ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Matthew O'Reilly - Emergency medical technician
Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York.

Why you should listen

 When first responders are honest with the gravely injured, what happens? Watch this short, moving talk to find out.

More profile about the speaker
Matthew O'Reilly | Speaker | TED.com
TED@NYC

Matthew O'Reilly: “Am I dying?” The honest answer.

Matthew O'Reilly: “我快死了吗?” 一个诚实的回答

Filmed:
2,106,137 views

Matthew O'Reilly 是纽约长岛的一位已退役的急救医务人员。在他的演讲中,O'Reilly 向我们描绘了在重伤病人提出这个问题:“我快死了吗?”之后,会发生什么。
- Emergency medical technician
Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I've been a critical危急 care关心 EMTEMT for the past过去
seven years年份 in Suffolk萨福克 County, New York纽约.
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过去的七年间
我是纽约萨福克郡的一位特危急救人员。
00:16
I've been a first responder响应 in a number of incidents事故
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我曾在不少事故中第一批到达现场
00:18
ranging不等 from car汽车 accidents事故 to Hurricane飓风 Sandy.
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这些事故中有车祸也有飓风桑迪。
如果你跟大部分人一样,
00:21
If you are like most people, death死亡 might威力 be
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死亡可能是你最大的恐惧之一。
00:23
one of your greatest最大 fears恐惧.
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00:25
Some of us will see it coming未来.
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有的人会预感它的来临。
00:26
Some of us won't惯于.
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有的人则不能。
有一个很少有人知道的医务术语
00:28
There is a little-known鲜为人知的 documented记录 medical term术语
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00:30
called impending即将到来的 doom厄运.
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叫做”垂死状态“。
00:32
It's almost几乎 a symptom症状.
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这可以说是一个症状。
00:34
As a medical provider提供商, I'm trained熟练 to respond响应
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作为一个医务人员,我被训练过
用平常心来对待垂死状态的病人,
00:35
to this symptom症状 like any other,
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00:37
so when a patient患者 having a heart attack攻击 looks容貌 at me
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所以当一个心脏病突发的病人看着我说
00:39
and says, "I'm going to die today今天,"
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“我今天就要死了”的时候,
00:41
we are trained熟练 to reevaluate重新评估 the patient's耐心 condition条件.
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我们被训练要重新评估这个病人的情况。
00:45
Throughout始终 my career事业, I have responded回应
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在我的职业生涯中,
我曾多次在急救现场
00:47
to a number of incidents事故 where the patient患者
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遇到仅剩几分钟生命的病人
00:49
had minutes分钟 left to live生活
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00:50
and there was nothing I could do for them.
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而我却根本无能为力。
00:54
With this, I was faced面对 with a dilemma困境:
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在这样的时候我面临一个困境:
00:56
Do I tell the dying垂死 that they are about to face面对 death死亡,
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我是该坦诚地告知伤者死亡的逼近,
01:00
or do I lie谎言 to them to comfort安慰 them?
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还是该用善意的谎言去安慰他们?
01:03
Early in my career事业, I faced面对 this dilemma困境
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在我职业生涯的早期,
每当我犹豫该怎么做时
01:05
by simply只是 lying说谎.
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我总是选择对伤者撒谎。
01:07
I was afraid害怕.
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我很害怕。
我怕如果我告诉他们真相,
01:09
I was afraid害怕 if I told them the truth真相,
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01:11
that they would die in terror恐怖, in fear恐惧,
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他们会在恐惧不安中离开人世,
01:14
just grasping for those last moments瞬间 of life.
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惶惶中攫取生命流沙的最后几粒。
01:18
That all changed with one incident事件.
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但一切都在一次救援后改变了。
01:20
Five years年份 ago, I responded回应 to a motorcycle摩托车 accident事故.
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五年前,我参与急救一场摩托事故。
01:23
The rider骑士 had suffered遭遇 critical危急, critical危急 injuries受伤.
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摩托车主伤势非常非常严重。
01:26
As I assessed评估 him, I realized实现 that there was nothing
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在我对他做了检查后,
我意识到自己什么都做不了 ,
01:29
that could be doneDONE for him,
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而他像很多在同样状态下的伤者一样,
看着我的眼睛
01:31
and like so many许多 other cases,
he looked看着 me in the eye
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01:34
and asked that question: "Am I going to die?"
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问我:”我是不是快死了?“
那一刻我决定改变常规。
01:39
In that moment时刻, I decided决定 to do something different不同.
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01:42
I decided决定 to tell him the truth真相.
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我决定告诉他真相。
01:45
I decided决定 to tell him that he was going to die
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我决定告诉他 他将要死了
而我什么都做不了。
01:48
and that there was nothing I could do for him.
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01:51
His reaction反应 shocked吃惊 me to this day.
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他的反应到如今仍然震撼着我。
01:55
He simply只是 laid铺设 back and had a look
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他只是放松下来
他的脸上露出了接受事实的平静。
01:57
of acceptance验收 on his face面对.
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他并没有如我料想那样
01:59
He was not met会见 with that terror恐怖 or fear恐惧
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表现出恐惧。
02:01
that I thought he would be.
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02:04
He simply只是 laid铺设 there, and as I looked看着 into his eyes眼睛,
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他只是躺着 而我在他的眼睛里,
02:07
I saw inner peace和平 and acceptance验收.
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看到了内心的接受和平静。
02:09
From that moment时刻 forward前锋, I decided决定
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从那时起我决定,
02:11
it was not my place地点 to comfort安慰 the dying垂死 with my lies.
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我并没有权利用谎言去安慰将死之人。
02:16
Having responded回应 to many许多 cases since以来 then
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在那之后我参与的多次救援
02:19
where patients耐心 were in their last moments瞬间
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有发生病人奄奄一息
02:21
and there was nothing I could do for them,
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而我无能为力的时候,
02:23
in almost几乎 every一切 case案件,
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在几乎所有的情况下,
02:25
they have all had the same相同 reaction反应 to the truth真相,
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他们都对将到来的死亡作出了一致的反应,
02:28
of inner peace和平 and acceptance验收.
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那就是内心的接受和平静。
02:30
In fact事实, there are three patterns模式
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事实上 我发现在这些人的反应中
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I have observed观察到的 in all these cases.
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有三种典型的反应。
02:37
The first pattern模式 always kind of shocked吃惊 me.
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第一种总是令我有些震惊。
02:40
Regardless而不管 of religious宗教 belief信仰 or cultural文化 background背景,
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无论伤者又怎样的宗教信仰或文化背景,
02:44
there's a need for forgiveness饶恕.
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他们总会祈求被宽恕。
02:47
Whether是否 they call it sin
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大如他们所称的原罪
02:49
or they simply只是 say they have a regret后悔,
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小到生活中的一丝遗憾,
02:52
their guilt有罪 is universal普遍.
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负罪感是那么屡见不鲜。
02:54
I had once一旦 cared照顾 for an elderly老年 gentleman绅士
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有一次我正在救助一位长者
02:55
who was having a massive大规模的 heart attack攻击.
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他的心脏病突然严重发作。
02:58
As I prepared准备 myself and my equipment设备
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当我做好准备,准备好仪器
03:00
for his imminent即将来临 cardiac心脏的 arrest逮捕,
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以处理他突发的心脏骤停,
03:03
I began开始 to tell the patient患者 of his imminent即将来临 demise让位.
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我告诉他,死亡即将来临。
03:07
He already已经 knew知道 by my tone
of voice语音 and body身体 language语言.
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他已从我的语调和动作中看出。
当我把心脏除震器放在他的胸口,
03:10
As I placed放置 the defibrillator除颤器 pads on his chest胸部,
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准备好面对即将发生的事,
03:13
prepping预备 for what was going to happen发生,
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03:15
he looked看着 me in the eye and said,
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他看着我的眼睛说,
“我多么希望,以前要是多花些
时间陪陪家人儿孙,
03:17
"I wish希望 I had spent花费 more time with
my children孩子 and grandchildren孙子
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03:20
instead代替 of being存在 selfish自私 with my time."
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而不是自私地享受独处的时光该多好。”
面对即将到来的死亡,
03:23
Faced面对 with imminent即将来临 death死亡,
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03:25
all he wanted was forgiveness饶恕.
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他只想得到上苍的原谅。
03:28
The second第二 pattern模式 I observe
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我观察到的第二种模式
就是期待被记住被缅怀。
03:30
is the need for remembrance纪念.
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03:33
Whether是否 it was to be remembered记得 in my thoughts思念
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无论是被我还是被他们所爱的人记住
03:35
or their loved喜爱 ones'那些', they needed需要 to feel
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他们都期待能感受到这样的延续。
03:37
that they would be living活的 on.
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03:39
There's a need for immortality不朽
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他们期待永恒不朽地
03:41
within the hearts心中 and thoughts思念 of their loved喜爱 ones那些,
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镶嵌在他们亲人爱人的心里和脑海中,
03:44
myself, my crew船员, or anyone任何人 around.
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或是在我,我的同事或是任何人的心上。
03:47
Countless无数 times, I have had a
patient患者 look me in the eyes眼睛
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数不清有多少次,
病人看着我的眼睛问道:
03:50
and say, "Will you remember记得 me?"
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”你会记得我吗?“
我观察到的最后一种模式
03:54
The final最后 pattern模式 I observe
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03:56
always touched感动 me the deepest最深, to the soul灵魂.
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总会触动我的内心深处,
触动我的灵魂。
他们渴望知道自己的生命有意义。
03:59
The dying垂死 need to know that their life had meaning含义.
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04:03
They need to know that they did not waste浪费 their life
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他们需要知道自己没有将生命
04:06
on meaningless无意义的 tasks任务.
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浪费在无意义的事情上。
04:09
This came来了 to me very, very early in my career事业.
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这种情况在我职业生涯很早期就出现了。
04:12
I had responded回应 to a call.
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我曾经接到过一个急救任务,
有一位快60岁的女士
04:14
There was a female in her late晚了 50s
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被卡在车里动弹不得。
04:16
severely严重 pinned固定 within a vehicle车辆.
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04:18
She had been t-bonedT-去骨 at a high rate of speed速度,
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她所驾驶的车辆被另一台汽车从侧面高速撞击,
情况非常危急。
04:22
critical危急, critical危急 condition条件.
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在消防员试图把她从车子里挪出来的同时,
04:24
As the fire department worked工作
to remove去掉 her from the car汽车,
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04:26
I climbed爬上 in to begin开始 to render给予 care关心.
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我爬进去开始急救。
04:29
As we talked, she had said to me,
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我们对话时,她对我说,
04:32
"There was so much more
I wanted to do with my life."
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”我这辈子还有好多事想做呢。“
她觉得还没在这世上留下印记。
04:35
She had felt she had not left her mark标记 on this Earth地球.
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我们谈得更深入后,
04:39
As we talked further进一步, it would turn out
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我知道她领养了两个小孩,
04:41
that she was a mother母亲 of two adopted采用 children孩子
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而且他们都将去读医学院。
04:44
who were both on their way to medical school学校.
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04:47
Because of her, two children孩子
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因为她,这两个小孩
04:49
had a chance机会 they never would have had otherwise除此以外
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拥有了本来不可能得到的机会。
04:52
and would go on to save保存 lives生活 in the medical field领域
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而且还能成为医生并拯救很多生命
04:54
as medical doctors医生.
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结果花了45分钟,
04:56
It would end结束 up taking服用 45 minutes分钟
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04:58
to free自由 her from the vehicle车辆.
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才将她从卡住的车子里救出来。
05:00
However然而, she perished遇难 prior to freeing自由化 her.
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但是她在那之前就已经死了。
我过去相信电影上演的:
05:04
I believed相信 what you saw in the movies电影:
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05:06
when you're in those last moments瞬间
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你在临终前
05:07
that it's strictly严格 terror恐怖, fear恐惧.
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会感到非常恐惧、害怕。
后来我才了解到,
无论在怎样的情况下,
05:10
I have come to realize实现,
regardless而不管 of the circumstance环境,
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人们通常都能平静地接受死亡。
05:13
it's generally通常 met会见 with peace和平 and acceptance验收,
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是那些小事,那些时刻,
05:16
that it's the littlest点点 things, the littlest点点 moments瞬间,
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你带到世上最微不足道的那些事,
05:20
the littlest点点 things you brought into the world世界
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让你在临终时刻得到平静安详。
05:23
that give you peace和平 in those final最后 moments瞬间.
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05:26
Thank you.
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谢谢。
(掌声)
05:28
(Applause掌声)
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Translated by Zhiting Chen
Reviewed by Ziyao Huang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Matthew O'Reilly - Emergency medical technician
Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York.

Why you should listen

 When first responders are honest with the gravely injured, what happens? Watch this short, moving talk to find out.

More profile about the speaker
Matthew O'Reilly | Speaker | TED.com