Life

 As I have said before, I have been in EMS for over 21 years. You could describe our job in several words and one of the first ones would be stressful. What we do can go from zero to a hundred in mere seconds. I can assure you that the EMS profession is not the only profession that way. When I was a helicopter mechanic, flight mechanic, and technical inspector, that was stressful. My dad was an air traffic controller, which is a stressful career as well. 


In the past couple of shifts, I have had and seen people under stress. Transporting someone who is apparently having a heart attack and they tell you what is going on in their lives. To listen to someone ask you if they are going to make it to the hospital will really make you think. You reassure them as best as you can, you answer all of the questions that you can and just listen. They will tell you that if they get through this emergency they are going to make some changes. Unfortunately, we don't normally get to follow up with the people that we transport. I have gone back to people's residences to talk to them, and most of the time it is a wonderful experience. The patient that I had today, I will make an effort to follow up with him. 


When I was a kid my dad worked at 2 of the busiest airports in the country. He started his career at Washington National Airport (now called Ronald Reagan), went on to be a supervisor in Roanoke Va and then moved us to Colorado to work at Stapleton International airport. When working in Washington he drove over 50 miles one way to work, worked crazy hours, and then drove the over 50 miles home. Dad did that for years. When we went to Roanoke, Dad was a supervisor and he loved what he was doing. He had a short drive to work and a great group of co-workers. This was right around the time of the controllers strike. I remember him talking to his people and warning them that they would lose their jobs if they went on strike. He saved many jobs, the ones that lost theirs didn't listen to Dad. When Dad worked at Stapleton there was a plane that crashed during a snowstorm. I don't remember if there was anyone killed, but I do remember the stress that my dad was under. He was investigated, went through trial, and while that was all going on he wasn't working. He was cleared of everything in the end but I can tell you that it probably took years off his life. That was a hard time for him. 


For my first 20 years in EMS I worked like a fool. I was the go-to guy, they needed someone to come in for a sick employee...I went in. They needed someone to work overtime...I was there. Needed someone to go out of town on a transport...I was there. I would leave my house for days at a time, I went from station to station. It took me 20 years to figure out that EMS would keep going without me there. There would be someone who would fill that vacancy. I finally realized that if I was gone there would be another one to fill my spot. There is a list of importance that you need to have in your life. First should be your Heavenly Father, second is your family, and then yourself. Lately, I have been thinking about all of the time that I have missed with my family over the years. I have been too tired to do things from work, or I have been at work and not able to make it to things. Work is work and work does not care about you. Work will always be there. 


I have written all this to say this...Take care of yourself, because nobody else will. Your job or whatever you spend your time doing will not care when you are gone. When your significant other wants to go somewhere or do something...GO. When work calls to ask if you can come in...say NO. Live life for you, for your family, and for the really important things. Don't be on the downhill side of life wishing that you had done things better. Do it now!


Note: After writing the above post a message went out looking for someone to cover for an employee that had a family emergency. I called and volunteered to stay...I ran virtually non-stop from 2000-0645. That was not what I was hoping that would happen. 

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