From medical procedures to ‘action movie stunts’: A day in the life of a Gurugram paramedic

On the front lines of the battle between life and death, it’s the paramedics who make sure every second counts. “My job feels like an army job. I can be called for duty any time,” says 25-year-old Manu Yadav, a paramedic with a private hospital in Gurugram.

Yadav recollects how he had to jump a fence to enter the house of a 70-year-old man, and take him to the hospital. “The main gate of the house was locked. I called the patient’s number, then I jumped over the gate and shouted, but there was no answer. After a few minutes, I heard a feeble voice coming from the second floor. The 70-year-old man had very low blood sugar level, and his family wasn’t at home. I took the keys from him, opened the gate and let the ambulance in… he could have died,” Yadav says, adding that the difficulties feel worth it when he reads the comments section of the hospital’s patient register.

“It feels really good to meet a patient whose life you had helped save. However, there are times when a patient is dying in your arms and there is nothing you can do for them.”

Yadav and his colleague, 23-year-old Sandeep became paramedics in 2015. From drunk and prank calls to getting transport calls, where people want to be “lifted from their houses for a regular OPD check-up”, the two paramedics have seen quite a lot. “We never ignore calls for help, and often end up wasting time looking for buildings that don’t exist,” Sandeep says.

The paramedics add that sometimes people dial the ambulance number just because they don’t know who else to call.

The duo says that even after three years, they still feel nervous before going to a spot. “You never know what lies ahead and no amount of experience can prepare you for it,” Sandeep says.

Arvind Prasad, a 29-year-old paramedic with another private hospital in the city, has been a paramedic for almost seven years. He agree with Sandeep. “I still am nervous before I head out. The whole summary of the case just flashes before my eyes while I’m on my way and I’m constantly thinking of how I can save their life,” he says.

Prasad says the trauma from his work leaves him sleepless at times.

“Five months back, a man fell in the Guru Dronacharya Metro station and suffered neck and head injuries. The stairs were drenched with his blood. That was very painful to look at. But now, the man has recovered and can’t thank us enough whenever he comes to the hospital.”

Paramedics like Arvind, Yadav and Sandeep work in chaotic conditions. The work is stressful, especially in the summers, but a passion for saving lives is what motivates them, they say. “Half the work is calming people down and taking control of the situation. Once that is done, the rest gets easier,” says Yadav, who wanted to become a doctor but couldn’t pass the AIIMS entrance exam. “I’m sort of a doctor anyway now,” he smiles.