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training for emergency situations which each and every one truly hopes he or she will never have to face.
But don’t mistake that hope for fear. These men and women are not supermen, and they will admit to being afraid. Given the situations they deal with, they’d be fools and worse not to be afraid. As one instructor told the group at a training session, “Fear is what keeps you alive.”
That wish that the training never be put to use comes from their deep love and compassion for their fellow men. It’s the same love and compassion that sends them running from a warm bed to the backboard of a fire truck at 3 a.m. in February when a neighbor’s wood stove catches fire, or from Sunday dinner with their family to another neighbor’s house to save a heart attack victim.
It’s also been my good fortune to see these men and women in good times as well — at a picnic held in appreciation of the EMS Council’s instructors, and at their annual dinner honoring the firefighter and squadsman of the year (who are nominated by their peers). They are a lot of fun to be with, and great jokers. They kid each other unmercifully.
They are quite a group, as diverse as any you will find. They are craftsmen, secretaries, doctors, lawyers, homemakers, students and retired people. They’re all shapes, sizes, colors, ages and come from all stations of life.
I’m proud to call them my friends. To me, at least, they’re also heroes.
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