Thank you Thursday – first responders ensuring peace and joy

THANK YOU TO. THE FIRST RESPONDERS—THE GUARDIANXZ OF PEACE AND JOY

Question: Would you rather be sitting by  a campfire singing along with. A sweet guitar?—OR—running into the toxic smoke of burning foam rubber with parts of a wall falling  into your path?

Oh or would you rather be stretching your legs at a scenic rest stop where the leaves are  yellow, orange, and crimson—OR—Racing  to  the scene where.two cars found the same space at the same time and  there is glass ad crimson liquid that needs to be moved so that you can scoop someone’s legs out of a car and safely, but quickly get them ready for transport?  

Well and maybe you’d like to be. On a dark country highway, witness  someone breaking the law, and have no one to  call just then?  

If you  want to be a person running into the fire, racing to the crash, or standing alone to check suspicious behavior raise your hand..... oh you pass?  I see.  

Well the thing  is...I want to say thanks  to those people who have the  intelligence, caring, and courage to raise their hand, get  well-trained, and do the job of protecting my opportunities to have peace and joy.  

I could  write a book on how important  these people are—hell I could write3. A library.  You see I. Know some of these people. Pretty well and one of them is my daughter and most of her close friends as well.  Oh and her husband to be.  What they do keeps people alive and allows. These people to keep living a life that can  include peace and joy.  It holds families together for one more. thanksgiving or birthday and that’s just th  tip of the virtual iceberg.  

Let me throw some “first responder facts” at you.  You see 1.25 million people die from heart attacks each year.  SZtatistics. Tell us that 70% of these people are gone before  they reach the hospital, but how many are gone when the first responders get there?  The data isn’t out there.  One thing is for sure the first responders (mostly paramedics) who keep that number from being.100% are highly trained people who fight to save your life and get you to the hospital because you have a  better chance of becoming stable and survival.  Therefore the next time you hear a siren get your car pulled over and out of the way.  I guarantee that your trip to get Starbucks or an Egg McMuffin isn’t as important  as the cargo  these people are going to pick up or deliver.  a lot of folks go the extra mile for  friends and neighbors they like...these people go the extra mile for the people they like and ALL THE REST  too.  Most if not all first responders. Now how to do  all of the following:

Keep you from bleeding to death

Treat  you for heart attack and strokes

 Make sure you don’t die from a snake bite—no you aren’t supposed to suck. On the bite to  get the poison out as  the poison has a high likelihood of being absorbed under your tongue so you can watch.each other go into. Shock and die just for fun.  

These. People. Can do initial burn treatment which  does not mean  putting  butter on the burn.  That  increases your chance for infection from an outside source and  unless you are planning on applying a popcorn or dinner role bandage, well skipping the butter. Is probably a good idea.  They can tell you that  leaning. Your head back to stop a bloody nose doesn’t  really help, in fact it can send blood down the back of your throat into your  stomach.  In turn that can induce  vomiting and so you’ll be cleaning up bloody puke.  How does that sound? Fun?  Try  putting  your head forward and  pinching. Your nose around the nostrils for about 10 minutes and if  the bleeding hasn’t stopped by then call a first responder.

In addition to the  things  these  people do to keep you alive, they have other things to teach us that give me a. Sense of peace and joy.  These people work and train as teams.  They  protect each other like  bands of brothers (and thankfully mor..sisters).  They are fiercely loyal to their mission and you won’t hear them saying “it’s not my job.”  They may not be  on call or doing a shift, but they. Are always aware of your  safety—much like people who  fight for disability access never see the toilet the same, these people scan the situation and minimize risks for everyone when.possible.  

Okay, I could go on and on and already  have...but my. Point here is this... seeking peace and joy takes courage and  making change in the face of fear sometimes.  These people say “hey I’ve. Got your fear (and some of your stupidity) covered today”. For that. I say Salute—-Thank You and may whatever positive force exists out there protect you as you protect us.