Everyday Heroes 2020

Houston Healthcare
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE
EMT JOSHUA SELIGMAN
By LAUREN HARRIS
Emergency Medical Technician Joshua Seligman, with Houston
Healthcare, joined the United States Marine Corps prior to the terror
attacks of September 11, 2001. According to Seligman, after the Iraqi
invasion, there was a gross shortage of medics in the Marines and
Navy corpsmen, so he used tuition assistance to go through the EMT
training program.
“I wanted to be a police officer initially, but when I joined the Marines,
I was too young to be an MP, so I ended up going [into] the infantry,
and going over to the military fire department to go to school
to get into fire and EMS,” Seligman shared.
That, he said, is how he gained his passion for Emergency Medical
Services. From the Marines, Seligman shared, he moved to the Army,
to further his medical career and education, and is now in the civilian
world. He said he has been in the field for almost 17 years.
Seligman said that the most important thing that EMTs do has nothing
to do with schooling, explaining, “You have to have compassion
for other people.”
Seligman said that he may pick up a patient in respiratory or cardiac
arrest, where they are keeping those people alive, transport them to
the hospital, and then go back out, and be called to a back injury or
twisted knee.
“That is an emergency to that person…” Seligman said, and further
explaining that the biggest part of the job is that sometimes people
just want someone to be compassionate and listen to them.
“The best pain medication out there isn’t in a drug box—it’s laughter
and listening. Listen to that person’s story; tell them a joke. I once
brought a pregnant woman out of eclampsia by getting her to talk
about her favorite ice cream—it was moose tracks, by the way,” Seligman
informed.
Seligman also recalled one of his first calls, as a young EMT, which he
now can look back on with humor.
“A lady was absolutely horrified—she got her toe stuck in the down
spout of her bath tub,” Seligman said.
He explained further that the woman
had tried to wait for her husband to
arrive home and avoid calling for help,
but they were in the Mohave Desert
where it gets down to freezing at night.
Seligman said that the woman started to
enter hypothermia, which prompted her
to put in the call. The woman was embarrassed
to have called, Seligman said.
“We were like, ‘Ma’am, no, this is okay.
You’re turning blue, you’re fine [to call
us].” Seligman shared. The woman, he
explained, was all right in the end.
Ironically, the worst call that Seligman
said he could recall was also what he
considered the best. Seligman stated
that there had been a bad car accident
involving a vehicle rollover. An elderly
couple in their 90s had sustained severe
injuries and required transportation to
the hospital. He divulged that the couple
had been transported together, because
they were keeping each other stable. Seligman said the husband
informed them that they had been married for 56 years.
“Them talking to each other and being around each other kept them
stable long enough for us to get them to the trauma center and get
them the treatment they needed,” Seligman recalled, reporting that
both the husband and wife are fine now.
Seligman shared that the most fulfilling part about his profession is
the chance to change someone’s day.
“Someone has called us because they are having what could be the
worst day of their life, and we get the chance to take what could be
the worst day of their life and maybe not save the day, but make it
a little better or easier to deal with. Sometimes we do save the day,
sometimes we don’t, but we get the opportunity to help them in
what could be their darkest hour,” Seligman said.
Seligman said that there are the fair-share of good and bad days, but
he doesn’t want to bring that home to his four children.
“I tell myself on the drive home: I did everything I could today. I did
everything to the best of my ability. I helped the patient in whatever
way I could. And sometimes, you do have a bad one, and that’s when
we EMS rely on each other,” Seligman said.
Most of the EMT’s, Seligman explained, are friends and acquaintances
outside of work, and if they have a particularly bad call, they
have someone they can reach out to. Seligman said that his group is
famous for grabbing a burger after work, and sometimes, Seligman
noted, they talk about work, and other times they don’t. Everyone,
Seligman shared, finds their own way to cope.
Seligman said that though it is nice when someone recognizes him,
he doesn’t do it for awards and accolades.
“We do it because somewhere inside of us, we have to help people.
We can’t help it,” Seligman shared, explaining that even when he is
off duty, he will still stop for a car wreck and provide assistance until a
fire engine or ambulance arrives.
“It’s a part of who we are.” Seligman said.
EVERYDAY HEROES 2020 11