By Yonat Shimron
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Copyright 2006 The News and Observer
DURHAM, N.C. — Ralph Thompson was eating a sandwich at Chick-fil-A when the call came in on the radio: altered mental status, diabetic, low blood sugar.
He rushed to his car, grabbed the spiral bound Durham County map from the rear seat, and sped to the scene.
“Ralph, you want to hold this door?” shouted Corolla Lauck, the paramedic, who spotted him as she rolled the stretcher out of the EMS truck and onto the sidewalk.
“I love it when they put me to work,” said Thompson.
Every Thursday, Thompson has an emergency — ministering to firefighters and paramedics in Durham County. It’s not his main job. On other days he is the pastor of administration at Bethesda Baptist Church.
But this is Thompson’s passion, his calling, as religious folk put it. Thompson’s father was an assistant fire chief in the little town of Providence in Caswell County, and caring for emergency workers has been a family affair.
“Git in the truck, boy,” was one of his dad’s frequent orders, he says.
Five years ago, after the terrorist strikes of Sept. 11, Thompson felt compelled to minister to firefighters in a more intentional way.
“All of a sudden it came close to home,” he says. “Firefighters, EMS and police saw the importance of chaplaincy in a major catastrophe.”
Six months ago, Thompson added emergency medics to the list of people he offers support.
“They deal with life and death every day,” says Thompson. “It’s tough out there.”
Thompson doesn’t tell firefighters and medics what to believe. And though he carries a New Testament in his pocket, he doesn’t quote Scripture. Chaplaincy, he thinks, is about relationships. He wants to be a listening ear, a friend. Usually, that means chatting up emergency workers about mundane things such as sports, the weather, their kids.
Still, there’s nothing mundane about some of the issues paramedics are facing. On a Thursday last week, Thompson made a point of visiting with a paramedic whose daughter had just died, and inquiring about another who was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.
Gordon Smith, a paramedic who relocated from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, says Thompson paid him special attention to make sure he wasn’t experiencing any post-traumatic stress.
“He made sure I was OK in the head,” says Smith. “He’s easy to talk to and makes you feel at ease.”