Topic: Hug your local emergency workers

[medic09]

Air Evac lost a flight medical crew while assisting in a search for a lost hunter in Alabama.  Another flight medical crew went down in Alaska a couple of weeks ago while bringing a patient to hospital.  Our profession has way too much of this, and I am deeply sorrowed.  You'd think at my age and experience, I'd be 'used to it'.  I'm not, and I hope I never will be.

Next time you pass your local emergency folks, underpaid, undercompensated, taken for granted - stop in and say thanks.  Next time you hear they are asking for a raise or benefits or legal protections, petition your representatives on their behalf.  Part of why we feel so safe in our daily lives is that in the back of our minds we know they are there if/when we need them.  Sometimes, though, they pay big prices for what they do for us all.

Sorry, guys.  Just had to vent a moment. 

[Honda?]

I have a ton of respect for those in the sky because they risk their lives every time they leave the ground.(I'm not much for flying)

In my case I'm not in situations as dangerous as them but I still have risky calls like MVA's.(slow the F down when you pass an accident scene) For the most part everybody working in the emergency service field is taken for granted.

[DarkRider]

I will have to agree with this remark about all emergancy personal being taken for granted. I had a few close calls when i was a firefighter and when we had an MVA to respond to i was usually one of the ones doing the flagging so im standing there on the high way hoping to god the idiots that are in these rolling tanks of steel see the fact im telling them to slow the hell down.

[BobbyR]

After what we saw here in NY during 9/11 I think we all gained a new respect for all first responders.

[CrisPDuk]

A good few of my friends are in the emergency services (mainly firefighters, along with a couple of paramedics), the rest of us ensure that they are never in any doubt about how much respect we have for them and their kind