You’re at the site of an emergency. What do you do first, call 911 or offer Reiki?
Students often ask this question, but usually you don’t have to choose: Reiki with one hand, dial with the other. Put the phone on speaker and use both hands to take care of the injured person.
At the same time, you’re observing the patient and utilizing whatever emergency training you might have.
The point is not to think of Reiki instead of medical care, but let Reiki be your first reflex, offering even one Reiki hand while you evaluate what to do next. The Reiki connection will likely steady you as well as the patient, and help you think more clearly.
A patient who is hysterical is difficult to treat. In this scenario, even moments of Reiki will likely calm him, making it easier to communicate, and possibly prevent the person from hurting himself further by thrashing. Reiki treatment generally improves the breath, always a step in the right direction since easeful breathing helps the body marshall its own healing mechanisms.
An emergency is not the time to think of giving a structured Reiki treatment. Just do what you need to do and keep a hand on the patient anywhere you can, obviously not touching a burn or an open wound (unless you need to apply pressure to stop bleeding).
In an emergency, your Reiki hands will activate in response to the acute need, whether you are thinking about Reiki or not. This is where the lack of intention in Reiki practice is a great boon. You don’t have to focus, intend, or even remember Reiki for the connection to be made. In fact, first responders have often told me that it’s only after a crisis is managed and the patient is stabilized that they notice their Reiki hands. They have been much too focused on their medical work until then.
More about how Reiki has been used in emergencies in this article.
If you have offered Reiki in an emergency, please write a comment briefly describing the situation, what response you observed, and/or what the medics had to say.
And if you are a physician or other emergency health care practitioner with advice to help lay people address emergencies more effectively, please take the time to teach us.
Hi,
what a fantastic read, for me there is absolutely without doubt no question, in an emergency; call 999-911 and keep the patient calm by placing our hands on the patient channeling Reiki for the purpose of healing and calming the patient whilst awaiting the emergency services. Channeling the Reiki at this time as you have correctly put; will keep you calm, and help the patient too.
Love & Light
Reikiann
The longer article details exactly many of the experiences I’ve had using Reiki and working in a clinical and urgent care center in a rural area. In emergencies, I always call 911 first, then begin a nursing assessment with Reiki hands that help me evaluate what’s going on physically and calming the patient and myself on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level. After 25 years of having Reiki in hand while taking care of patients, there is no separation anymore between the flow of energy, my trust that it’s going where it needs to go, and that this relationship between Reiki and my medical knowledge will guide me to the best assessment for the patient.
I am also pleased to read more about Nancy as I’ve lost touch with her in the last 10 years.
Thanks for bringing this article together
My pleasure, Earlene.
Nancy did great work in the ER and we can all learn so much from her experiences. She is the only emergency professional I’ve met who actively, deliberately integrated Reiki treatment into emergency care. Everyone else I’ve spoken to has noticed the Reiki connection after the fact.
If any emergency workers are reading, please share some Reiki anecdotes with us, or tell us how you use or experience Reiki in emergency.
Hey, Pamela;
Again another wonderful subject for discussion. I have used Reiki many times in an emergency situation, and have always marveled at the result. I do not hesitate to get my hands on the injured person, especially if it’s me! I have noticed that a delay of even a few seconds really does make a difference in the short-term outcome, especially burns.
There is also an excellent book out by a Nance Eos, M.D. & Reiki Master called Reiki and Medicine, ISB No 0-9644923-0-X. She worked for years as an Emergency Room Doctor and has wonderful healing stories.
Yes, that’s the Nancy Earlene mentioned. I believe her book is out of print, but wrote about her work in the article and in my book.
Do you have a favorite emergency anecdote to share with us?
I have used Reiki in emergency situations countless times over the years, for both animals (wild and domestic) and humans. My first experience was just one week after I had been attuned to Level II. A friend and I had just entered a restaurant for lunch and were being seated at a booth. My bottom had literally not yet touched the seat, when I saw a man fly from his seat at the counter about ten feet away and land on the floor next to us, his head striking the wood partition between booths.
I yelled for someone to call 911, which the restaurant owner/manager did, and then asked the man on the ground–an elderly, frightened man–if I could touch him. He was breathing too quickly, very shallow breaths, and was loudly explaining that he had a heart condition. I placed my hands on his chest. Within about fifteen seconds, his heart–which had been beating nearly out of his chest–slowed down. The man became calm. After about a minute, he kindly said that I didn’t have to touch him anymore. But I told him I’d rather keep touching him until the paramedics came, which they soon did.
It turns out that the stool the elder had been sitting on had snapped off at the base, which is what sent him flying.
I was so grateful to have been present for him that day.
Two years ago on a transcontinental flight, my then 19 year old son had a serious food allergy reaction with throat swelling and increasing respiratory distress caused by something he ate on the plane that we thought was safe for him. Two shots of epinephrine, a lot of benedryl, and consultations with a doctor on the ground where quickly put in place along with Reiki from me. Seven hours to go to get to Hongkong and no place to land quickly because we were flying over the Arctic at that point. I was terrified because I knew that epinephrine is meant just to be a rescue drug while going to a hospital for emergency care and that he could go down hill fast and maybe not even make it. I did Reiki on him for the remainder of the flight while also monitoring his respiration and pulse because he was so zonked out from the benedryl that he couldn’t stay awake. He and I believe that Reiki is what kept him from deteriorating further and helped him to stablize until we could get emergency care at the Hongkong Airport. For all of you who think you have to have it together when doing Reiki in a crisis situation, trust that it will help in some way even if you are feeling very anxious yourself. My constant prayer was, “Oh God, do not let my son see how afraid I am for him….” He is now a Second Degree Reiki Practitioner and has used Reiki to help himself get through less severe food allergy reactions while being driven to the hospital, and has even been able to avoid having to use epinephrine sometimes. He is severely allergic to mustard, which is not a common allergen and thus is typically not listed in ingredients so it takes a lot of work for him avoid exposures when eating out.
Deborah and Pamela, thank you so much for sharing these anecdotes. Reading what other practitioners have experienced can help us all to be confident how profoundly beneficial Reiki treatment can be.
Got me thinking. Amazing stories.
Thank you for taking a few minutes to explain this, I strongly about this as well as enjoy learning more on this article. If possible, while you obtain knowledge, would you let us updating your web site with extra detail? It is very valuable for me.
So happy you find this useful, Rick. I do my best to get good information circulated and I encourage you to use the link below the original post to sign up for the blog and ReikiUpdate to stay informed, and also to stop by the Reiki, Medicine and Self-Care facebook page.