An Ode to the Brave: British Columbia’s Paramedics
From fiery engines, to tortured bows
They leap without a furrowed brow
To save your life, and mine as well
Dig deep, live long; that hero’s shell
Down blazing shafts, or in waters deep
They listen for a mother’s weep,
A child reborn in crimson tears
Stay strong, live here; I’ll calm your fears
If memories serve of heroes past
And tales of them, must last and last
Now honours torn; no more embrace
A crime to man whose names erased
From fiery engines, to tortured bows
They leap without a furrowed brow
To save your life, and mine as well
Dig deep, live long; that hero’s shell
To understand their sacrifice
Their names returned should not suffice,
For they that gave and lost their lives
Should never again be so deprived
Who stands alone among your dead
To cradle a long-loved widow’s head,
An eternal hell; a babe in best
Where God’s forsaken is laid to rest
From fiery engines, to tortured bows
They leap without a furrowed brow
To save your life, and mine as well
Dig deep, live long; that hero’s shell
For in the end, we dare not speak
Of our victors whose names, we crave and seek
Though careless, heartless wont we know
Tell the offenders instead that they must go!
The engine now, still armed threadbare
Beaten, but not her immortal shell,
No matter; when we cry and shake
Oh, save us lest we die awake!
From fiery engines, to tortured bows
They leapt, without a care of how
They saved your life, and mine as well
Lived long; lost souls, no fear of hell
Remember them, as they return
To leap; fear not, for one more turn
An angel’s deed; Thy will be done
When one more life not lost, but won
This post is dedicated in loving memory of those British Columbian paramedics, who lost their lives while in the line of duty. May their memories be eternal.
Now, you’ll always have a permanent memorial.
If you’ve been saved by a BC paramedic or know someone who has, please share your stories below in the comments section.
It sickens me to no end that such courageous first responders are neither respected by our provincial government, nor aided in their efforts to be there for our sick, aged and needy. A paramedics job is often impossible–yet they never see it that way.
Last week, when the memorials of their fallen comrades were removed, I was livid. Instead of pointing out the obvious–that the administrator who approved such insanity is a top drawer jackass–and should be fired, I thought I might add my own thoughts, but in verse, instead of one of my classic rants.
To my many readers across this great province, who are paramedics, I offer my salute and tribute to your always fine efforts and pray that you are safe–always.
God bless you and yours.
Not too shabby an ode Alex – You will receive your “poetic license” by mail, can’t afford a courier.
[Translate]
OP/ED: “Former paramedic decries BC Ambulance Services’ position. ” The Castelgar Source Jan. 12, 2012
” Jason Angulo was with BCAS for just under four years, serving in Prince Rupert and Vernon, then resigning in May 2010.
Angulo said paramedics are discouraged from speaking to the press (he said he himself was given a disciplinary letter and threatened with a disciplinary hearing for publicly expressing his views, in the media and to political representatives) so he felt paramedics in Castlegar, Trail and Nelson likely would choose not to speak out rather than risk their jobs.
He also said that cities being left without ambulance services is a regular occurrence across the province.
“For example instead of having two crews available, they’ll have one crew in the station and another on pagers,” he explained. “If the first car is busy, or sent to a different community, the crew on the pager will take time to get ready, get to the station, and respond. If a critical call comes in (like a cardiac arrest or serious car accident), the delay pretty much takes away that person’s chance of survival.”…
“It comes down to economics, instead of patient care,” he said, adding BCAS only pays $2 per hour for part-timers to man the pagers and more than $11 to have them waiting at the station.
He also said cars are regularly sent to other communities to cover shortages, leaving their community of origin without coverage…”
http://castlegarsource.com/news/oped-former-paramedic-decries-bc-ambulance-services-position-16183
NOTE: Many part-timers live outside the small communities they serve, sometimes they travel great distances at their own expense. At smaller stations they wait for calls in and receive $2.00 an hour to be on standby.
[Translate]
My brother was a first responder in a small town in BC. He was getting too old to do his job anymore and he retired. I asked him if he missed going to work. He responded “No I don’t miss picking bits and pieces of people up off the heighway and I got to tell you small children are the worst.” Well I didn’t tell my brother thanks for the service but I must say the poem has given me reason to think of my brother in a different light and renewed my feelings toward him. I am a cardiac patient and I have needed the BCAS a number of times but I can’t remember if I thanked them for their service or not but it is not too late to change. Thank you for printing this poem Alex G. Tsakumis.
[Translate]
I am a BC paramedic. The decision to remove the memorial wall was hurtful to so many. Such a poor decision. It did nothing for morale except to damage it.
I worked the night Jo-Ann Fuller and Ivan Polivka died and probably heard their last words on the air. It was like a physical blow to see the news footage of their ambulance under water.
No one goes out on a call expecting to die. The very least we can do is honor them and treasure their memory.
[Translate]
Thanks for this one Alex.
I too was incensed when I heard about this stupid decision.
Even more troubling was the rationale given by Management at BCAS; that employees have to walk past that memorial every day on thier way to work and it reminds them of the organizations darkest day. Well….isn’t that the point? So you think of these people just a little bit each and every day so that they are not forgotten. And perhaps you make small changes in your routine so that similar terrible things do not happen to you or your coworkers.
I guess BCAS Management wanted the wall space to hang portraits of their executive and Management team!
I really feel for the paramedics, they’re obviously led my inept management, and have received the short end of the stick in terms of wage & working conditions. They should at least be on par with Firefighters in terms of wage, belive me, they work much harder, they deserve it.
I am in no way a fan of the NDP, but I hope the paramedics will be able to make some gains under an NDP Government.
[Translate]
I’m completely with you.
[Translate]
Many thanks for your very kind tribute Alex and a thousand thank-you’s for reading it in person at our annual Convention. It really had an impact on all of us.
[Translate]
You’re most welcome.
Many blessings to.you always.
[Translate]
Beautiful tribute in honour of our BC paramedics. I am a very proud mother of a BC paramedic and have on occasion have witnessed our compassionate and very professional Nelson BC team at work. Thank-you to our paramedics.
[Translate]
Indeed. Bless you and yours.
[Translate]
Hi Alex, I was fortunate to hear you speak at the APBC convention, you took the time to acknowledge our fallen members and sincerely recognized our frustration. We as paremedics have had very lilttle to be proud of in recent years with teh exception of the reward we get from the care we provide, the honour or remembering our fallen members, our history and how our service has servivedare testiments to paramedics and our founders. I think this is why the decison has hit a nerve from every corner of this wonderful province we serve in Public Safety and EMS. Once again, you will always have friends with APBC.
[Translate]
Thank you!
[Translate]
I’m a basic paramedic in South-Africa who’s passion it is to be a life saving hero since I’ve been a child I remember watching rescue 911 on the tv being just a little girl in high school I did my first aid 1,2,3 and then on the age of 17 my father on night went into cardiac arrest everyone panicked and when I got to him there was no pulse anymore I immediately started cpr I had to do cpr for an hour and a half because we didn’t have medical aid had to rely on the states ambulances and it took them an hour and a half to arrive on arrival the entered the room and said very unprofessional he is already dead without checking a puls so my first patient died my own dad so I made a choice to join the EMS to make a small difference , I went to do my basic life support course and passed with exemption and didn’t expected it for two years I was depressed for not being able to save even one life just to make up for that night not being able to save my dads life. , I worked for a private company and one night there was a very serious accident and we responded on our arrival we saw we need backup for one reason or another back up was not available in town we had to drive with the patient to another town me and the driver my partner my best friend had to make a very quick but smart decision we decided to take him to the closest state hospital just to stabilize the patient he was a private medical aid patient and a very well known person (young actor ) and I didn’t even knew the closest hospital was only a maternity hospital but we reckoned that they will be able to stabilize the patient and they did kind of so then we responded to the next town still without backup paramedic only me in the back with a priority 1 patient and a hlaf tank oxy gen and an unconscious patient at that point I almost went crazy worrying we weren’t even halfway and the oxygen was empty so I had to bag the patient all the way so that he would be able to get oxygen even if it was from the BVM I constantly took vitals and kept my eye in the saturation monitor to see the oxygen levels in the blood it was about 71 76 and I was so afraid for it to go lower luckily we got him to his hospital its been a year now and one night I started thinking about this young man and I can still remember his name so clearly Daniel and his surname witch I won’t give and I went to facebook and searched the name and there was a fan page made out with his name and surname saying accident news so I read it and my eyes were filled with tears he made it and it was a very serious accident with major trauma to the head he still get some therapy but he speaks and interacts and improves daily and for the first time in my life I felt like a hero and a dream came true after I left the EMS now I want to go back with all my might and do what I love thank you all for reading I might did something small but I know there are far better heroes but still to me it means the world
[Translate]
And bless you for doing what you did.
[Translate]