# Favorite Phrases / Pearls of Wisdom



## ffemt8978 (Jun 16, 2004)

Just wondering if anyone had any favorite phrases or sayings that they like.  I found this one a few years ago, and wanted to share it.

*PARAMEDICS

Sorry if we woke you in the
middle of the night,
But someone in your neighborhood
is fighting for his life.

Sorry if we block the road and
make you turn around, 
But there's been a bad wreck with
dying children on the ground.

When you see us coming
we hope you'll understand
Let us have the right-of-way ---
someone needs our helping hand...*

(Author Unknown)


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## SafetyPro2 (Jun 16, 2004)

I've always liked the Hawaiian term for an ambulance:

Ka'a Malama Ola - Car that Preserves Life

Also, the slogan of the Honolulu EMS:

'O Ka Mea Ma'i Ka Mua - The Patient Comes First

Probably my favorite quote of all time though, and my personal goal for how I live my life, is from John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church:

_   Do all the good you can, 
   by all the means you can, 
   in all the ways you can, 
   in all the places you can,
   at all the times you can,
   to all the people you can, 
   as long as ever you can._


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## ffemt8978 (Jun 16, 2004)

*When God Made EMT's and Paramedics*

When the Lord made EMT's and Paramedics, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."  And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order?"

"An EMT/Paramedic has to be able to carry an injured person up a wet, grassy hill in the dark; dodge stray bullets to reach a dying child unarmed; enter homes a health inspector wouldn't touch; and not wrinkle their uniform."

"He has to be able to lift three times his own weight; crawl into wrecked cars with barely enough room to move; and console a grieving mother as he is doing CPR on a baby he knows will never breath again."

"He has to be in top mental condition at all times; running on no sleep, black coffee, and half eaten meals.  And he has to have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."  "It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord.  "It's the three pairs of eyes and EMT/Paramedic has to have."  "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded.  "One pair that sees open sores as he's drawing blood and asks the patient if they may be HIV positive," (When he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting job.)

"Another pair here on the side of his head is for his partner's safety.  Another pair of eyes here in the front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say 'You'll be all right, ma'am' when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord," said the angel, touch his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk out from behind the steering wheel without incident and feed a family of five on a private service paycheck."

The angle circled the model of the paramedic very slowly.  "Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet," said the Lord.  "It can tell you the symptoms of 100 illnesses; recite drug calculations in its sleep; intubate, defibrillate, medicate, and continue CPR nonstop over terrain that any doctor would fear..and still it keeps its sense of humor."

"This EMT/Medic also has phenominal control.  He can deal with a multi-victim trauma; coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their door; comfort a murder victim's family; and then read in the daily paper how EMT's and Paramedics were unable to locate a house quickly enough, allowing the person to die.  A house which had no street signs, no house numbers, no phone to call back."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the EMT/Paramedic.

"There's a leak," she pronounced.  "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," said the Lord, "it's a tear."  "What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's for bottled-up emotions, for patients they tried in vain to save, for committment to hope that they will make a difference in a person's chance to survive, for life."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there."


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## ffemt8978 (Jun 21, 2004)

*ONE WHITE ROSE*


A call for help goes out at three,
Setting off pagers all over town.
Somewhere, an unknown 1050
And the dispatcher cannot calm down.

Rescuers leap out of their beds
Leaving with no backward glances.
They can only guess what's ahead
As they leave in fire trucks and ambulances.

The ambulance departs the station
As the dispatcher repeats the address.
"The injured require extrication,
And most of all ALS."

inside, they feel so empty,
Not knowing what awaits.
Also, unsettling urgency--
They're responsible for other's fates.

Dread reaches out icy claws
As they hear the latest news.
Officers are requesting the "jaws"
And even more backup crews.

Firefighters are also on the way--
Hearts racing, a touch of fear.
"Jaws of life, what's your ETA?"
Less than a minute, now they're here.

The police were first on the scene
Controlling and directing traffic
And updating the rest of the team
(Although the sight makes them sick.)

The scene is a wicked nightmare,
Broken glass and plastic litter the ground.
There's twisted metal everywhere
And the odor of ETOH all around.

The images are horrifying, grotesque
Lit by red and blue flashing lights.
Worse than anyone had guessed--
It will haunt them of many nights.

One young man, on his way home,
Didn't see the stop sign.
The mini van he T-boned
Couldn't move in time.

20 years old-too young to drink
He'd said he was sober-- it was a lie.
he left the party, his friends didn't think
That he'd be DUI.

Crushed and slumped against the wheel
Was the driver of the van.
Dead of injuries he didn't feel,
An innocent family man.

Crumpled against the passenger door
Lay his broken and battered wife,
Her cries faded and were no more
As she passed out of this life.

A scream echoes on the icy breeze
From out of a shallow grave
Despite the efforts of the EMT's
It will be a third life they cannot save.

Curled up in a heap
The child is discovered in the wreck.
He may have only been asleep--
Except for his broken neck.

The young driver staggers form his car,
Bleeding from a cut on his arm.
He watches the scene from afar
As he's suffered no major harm.

An officer sees him standing there
And gives him a breathalyzer test.
Ignoring the boy's glassy stare
Says; "Son your under arrest."

When hopes of survivors were almost gone
And it seemed pointless to try
They heard a sound that drove them on--
A weak and scared child's cry

She looked like a porcelain doll
With pale hair and a button nose.
Skin so white, body not hurt at all--
Like a lonely white rose.

They pulled her free and began care
Of this child of barely three.
Fortunately, she was unaware
That she'd lost her family.

Hours later, the street is clean--
All traces of tragedy gone.
Rescuers slowly depart the scene
But memories don't fade with dawn.

The boy is taken to jail,
Where he beats his fist against the tile.
His mother cannot afford his bail,
And so he'll remain until his trial.

His mother, with eyes downcast,
Had tried to leave but he'd caught her.
"What's wrong? What is it?" he'd asked.
She cried and said "Vehicular Manslaughter."

For 17 years, the man had cried
Consumed with guilt and sorrow.
At times, he wished he had died
So he wouldn't face another tomorrow.

At last, he was being released
From years and years of Hell.
The pain of the accident never ceased
And never would, he could tell.

As soon as he was out, he found the graves
Of the people he had killed.
Their deaths haunted all his days
And left a void that couldn't be filled.

He is laying flowers on the ground
Next to each headstone.
He hears a voice and spins around
And discovers he's not alone.

Behind him is the one he didn't kill.
He shares the anguish she knows.
Drawn her against his will,
He gives her One White Rose.


Author Unknown


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## ffemt8978 (Jun 21, 2004)

LIVES LOST 


As the pager tones sounded for that dreaded call, 
The adrenaline pumped, the fear wound up in a ball. 
"Two car MVA with injuries" the dispatcher confessed, 
My fears grew worse as I got dressed. 

At the station, everyone came, 
Firefighters, EMTs, off-duty policemen who were the same. 
They all knew it would be bad, 
We all prayed that for some family, tonight would not turn sad. 

At the scene, steam hissed, people bawled, 
We counted five people in all. 
Two adults and two kids in one car, one drunk in the other, 
Killed on impact were a father and a mother. 

We told the chief to come and see, 
The police were needed, so was the M.E. 
We covered the first two so the kids couldn't see, 
Their parents had ceased to be. 

The drunk driver had a mere scratch, 
The other injuries would be no match. 
A boy and a girl,who were both wearing seatbelts, 
All we could see were just some welts. 

Unannounced to us, because that was all we could see, 
Both kids had closed head injuries. 
Pulses dropped, blood pressures went sky high, 
We knew what that meant, but we weren't about to let them die. 

We left the scene, racing down the road, 
Lights and sirens, that was our code. 
We got to the hospital not a moment too soon, 
As we lept from the rig, we saw the full moon. 

We got back to our senses, rushed the kids inside, 
Time was of the essence, since two had already died. 
The police arrived at the hospital you know, 
The drunk driver between them, his head hung low. 

The kids went from the E.R. to the O.R. in no time flat, 
The police said the mother was Veronica, the father was Matt. 
Paperwork was finished, the rig equipment cleaned, 
We hung aroud for awhile, but hours it seemed. 

We waited and waited for news from nurse Able, 
Our hopes were soon dashed, both kids died on the table. 
When we got to the firehouse, everyone was still there, 
They were just talking, saving us a chair. 

We all talked, some of us cried, 
Over the fact that one was alive, and a family had died. 
The funerals were held sometime later, we were asked to attend, 
We all went, it helped us to mend. 

Family was there, friends were too, 
They all thanked us, for it was the best that we could do. 


-UNKNOWN


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## TKO (Jun 22, 2004)

*I Wish You Could*

I wish you could see the sadness of a businessman as his livelihood goes up in flames or that family

returning home, only to find their house and belongings damaged or destroyed.

I wish you could know what it is to 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 beneath you burns.

I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3 A.M. as I check her husband of forty years for a

pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping against hope to bring him back, knowing intuitively

it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done.

I wish you could know 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, and the eeriness of

being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke--"sensations that I have become too familiar

with."

I wish you could understand how it feels to go to training 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,

breathing 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 the doctor pronounces dead the beautiful little

five-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past twenty-five 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, 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

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 read my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the mangled

remains of her automobile, `What if this were my sister, my girlfriend, or a friend? What was her

parents' reactions going to be as they open the door to find a police officer, 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 you nearly did not come home from this last call.

I wish you could feel my hurt as people verbally, 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 of missed meals, lost sleep and

forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have viewed.

I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving

someone's property, of being there in times of crisis, or creating order from total CHAOS.

I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging on your arm and asking, "Is

my mommy O.K.?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears falling from your own and

not knowing what to say. Or to have 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 knowing all along he did

not have his seat belt on--sensations that I have become too familiar.

Unless you have lived this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, what

we are, or what our job really means to us.

"I WISH YOU COULD"!

Unknown author [/FONT]


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## ffemt8978 (Jun 22, 2004)

Thanks, TKO.

I was looking for that one but couldn't find it.


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## MMiz (Jun 22, 2004)

These are great, thanks.


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## TKO (Jun 22, 2004)

I heard this one a while back and I really liked it..this version I found is a little different then the original which i liked better.


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## medic1emt (Jun 23, 2004)

"Live each day like it is your last, learn from each day like it was your first"

never forget to tell your family you love them before you walk out the door, it may be your last chance.............due the nature fo of jobs in fire and ems


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## rescuecpt (Jun 25, 2004)

Here are a couple of good things I've heard where I come from:

"Fix the rate first"  (meaning heart rate)

"BLS before ALS"

"They ain't dead until they're warm and dead"

"Never, ever say "it's really quiet tonight" and ALWAYS pee before you have to" (that one is pretty obvious)

"The foot bone's connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone's connected to the shin bone. The shin bone's connected to the knee bone.... oops - not anymore..."


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## ffemt8978 (Jul 14, 2004)

What the word VOLUNTEER really stands for:


V= Very long hours that eat into personal life

O= Offering a chance for strangers to live a little longer

L= Life which we attempt to keep ongoing

U= Unbelievable sacrifices made to always be there

N= Need to help others

T= Tough choices during Tough Conditions

E= Effort we give to every patient

E= Enduring the abuse from patients, family, and bystanders as well as the small complaints that may or may not need our help

R= Realizing that our pay is pride and the fact that we changed a life.


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