These poems are dedicated to the volunteer men and women who dedicate countless hours to their community! After you read these poems and stories, we hope you understand our devotion.
EMS Prayer
As I perform my duties Lord
Whatever be the call.
Help to guide and keep me safe
From danger big and small.
I want to serve and do my best,
No matter what the scene.
I pledge to keep my skills refined,
My judgment quick and keen.
This calling to give of myself,
Most do not understand.
But I stand ready all the time,
To help my fellow man.
To have the chance to help a child,
Restore his laugh with glee.
A word of thanks I may not hear,
But knowing is enough for me.
The praise of men is fine for some
But I feel truly blessed,
That you, Oh Lord have chosen me
To serve in EMS
Sorry ...
Sorry if we woke you in the middle of the night,
But someone in your neighborhood is fighting for their 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 I hope you'll understand,
Let us have the right of way someone needs our helping hand.
Sometimes a child is choking; sometimes a broken leg,
Sometimes a heart stops beating and when we get there it's too late.
So if you see us crying when we think we are alone,
You'll know we had a bad one and we're feeling mighty down.
We don't do it for the money you know we don't get paid,
We don't do it for the glory but for life that might be saved.
Somewhere deep within us our souls are crying out,
We're here to help our neighbors in their hour of pain and doubt.
God gave us something special to help us see you through,
We do it because we love you and we care about you too.
And Yet Still I Volunteer
by Eric Levdahl
I try to save this child but he's met his fate.
His innocent eyes are void of hate.
He and his father weren't walking far
When they were both struck down by a drunkard's car.
This night I know I will not sleep.
These terrible images my mind will keep.
I know these nightmares linger near.
And yet still I volunteer.
Her eyes well up - compress the chest.
Say a silent prayer - then two quick breaths.
She's done this many times before,
This fight for life kneeling on the floor.
But this time it's her best friend's mom
Whose lifeless body she is working on.
This call like others will end in tears,
And yet still she volunteers.
From slumber woke by a siren's wail,
He rushes out in bitter gale.
While others sleep this stormy night,
A raging blaze this man will fight.
He bravely puts himself in danger,
To save the home of a total stranger.
Body cold and tired, he feels his years,
And yet still he volunteers.
We train, we test, we do our best.
We give an awful lot of time,
And don't get paid a single dime.
'Thanks' is a word we seldom hear,
And yet still we volunteer.
I Wish You Could See
I wish you could see the sadness of a business man as his livelihood goes up in flames, or that family returning home, only too find their house and belongings damaged or lost for good.
I wish you could know what it is like too 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 below you burns.
I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3 a.m. as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done too try too save his life.
I wish you knew 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, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke; sensations that I've become too familiar with.
I wish you could understand how it feels to go to work 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 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 a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying too save during the past 25 minutes. She 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 or my personal vehicle, 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 the right-of-way at an intersection or pull to the right 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 know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. "What if this was my sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with 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 I nearly did not come back from the last call.
I wish you could feel the 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 volunteer my evenings, nights, weekends and holidays to protect people I do not even know.
I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.
I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.
I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, "Is Mommy okay?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to 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 know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.
Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, who we are, or what our job really means to us...I wish you could though.
I WANT TO TELL YOU LIES
© Kalvere. All rights reserved
I want to tell that little boy his Mom will be just fine
I want to tell that dad we got his daughter out in time
I want to tell that wife her husband will be home tonight
I don't want to tell it like it is, I want to tell them lies
You didn't put their seat belts on, you feel you killed your kids
I want to say you didn't ... but in a way, you did
You pound your fists into my chest, you're hurting so inside
I want to say you'll be OK, I want to tell you lies
You left chemicals within his reach and now it's in his eyes
I want to say your son will see, not tell you he'll be blind
You ask me if he'll be OK, with pleading in your eyes
I want to say that yes he will, I want to tell you lies
I can see you're crying as your life goes up in smoke
If you'd maintained that smoke alarm, your children may have woke
Don't grab my arm and ask me if your family is alive
Don't make me tell you they're all dead, I want to tell you lies
I want to say she'll be OK, you didn't take her life
I hear you say you love her and you'd never hurt your wife
You thought you didn't drink too much, you thought that you could drive
I don't want to say how wrong you were, I want to tell you lies
You only left her for a moment, it happens all the time
How could she have fell from there? You thought she couldn't climb
I want to say her neck's not broke, that she will be just fine
I don't want to say she's paralyzed, I want to tell you lies
I want to tell this teen his buddies didn't die in vain
Because he thought that it'd be cool to try to beat that train
I don't want to tell him this will haunt him all his life
I want to say that he'll forget, I want to tell him lies
You left the cabinet open and your daughter found the gun
Now you want me to undo the damage that's been done
You tell me she's your only child, you say she's only five
I don't want to say she won't see six, I want to tell you lies
He fell into the pool when you just went to grab the phone
It was only for a second that you left him there alone
If you let the damn phone ring perhaps your boy would be alive
But I don't want to tell you that, I want to tell you lies
The fact that you were speeding caused that car to overturn
And we couldn't get them out of there before the whole thing burned
Did they suffer? Yes, they suffered, as they slowly burned alive
But I don't want to say those words, I want to tell you lies
But I have to tell it like it is, until my shift is through
And then the real lies begin, when I come home to you,
You ask me how my day was, and I say it was just fine
I hope you understand, sometimes, I have to tell you lies
~ Kal The Rebel ~
Dedicated to all the Police Officers, Firefighters, EMTs, Paramedics,
Emergency Flight Crews and all civil servants who deal with the tragedies of
life and death. The saddest of all, being those that involve children, and
could have been prevented. Wear your seat belts... Keep poisons, flammables,
fireworks, etc. out of reach of children...Keep your smoke alarm in operating
order, if you don't have one, get one...never, ever drive if you've been
drinking ... never leave your toddler unattended...teens, be responsible
drivers, obey all traffic lights, posted limits, warnings and signals at RR
crossings ... keep your guns locked out of reach, buy a trigger guard....
Protect our children, they are our future... Am I preaching? Am I nagging? I
guess I am just telling it like it is.... Or I could just tell you lies.
~ Kalvere
© Copyrighted to Kalvere. Please do not reproduce without author's permission.
Kalvere is from Minnesota, and would welcome any comments at the KalTheRebel@aol.com
Used with permission. If you see this poem anywhere without the author's name
and copyright information, it is being used without the author's knowledge or consent.
While You Slept
While you slept
A child cried
While you slept
A mother died
While you slept
A father bled
While you slept
The sirens wailed
While you slept
Bright lights did flash
While you slept
I did speed past
While you slept
Life did go on
While you slept
So peaceful & sound
While you slept
We made our rounds
These Hands
These hands have touched the warmth of life
These hands have touched the icy emptiness of death
These hands have felt the numbing pain of the sick injured
These hands have soothed their petrifying fears
These hands have desperately grabbed for life slipping away
These hands have felt anger at senseless death
These hands have searched for answers
These hands have seen comfort in another's eyes from an outreached hand
These hands find happiness in living
These hands find joy in helping others
These hands passionately hold onto the hope that they never have to do it again
These hands live with the reality they will
These hands have made a difference
Being An EMT
Lights Are Flashing, Sirens Are Wailing
My Adrenaline Starts Pumping, My Heart Starts Thumping
I Can Only Pray God Will Give Me The Strength
To Go To Such Great Length
I Hope I Am Trained For What This Call Could Be,
After All I'm Just An EMT
And Just When I Think I've Saw It All,
I Have Some Of My Biggest Falls
Like The Baby That Was Born Only To Die Moments Later.
I Witnessed The 14 Year Old Mother Mourn
Like The 102 Year Old Man In Cardiac Arrest,
Did CPR Like Practicing For A Test
He Was Down Too Long,
Did It For His Wife Who Thought It Wasn't His Time To Go
Why Am I Doing This?
Surely Not Because Of The Bad I Witness
I Can Make A Difference, A Change In Someone's Life,
But Their Has To Be An Exchange
You Can't Save Them All When God's Angels Get A Call
They Have To Go, Everyone Has A Time You Know
As Long As You Do All You Can
And Realize Your Not A Miracle Man