Stories From the Road: First Responder Stories

Send a text “ It was a really unique situation because this girl was actually carrying – as a surrogate – the baby for her sister who couldn’t have children, so this was like a super important pregnancy. It had to succeed .” - Chief Scott Twenty-five years. Fifty deliveries. Three weeks. Three new babies. Many first responders find that obstetric emergencies are more often studied in the classroom...

Send a text “You’re supposed to be the person that shows up and makes things better, and it’s pretty hard to make things better if you’re struggling yourself.” – Chief David First responders’ coping mechanisms are often instituted over years of service, with each call serving as another brick in the wall they build to divide the life-changing trauma they’ve witnessed from their ability to work the...

Send a text “It was a couple years at this point, where it’s really affecting me. I was in denial about PTSD, and I was like oh well, I was a marine, I was in combat in Afghanistan. Alright, this is basically, you know, combat in New Jersey.”   – Officer Jay Officer Jay had been on countless 911 calls, but something about this one felt different. Perhaps it was the lack of information available fr...

Send a text “ We had to climb over – there was all kinds of debris – we had to climb over what I thought was a desk, and then we came across that, it may have been a pallet full of building materials somewhere along the lines, and when a Coke machine went floating by, I knew it was kind of getting pretty serious .” – Firefighter Paul There are numerous places a firefighter might expect to use wate...

Send a text “ And it feels good because when I left the job, I really kinda lost my identity for a while, and I felt like I wasn’t able to help people.  And lately, especially, I’ve sort of gotten some of that back, where I’m giving back to the community I love so much.  I know these men and women who, you know, selflessly go out every day and sacrifice so much .” – Ret. Firefighter/EMT Keith Firs...

Send a text “I told her it wasn’t me, you know, it was me with a team, and that’s what always happens. And I think people need to realize that it’s not always about the guy or the girl [...] who may be at the head performing the intubation, or giving the medication, or the first person who shocked him. It’s the whole chain of what goes on from stem to stern, and when that all falls into place, man...

Send a text “ The most rewarding thing I found was, basically, it was always — it was just the little jobs.  It was the little old lady who was broken down in a car who was absolutely terrified. ” - Sgt. Harry While policies, organizational structures, and acronyms may differ from country to country, first responders around the world share many similarities, often united by their desire to help ot...

Send a text “So, we’re doing this debrief, and they’re like, ‘You know, no one wants to talk. Everyone either wants to go catch the bastard, or they’re still in shock.’  So, like alright, if no one wants to talk, you guys can go 10-8. I have no reason to keep you here.” – Officer Charles It’s stressful to contend with the public’s emergencies day in and day out, especially in a culture that can be...

Send a text “One of the things I’ve learned about PTSD, frankly I was angry at myself that I didn’t – that I didn’t recognize signs earlier.  But the only thing I knew about PTSD is that the military, first responders had it and I didn’t know what it looked like. ” – Kayla It’s one of the first things those who were in New York City always seem to remember about the morning of September 11, 2001:...

Send a text “What is it that makes a warrior a warrior? […] The warriors were different, and you don’t have to be a marine or a firefighter to be a warrior. You can be a single mom working two jobs just to help your kids. But it’s this concept of ‘adversity helps you grow.’ Iron sharpens iron.” – Lieutenant Zachary First responders are inherent problem solvers, and it’s a skill Zachary has impleme...

Send a text “It draws you in. There’s no other way to explain it – if you’re not an EMS or a first responder, fire, police whatever – it all just draws you in.” – Paramedic Alexis  What if you didn’t choose your job? What if it chose you ? Alexis wasn’t privy to a lot about what her father dealt with during his 26-year career as a police officer, and what she did know only solidified her belief: s...

Send a text “I can remember when he said, ‘Turn the machine off,’ things got really bad for me about that time, because I’ve always had a fantastic relationship with our fire department. In fact, I would say they’re the best in the nation. I wouldn’t want anybody else touching me except for them. But when that decision was made, I was not good with that decision.  I said, ‘You’re not turning it of...

Send a text “That’s kind of a surreal thing to go through this huge, traumatic event, and then you have to go back to work and write stop sign tickets or something.” – Officer Nate As a newer police officer working day shift in an understaffed Northern Virginia department, Nate quickly became accustomed to the countless routine calls involving car break-ins, thefts, and welfare checks. That change...

Send a text "You really have to get in with a patient because the biggest thing about EMS is: when you take somebody to the hospital, you’re on their ground.  It’s a white wall, white coats, they have control — EMS, I come into your home, you’re in control." - Paramedic Lieutenant Anthony Sometimes, a few words are all it takes to change someone's life.  Whether it's speaking t...

Send a text “Until you step into a fire engine, until you step into a police cruiser, until you step onto an ambulance, it’s really, really, hard to truly understand what it is that we experience on a relatively regular basis.” – Firefighter Don On Memorial Day 2011, a mother frantically called 911 to report that her son was attempting to commit suicide. In his early 50s and unable to swim, he was...

Send a text “ This one, everybody was gripped, everybody was listening, nobody really knew what to do, who to call, what to say.  I mean, you don’t train for that because you don’t know that’s gonna happen — like you don’t prepare for stuff like that. ” – Lieutenant Drew “ It was a room full of zombies .” When a happy-go-lucky, well-liked sheriff’s deputy announced across a main radio channel at a...

Send a text “You know, most firefighters will tell you they love their job, or they have the job of their dreams — you hear stuff like that a lot. It’s still a job that can jump out of its box pretty quick and harm you.” - Chief Matt First responders don’t always know what will make them relive a particular call. It might be driving down a certain road, the smell of burnt rubber and overheated bra...

Send a text “Intense, insane, nonjudgmental love is really – it wasn’t the seven dollars – it was the love. And that’s what’s gonna heal the planet. It’s what’s gonna heal all of us from the inside out is deeply, madly loving each other, and this story is a perfect example of why that’s the best medicine of all time.” – Paramedic Crew Chief Jeanah “Do you remember me?” Jeanah was standing outside...

Send a text “I don’t care if it rains, I don’t care if it’s hot, I don’t care if it’s cold. It does not matter. I will push myself for that because I guarantee any person – 9/11 till today – who lost their life in the line of duty will give an hour, a minute, a second, to be on that ride.” – Lieutenant Tom Four days. 280 miles. Commitment. Compassion. Endurance. When the towers fell in 2001, NYPD...

Send a text “Everyone was working together at this point to free my cousin. You see a lot of animosity in some local volunteer fire departments – you know, some small-town issues and things like that. But at this moment, everyone was working for one common cause. I like to say it wasn’t even a vehicle extrication at this point, it was a disentanglement.” – Chief Watson “Could it be someone I know?...

Send a text “I try to get a little more feedback – especially for the younger folk – to show them that what they do is worth it. ‘Cause a lot of times we show up and you’re just like, 'I don’t even know if I made a difference – does this matter?' And a lot of times, it matters a lot.” – Chief Scott “Does this matter?” First responders don’t always have the opportunity to know how their w...

Send a text “I got cleaned up, and I’m like I still have a job to do. And that’s the crazy thing about EMS, is the next patient that you get doesn’t care what you just did.  They don’t understand what you just did, they don’t understand that you’re upset, and they don’t understand that you are trying to process what you’ve just gone through.  All they know is they called you for help, and they wan...

Send a text “Coming together to fight this whole, like, “we eat our young” concept, and […] to support trainees that are coming in – even though they are a lot different than the folks who have been doing it for 20 years – you know instead of trying to beat them down. All of these things are small but are gonna have huge results if we keep going with it.” -Sara Weston It was the desire to make a d...

Send a text “Years later, the fellow I was telling you about that I actually knew personally reached out to me, because he had gotten word that I had responded in and helped out at the scene. To be fair, I helped extricate, I took some vital signs – you know this was a giant team effort.” – Advanced EMT Sean It’s important for first responders to have an outlet outside of their job that allows the...

Send a text “It was fortunate for both of us – as a department and for me personally – because if I would’ve pulled up with just 500 gallons of water and a 500-gallon pump, and one single 2½” supply line on the only hydrant that was available, we probably would’ve burned that building down.” – Chief Bob In the heat of the moment, it’s critical that those in the fire service make sound, strategic d...