I received a notice in the mail recently, which led to a long and touching series of memories.
My license to practice as an EMT in Maine has expired. I was expecting this, but it still evoked many emotions.
Obtaining this license was one of the first things I did when I moved back to Maine 20 years ago. After several career moves and relocations, I had decided that it was time to settle down somewhere in my home state and, more importantly, to become a real part of a community. Volunteering for Gray Fire-Rescue was one of the first choices I made.
I work as an engineer in my day job. By nature, I am drawn to fixing things. I am driven to try to make everything I see better. Emergency medicine, then, was a natural. Over time, I obtained an advanced license, learning the skills to start IVs and interpret electrocardiograms, while remaining as a volunteer.
Some people are attracted to the fire and emergency medical services because it is a family tradition. Others are in it for the adrenaline, or for the comradeship. Some pursue it as a noble career. I chose EMT because I felt an obligation to offer service to my community.
I have far too many memories to share in a short essay. Out of respect for both the living and the dead, I will avoid details.
I was prepared for much of it. I was a little more comfortable with natural events like heart attacks than I was with the unnatural kind such as vehicle crashes. On the other hand, I was distressed by the degree of drug abuse and violence even in a small Maine town. And I was genuinely surprised by the number of cases of fingers and toes meeting up with rotating blades by careless operators of powerful equipment.
I think today’s society may be breeding incautious attitudes, with a belief that rescue is always possible. That’s how people end up doing stupid and dangerous things, like wandering in the deep woods with only a cell phone.
Of course, I also remember facing the newborn, the living, the dying, the dead and the grieving. The most difficult cases still hold the strongest images: often wishing I could do more but always doing my best. From the respect, gratitude and even occasional admiration of the townspeople I have known, I realize that the work of the emergency services is appreciated universally. The town is generous toward fire-rescue because it is truly helpful.
I remember the early years of nervousness, excitement, and easy collegiality. I remember officers and teachers helping me along the way, with patience, encouragement, guidance and recognition. In retrospect, I understand how discerning they were about my abilities and my potential. For example, they wanted me in the back of the ambulance with patients while they put the better drivers up front. They seemed to know what was best for both the patients and for me.
There were many long and busy nights, since emergencies are generally unpredictable. In preparation for those calls, I needed to invent a new way of thinking: Eat when you can. Sleep when you can. Pee when you can.
My only regret was never receiving a stork pin. Generally, one wants to time a birth to be at home or the hospital, not in between. But I took many happy, nearly-moms directly to the labor and delivery department.
People offer EMTs, like doctors, an extraordinary degree of trust. As a responder, you enter people’s homes without much in the way of notice. After all, you are not seeing people at their best. You treat people of all sizes, shapes and levels of consciousness.
An ambulance is an intimate and frightening environment. Yet both you and the patient quickly come to realize that an EMT is helping someone through a time when they feel most helpless. Unlike so many other acts in life, in emergency medicine you know you are really making a difference, even if only for a short time.
An ambulance is host to acts of kindness, of mercy, of compassion, of healing, of support, of prayer, and even of laughter.
After 12 years of active rescue work, I moved into other areas of service to the community, such as elected office. But I will probably never again find myself helping people more directly than during my time with fire-rescue.
Service to others is very good for the soul.
One does not need to be an EMT to help one’s neighbors in need. There are uncountable opportunities in every town.
Local charities want volunteers, not just donations. There are town functions, such as the schools, the library, or municipal committees that need involvement from the community. There are civic and service organizations, such as the Gray Food Pantry. And if you discover that service to others is part of your personal spiritual journey, there are churches doing good works who welcome visitors and seekers.
Surely, everyone has something to give to make the world a little better place. Find your way.
Mark D. Grover is a resident of Gray. Comments can be sent to jbalentine@keepmecurrent.com or to feedback@markdgrover.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
