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A tear for a person I never knew
It's tough to dump so much effort into a stranger and have the end result come out the way it did and the way it does so many times. It's tough to watch the families in such crises and pain for their loved one, on our knees in the their living room, using everything in our bag of tricks, we know in the back of our minds what the outcome is going to be but we still try, we push that thought down and as futile of an effort as it may be...we still try, and it still hurts. I sit here today in my office, still exhausted from the long cold night before, with a hot cup of coffee and think if the lives I interacted with last night, last week, and last year and wonder how they are, who they are, and mostly if they still are. Your occasional kind words of praise and encouragement mean so much to me on days like today when I can't help but to shed a tear for a person I never knew.
Humbly,
Your Firefighter Son
Russ
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Comment by CJ on August 16, 2007 at 2:16am
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Russ,
I know what you mean. Many of us have been there and experienced those feelings and thoughts. I don't know if you're a religious man or what your beliefs are, but I believe that if we don't save that person then it was their time. Our bag of tricks can only do so much. So stay positive because there are some we can save, and it's such an awesome feeling when you do.
We had a patient whose wife brought him in saying he was having a heart attack. We worked him as best as we could and when we arrived to the hospital patient had a pulse, but the doctors were still not optimistic. A week later the wife came to the sation to thank us. She told us that because of our efforts her husband lived another six days and was consious and oriented enough one of those days that he could see his children and grandchildren one last time and say good bye. Though we were not able to save the patient, his wife was so grateful to us for those six days.
It's things like that, that make what we see and what we experience worth it.
Hope you get to experience many of these uplifting moments.
Good luck and stay safe!
CJ
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Comment by Erin Blackman on August 15, 2007 at 10:18pm
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Russ - thank you for being an Everyday Hero. People don't realize how much firefighters care about and hurt over the people that they help. You may lose one every now and then, but you DO still HELP... you help the loved ones of that person, because you're giving every ounce of yourself to save them. They know you tried and I'm sure that they are grateful for it.
Be well & stay safe.
Erin
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