Nursing

I might piss some people off here. Lets start with defining the word. According to Oxford Dictionary “A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster, or terrorism. First responders typically include law enforcement officers, paramedics, EMT’s and firefighters.” Never in my life have I had an opinion on this, but d/t recent things I’ve been seeing on social media I now do.

Why the gate keeping on the name? Because that’s exactly what it is, gate keeping. I’m not trying to say that nurses and paramedics/EMT/police force are the same, we all have a different area of expertise and skill sets. But when a patient is in a PEA arrest in the hospital, who do you think responds to that? Yeah, nurses and other healthcare workers.

Just last week, right at 1905 “Priority page, code blue, adult, building, room number. ” I was the only bed open at the time, so I prepared for a rough shift. 1935 patient arrived to my bed, within 30 min went into PEA again. I (wish I could capitalize for effect) was the FIRST RESPONDER. I was the one who jumped on the chest after feeling no pulse. I did CPR on this person until my team arrived to assist. So by definition, am I not a first responder?

I mean no disrespect to the Men & Women who are the first responders to car accidents, 911 calls, natural disasters, etc. But we are all working for the same cause, are we not? Not that I really care to have the title of a first responder, but I think its absolutely ridiculous to go out of your way to say nurses aren’t just that.

First Responder. first-responder noun – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/first-responder#:~:text=%2F%CB%8Cf%C9%9C%CB%90rst%20r%C9%AA%CB%88sp%C9%91%CB%90nd%C9%99r%2F,to%20give%20basic%20medical%20treatment