasn’t just the tunnel that was making me lose my reception. A massive storm had loomed over my head. The sky was green and looked like it was turning sideways. Rain splattered against my windshield. Not just droplets of rain, but the ones that look like they had been shot out of a paintball gun. I immediately felt the wind blow my car to the right. I had to swerve hard to the left to avoid clipping a jeep that was next to me. Boy, were they in trouble. The jeep had it’s

Running off the field I swoop up my girl, Daisy Windsor, who was cheering for me on the sidelines. We had just won our last football game of the season against the Mare Island Marines. I started thinking what my life wouldve been like if I continued on with the military field after I graduated. I couldve been one of those marines on the field. I shake the thought and focus on the beautiful girl in front of me in her cute little uniform. "Congrats Mr. Exeter," She smirked. I grabbed her hand and kissed the ring on her finger. "Thank you Mrs. soon-to-be Exeter." I met Daisy soon after I started college. We ran into eachother, literally, on the way to class on the first day. She dropped all her books on the floor  and immediately dropped down to

A typical day in a life of a missionary. I am awaken by the sound of

My supervisor, one of the head nurses, hurriedly pulled me to the corner of the bleach white hospital room and directed me to put on gloves, an eye mask, and a face mask. I felt as if I was preparing for war as I put on all of the required gear. The sound of expensive shoes click-clacked down the hallway indicating the arrival of two doctors who rushed into the room and shouted out orders to the staff while pulling the doors to the room shut along with the curtains. Two doctors, eight nurses, an intern, and a dying patient squeezed into the already claustrophobic ten by fifteen-foot room. The machine monitoring the patient’s vital signs continued to beep incessantly as my heart rate accelerated. Throughout my internship, I had never seen a patient in critical condition until that moment. I remembered my teacher’s advice if we were ever in a situation such as this: take a few deep breaths and sit down if you feel like you’re going to pass out. In that

Every corner of the small suburban home was cluttered with a stockpile of useless items, and the hoarder’s paradise prevented us from bringing in our stretcher. As my partner, a new EMT, police officers, and I followed the man to the top story of his home, we could hear his wife’s terrified moans. I approached her and performed an assessment. Noticing rotation and shortening of her left leg, I recognized she most likely suffered a hip fracture and could possibly go into shock. She required quick transport to the hospital; however, the limitless cache of garbage that littered her house prevented rapid extrication. I began to break down what needed to be done. I delegated taking vital signs, administering treatment, and clearing a pathway

"I have the tracking skills of a dog, Alek. I can probably find any animal in the entire forest." She pulled off her sweater and handed it to me. For someone who looked so small and fragile, she was actually extremely tough. Her shirt was tight and the sleeves didn't stop until they reached her elbow. "Wake up the other two while I'm gone. It's about seven in the morning. Tell them where I went. Ask Kate to do the laundry. I'll be back in an hour."

Before I could say anything, Mrs. Wallace motioned me to follow her. She led me to her bathroom and pulled out the largest first aid kit I’d ever seen. I found out later that she used to be a nurse. It hurt when she cleaned it out. When she finished wrapping it, it felt better than it had in

The first image that comes to mind when most people think of an emergency department is the critically injured patient, as has been immortalized by television and Hollywood, wheeled in with an entire army of nurses and doctors in tow. To be honest, this is what I, too, expected - and yet my first memory of working in an emergency department was not of a particularly sick patient or observing an interesting procedure, but the realization that many of the patients were suffering from complications of completely preventable conditions. Patients with uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes were being started on dialysis or sent to the operating room for amputation, a scene I saw far more often than the car crash and gunshot victims I expected to swarm the floor. The dissonance was striking, to say the least.

The heat rose from my stomach to my chest as the tension of the unexpected grew. Behind the half-drawn curtain, I could see the anxious feet of pacing providers working around the patient. The beeping of the cardiac monitor grew louder as I walked towards the room. I first noticed his wife standing nearby, looking helpless and vulnerable. Then I glimpsed the patient. His face was pale and his hands hung from the stretcher as the nurse performed chest compressions. I walked into the room and for the first time said, “I will take over chest compressions next.” Although I was only a few days into my role as an emergency department technician (ED tech), I felt confident in my ability to serve as an asset to the team. In that moment I was no