A Love Letter to EMS

Every hour of every day of every month of every year should be an occasion for honoring Emergency Medical Services personnel nationwide.

EMS equates to highly trained first responders and healthcare practitioners who provide pre-hospital care. However, that definition doesn’t capture the entirety of what they bring to the table because it fails to mention their passion, their empathy, and their concern for their fellow man.

That applies whether it’s the well-trained and highly skilled men and women who populate the volunteer fire company that are common in many places or the full-time professionals who serve this area’s fire districts.

Having grown up in a small town where the paramedics were also our neighbors, I’ve observed these qualities in action since childhood. I later came to observe and appreciate EMS volunteers and pros during my many years as a community journalist.

I’ve seen them fight to save the lives of people who’ve been in serious traffic accidents, using the jaws of life to extract victims and comforting the injured. I’ve seen them feverishly work to revive people who’ve been overcome in house fires and are no longer breathing. Sadly, I’ve also observed stricken faces and slumped shoulders when their best efforts don’t have the desired effect.

I can speak with authority about local EMS personnel due to first-person experience gained over roughly the last seven years. When I desperately needed them, EMS staff from Marco Island Fire-Rescue Department and Collier County Emergency Medical Services have been there.

There’ve been multiple occasions when I’ve summoned them for help because I was unable to catch my breath. The reason for those emergencies is an incurable disease I’m afflicted with in which lung elasticity progressively decreases. The malady’s name is emphysema.

Each episode of exacerbation sees the heart race along with the mind. Panic can set in as you struggle for each breath, praying that another one, one that will ease the oxygen deficit, will follow.

I’ve found myself trying to remain calm and hoping an emergency inhaler can bring relief. At times, that’s worked. But there’ve been occasions where it hasn’t and paramedics have responded to provide the care I’ve needed, including transporting me to the hospital when necessary.

I truly believe I owe my continued existence to the skills of the EMS personnel who responded in my time of need.

They come armed with more than the medical knowledge needed to handle emergencies. They’ve also been compassionate and adept at instilling a sense of calm and confidence that things will be okay. That emotional component is all-important at a time when you fear the end may be near.

Unfortunately, I also have first-hand experience with the horror of watching paramedics work desperately to save the life of someone dear to me.

On December 11 of 2023, my Shirley Lorene Bristow, my girlfriend of 14 years, had a sudden heart attack while we were relaxing in our Marco Island condo. One second she was talking to me and the next, she was gone. I was shocked. I panicked. I called 911.

The paramedics responded promptly. Some immediately initiated procedures to restart her heart. Another one took me aside to get info on what had occurred, then gently tried to calm me down and explain the steps being taken by her colleagues.

Soon, they transported my girlfriend to an ambulance for transport to Physicians Regional-Collier Boulevard. Sadly, their best efforts and those of the emergency room staff weren’t sufficient to revive her.

A heartbreaking end result? Yes. But I continue to take solace in the knowledge she received expert care from the EMS staff who responded. As always, they gave all they had, treating her life with the compassion that life deserves.