A Summer Job Taught Me a Lifelong Lesson

I went to college at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau. Once I left home at 18 from the suburbs of Chicago I never went back. I spent the summers working in and around Cape. One year I worked for an ice company delivering bags and blocks of ice to convenient stores and gas stations. Another year I worked for a day care center as a Summer Camp Counselor. As a camp counselor, I was assigned a group of boys ranging in age from 6 to 12 y/o. This was just a day camp so the kids went home each evening.

Each day we would all meet at the day care center and start the day off playing games and doing crafts. A couple of times a week we would go to a local park. When going to the park, my group of boys and a group of girls, being led by a female college student, would pile into a shuttle van and head off for fun and adventure.

After spending almost the entire summer playing at the park without incident, a 7 y/o boy got hurt on the playground. The incident happened at the park away from the daycare center. Joshua, the boy who got hurt, was a spirited child. He was constantly getting into trouble but was also one of my favorite kids of all time. Joshua fell off the playground bridge. I saw it happen and so did the girl I was working with. He came to us crying holding his arm saying his arm hurt. I looked at it, it didn't look deformed, swollen or otherwise broken so I sent him back to play. After a couple minutes, Joshua was still crying. At this point the girl I was working with said, “maybe we should call an ambulance”. I asked why and she pointed out to me that he was not using his arm.

I was lucky that day, I called 911 from a pay phone (there were no cell phones or urgent care centers in 1986) and an ambulance came. I rode to the emergency department with Joshua and left the rest of the group with my counselor partner. Once at the emergency department, Joshua's parents showed up and an x-ray of Joshua's arm showed a mid forearm fracture. As you can imagine, the parents were not thrilled with my counseling ability. They were kind. They did not ask for my immediate dismissal. I received a stern talking to about watching the children more closely and not allowing them to climb on the outside of playground equipment.

I, however, could have landed in deep trouble had my partner not suggested we call an ambulance. Imagine how angry the parents would have been had they shown up to pick up their child with a broken arm and nothing was done for him.

This was over twenty five years ago and I can still recall it like it was last week. I don't know if that incident caused me to become a Paramedic but I know I have thought about it multiple times throughout my career. That day at the playground I felt helpless. I almost hurt Joshua more by ignoring his tears. I would also think about Joshua when called to a house of a child with a fracture they received while someone, besides their parents, were watching them.

I learned that when it comes to children, especially those that are not your own, error on the side of caution. I learned that not all fractures are visibly deformed and obvious. The only way to know for sure is with an x-ray. Next week I will submit a blog about the difference between a fracture and a sprain and how to treat each of them. When in doubt get an x-ray and a professional opinion.