Joanna Sokol, a former EMT, reflects on the complexities of compassion in her memoir A Real Emergency. She grapples with difficult questions about what it means to be compassionate toward individuals in crisis: should autonomy be respected even if it leads to harm? Sokol's experiences, filled with poignant and often absurd stories, illustrate the nuances of caring for troubled individuals. She emphasizes the importance of human connection and camaraderie in navigating her role as a caregiver and how it shapes her perspective on compassion.
This place is like scary Narnia, a patient once told her. Sokol was having a day where everyone seemed to be high on methamphetamine, agitated, confused, angry, or angry. "Ma'am," she said. "You are absolutely right."
Being the person others turn to when they have no one else to call is often unglamorous, Sokol said while sitting in the Panhandle, a few blocks away from where she now teaches EMS classes... It also changes how you think.
It's this kind of camaraderie that helped Sokol write with compassion in spite of her confusion.
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