Ode to the Paramedic

Ambulance drivers is what they have been called,

But they become so much more when you’re the one being hauled.

They wait around their entire shift for those tones,

Knowing that what’s to follow could be everything from death to broken bones.

They light up the night with their sirens and lights,

Rushing to your side after falling from great heights.

They find you on the ground lifeless and bleeding,

They spring into action when they realize you’re not breathing.

They do everything they can to make you take that breath,

Everything they can to keep you from meeting death.

Everyone clear we need to defibrillate,

Your body convulses then they again try to resuscitate.

Your pulse returns and they move you to the ambulance with haste,

They take off to the hospital flying past cars as if it were a race.

Then the hardest of all are the calls with kids,

Choking, drowning, abuse, and the worst of all SIDS.

Telling a parent that their child’s body gave up on life,

No matter what you say it just initiates strife.

There the family sits, broken and crying,

While a little piece of them inside is also dying.

There is no amount of words that can take away that pain,

Sometimes it’s hard for the paramedic to even contain.

Their job is filled with such sorrow and despair,

Sometimes such pain is hard to repair.

It drives them from their job and at times to suicide,

Even though this job should fill one with pride.

But sometimes they get so entangled in others that they’re saving,

They don’t even realize that it’s their soul that is craving.

Others drown out the hurt with drugs,

Using them to ignore the world like a pair of earplugs.

Everything at work for them seems to be in such a hurry,

But at home time stands still which leaves some in a furry.

So next time you think of calling them an ambulance driver,

Remember that these men and women should be considered a survivor.

Dealing with what they do day in and day out,

Should make people want to stand up, cheer, and shout.

So give them the credit that they have due,

After all you would want the same respect to be given to you.

Every day they work they selflessly serve,

So call them the title that they so greatly deserve.

They are called paramedics, let’s raise them up to a new height,

It is finally time that people started to get it right.