Reflective Essay: A Personal Experience Of Assisted Suicide

While I was in training at my first job as a paramedic I was dispatched to a call that I will not likely ever forget. A man had come home to find his 19 year old daughter lying on the ground unconscious, unresponsive, and barely breathing with vomit on her face and in her mouth. By the time I reached the young woman she was taking her last breath. She was pale and cold and her lips and face were turning blue. I had to act fast in order to clear her airway of vomit and insert an endotracheal tube. I failed my first attempt and had to restart the whole process, bringing more anxiety to the already tense situation. My second attempt was successful, providing the life giving oxygen she desperately needed. With the airway secured I was able to perform a full assessment of the situation. The young woman was pale, cool, and sweaty with fixed and dilated pupils. It was obvious that she had aspirated her vomit when listening to her lung sounds following the intubation and a bag of pills was found in the room near her. The father stated that she had been dealing with psychological issues and had attempted suicide once before but she had been doing well. A vital check revealed that she was hypotensive, tachycardic, and hypoxic despite manual ventilation with the ET tube. As we moved her to the ambulance I remember thinking that she was probably going to die or, at the very least,
Now, when thinking about why I want to be a physician’s assistant I feel think about that moment as well. As a physician’s assistant I can continue to provide medical care but at a higher level than I am now. I will be able to specialize in whatever area I chose and change that specialization if I chose so. As a paramedic over the last 6 years I worked closely with and under doctors, having that same ability as a physician’s assistant is another great benefit I