Where women can use their strengths

Have you ever met a female ambulance driver? The most I've seen in this area (on TV, that is) are female paramedics, and they're usually portrayed as cool-headed people. Of course they need to be, and needless to say they're trained for this kind of work. But that's TV. This is about real life -- a pretty insightful piece written by a woman who was part of an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) for three years. "Although we may not have the muscles of our male counterparts, we do have other gifts to offer," she points out.

Intuition and attention to detail. Whether it’s assessing an accident scene, documenting evidence for suspected sexual assault, or trying to get a half-conscious patient to reveal exactly how many pills he took with that bottle of vodka, powers of observation are essential. Women pay attention to the little things: the patient’s tone of voice, objects around the room, and what someone isn’t telling us. Sometimes these small details are what can complete the puzzle for a physician at the ER – or even catch a life-threatening problem.

We can flirt our way out of a crisis – seriously. I’ll never forget my first call for a suicidal patient. He was elderly, drunk, combative, and miserable. No matter what they tried, the policemen and firefighters on scene couldn’t get him to come peacefully to the hospital. They were thinking of physically forcing him into the ambulance when he looked up and saw me arriving on scene. His expression changing, he straightened up and said “Hello, beautiful girl!” I took this as an opportunity, got him to start talking, and had him walking with me into the ambulance within five minutes. While this story certainly isn’t the norm, it does raise an interesting point – there are some emergency situations in which being a woman is actually an advantage. From talking down a suicidal patient to gaining the trust of a girl who is afraid to talk about being sexually assaulted, a woman’s calming and non-judgmental presence can be a true asset to any crew.

Read the rest of "The Girly Way to Save a Life" at Newoman.org