Our Best On Your Worst Day

So I been out a while and haven't posted in quite a bit. I had taken some time to reflect on why I was starting this blog. I have always been a fan of writing, and at times even seemed to be pretty good at it. I want to share with my friends and loved ones that aren't in the medical field what it's like for us as Paramedics on the street. We face a lot of heart ache, and meet many people in hard times. Each call presents unique challenges, and every call takes a small piece of us with it. When I took this bit of time off, I thought about this blog a lot and wondered if I would continue it. I wondered if people would read it, and if they would enjoy it or understand. I have many strong feelings about what I do as a Paramedic, and granted the dynamic of our industry has changed a lot over the 16 years I have been doing this. The dynamic has changed but the basic principle of what we do has never changed since the beginning.

When I think of what I want to share with you the readers; I want you to be able to look inside our world, without taking the scars with you. I want you to know that when you look at that smiling paramedic in line at the Tim Horton's, they may have just finished performing CPR on someone that didn't survive even after all of their efforts. This weighs heavy on medics at any level. The break I took was interrupted recently when I signed up for a Facebook page called simply Ambulance Drivers and was suddenly inspired. Reading their page and watching their videos got me searching and thinking about Paramedicine from a whole new angle. When I first began in this industry I was passionate, and wanted to help everyone. As time went on, I left a piece of myself with every bad call, and I know that every medic does this. You can't leave a bad call unaffected. It is simply not possible. I thought about this and have turned things around for myself and gotten back to the basics. I am here to help sick people.

Every one of us every day puts on our uniforms and we come to work. Every day, of every tour, of every month of every year paramedics are there when you need us. You don't have to think, or wonder. You know that when you dial 911 paramedics will show up at your door. You will put your world on our shoulders and we will always do our best, on your worst day. We are a different type of person. We are no better than anyone else, we are not stronger than anyone else, but we have a passion to help people and we will never give up on someone.

When I took this break, I wanted to ensure that this blog would be about something. I didn't want to write just to write. I want people that don't do what we do to understand our world. I want people that love us to know that sometimes when we are quiet or distant it's not personal. I want our families to know that we chose this, and that what we do means something to us, even when sometimes it seems like we complain about what we do. I don't want to just ramble, I want you, the reader, to be able to take something from each post and gain a bit of understanding about our world. I also want those of you that are in the industry to know that as a colleague I appreciate each of you, and I want you to reflect on the reasons you began this journey to be a paramedic or an EMT. The passion to help people is what drove most of us into this industry, not fully knowing that each bad call will take it's toll on us, physically, and emotionally.

I am hoping that this will be the beginning of a steady stream of writing about what we do, and why we do it. I will even offer advice sometimes. I want to call this blog an extension of what I am as a paramedic. I do hope you enjoy the read, and the video below! It's the video I stole the line from for the title above. Remember when you call 911, we will always be there to do our best on your worst day!