"I Wish You Could See"

I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his
livelihood goes up in flames, or that family returning home,
only too find their house and belongings damaged or lost for good.

I wish you could know what it is like too search a burning
bedroom for trapped children, 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 3 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 too try too 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 understand how it feels to go to work in the
morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking
wet at a multiple alarm fire.

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 an EMS 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 too 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
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 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 feel the hurt as people orally, 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 rescue breathing done on him as they take him away
in the ambulance. 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.

author unknown-

PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND KEEP SENDING IT ON.
APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS ,
POLICE OFFICERS & EMS WORKERS IN YOUR AREA. ONE DAY THEY'LL
PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR PROPERTY OR YOUR OWN LIFE.