To My EMS Partner
Start writing a post
Student Life

To My EMS Partner

Sometimes, you're all I have.

5158
To My EMS Partner
YouTube

To my fellow EMS providers: if you’ve ever walked into a station wondering if you were going to make it home, or crawled into a car thinking this might be your last call, this is for you. More importantly, this is also to the men and women who have lost their lives in the line of duty while upholding “first, do no harm."

To those not in EMS reading this: EMS providers take a sacred oath to protect and aid the public. Sometimes this asks more of us than we can pay. This is to those that gave it all.

To my partner,

“He’s pre-arrest, get back here!” “I need you to pull over, now!” “Start a medic assist, tell them to expedite!” “Get police here, now!” “Stay behind me.” “Medic down!” “I’ve got your six.” Who says these things? Through clenched teeth, static-filled radios, and pounding pulses, who has the courage to help the helpers? When I, an EMT, need help, who’s there? The answer: you are, my partner. I see your car when I walk in the station door. I ask how the kids are, when the wife’s due, and if your mom ever had that surgery she needed. I joke about you putting on a few pounds while I toss donuts on the table and think about lunch before I’ve even made coffee. I grab my coat, and yours, and I put it in the cramped, overloaded and overworked truck we call home. I put your coat the way you prefer it, on the floor, not on the seat, because it’s “harder to reach that way.” Why? Because I know you. We not only work together, but we talk, we kid, we cry, mourn, and question our calls together. You are my partner.

Sometimes you’re my partner-in-crime, sometimes you’re my frank wisdom. For 24 long, grueling, punishing hours, we will be together in this truck, thrown out into the dark and vile place we call our service area. Anything that can happen, will happen. And if Murphy’s Law is true, it will get a hell of a lot worse. At the end of the day, for this day, you are all I have. Through damp alleys, dark hallways, moldy structures, mangled cars, below-freezing waters, and bustling malls, we will work side by side. You are my partner.

We hold a line, sketched by an oath, “first, do no harm”. That line can not waiver, it cannot fail. For if it fails, if we fail, the consequences are permeant. That’s why I’ve got your back. That’s why I am your second set of eyes. That’s why I promise to protect you, at any cost. For 24 arduous hours, you are my dad/sister/brother/mother/loved one. You are my family. And as I put on my badge, and my stethoscope settles on my neck, I acknowledge that we are a team, and your family has trusted me with the privilege of making sure you make it home to them. So that you may see your daughter’s next birthday, watch your brother hit his career winning hit, hear your mother sing. You are my partner.

I promise to lift you up when you’re down, challenge you when you’re wrong, teach you when you do not understand, and to protect you from a world that wishes you harm. Call out, and I will be there. Together, and only as one, do we hold back death, disease, injury, and suffering from a public that neither cares nor acknowledges the sacrifices we make. Yet in the night, when the lights are flashing, the siren is wailing, the tones are dropping, and my heart is racing, you will be the most important thing to me. And when it all stops, when the lights fade, the sirens quiet, the last call drops and I carry you up marble steps with 5 others, I will be there. Because I am your partner. I can’t always succeed, and if I could change that, I would. If there was a way I could have known the scene wasn’t safe, that the car was leaking fuel, that your heart was being deprived of oxygen while you slept in the next room, I would have prevented them all. For you, I’d die because we hold the line. You are my partner.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

51159
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

32765
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

955878
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

180873
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments