Have protected me from the bitter cold while treating the homeless,

Have stood and witnessed the joy of a mother at her newborn baby,

Have felt the tears of a daughter at the loss of her mother,

Have waded through victim’s blood to save another,

Have searched in the woods for a lost hiker,

Have kept my feet planted on top of buildings while treating an injury,

Have been soaked in the rain more times than I can remember,

Have protected me from glass and debris at MVCs,

and needles on the floor of a crack house,

Have been run over by students pushing stretchers and nurses pushing beds,

Have stood many hours at standbys,

Have walked through the smoldering ruins of a family’s house,

Have been suspended over 300 feet in the air,

Have straddled a young man while I did CPR and tried to save him,

Have kept me steady while I told a wife her husband had passed,

Have seen crime scenes and an unsolved murder,

Have fallen through the detritus covering a bedroom into a running fan while

treating and old woman,

Have sat on the floor during a few precious moments rest,

Have carried a child from the home where he was beaten,

Have seen the best homes and the worst hovels,

Have been spat, bled, and vomited on,

Have stood at your door whenever you called.

This is my entry in to what has become, for lack of a better name, the These Boots… Project.  The entry that started it all was written by Tom Reynolds and the idea has taken on a life of its own.  I think it has struck a particular nerve in our little community and can best be summed up below.

In our careers as EMT’s we have all witnessed things that we try to put out of our minds. Each pair of boots has different stories to tell. Some of those stories are sad and some are horrifying. Some are happy and rewarding and some are gross. Some stories are totally unbelievable and some even funny. It’s the sad, horrifying and gross stories that tend to stay with you. I have gotten pretty good at putting bad calls out of my mind but Tom’s post reminded me of where these memories might be stored. They are in our boots!Medicmom

It’s been a great exercise for me, and I would encourage you to do the same.

Other entries can be found at Random Acts of Reality, Medicmom, and Maddog Medic.