He sigut un tècnic sanitari d'emergències durant els darrers set anys a Suffolk, Nova York. He sigut el primer en respondre a un nombre d'incidents que van d'accidents de cotxe a l'huracà Sandy.
I've been a critical care EMT for the past seven years in Suffolk County, New York. I've been a first responder in a number of incidents ranging from car accidents to Hurricane Sandy.
Si vosaltres sou com la la majoria de gent la mort pot ser un dels més grans temors. Alguns de nosaltres la veurem venir. Alguns de nosaltres no. Hi ha un terme mèdic poc conegut anomenat mort inminent. És quasi un sínptoma Com a prestador de serveis mèdics, estic entrenat per respondre a aquest símptoma com a qualsevol altre, per això quan un pacient que està patint un atac de cor em mira i diu, " moriré avui," estem entrenats a revalorar la condició del pacient.
If you are like most people, death might be one of your greatest fears. Some of us will see it coming. Some of us won't. There is a little-known documented medical term called impending doom. It's almost a symptom. As a medical provider, I'm trained to respond to this symptom like any other, so when a patient having a heart attack looks at me and says, "I'm going to die today," we are trained to reevaluate the patient's condition. Throughout my career, I have responded
A través de la meva carrera he respòs a un nombre d'incidents on els pacients tenien minuts de vida i no podíem fer res per ells. Amb això, havia d'afrontar un dilema: Dir-los que estaven a punt de morir, o mentir i confortar-los ? Al principi de la meva carrera vaig afrontar aquest dilema senzillament mentint. Estava espantat. Temia que si els deia la veritat, ells moririen amb terror, amb por, només aferrant-se a aquests últims moments de vida.
to a number of incidents where the patient had minutes left to live and there was nothing I could do for them. With this, I was faced with a dilemma: Do I tell the dying that they are about to face death, or do I lie to them to comfort them? Early in my career, I faced this dilemma by simply lying. I was afraid. I was afraid if I told them the truth, that they would die in terror, in fear, just grasping for those last moments of life.
Tot això va canviar amb un incident. Fa cinc anys vaig respondre a un accident de moto. El conductor havia patit danys crítics. Mentre l'examinava em vaig adonar que no es podia fer res per a ell, i com amb molts altres casos, ell em va mirar els ulls i em va preguntar: " M'estic morint?" En aquell moment vaig decidir fer alguna cosa diferent. Vaig decidir dir-li la veritat. Vaig decidir dir-li que s'estava morint i que no hi havia res a fer. La seva reacció em va sorprendre fins ara. Simplement es va relaxar i tenia una mirada d'acceptació a la seva cara. No es va trobar amb aquell terror o aquella por que jo pensava. Senzillament es va relaxar, i mentre jo mirava els seus ulls vaig veure pau interior i acceptació. Des de llavors, vaig decidir que no era cosa meva consolar moribunds amb les meves mentires. Des de llavors he respost a molts casos on els pacients estaven en els seus darrers moments i no hi havia res a fer per ells, I en gairebé cada cas tots ells varen tenir la mateixa reacció davant la veritat, de pau interior i acceptació. De fet, hi ha tres patrons que he observat en tots els casos.
That all changed with one incident. Five years ago, I responded to a motorcycle accident. The rider had suffered critical, critical injuries. As I assessed him, I realized that there was nothing that could be done for him, and like so many other cases, he looked me in the eye and asked that question: "Am I going to die?" In that moment, I decided to do something different. I decided to tell him the truth. I decided to tell him that he was going to die and that there was nothing I could do for him. His reaction shocked me to this day. He simply laid back and had a look of acceptance on his face. He was not met with that terror or fear that I thought he would be. He simply laid there, and as I looked into his eyes, I saw inner peace and acceptance. From that moment forward, I decided it was not my place to comfort the dying with my lies. Having responded to many cases since then where patients were in their last moments and there was nothing I could do for them, in almost every case, they have all had the same reaction to the truth, of inner peace and acceptance. In fact, there are three patterns I have observed in all these cases.
El primer patró sempre m'ha sorprès Independentment de les creences religioses o d'antecedents culturals, hi ha una necessitat de perdó. Tant si en diuen pecat o simplement diuen que tenen un remordiment, La seva culpa és universal. Una vegada vaig cuidar un senyor d'edat avançada que estava tenint un atac de cor. Mentre em preparava a mi mateix i el meu equipament per a la seva imminent aturada cardíaca, Vaig començar a parlar al pacient de la seva imminent defunció. Ell ja coneix el meu to de veu i el meu llenguatge corporal. Mentre col·locava els elèctrodes del desfibril·lador al seu pit preparant el que anava a succeïr, Ell em va mirar als ulls i va dir: "Tan de bo hagués passat més temps amb els meus fills i néts en comptes d'haver sigut egoista amb el meu temps." Afrontant una mort imminent, la única cosa que volia era perdó.
The first pattern always kind of shocked me. Regardless of religious belief or cultural background, there's a need for forgiveness. Whether they call it sin or they simply say they have a regret, their guilt is universal. I had once cared for an elderly gentleman who was having a massive heart attack. As I prepared myself and my equipment for his imminent cardiac arrest, I began to tell the patient of his imminent demise. He already knew by my tone of voice and body language. As I placed the defibrillator pads on his chest, prepping for what was going to happen, he looked me in the eye and said, "I wish I had spent more time with my children and grandchildren instead of being selfish with my time." Faced with imminent death, all he wanted was forgiveness.
El segon patró que observo és la necessitat de ser recordat. Tant si es tracta de ser recordats en els meus pensaments com en els dels seus estimats, ells necessiten sentir que seguiran presents. Hi ha una necessitat d'inmortalitat en els cors i els pensaments de les seves persones estimades, jo mateix, el meu grup, o qualsevol persona del voltant. Incomptables vegades, he tingut un pacient que em mira als ulls i diu: "em recordaràs?"
The second pattern I observe is the need for remembrance. Whether it was to be remembered in my thoughts or their loved ones', they needed to feel that they would be living on. There's a need for immortality within the hearts and thoughts of their loved ones, myself, my crew, or anyone around. Countless times, I have had a patient look me in the eyes and say, "Will you remember me?"
El darrer patró que observo Sempre m'ha tocat profundament, fins l'ànima. El moribund necessita saber que la seva vida ha tingut un sentit. Necessiten saber que no han malbaratat la seva vida en tasques sense sentit.
The final pattern I observe always touched me the deepest, to the soul. The dying need to know that their life had meaning. They need to know that they did not waste their life on meaningless tasks.
Això em va passar molt al principi de la meva carrera. Jo havia respost a una trucada. Es tractava d'una dona de més d'uns 57 anys greument atrapada dins un vehicle. L'havien envestit de costat a molta velocitat, una situació molt i molt crítica. Mentre els bombers treballaven per treure-la del cotxe, vaig pujar-hi i vaig començar a donar-li atenció. Mentre parlàvem em va dir: " Volia fer moltes coses amb la meva vida." Ella havia sentit que no havia deixat la seva impremta a aquest món. Mentre parlàvem més va resultar que era mare de dos criatures adoptades que estaven preparant-se per estudiar medicina. Gràcies a ella, dues criatures havien tingut l'oportunitat que mai haurien tingut d'altra manera i continuarien salvant vides en el camp de la medicina com a metges. Estarien 45 minuts per alliberar-la del cotxe. De totes maneres, va morir abans que l'alliberessin.
This came to me very, very early in my career. I had responded to a call. There was a female in her late 50s severely pinned within a vehicle. She had been t-boned at a high rate of speed, critical, critical condition. As the fire department worked to remove her from the car, I climbed in to begin to render care. As we talked, she had said to me, "There was so much more I wanted to do with my life." She had felt she had not left her mark on this Earth. As we talked further, it would turn out that she was a mother of two adopted children who were both on their way to medical school. Because of her, two children had a chance they never would have had otherwise and would go on to save lives in the medical field as medical doctors. It would end up taking 45 minutes to free her from the vehicle. However, she perished prior to freeing her.
Abans creia el que vosaltres veieu a les pel·lícules: Quan estàs en aquells últims moments que són estrictament de terror i por. M'he adonat, que independentment de les circumstàncies, generalment s'afronta amb pau i acceptació, que són les coses més petites, els més petits moments, les coses més petites que tu vas portar al món les que et donen pau en aquells moments finals.
I believed what you saw in the movies: when you're in those last moments that it's strictly terror, fear. I have come to realize, regardless of the circumstance, it's generally met with peace and acceptance, that it's the littlest things, the littlest moments, the littlest things you brought into the world that give you peace in those final moments.
Gràcies
Thank you.
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)