For those who are critical about us volunteers, I had this sent to me in an e-mail awhile back and thought it would provide a little insight to those who don't see what we do as VOLUNTEERS...while all of us may not have experienced every single item in this list, we have experienced MOST of them:
Just Another Day...
I delivered a baby on the ambulance stretcher.
I baptized a newborn whose life ended before it began.
I hugged a frightened child.
I was kissed by an intoxicated old man.
I held the hand of a teenage girl while she delivered a 3 pound baby.
I listened to the mournful squeak of a stretcher being wheeled to the morgue.
I gently stroked the fragile hand of a 102 year old woman.
I hesitated at the outreached hand of a 300 pound prisoner in handcuffs.
I trudged for ten hours in my boots.
I had a teenager vomit on those same boots.
I rubbed the feverish body of a 14-year old cancer patient.
I cradled the ice-cold hand of a child hit by a car.
I was referred to as "an angel of mercy".
I was called every four-letter word in the book.
I always see fear in people's eyes.
I never see joy or relief.I listened to a tormented voice pleading for the preservation of life.
I heard the threatening words of one bent on self destruction.
I spoke with a girl who was hoping she had the flu, not a pregnancy.
I see innocent people hurt by a drunk driver, and the drunk driver is never hurt.
I marveled at the genius of a cardiologist.
I saw a 12-year old boy who shot himself in the head, and the gun was still loaded at his feet.
I talked in circles with a schizophrenic person.
I was horrified at the battered body of a child whose parents were incapable of love.
I gazed at a horribly burned body.
I shuddered at a cold water drowning.
I see women beaten up by their spouses, but they never press charges.
I walk into houses and do CPR with family watching over my shoulder in tears.
I arrive at serious auto acidents, and the first words I heard are, "Am I going to die?"
I find out hours later they did die.
I listen to the repeated question "Why?" from a family devastated by death.
I search my soul for the answers to their question.
This is just another day in EMS.
A LOT TO TAKE IN ISN'T IT. And several of us volunteers go through this ALL THE TIME...so the real question at hand is how can a person possibly go through all this AND THEN SOME and stay sane, not break down in tears and continue to go on with their life, family and friends? I don't know, most of us make it and you should be glad that we do. It's definitely not for everyone.So why don't you take into consideration the amount of time, passion and heart a volunteer puts into what they do for STRANGERS!!!
I, I, I, I, I. There is no "I" in TEAM and that poem if you want to call it a poem is saying that one person is going through all of this when in reality Volunteer Firefighters/Emt's/Paramedic's all work as a team. I was a Volunteer F/F Paramedic for 12 years and I never did like that peom even then. Volunteer's and Paid both do great community service that most people would not want to do. You do see alot of horrible things, you also see alot of great things as well. Those 2 lines I highlighted are so far from the truth, because I have seen joy and relief, both in dying and living patients. Anyway, I pray that all the Volunteers stay safe, and I am glad they do what they do. As soon as I get enough free time I am going to Volunteer again. since everyone else is putting their 2cents in figured I would ad mine.
Let me know if you find out.
