"I WISH YOU COULD"
I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his livelihood goes up in flames, or that family returning home, only too find their house and belongings damaged or lost for good.
I wish you could know what it is like too search a burning bedroom for trapped children, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen below you burns.
I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3a.m. As I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done too try too save his life.
I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I've become too familiar with.
I wish you could understand how it feels to go to work in the morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.
I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?" Or to an EMS call, "What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a gun?"
I wish you could be in the emergency room, as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying too save during the past 25 minutes. Who will never go on her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy" again.
I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get here!"
I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. "What if this was my sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?"
I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.
I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of "It will never happen to me"
I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.
I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.
I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, "Is Mommy okay?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him as they take him away in the ambulance. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with. Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us...
I wish you could though.
-author unknown-
EMS PRAYER
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An EMS
Prayer
As I perform
my duty Lord
Whatever be the
call,
Help to guide and keep me
safe
From dangers big and
small.
I want to serve
and do my best
No matter what the
scene,
I pledge to keep my skills
refined,
My judgement quick and
keen.
This calling to
give of my self
Most do not
understand,
But I stand ready all
the time
To help my fellow
man.
To have the
chance to help a child
Restore his
laugh with glee,
A word of thanks I
might not hear,
But knowing is
enough for
me.
The praise of
men is fine for some,
But I feel
truly blessed,
That you oh Lord
have chosen me
To serve in
EMS!
I'LL SHOW YOU A
VOLUNTEER
Show me a
person who spends endless hours in
training without pay,
And, I'll show
you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person where a cry for help brings
split-second dispatch,
And, I'll
show you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person who is devastated when lives
are lost or maimed,
And, I'll show
you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person who is graciously welcomed as
a next-door neighbor,
And, I'll
show you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person who takes ridicule more than
compliments,
And, I'll show you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person whose car is garaged with the
grille facing out,
And, I'll show you
a
volunteer.
Show me a
person who sacrifices homelife, TV...
even tender moments,
And, I'll
show you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person visibly moved at the strains of
our National Anthem,
And, I'll
show you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person who may be asked to give more
than just dedication,
And, I'll show
you a
volunteer.
Show me a
person who is asked to give more... and
more... and more,
And, I'll show
you a
volunteer.
--Author
Unknown