I wish you knew...(written by one who dose) I wish you
could know what it is like to search a burning bedromm
for trapped children at 3 AM, 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
horr at 6 in the morning as i check her husband of 40
years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyways,
hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is to
late. But wanting his wife and family to know
everything possible was done to try to save his life.
I wish you knew the unique smell of burning
insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the
felling of intense heat through your turn out gear,
the sounds 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 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 call, What is wrong with the
patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the
caller 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, 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,
squad or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot
pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again
and again at the air 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
autombile."What if this was my daughter,sister,my
girlfrien or a friend? What were her parents reaction
going to be when they open 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 heatr to tell them that i
nearly did not come back from that last call. Iwish
you could know how it feels dispatching officers,
firefighters and EMT's out when we call for them and
our heart drops becuse 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 or
missed meals ,lost sleep and forgone social
activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes
have seen. I wish youcould know the brotherhood and
self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving
someone's property,or being able to be their in time
of crisis, or creating order from total chaos. I wish
youcould 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 at in his eyes
without tears of 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 realy means to
us!...I wish you could though. KEEP SEANDING THIS ON.
APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL EMS WORKERS,911
DISPACTHERS, 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,
THEN PRAY FOR THEM!!!!!