On the Home Front

By Susie Jechow
Paramedic-EMS Education Coordinator, Val Verde, Texas

I received an e-mail from my 18 year-old son who is going to school in Europe and who (thinks he) knows everything. The e-mail was entitled ‘Preparations’ and in its text stated procedures I should be taking to protect myself from the swine flu pandemic. I smile, text him back, and replied that I was currently on shift at EMS with frontline exposure possibilities. I take necessary precautions and have, for the past 27 years, resisted AIDS, TB, Hep B, anthrax and the common as well other less common types of flu. He texts back: ‘U R so ignorant.’

Our service is located on the Rio Grande; Ciudad del Rio; i.e., City by the River. Last week, our Mexican sister-city Police Chief resigned amid the threats of violence against his officers. A nearby Mexican city’s chief was gunned down by the drug lords who want to control the area. And, just this week, the schools across the border are closed as the residents prepare for the increasing epidemic of swine flu. The effects of the happenings on one side of the river easily cross over to the other.

The disease outbreak and violence are nothing new to our EMS service. We routinely receive calls from the Port of Entry for various medical and traumatic complaints of persons who come for better healthcare. Our U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents call EMS for their apprehended illegal immigrants who fall ill but who may also be carrying a disease such as Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis.

We are front line on the home front. We respond to a population that, while not entirely indigenous, are prevalent and frequently, are our patients. This is our community: U.S. citizens, Mexican citizens, and illegal immigrants with nearly every third world country represented. The idea of tax-paying citizens, of insured, of funded patients is not so common.

The medics in the service where I am employed understand the increased risks of serving in an area in such proximity with another country where poverty is widespread, healthcare is antiquated and violence is ever increasing. We understand our role in self-protection, of detection, and of notification. We serve where we are designed to work … frontline … in the trenches … on the home front. Maybe, as my son stated, we are ignorant. I would like to think that we are committed, dedicated and enduring as servants of our area. Maybe someday, my son will understand the difference my fellow medics and I make in our community.