Who Rescues The Rescuers?

I have a guest columnist this week.

My wife, Priscilla, has been a paramedic for over twenty years. She has seen way too many things in her career as many have in healthcare. Recently a colleague died and, without going into details, it was a shock to many who knew this person. In trying to find some sense in all this, Priscilla wrote something this week that I thought I would share.

Who Rescues The Rescuers

Who rescues the rescuers?

Maybe we can’t be saved.

Day in day out, shift by shift.

We answer the call.

Week after week until years, decades have passed.

Who rescues the rescuers?

The mundane, the horrific. Doesn’t matter.

We answer the call.

Patients, family members, bystanders…they love us or they hate us. Doesn’t matter.

We answer the call.

And the next. And the next.

People record everything we do and say now, hoping for what?

I don’t know. We’re just doing our job. To take care of people.

Who rescues the rescuers?

Staffing shortages. Supply shortages. Old, outdated equipment.

It doesn’t matter, we make it work. We answer the call.

We get assaulted. The judicial system lets us down. We do the call.

Who rescues the rescuers?

Why do we continue to do this? To do the call?

Because this is our calling.

But who rescues the rescuers?

I know what some might be thinking: “Well if you don’t like it, quit!” You missed the part that said “This is our calling.”

Now I don’t pretend to be an expert but, over the years, I have seen and heard of the things our first responders have to put up with and it ain’t pretty. And I’m not talking about the horrific crashes or the things people do to each other, I’m talking about the abuse they take just from people being ugly or lazy. And it’s true that everybody has a camera in their face nowadays. And why is that? “I’m filming you so if you mess anything up I’m gonna sue you!” Yeah let’s not put the camera down and maybe be useful, you go ahead because I’m sure your presence will determine if they really try or not. By the way, that’s also an invasion of privacy. Have you asked your unconscious mom if she WANTS to be filmed?

Much like many businesses nowadays they are dealing with staff shortages and supply chain issues. I’m not sure why we’re still dealing with supply issues three years after the pandemic but I guess we are. You may not want to know that ambulance that responds to your house has 200,000 miles on it and the brakes have been making noise for weeks but, hey, it still runs.

Some ambulance companies that used to be locally owned and cared about their communities are now owned by investment companies. And I hate to tell you but your grandmother’s health is not their first concern. “Did we make a profit last quarter? If not, why not? And don’t let it happen again!”

Do I have an issue with these investors taking over our local businesses? Well how did things work out for local radio or local newspapers?

So what’s the answer? I’m not going to pretend to know but, in my simplistic way, the word “decency” comes to mind. Why can’t we just be decent with each other and to each other? Not everyone is out to get you. Just because someone else tells you they had a bad experience doesn’t mean the same thing is going to automatically happen to you. You don’t even know if what the other person told you is true. It might just be their perception of how things went down.

And to corporate America… how about reinvesting some of those profits into your people? Give them what they need to do their job. I know your job is to make money for your investors and board of directors but how about having a little pride in what you’re doing? Wouldn’t it be better to be running a successful profitable company instead of just milking it for all you can get and then selling it off and moving on to another company you can trash? Maybe not. Maybe that’s why I never excelled in business. But if that’s what I would have to do to succeed…. I’ll just stay in my little corner of the world.

Next time you see a first responder whether it’s at the coffee shop or, God forbid, an emergency… maybe show a little appreciation. You have no idea what their last call was like or what they’re dealing with. Are there some bad apples? Of course. I think it’s that way with any job. However, for the most part, they are good people just answering their calling. Let them do what they do and park the attitude. Maybe even put the phone down.

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Did this sound familiar? I did write about this issue a few years ago.

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