kjohnson55

I believe that no matter if they are rivals just becuase we wear different uniforms than other companies we all signed on to this job with the intent to help others. Stop being school kids and grow up people lives depend on your skills not the color of your uniform or the writing on the ambulance.

I was off duty at home when I had received a phone call from one of my supervisors asking if I could come in and help doing a stand by, and of course for anyone who loves there job as much a I do I told him give me 10 min and I will be there. Upon getting to the station I still did not know what kind of Stand By that I would be going on. I figured a Drug Raid, Fire Stand By, or even doing a PR event stand by. As I walked into the office my supervisor briefed myself and my partner on the Standy By. The first words out of his mouth was that we have a 4 year old little boy missing and was last seen in the water. MY HEART SANK. I was not expecting that kind of stand by. To make a long story short we had gotten to the scene at approx. 5pm. Mother had already been taken to the ER and released for hyperventilating. There was about 7 different agencies and a chopper in the air and 3 search dogs as well. The father of the son was kept a distance from the water were the boy was last seen. To make things worse dad had a medical history of DM, HTN, and a past MI. As I approached the dad to intoduced myself and to let him know that we were here if he needed anything to let us know. I also told him that I would be back to check on him. Thoughout the 5 hours of being there I had built up a relationship with the father. The hardest thing about this story is that the little boy that was missing had just been adopted and they were celebrating the signing of the papers and the new addition to their family. On that 5th hour of being there the worst had happened, the fire department had their men in wetsuits and they found the little boy approx 10 ft. from the shore. There was a drop of with a ledge and the little boy had went to far. Of course in being in this business I have seen countless dead bodies, and not to be harsh but it was just another body. At that point in time when we knew that we could not have done anything for the child my attention had turned to the father that I had been with for the last 5 hours. I could see the officer going to tell the father and I headed up the hill not knowing how he would react. Before I had gotten up there he had already been told and was on his knees throwing up and shaking uncontrollably. He was on his knees for about 1 min. and turned to me and told me "I HAVE TO TELL MY WIFE"- "I WANT HER TO HEAR IT FROM ME AND NO ONE ELSE". My partner was still with the child running a strip, and the dad took off towards the house unable to walk that well without my assistance. I radioed my partner and let him know he said OK and if I needed anything to let him know. We got about half way to the house and the dad stops and turns to me and asks "DID I KILL MY SON" - "AM I A BAD FATHER"- "WHAT DO I TELL MY WIFE" For the first time on the job I was speechless. Unable to imagine what he was going through I had no words to tell him. But it was as if he was not looking to me for the answers (it was very upsetting). We continued and reached the house the mother took one look and him and looked at me and started to scream. They held each other for what seemed to be a enterinty and what made it even worse is the mother had turned to me and asked me what her baby looked like. (once again I was speechless). This is one of the worse calls that I have been to unsure if it was just the time that I had spent getting to know the familys background, or if it was the questions that I could not answer. Just needed to get that off my chest thanks to all of the people who do this job day in and day out and wether it is holding an old ladies hands all the way to the Hospital cause she just wanted someone to talk to or those major MVAs. It takes special people to do what we do and from my self to all of you be proud of what you do and you are to often the HERO that never gets the recognition yall mean something in my books. Paragraphs added for ease of reading...AK

Sorry for you loss and keep your head held high. Its always hurts to loss someone in the EMS community. My prayers are with you and the family.