National EMS Week
A suicidal man who jumped from a bridge. An elderly couple trapped in their car down a ravine. A group of teenagers at the beach partying too hard and now have a friend with a broken leg. An elderly female battling cancer who can’t eat and her husband is worried about her. A teenager at the school with a seizure. A brain bleed. A child having an asthma attack at a friend’s house and no medication available. An Alzheimer’s patient who sneaks out in the middle of the night for a stroll in 400 acres of woods.
Think these happened last week on TV? These are actual calls our Jasper County Fire Rescue crews responded to recently. Our crews are often asked when we’re getting off or coming on duty. EMS is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our EMS crews, supported by our awesome volunteers are the ones who are answer the call for help; whether it be holding the hand of a Parkinson’s patient who is terrified, consoling the spouse as their love of 40+ years lays deceased on the sofa, or comforting a child as we care for their Mom who is in a diabetic coma.
Each call is met with calmness and a demeanor of comfort and confidence. With each 24-hour shift (and often more) that we spend away from our families, we serve our community with the care and professionalism that we would expect to be shown to our own families. When not on a call, our crews spend their time doing continuing education and community service projects. We travel hundreds of miles in a shift transporting patients to the higher level of care for their needs.
No one gets into public safety to get rich. It’s a calling and each one of us in this field knows the sacrifice our families and ourselves are making to answer the call for someone in need. But we love it, most of us can’t see ourselves doing anything but.
So, this week I want to salute and honor my co-workers as National EMS Week is here. I am honored to work alongside some of the most dedicated and hard-working professionals I have ever known. Almost everyone I work with also works *another* 24-shift Fire/EMS position with another department. That’s a guaranteed 48 hours away from their family, one day with their family, and then they repeat.
The emotional and physical toll is sometimes more than bearable. After five, 10, 20 years in this field, we have witnessed more human destruction, pain, and sickness than thought possible. Our EMS crews are not merely ambulance drivers.
Every one of our First Responders, from the EMR to the EMT to the Paramedic has endured countless hours of training, testing, and continuing training to be qualified to answer the call. They are consummate professionals.
While I hope that you never need us, I also want you to know that Jasper County as well-trained staff who drop what they’re doing to respond to your call. We are honored to support our county with public service though pubic safety.
Be diligent, be prepared, be safe Jasper.
