Being an EMT does not
necessarily give someone any discerning qualities about death and dying, but
exposes one to it in much greater frequency and intimacy, and in many ways the
experience of trying to delay the inevitable fate we all share. Witnessing
death in the common places of one's life; their car, bedroom, farm yard,
church, at weddings or social gatherings demonstrates how unavoidable death is
to each and everyone one of us.
Death can be painful,
painless, comforting, agonizing, and in many cases an unwelcome surprise.
Sometimes we can delay it, but we can never conquer it.
What is really difficult to
comprehend is how quickly life can change. The change is a stark and often a
harsh reality not to the person who has died, but to the people that are left
behind. The faces of family and friends in shock, denial, anger, and
overwhelming grief is often what keeps responders up at night. We are trained
to handle the emergency. We are ill equipped to handle the emotions of the
greater loss that follows.
If you give your time and
talents to an ambulance service, it will not take long to see devastating loss.
It is common in all services. It is especially difficult in small rural America
where we are part of the same community. Everyone knows everyone and many are
also related; small communities with tightly bound connections.
This past spring, we were
dispatched to the scene of vaguely detailed motor vehicle accident. "On
Star" had made the call to 911 for a motor vehicle with airbag deployment.
We knew nothing about what we would find. Our location was a typical county
road, blind intersection where the corner meets between a corn field and a cow
pasture. The road from the south slopes at a considerable angle preventing the
clear view of traffic from the other direction.
Two vehicles met each other
at this corner going highway speed, each going a different direction too busy
to slow down, with things to do and places to be. The drivers never saw each
other, no skid marks, no swerving, just sudden impact. Two people walked away, one did not. She was
a mother with three young boys, hometown kid herself raised in our sleepy
little farming community.
These are the calls that
weigh heavy on ambulance services. It alters a family, a squad, and a
community. But like always, time does not halt. It presses on. With time there
is hope and healing. I have been asked on several occasions, why do you serve
in such a heart wrenching role....My only answer is because it is important,
not only to the people that are sick, hurt, or scared, but it is also important
to me. It is one small way to give back or maybe to pay it forward.
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