The Charger Blog
Beatrice Glaviano Ӱԭ26 is enjoying the EMT course sheӰԭs taking this semester and it inspired her to ask her classmates why they are passionate about their majors.
October 13, 2023
ӰԭAre you feeling very AVPU right now?Ӱԭ
ӰԭOh, bro, IӰԭm feeling *so* AVPU right now.Ӱԭ
For those who are wondering what the heck ӰԭAVPUӰԭ is, it does not, in fact, stand for ӰԭAirborne Vehicles Progress UpwardӰԭ but ӰԭAlert, Verbal Stimulus, Painful Stimulus, [or] UnresponsiveӰԭ and is used during an EMTӰԭs primary patient assessment.
Deciding to take part in an EMT (emergency medical technician) course offered by the Paramedicine program was something I honestly didnӰԭt see coming as your friendly neighborhood nutrition sciences major. What I also didnӰԭt see coming was the responses I received when I posted a photo of my friends in EMT uniforms on my Instagram.
When one thinks of emergency medicine, their mind often goes immediately to lights, sirens, the sight of an ambulance or squad car, and maybe some blood (I see you, forensics), and thatӰԭs not entirely wrong. Living in a day and age where accessibility to guns, illicit drugs, and similar items capable of causing bodily harm is relatively quote-unquote Ӱԭeasy,Ӱԭ itӰԭs not a huge surprise that we hear those sirens or stories on the news.
However, emergency medicine is more than the stories in which itӰԭs often discussed. Not only are there multiple professions, but there are multiple levels to those professions. A good example of this would be the difference between the average EMT vs. paramedic. EMTs, while a step-up from your EMR (Emergency Medical Responder), are capable of giving only some medications while paramedics are trained to give intravenous medication to their patients, whether they are trauma or medical. These slight contrasts in skills take years to acquire, and the experience to do them well, perhaps, even more.
About a week and half ago, I asked one of my friends: ӰԭWhy are you passionate about your major?Ӱԭ (In reference to paramedicine). Oddly enough, it had been something that had never occurred to me to ask before.
He looked at me, and it wasnӰԭt just that casual, ӰԭOh, I just really like the subjectӰԭ type of look either.
No, his eyes lit up as if someone had struck a match into them, and I suddenly had a greater understanding that the difference between passion and addiction was the same thing as wondering what fire felt like or reaching your hand out to let it burn you.
ӰԭThere is no other feeling than the one you feel when you bring someone back to life,Ӱԭ he told me, and that lived in my head for the next couple of days.
Granted, maybe thereӰԭs a type of god-complex to pick away at and I probably shouldnӰԭt have felt my pupils dilate as much as they did, but here we are. After this happened, I became rather curious as to why my classmates had chosen the career paths that they did, so I did a little interview with them.
Please note that all of the individuals were not forced to take part in this interview/survey but that they did it out of their own free, swag-college-student will.
With that, letӰԭs dive in.
For me, being a part of EMT I has shown me how important trust, communication, and friendship is within the medical field. ItӰԭs also shown how important interpersonal skills are as well, especially when it comes to patient contact. However, on the flip side, there is definitely something addicting about being on this side of medicine. Nothing compares to applying knowledge in split seconds in a high-pressure situation in comparison to just ӰԭneedingӰԭ to know it in order to pass a test (application of knowledge and knowledge itself are two different things, essentially).
Of course, you get to save lives, but I also believe there is a certain degree of saving your own. A very instinctive, and integral part of human nature is to help other humans. ItӰԭs something thatӰԭs been ingrained in us for as long as we can remember. Yet, another very integral part of human nature is ourselves. We are self-serving, egotistical, and in constant pursuit of euphoria in whatever way, shape, or form we deem most suiting for our personal wants. In the case of being an EMT, nothing quite beats the rush. And itӰԭs weird, because IӰԭve never been on a call (or ride) before, but itӰԭs rather easy to imagine it when someone recounts story after story about it. ItӰԭs crazy, in a way, but I can definitely see how people get hooked.
On that note, I also interviewed my instructor, Victoria Benoit. Not only is Professor Benoit patient and encourages students to remain inquisitive, she also creates an environment in which students can grow among their peers. With that, here are a few of her responses:
So, we have marine biology to emergency medicine. ThatӰԭs quite the leap, isnӰԭt it? Being in a major not remotely related to Paramedicine itself, I am currently looking at double-majoring (against all odds, lol). For those who donӰԭt know, aside from being pre-med, I am also a part of the Honors program, as well as the Delta Alpha Phi Honors Society. Essentially, if I made the transition, there would be no going back and probably a lot of sleepless, grumpily-spent nights with too much coffee and biscotti.
But...isnӰԭt that what life is about, at least a little bit? What IӰԭve learned over the course of my (pretty short) life is that nothing worth being passionate about comes easy Ӱԭ not entirely. The things you love, whether it be people, places, things, activities, are supposed to challenge you in order to let you grow into yourself and who youӰԭre meant to be.
Pre-med has always been a challenge, but what really made the difference was how I thought about myself. Did I believe I was worthy of my major? Did I believe that I could get the work done? All of this plays a role, as well as how you treat yourself verbally, physically, socially, and emotionally. I was on the phone with a friend the other night, and they told me that I have grown in the sense that I allow grace for myself, which changed everything for me as a student. So, I suppose, wherever the heck I end up in life, itӰԭs there to either challenge me or is a result of me being challenged.
Though, if weӰԭre going back to emergency medicine, I have no clue how IӰԭll deal with my first death on call. If there is any challenge for me, I know that one of them will be accepting that I donӰԭt have control over life or death. IӰԭll have a say in it for a moment, but IӰԭm just a human being. ThatӰԭs not something I am meant to decide.
So, I guess weӰԭll have to see.
On that note, I hope everyone is having a fabulous October so far and that midterms are going well.
Beatrice Glaviano Ӱԭ26 is a nutrition sciences major at the University of New Haven.
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