The following poem was sent into us by a follower.
It was written by an Emergency Operations Centre Call Handler just before she retired from the job:
“Tomorrow will be my last day.
“Got to say I’ve done a lot of challenging and different jobs… but this has been by far the most demanding in terms of emotional resilience.
“So here it is…my attempt to sum up two years, an amazing group of people, some patients I’ll never ever forget and a job like no other:
Beep in the ear, screaming with fear, “my child is blue, what can I do?!”
Next call; a bad fall. 90-years-old, out in the cold.
Legal highs; spice. ‘No-one will die’. They fall for the lies.
An hour on. Overdose. Hit and run and a grieving son.
Break time. Caffeine hit. The brief relief of a quiet sit.
Poorly baby. Fever and rash. Calming Mum in a Cat 1 dash.
Suicidal. Right on a ledge. Pushing your brain to a teetering edge.
Male not breathing, you instruct CPR, praying that the nearest resource is not far.
Chasing our tails most of the night. Jobs outstanding till morning light.
Stretched crews. Crises repeats. Cold brews. No time to eat.
12 hours. 70 cries. 1 born. 2 died.
Thinking now. Driving home. Poor old Florence. All on her own. Switch off the brain. 6 hours to sleep.
Then it all starts again.
Back to the beep’.
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