| BEING A EMT IS SOMETHING I REALLY ENJOY, I'VE BEEN DOING IT OFF AND ON SINCE 1991 WHEN I BEGAN TAKING CLASSES AFTER BECOMING A MEMBER OF MY HOMETOWN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT....I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE 1ST DAY OF CLASS SITTING THERE LISTENING TO THE TEACHER DESCRIBE THINGS WE MAY ENCOUNTER, I SAT THERE THINKING "I JUST DON'T THINK I CAN DO THIS I HATE SEEING ANYONE IN PAIN; WILL I REMEMBER WHAT TO DO? AND KID'S I LOVE THEM WILL I BE ABLE TO HANDLE SEEING THEM CRYING AND WANTING TO COMFORT THEM AND DYING HOW WILL I HANDLE THAT WILL I BE ABLE TO KEEP IT TOGETHER TO DO AS I AM TRAINED?" WELL THAT WAS 9 YEARS AGO AND I HAVE TO SAY I MADE IT, BUT I WON'T LIE I DID AT MANY TIMES HAVE SECOND THOUGHT'S AND FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR I WAS OUT OF IT AND I MISSED IT.....I HEAR PEOPLE SAY "I RESPECT PEOPLE LIKE YOU" "MAN I COULD NEVER DO YOUR JOB" OR "HOW DO YOU HANDLE ALL THE BLOOD AND GUTS" WELL SURE THERE ARE SOME ROUGH TIMES, THINGS YOU WANNA FORGET, THING'S THAT GIVE YOU DREAMS FOR WEEKS BUT BEYOND THAT THERE IS THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING YOU HELPED SOMEONE, I DON'T FEEL THE JOB I DO REQUIRES ANYMORE RESPECT THEN THE TEACHER WHO TAUGHT ME IN THE BEGINNING, OR THE STRANGER ON THE STREET WHO CALLED 911 WHEN SOMEONE WAS IN TROUBLE, I FEEL WE WERE ALL PUT HERE TO MAKE SOME KIND OF MARK ON THIS EARTH, EVERYONE HOLDS A SPECIAL TALENT OR SKILL AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE'S IS THE MARK IM MAKING............. |
