Wish you could know

**fireguy919** · 10-24-2005, 08:46 AM

I do not know who wrote this but I thought it was cool.

"I Wish You Could Know"
>
>I wish you could know what it is like to search a
>burning bedroom for trapped children at 3 AM, flames rolling above
your
>head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging
under
>your weight as the kitchen below you burns. I wish you could
comprehend a
> wife's horror at 6 in
>the morning as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find
none.
>I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it
is
>too
>late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible
was
>done to
>try to save his life. I wish you knew the unique smell of burning
>insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense
heat
>through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the
eeriness of
>being able to
>see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I've become too
>familiar with. I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a
>building fire "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the
>building
>constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?" Or to
call,
>"What
>is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life threatening?
>
>Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting
>for us with a 2x4 or a gun?" I wish you could be in the emergency
room,
>as a doctor pronounces dead. The beautiful five-year old girl that I
have
>been trying to save during the Past 25 minutes. Who will never go on
>her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy" again. I wish
you
>could know the frustration I feel in the
>cab of the engine, squad, or my personal vehicle, the driver with his
>foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again
at
>the air
>horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection
or in
>traffic. When you need us however, your first comment upon our
arrival
>will
>be, "It took you forever to get here!" I wish you could know my
thoughts
>as I help
>extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile.
>"What if
>this was my daughter, sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were
her
>parents
>reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police
officer
>with
>hat in hand?" I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the
>back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to
tell
>them that
>I nearly did not come back from the last call. I wish you could
know how
>it feels dispatching
>officers, firefighters and EMT's out and when we call for them and
our
>heart
>drops because no one answers back or to here a bone chilling 911 call
of a
>child
>or wife needing assistance. I wish you could feel the hurt as people
>verbally
>and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they
>express
>their attitudes of "It will never happen to me. I wish you could
realize
>the physical, emotional
>and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social
>activities, in
>addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen. I wish you could know
the
>brotherhood and
>self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's
property,
>or being
>able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total
chaos. I
>wish you could understand what it feels like to
>have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, "Is Mommy okay?"
>Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own
and
>not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend
who
>watches his buddy having CPR done on him as they take him away in the
>Medic
>Unit. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A
sensation
>that I have become too familiar with.
> Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you
>will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what
>our job really means to us, I wish you could though.
>
>KEEP SENDING THIS ON. APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE
>LOCAL EMS WORKERS, 911 DISPATCHERS, FIREFIGHTERS, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
>OFFICERS IN YOUR AREA. ONE DAY THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR
PROPERTY
>OR
>YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU SEE THEM COMING WITH LIGHTS FLASHING, MOVE
OUT OF
>THE WAY QUICKLY, AND THEN PRAY FOR THEM!