We Wish You Could Know
NOTE: AS YOU READ THIS, WE HOPE THAT IT INSPIRES YOU TO APPRECIATE AND
SUPPORT THE LOCAL
ONE DAY THEY COULD VERY WELL BE SAVING YOUR PROPERTY
OR YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU SEE THEM COMING WITH LIGHTS FLASHING, PLEASE MOVE
OUT OF THE WAY QUICKLY; THEN PRAY FOR THEM.
We wish you could know what it is like to search a burning
bedroom for trapped children at
We wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in
the morning as we check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. We
start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late;
but wanting his wife and family to know that everything possible was done to
try to save his life.
We 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 we've become too familiar
with.
We wish you could read our minds as we respond to a
building fire: "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the
building constructed? What hazards await us? Is anyone trapped?"
Or to an emergency medical 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 2 X 4 or a gun?"
We wish you could be in the emergency room as a
doctor pronounces dead a beautiful five-year old girl that we 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.
We wish you could know the frustration we feel in the
cab of the engine, squad or our personal vehicle, the driver with his foot
pressing down hard on the pedal, the officer’s 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!"
We wish you could know our thoughts as we help
extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile.
"What if this was your daughter, your sister, your girlfriend or a friend?
What will her parents’ reaction be when they open the door to find a police
officer with hat in hand?"
We wish you could know how it feels to walk in the
back door and greet your parents and family, not having the heart to tell them
that you nearly did NOT come back from the last call.
We wish you could know how it feels to dispatch
police officers, firefighters, and EMT's and when we call for
them our heart drops because no one answers back; or to hear a bone chilling
911 call of a child or wife needing assistance.
We wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally,
and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what we do, or, as they express
their attitudes of "It will never happen to us."
We 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 our eyes have seen.
We wish you could know the brotherhood and
self-satisfaction of helping to save a life or preserving someone's property,
or being able to be there in a time of crisis, or helping to create order from
total chaos.
We 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 having tears in 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 we have become all too familiar with.
Unless you have lived this kind of life, you will
never truly understand or appreciate who we are or what our job really means to
us........We wish you could though.
Join your local Volunteer Fire Department or
Emergency Services Organization and help us save a life!