Deaf EMT 'better than some hearing staff' with Bethlehem ambulance company

[rockin'robin]

Global Medical Transportation Services Ambulance Capt. Don Burslem didn’t know what to think when the person on the other line told him he was on the phone with a deaf person.

How could he hire a deaf emergency medical technician for the Bethlehem-based ambulance company? EMTs need to communicate with their patients, with their partners, with hospital officials over the radio.

But Burslem decided to take a chance on hiring Chad Grabousky, and more than two months later, he’s very glad he did.

“His patients love him, our staff loves him, and he actually does a wonderful job in back of the ambulance, better than some of my hearing staff,” Burslem said.


Grabousky, 22, is glad Burslem took a chance with him. He became a state-certified EMT almost four years ago but has struggled to find paid work. He lives more than an hour north of Bethlehem in Lackawanna County but had little luck finding work up there.

“I applied to a local ambulance service twice in two years where many of my friends got hired but I got no response,” he said in an email.

People with disabilities often struggle more than those without to find work. The current national unemployment rate for the disabled is almost twice that of nondisabled people — 12.9 percent compared to 6.9 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Though Global Medical is his first paid EMT work, Grabousky has volunteered as a member of the Covington Independent Volunteer Fire Co. since he was certified in August 2009 and now serves as the company’s emergency medical services lieutenant.

Grabousky, who was born deaf, can speak, read lips and hear some with the assistance of hearing aids. But with radio communication being such an important part of emergency services, it presents a special challenge to him.

“I would be responding to a shooting and not know,” he said.

He can’t hear the radio or really communicate with it himself. Grabousky said he’s been lucky to have cooperative partners at both Global and his fire company that will communicate through the radio for him and text him what’s broadcast out.

“Many people make it a point to accommodate me,” he said. “There is so much teamwork both where I volunteer and where I work.”

Less of a challenge is working with patients. Some don’t even notice that he’s deaf, he said.

“Sometimes my partner informs the patient so they know how to nonverbally address me when I am looking away,” Grabousky said. “They don’t react any differently. Many patients just ask me a lot of questions about being deaf.”

Global, which has been based in Bethlehem for 10 years, does nonemergency transportation, including hospital discharges, dialysis appointments and trips for nursing home patients.

Burslem also attested that Grabousky has no challenges with the company’s patients. In fact, he often provides superior service, he said.

“Because he’s deaf, some of his other senses are heightened,” Burslem said. “He can read patients better than most of our EMTs can.”

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2013/05/bethlehem_ambulance_company_pl.html

 

[whatdidyousay!]

“Because he’s deaf, some of his other senses are heightened,” Burslem said. “He can read patients better than most of our EMTs can.”


I agree with statement , I had a client in a senior housing building and I smelled something burning while walking in the hallway at first I thought someone had burnt their breakfast . When I stepped out into the hallway to check up on the smell it was still there so I called 911. There was a wall fire , a heater was burning and the fire department was able to fix the problem before it became a fire. There were 'hearing' health aides working on the same floor and they walked pass the wall heater too and they didn't smell the odor or didn't think anything of it.
But I bet they didn't smell it b/c I can smell things other people can't smell.

 

[RisinDragon]

Same here WDYS. My sense of smell is crazy. I can walk down a hallway and take a sniff and figured out who has walked down the hallway before I got there. One place I used to work, a mother and daughter worked there. The daughter and I were good friends. I can tell when her mother is in the building and tell her 'mom's here'. LOL She always got a kick out of that.

And being a cook, my sense of smell can tell if something is bad, as well as my sense of taste.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

Same here WDYS. My sense of smell is crazy. I can walk down a hallway and take a sniff and figured out who has walked down the hallway before I got there. One place I used to work, a mother and daughter worked there. The daughter and I were good friends. I can tell when her mother is in the building and tell her 'mom's here'. LOL She always got a kick out of that.

And being a cook, my sense of smell can tell if something is bad, as well as my sense of taste.

I wish I sense of smell was not so good b/c we have a landfill that smell like hydrogen sulfide and the city came to my condo with 4 men and they had a Jerome meter and I told the guys I could the hydrogen sulfide at certain spot and they said there is no smell then they used the Jerome meter and got a reading ! This happen 4 times and each time the men said they couldn't smell anything and they got a reading one guy was able to smell a it few times. I wish I could hear as good as I can smell !

 

[A Nihilist]

That's awesome, when I was deciding what career to pursue I did think about the medical field but declined because of how when doing surgery or in emergency situations people cover their mouth with masks and/or talk really fast.

But good for him, that's kind of unusual the hospital accommodated him, it goes to show you even deaf people are capable.