FLIRTIN's blog: "RESCUE"

EMT Prayer LORD, Grant me the wisdom so that I may treat those of your children that lay at my feet. Let my hands be gentle, sure and swift to impart to them your sacred gift. Let me see only a patient's need not their color, race or creed. Help me always to be my best even when it's on my hours rest. Grant me the insight to understand why patients of mine are going to die. Let me remember that when they do there is a wonderful life in Heaven with You. Lord, if in the time of duty I should fall help my family to hold their heads tall. For it was You who decided that I should be one of your chosen few, an EMT. -Author Unknown

want to tell you lies I want to tell that little boy his Mom will be just fine I want to tell that dad we got his daughter out in time I want to tell that wife her husband will be home tonight I don't want to tell it like it is, I want to tell them lies You didn't put their seat belts on, you feel you killed your kids I want to say you didn't ... but in a way, you did You pound your fists into my chest, you're hurting so inside I want to say you'll be OK, I want to tell you lies You left chemicals within his reach and now it's in his eyes I want to say your son will see, not tell you he'll be blind You ask me if he'll be OK, with pleading in your eyes I want to say that yes he will, I want to tell you lies I can see you're crying as your life goes up in smoke If you'd maintained that smoke alarm, your children may have woke Don't grab my arm and ask me if your family is alive Don't make me tell you they're all dead, I want to tell you lies I want to say she'll be OK, you didn't take her life I hear you say you love her and you'd never hurt your wife You thought you didn't drink too much, you thought that you could drive I don't want to say how wrong you were, I want to tell you lies You only left her for a moment, it happens all the time How could she have fell from there? You thought she couldn't climb I want to say her neck's not broke, that she will be just fine I don't want to say she's paralyzed, I want to tell you lies I want to tell this teen his buddies didn't die in vain Because he thought that it'd be cool to try to beat that train I don't want to tell him this will haunt him all his life I want to say that he'll forget, I want to tell him lies You left the cabinet open and your daughter found the gun Now you want me to undo the damage that's been done You tell me she's your only child, you say she's only five I don't want to say she won't see six, I want to tell you lies He fell into the pool when you just went to grab the phone It was only for a second that you left him there alone If you let the damn phone ring perhaps your boy would be alive But I don't want to tell you that, I want to tell you lies The fact that you were speeding caused that car to overturn And we couldn't get them out of there before the whole thing burned Did they suffer? Yes, they suffered, as they slowly burned alive But I don't want to say those words, I want to tell you lies But I have to tell it like it is, until my shift is through And then the real lies begin, when I come home to you, You ask me how my day was, and I say it was just fine I hope you understand, sometimes, I have to tell you lies Dedicated to all the Police Officers, Firefighters, EMTs, Paramedics, Emergency Flight Crews and all civil servants who deal with the tragedies of life and death. The saddest of all, being those that involve children, and could have been prevented. Wear your seat belts... Keep poisons, flammables, fireworks, etc. out of reach of children...Keep your smoke alarm in operating order, if you don't have one, get one...never, ever drive if you've been drinking ... never leave your toddler unattended...teens, be responsible drivers, obey all traffic lights, posted limits, warnings and signals at RR crossings ... keep your guns locked out of reach, buy a trigger guard.... Protect our children, they are our future... Am I preaching? Am I nagging? I guess I am just telling it like it is.... Or I could just tell you lies.

And Yet I Still Volunteer I try to save this child but he's met his fate. His innocent eyes are void of hate. He and his father weren't walking far When they were both struck down by a drunkard's car. This night I know I will not sleep. These terrible images my mind will keep. I know these nightmares linger near. And yet still I volunteer. Her eyes well up - compress the chest. Say a silent prayer - then two quick breaths. She's done this many times before, This fight for life kneeling on the floor. But this time it's her best friend's mom Whose lifeless body she is working on. This call like others will end in tears, And yet still she volunteers. From slumber woke by a siren's wail, He rushes out in bitter gale. While others sleep this stormy night, A raging blaze this man will fight. He bravely puts himself in danger, To save the home of a total stranger. Body cold and tired, he feels his years, And yet still he volunteers. We train, we test, we do our best. We give an awful lot of time, And don't get paid a single dime. 'Thanks' is a word we seldom hear, And yet still we volunteer.

I wish you could know what it is like to search a burning bedroom 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 husband's horror at 6 in the morning as I check his wife of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring her back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting her husband and family to know everything possible was done to try to save her 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 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 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, 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 unit 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 is 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 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 EMT's 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 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 CPR done on him as you 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. I Wish you could feel the hurt in our bodies when they do a final all tone to all trucks in a dept to anounce the loss of our own the loss of one of our brothers 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.

Sorry if we woke you in the middle of the night, But someone in your neighborhood is fighting for their life. Sorry if we block the road and make you turn around, But there's been a bad wreck with dying children on the ground. When you see us coming I hope you'll understand, Let us have the right of way someone needs our helping hand. Sometimes a child is choking sometimes a broken leg, Sometimes a heart stops beating and when we get there it's too late. So if you see us crying when we think we are alone, You'll know we had a bad one and we're feeling mighty down. We don't do it for the money you know we don't get paid, We don't do it for the glory but for life that might be saved. Somewhere deep within us our souls are crying out, We're here to help our neighbors in their hour of pain and doubt. God gave us something special to help us see you through, We do it because we love you and we care about you too........UNKNOWN