The People We Serve

By Kenneth L. Westby
EMT-P, Gadsden County, Fla.

Our jobs are often difficult and thankless; we wake up so many times in the middle of the night to deal with non-emergencies. Someone I deeply care about told me very early in my career, “People call you when they are scared and need help. You should be proud to go out to every ache and pain.”

You know what? It’s true and I am proud to respond every time the tones go off. I may gripe a little but sometimes the people we serve really are very scared. Maybe they just saw on the news a woman who died from a bump on the head, or an outbreak of salmonella and they became afraid about their own stomach ache.

It’s my job to help them obtain definitive care; they call us to make things better. There could not be a more noble or honorable profession. That is why we in EMS are proud partners within our communities; we are educators, friends, confidantes, healthcare professionals and occasionally a shoulder to cry on in sad times.

More than any other profession, we wear many hats and do many different things to try to make the places we live better, safer, healthier. We put the needs of others above our own to go out and help someone who is hurt, scared or confused. We often times put ourselves into direct conflict with others as we advocate for the best needs of the patient. We truly are servants of the public in our duties, roles and responsibilities.

Every morning we wake up and realize that work may hold a different challenge, a new scenario or an unfamiliar face. We embrace and help all people who come to us regardless of their age, sexual orientation, or beliefs. We do everything we can to make it better even if that one thing is driving very fast to the hospital.

It has never failed that every time in my career I begin to feel tired, drained or “burnt out,” someone will come up to the station and thank me, with a hug or a hand shake, for something I have done for them or a loved one. Yes, sometimes the money is not always what we wish it would be but in moments like those we truly receive our payout.

In those moments, EMS is recognized as being a part of the places we serve and call home. I saw a colleague once wearing a shirt that said “Police: The finest, Firefighters: The bravest, EMS: The forgotten” and in moments like that I couldn’t disagree more.