I Used To Work The Streets Part 2
My partner and I got a call on the radio, “2 Alpha”.
Allergic reaction emergency.
We put the ambulance in gear and took off toward the specified location. As we made our way into the apartment, we saw a young woman with two older men, one closer to her in age and the other much older.
The young woman was lying on the couch, with a heat pad wrapped around her waist and a miserable look on her face. My partner and I immediately began to assess her breathing and other vitals as we asked questions to figure out what the allergic reaction was.
The two men looked at me nervously as they tried to explain that the young woman was reacting badly to a prescription given.
“What is this prescription for?” I asked
Silence…
I asked more questions, but got confusing responses.
I looked at the woman, and I saw that in the time we have been there, she intermittently had pain in her abdomen. As I got her to describe more of her symptoms I asked, “Are you pregnant?”
“Yes, 8 weeks.”
“Is this prescription to abort the fetus?”
“Yes”
Nervous looks are exchanged between the young woman and the two men.
Fear was in the room.
“You are safe, you are not in trouble. This also is not an allergic reaction. This pill has forced your body into labor and the symptoms you are describing are normal. This is what it feels like to go into labor.” I tried to reassure everyone in the room. I was the only person in that room who had birthed children.
My partner, a young 20 year old male, looked at me with wide eyes and shrugged his shoulders, telling me he was clueless in what to add in advice and care.
Roe v. Wade had been turned over about a month prior and I knew the fear they had.
“I just got out of drug rehab, I can’t handle being a mom yet.” She told me as we walked to the bathroom to see if she was bleeding yet.
I explained to the young woman and the men with her, what to keep expecting and what all her options were now that their fears of an allergic reaction and getting arrested had subsided. They opted to go to the hospital themselves just to do a check up and make sure things were progressing like they should.
Note- these people were afraid to seek proper care.
I also told them about Utah’s Planned Parenthood locations (they had driven out of state for care because they were afraid to get help in Utah). I told the young girl about the education, guidance, and care she would get from them at the time (laws are changing fast).
It was clear in talking to this young girl, that she was not aware of many aspects of her own menstrual health and especially about being pregnant.
Her experience made me think about local elections that had just taken place and how one of the candidates I was researching (and did not vote for) was advocating for all things sex and sexual health related to be taught at home by the parents and left out of schools’ curriculum.
I don’t know about you, but my parents did not teach me about my sexual health other than, what to wear when I had my period and the penis makes one pregnant when it enters their vagina. Much of what I learned (that was true and helpful) about sex, female anatomy, and health issues regarding both- came from my husband when he was in medical school and books I read.
It made me think of the Utah legislature and the work done by The Policy Project to get period products in schools. There were male legislators that thought women could hold their period blood like urine and release it when they wanted to…like going to the bathroom.
Adult married men thought this.
I later sat with my partner in the ambulance as he questioned me about everything that had just occurred. Although he had been taught how to assist in emergency deliveries, he had not been exposed to anything like this before and as a young man, did not worry about what it meant to have Roe v. Wade turned over.
After this experience, I taught OB emergencies for a couple of years to EMTs earning their Advanced certification. I would bring up this experience to help them see the nuance of what they could encounter and how to help.
One of the most disheartening reactions from a student I received was when a young man asked, “did you call for the police to arrest her?”
“What?” I was surprised by the question, “No, no I did not.” I responded in reply. This is also not against Utah law until 18 weeks pregnant, but goes to show how unclear the issue and laws are to citizens.
First Responders deal with patients on drugs the majority of the time and many times we help and assist them in care without the police being dispatched with us. If our own safety is not an issue, we do not call the cops and we do not seek to get our patient in trouble so to speak. Students in my classes have never asked about calling the cops on people in these scenarios.
We care for their physical needs, that’s it. We save them.
There have since been laws passed in Utah that have limited where women are allowed to seek care when pregnant. This is not to speak of the myriad of other laws in other states that are criminalizing women and severely limiting their health care as well.
American’s like to think of themselves as being a superior first world country with state of the art health care and systems. Yet our women are severely under-educated about their own bodies and how they work. Their access to clinics that can protect them, teach them, and give them care are closing down.
I was my precinct’s delegate this last election cycle. I passionately spoke to my current Senator up for re-election about how upset I was that he voted for this bill that limited women’s access to care. I pointed out the hypocrisy of his pro life stance in regards to Utah repealing many of its protective gun bills and making it easier to access firearms.
Utah also passed a law requiring schools to teach gun safety…but don’t you dare talk about sex and how to be safe there.
I have felt many times when on the ambulance, that I was entering an alternative universe and looked at the people we as a society try to pretend don’t exist.
Not all issues impact each of us or affect our personal lives, but that doesn’t mean other humans don’t exist and are not negatively impacted by our naive lawmakers and laws.
My personal health and safety are not at risk. I live a very privileged life as many others do. The scary thing about that is, we privileged are the ones who tend to be more capable of or allowed to make change…running for office, voting for others, paying for health care etc.
To me, advocating for others and making it possible for them to advocate for themselves is akin to mourning with those who mourn and comforting those who stand in need of comfort.
I Used To Work The Streets Part One
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