For all Emergency Responders. (A must read)

[timrock]

written by a fire chief.

Police, Fire, Ems and their Dispatchers:


I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in the morning 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 to try and 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 read my mind as I respond to a call, Is this a false
alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What Hazards
await me? Is anyone trapped?". Or to call and ask 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 to save during
the past 25 minutes, knowing she will never go on her first date or say
the words, "I love you Mommy", ever again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the ambulance
or engine or cruiser, 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 daughter,
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
family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back
from the last call.

I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers, firefighters and
paramedics out and when we call for them and our heart drops because no
one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call of a child or wife
needing assistance.

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 of
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 sisterhood and the 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 my 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 CPR done on him as they take him away in the Medic Unit. 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.

KEEP SENDING THIS ON. APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL EMS PARAMEDICS, 911
DISPATCHERS, FIREFIGHTERS, and LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN YOUR AREA. ONE
DAY THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR PROPERTY OR YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU
SEE THEM COMING WITH LIGHTS FLASHING, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY QUICKLY, and
THEN PRAY FOR THEM.

 

[javaguru]

Nothing smells worse than diesel and burning flesh.

 

[Razorguns]

it's the toughest job bar none.

 

[jenscats5]

I have a friend who is a Ski Patroller/on-slope EMT and he helped me out with a friend who had fallen and hit her head pretty badly.....thank God he was there....

God Bless them all...

 

[EnderJE]

My friend's sister is a junior EMT. My friend has the best stories. The worst story is of one where her sis and the senior EMT go out on a call. The guy blew his head off with a shotgun. The rules stated that CPR must be performed unless the head is completely severed from the body. It wasn't. It was hanging by a thread of skin. She performed CPR (as the junior).

And then saw a therapist for the next few months.

 

[PBR]

written by a fire chief.

Police, Fire, Ems and their Dispatchers:


I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in the morning 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 to try and 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 read my mind as I respond to a call, Is this a false
alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What Hazards
await me? Is anyone trapped?". Or to call and ask 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 to save during
the past 25 minutes, knowing she will never go on her first date or say
the words, "I love you Mommy", ever again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the ambulance
or engine or cruiser, 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 daughter,
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
family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back
from the last call.

I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers, firefighters and
paramedics out and when we call for them and our heart drops because no
one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call of a child or wife
needing assistance.

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 of
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 sisterhood and the 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 my 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 CPR done on him as they take him away in the Medic Unit. 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.

KEEP SENDING THIS ON. APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL EMS PARAMEDICS, 911
DISPATCHERS, FIREFIGHTERS, and LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN YOUR AREA. ONE
DAY THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR PROPERTY OR YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU
SEE THEM COMING WITH LIGHTS FLASHING, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY QUICKLY, and
THEN PRAY FOR THEM.

WERD...

 

[chesty]

written by a fire chief.

Police, Fire, Ems and their Dispatchers:


I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in the morning 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 to try and 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 read my mind as I respond to a call, Is this a false
alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What Hazards
await me? Is anyone trapped?". Or to call and ask 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 to save during
the past 25 minutes, knowing she will never go on her first date or say
the words, "I love you Mommy", ever again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the ambulance
or engine or cruiser, 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 daughter,
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
family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back
from the last call.

I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers, firefighters and
paramedics out and when we call for them and our heart drops because no
one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call of a child or wife
needing assistance.

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 of
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 sisterhood and the 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 my 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 CPR done on him as they take him away in the Medic Unit. 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.

KEEP SENDING THIS ON. APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL EMS PARAMEDICS, 911
DISPATCHERS, FIREFIGHTERS, and LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN YOUR AREA. ONE
DAY THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR PROPERTY OR YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU
SEE THEM COMING WITH LIGHTS FLASHING, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY QUICKLY, and
THEN PRAY FOR THEM.

Been there done that, suicides, accidents, shootings, never fun...

 

[JonPee]

My friend's sister is a junior EMT. My friend has the best stories. The worst story is of one where her sis and the senior EMT go out on a call. The guy blew his head off with a shotgun. The rules stated that CPR must be performed unless the head is completely severed from the body. It wasn't. It was hanging by a thread of skin. She performed CPR (as the junior).

And then saw a therapist for the next few months.

Who's rule was that?

 

[javaguru]

it's the toughest job bar none.

I would take issue, just because at least they are trying to save lives. As a combat soldier you witness some horrible shit..that you or a buddy likely caused.