There is a large population out there who has no idea what services we provide. The sad thing is, even after receiving our services, they still don’t get it.

About seven years ago, I was working an overnight with one of my former partners. We were both avid people watchers, so a majority of our time was spent in the Entertainment District of our city. On most Friday and Saturday nights, this section of town lived up to its name.

On one particular Saturday night, we were doing our usual “loop” checking out all of the sites, when we turned the corner, and found a group of people standing in the middle of the road flagging us down. When we pulled up, we noticed a woman lying in the middle of the road, and a car parked off to the side with a large “star” to the windshield.

The woman’s friends informed us that she was walking across the street when she was struck by the motor vehicle in question. She was now unconcious. My partner and I went to work, assessing her, and starting a quick trauma workup on scene before we headed off to the hospital. As many of you know, part of that trauma assessment involves the concept of “exposing” the patient to assess for injuries. Due to her unconcious nature, our patient’s clothes were cut off. We kept her covered though to preserve her dignity.

When we were getting ready to leave for the hospital, she regained conciousness. She asked me what happened, and I explained to her the events that led her to be boarded and collared with an IV in the back of my ambulance. She told me that was impossible. I asked her what the last thing that she remembered was, and she shared with me the events leading up to the accident, stating that the last thing she remembered was walking across the street, and then here she was with me.

No matter how much I tried to explain to the woman, she was convinced that she was not hit by a car. Was it the alcohol? Was it just defiance? Was it a head injury? I guess I’ll never really know.

Two weeks later, there we were again. My partner and I were doing the same loop. It was still Summertime and a very nice night, so our windows were down. Who do you guess we see? Our friend who couldn’t possibly have been hit by a car. There she was again, walking across the street, out for another Saturday night of drinking. My partner pointed her out to me as she crossed the front of our ambulance.

She looked back at us, and grabbed her friends arm. As we rolled past her, she pointed at us, and said. . .

“Hey! Those are the two who ruined my outfit!”