First Responders, An Eye Opener!! But Support!

[Rafter H BBQ]

Hey all, so first off I have always had respect for the first responders… at times I have been one until the REAL ones arrive.

My daughter decided to be an EMT… which she is still in the process… She eventually wants to be a Paramedic and maybe eventually a Life Flight Paramedic… she loves intensity and is very good at it.

So, I have played the dummy role… One that I play well BTW… been rolled… turned… twisted… as far as my ol redneck body can bend…

My daughter loved one her instructor, Hunter…he set time aside from his life to help and encourage my baby girl and I’ll always be more than appreciative!

Unfortunately, Hunter took his own life recently..

To say my Trysten was devastated would be an understatement…. My teenage daughter rushed into my arms for a hug… and I didn’t have words! Just hugged her!!

Hunter RIP…

A fundraiser was held today for his fam… And my Trysten was at the forefront!

Those folks see and have to deal with seeing absolute tragedies on a daily basis.

They are the ones running in… when everyone else is running out!

Please pray for them all and my Trys…. She is devastated, but being persevering and wanting to honor her friend and mentor.

Just a quick note, a lot of people don’t realize… Our first responders really need mental help along with friendships… The things they see…

Encouraging you all to reach out and make sure your locals are ok?! They sacrifice a lot!

I don’t want another Hunter tragedy!!

Maybe it’s a once a week/month.

Nic and I are getting more involved here locally.

Thanks all!

 

[mneeley490]

Wow. Words are hardly adequate. Next door neighbor, my dad's age, whom I knew all my life did the same about 40 years ago. It's still shocking to me to this day.

 

[pineywoods]

There is a high rate of burn out in those jobs mostly due to what they see and what they deal with. It takes a rare breed to be able to do the job long term. Some things seen are never erased from the brain and it's how a person deals with it that makes a big difference.
Tell your daughter good luck it's sometimes a boring job and sometimes a very intense job

 

[kilo charlie]

Be thankful that you were there to give your daughter that much needed hug... and it won't be the last one she will need if she sticks in the field.

She will have good days and bad days but as long as she's aware that she can come to you and others in a time of need, that will be a great bonus.

I spent 20 years as a firefighter and EMT and public safety diver and have been dispatching medical helicopters for 17. I've seen and done and lost more than I care to admit and have lost many comrades along the way. It's never easy, it never goes away and it shapes us in ways that cannot be explained.

My advice to you and your daughter is along with building her skills and knowledge is to build an equally strong support system. Remember that she will not be able to share everything or even put things into words, but that hug can go a LONG ways. Remind her that even in the darkest of times that her friends and family will be there for her.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Our first responders really need mental help along with friendships… The things they see…

Our grandson went through the fireman/emt training... At the head of his class... Went on his first ride along with EMT's... He was scard for life and needed a lot of counseling...

A car had come over a small humpback bridge and T-boned a bicyclist at 60 MPH crossing the highway on the back side of the bridge... Said they gave him a trash bag and shovel to go around and pick up body parts ...

He decided that wasn't for him...

 

[JckDanls 07]

Our other grandson actually became a firefighter/first responder after his pro baseball career..

He's west of knoxville

 

[realdocBBQ]

I spent 7 years as a paramedic. Decided I didn't want to be a 50-year old broken down medic with a bad back, bad knees, bad shoulders and staring down crappy retirement - I didn't work for a fire dept, which would have had reasonable retirement. Decided to move on.

Can get up to some crappy stuff. For a few years after I left, I still had nightmares. People ask me if I miss it. lol. No. I've done plenty more since, but no, I don't miss going into people's houses where I could feel the soles of my boots sticking to the floor, couldn't breathe through the smell of... whatever filth they lived in, etc.

The trauma, I could - and did - deal with. But the people sometimes are the worst. Had several good friends burn out hard and bad, had one close one who also took his own permanent way out.

Really bad thing was, he told me he was going to do it. And I didn't believe him. Like, I thought he was joking - you know, in medicine, and especially the emergency side of medicine, we tend to have a dark, sick, morbid, twisted sense of humor. So... bottom line, I didn't think he was serious, it was said in a joking kind of way, even though I knew he was going through some personal stuff at the time.

And he did it. That very night.

I'll never forgive myself for not hearing him... not really hearing him.

Sorry to hear about this, as always.

 

[Elf@shore]

Hey all, so first off I have always had respect for the first responders… at times I have been one until the REAL ones arrive.

My daughter decided to be an EMT… which she is still in the process… She eventually wants to be a Paramedic and maybe eventually a Life Flight Paramedic… she loves intensity and is very good at it.

So, I have played the dummy role… One that I play well BTW… been rolled… turned… twisted… as far as my ol redneck body can bend…

My daughter loved one her instructor, Hunter…he set time aside from his life to help and encourage my baby girl and I’ll always be more than appreciative!

Unfortunately, Hunter took his own life recently..

To say my Trysten was devastated would be an understatement…. My teenage daughter rushed into my arms for a hug… and I didn’t have words! Just hugged her!!

Hunter RIP…

A fundraiser was held today for his fam… And my Trysten was at the forefront!

Those folks see and have to deal with seeing absolute tragedies on a daily basis.

They are the ones running in… when everyone else is running out!

Please pray for them all and my Trys…. She is devastated, but being persevering and wanting to honor her friend and mentor.

Just a quick note, a lot of people don’t realize… Our first responders really need mental help along with friendships… The things they see…

Encouraging you all to reach out and make sure your locals are ok?! They sacrifice a lot!

I don’t want another Hunter tragedy!!

Maybe it’s a once a week/month.

Nic and I are getting more involved here locally.

Thanks all!

EMT/ Firefighter:
My daughter has been in this field since high school.

Lifeguard : Local community indoor pool and a beach condo pool.
Volunteer Firefighter: here in town, leading to EMT Rescue squad here also.
EMT: town near Philly here in NJ, Fulltime.
Beach Patrol Medic: 13 yrs +, Came up thru the ranks. Proud to say she is TOP DOG now! Runs the Medic Beach Patrol.
Firefighter: Looking for a fulltime position in some local towns as we speak. Passed the Exams: Waiting?

Yeah? She has seen alot of gruesome nasty stuff.
Pulling body from a swimming pool
Taking a person to meet up with an air lift as an EMT.
Many careless accidents locally.
Taking a DOA to the hospital.
I know I could not do it, especially repeatably giving her service undeniable ,time after time.
YES!? She is one of those special breeds that can handle.
I just ask her if she is OK? She is a very quiet person.
Could not be more proud of her!
Amen !

 

[babydocsmoke]

We could probably triple the mental heath providers and therapists in our country and still have need. Access is so thin and the stigma so bad that this is an unfortunately common occurrence even in less intense fields....and so so common for these front liners.

Have a good friend that was the religious leader of a fire captain that took his own life just a few months back. He was asked to accompany the police when they came to notify the family. He'll probably think back on that for the rest of his life. Just tragic.

Hugs for your daughter.

 

[Fueling Around]

Our son is full time Fireman / EMT and a Combat Medic in Army NG.
He is the medic on the fire squad. Most of their calls are medical in nature.
He called me after the first time he was point in a house fire and discovered the deceased. He wasn't distressed and the Chaplain had already stopped by the station to talk with him. Just needed to tell me, which I appreciated.

The fire that did freak him out involved a pot belly pig that was trapped in the dwelling. He said the screaming pig sounded as a human. Luckily they had a local vet that responded very quickly to euthanize the pig. Yeah he called me after that one , too.

His goal in the NG was to be a paramedic on the air flight. They never sent him to paramedic training, but send him to leadership training. He's now the senior NCO in his unit.

 

[Fueling Around]

@Rafter H BBQ and @realdocBBQ
I cannot express my heart felt sympathy. Earlier this year, I had a good friend take his life back in MN while we winter in FL.
Find QPR training. Question, Persuade, and Refer. QPR is a training protocol to recognize suicidal tendencies and try to prevent.
I know if is after the fact and may cause more initial pain to go through the program.
I went through the training about 3 years as part of a Veteran Support group called Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.
That is my pain. If I didn't to got FL would I have possibly stopped my friend's suicide.

We could probably triple the mental heath providers and therapists in our country and still have need.

We need more lay people that take QPR with most important clergy.

 

[pineywoods]

It also depends on whether your in the city or in the rural areas. City crashes aren't usually like highway speed crashes. After your first burned body you will never forget that smell. Decayed bodies with magots, decapitated people, people in pieces, dead babies, it usually takes a toll on most first responders however some people can process and deal with it and others have a hard time doing that.

 

[Elf@shore]

It also depends on whether your in the city or in the rural areas. City crashes aren't usually like highway speed crashes. After your first burned body you will never forget that smell. Decayed bodies with magots, decapitated people, people in pieces, dead babies, it usually takes a toll on most first responders however some people can process and deal with it and others have a hard time doing that.

City/ Rural EMT?

Unfortunately we have All of the above!
Nice laid back rural area, except for the summer months of tourism, we get the over flow from the islands.
Island cities: Are insane : ridiculous increase in population, yet Why can,t you do this ? They do it @ My home?
Lastly we are off the GSP, A thru way down the coast.
Yes? We respond to their needs!

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Thanks everyone for the replies… seems most of us are connected in some way with the First Responders! God Bless Them!!

 

[sandyut]

Sorry I am late to this thread Justin. I am praying for Trysten. She cant be vary old, Loss hits hard. Suicide hits hard. I lost a best friend to it when I was about 28. I went to therapy for a while to work my way back. I know your Trysten has your family to lean on. I pray her pain subsides and she find her way forwards.

First responders are special people, but it must be a lot to bear.

Peace to your family.