#1 - Sept. 12, 2014, 3:35 p.m.
About a month ago at work my partner and I were dispatched to a call that apparently involved a young male that took a unknown quantity of his mothers morphine pills. When we arrived on scene, it was the usual. The mother met us outside and was crying, yelling, and completely confused about what was going on. When we made entrance into the residence, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The mother then directed us to the back of the house, and down a hallway where we made first contact with the pt (patient) in his room.
First thing I noticed was that the pt had a shelf on the wall of his room that was filled with video games for the xbox, and playstaion. I then noticed that there was a young male (about 15 years of age) sitting in an upright position on the foot end of his bed. He didn't appear to be in any immediate distress or discomfort, and was very calm. He was very quiet and hesitant on telling me any information that I needed to treat him because he didn't want to go the hospital. (He was clearly a shy kid.) Thinking on my toes, I began talking to him about some of the video games. After about 5 or so minutes, I could tell that he had loosened up a little bit. So again, I nudged for more information about what he had done.
This time I received a completely different response. He began telling me about how earlier in the week he was at a event for school and some other kids came up to him and began to belittle him. They called names, said that he was ugly, a waste of space, that he'd never live up to be anything, that if he died no one would go to his funeral, and that his parents messed up by not aborting him. At this point, he was almost in tears. He then went on to say, that his breaking point was earlier that day when the same group of kids messaged him on a social media website, and again started to attack him. However, this time they threatened physical violence against both him and his family. He also went on about how he doesn't have many friends in real life, and that these group of kids causing all these problems acted like they were his best friend for about a month before all this started.
At this point I was positive that his actions that night was an attempt to end his life. We then made our to the back of the ambulance. I set up an IV, and gave him a dose of narcan.
It's funny; in med school they don't really teach us how to interact with people when it comes to person problems such as this. Yes, they teach us how to treat many life threatening medical problems such as; respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, pulmonary embolism, blah blah blah, but not depression.
While en route to the hospital it was quite awkward. I wasn't sure what to say or talk about. So I reflected back to our previous conversation about video games. I began talking to him about WoW. He said that he has heard of the game, but never played because he couldn't afford the subscription. I went into detail about how the game works and stuff that you do in it. I said that it was a very social game, and that you spend a lot of time playing with people from all over the country. I also went on to say that, when I personally play WoW, it's almost like enter a whole new dimension. All my problems temporarily disappear, and if need be, I can vent to some of my WoW buddies which actually helps a lot believe it or not. I said that this game has helped me a lot over the years, especially after bad calls.
We went on talking about games (Including WoW) for a good majority of the drive. About 10 minutes out from the hospital, I pulled out my wallet, and gave him a $20 bill. I told him that all he needed to do was talk his parents into buying him WoW, and to just put the $20 towards subscription. I could tell, that he was shocked by this motion of me giving money for a game. (Honestly, I was shocked too. Never have I ever given a pt any of my hard earned money.)
Well, last night while at work my partner and I were sitting at base (I of course was playing WoW), when heard a knock at the front door. I just thought it was one of our supervisors that was having a difficult time getting inside. I ended up getting up, and walking to the door. To my surprise it was lady who looked very familiar. Behind her stood a young male, and instantly I knew who it was. I thought I was get yelled at because he was probably pestering his mother to buy WoW.
To my surprise, the mother gave me a huge hug and thanked me for all that I did. She went on saying how I probably saved his life, but I didn't really see it. I simply just did my job. When I talked to the kid, he was so much more energetic than before. He actually had a spark in his eyes and I could tell he was a lot happier. I asked how he had been, and he said great. He took my advise and asked him mom to buy WoW. Which eventually after some convincing she gave in and bought it. He said that he has only been playing for a couple of weeks, but has met a lot of new people, and made quite a few friends that he talks to on a regular basis. He began telling me about the game, and how he is playing a warrior tank, and how his first dungeon run went horribly wrong. We talked for about a good hour before I had to go due to a call. (I think his mother was happy to hear the tones drop.)
Before I left he personally thanked me, and stated that he now knows what I mean when I said that it feels like going into a whole new dimension while playing. His mother then gave me another hug, and gave me a $20 bill. She smiled and then walked away.
This moment, was probably the greatest moment that I have had in my career. To see the first hand response of something that I enjoy (WoW) have a positive effect on someone else is amazing. I just want to say thank you Blizzard and all the people that have put so much effort into creating such an amazing game. You guys are awesome!
Oh, and sorry for such a long read. I tend to babble on about pointless stuff in person too. (Just imagine me in person telling you a story. It could go on for days before I get to the main point!)
