Gregory C. Simpson, NREMT-P/FP-C: No financial relationships to disclose
It has been said that one can live weeks without food, days without water, and minutes without oxygen; but one cannot live a moment in time without hope. Pre-hospital medicine provides a powerful platform for that hope. Health includes more than the physical body as it is a fact that we are physical, mental, and spiritual beings. I have served on an international disaster response team and have come to understand as in the physical “golden hour” of trauma there exists a parallel “spiritual and mental golden hour” in emergencies. This “Spiritual Golden Hour,” has changed my practice as a paramedic. For the advancement of prehospital medicine it is our responsibility to better understand how to care for the patient’s physical, mental and spiritual needs.
Learning Objectives:
Deduce how our emotions and spirituality play a vital role in our physical wellbeing.
Define how we as first responders should be dealing with the emotional/mental trauma of our patients as well as the emotional wellbeing of the medical professional.
Demonstrate how the the first responder has the ability to change a patient’s mentation to benefit the outcome of the tragedy at hand and give hope for the future.
