Chaplain’s Notes*****Ralph Thompson, Durham County EMS Chaplain
“Why do you ask?” I asked.
“Because you are stressed out,” was the answer.
My wife was right. I was stressed. How did she know?
She just knows.
Her point was made and we began to talk about the past week. As I stopped to think, I realized that I had not been sleeping like I should. I was having problems falling asleep and staying asleep.
My eating habits were all messed up. Snacks were up. Nutrition was down. Caffeine intake was too high and protein intake was too low.
My blood pressure was up and my mood was down. My expectations were high and my temper was short.
We talked about what was going on in my “real job” as an associate pastor. There were job evaluations to write and a budget to prepare. There was a class to prepare for and visits to make.
Our church was in the middle of introducing a new worship schedule that includes 3 services every Sunday morning.
Then there was home.
“The house needs to be painted,” she reminded me. “Yeah,” I added, “and it’s almost time for a new roof and the AC should have been replaced last year.”
The check engine light came on again in my wife’s car while she was driving to the doctor’s office to try and find out why she can’t seem to keep her weight up.
Then we talked about Buddy, our 14-year-old dog. We joked about getting him a hearing aid and some glasses.
We laughed about the vet strongly urging us to have his teeth cleaned and at the same time cautioning us that the anesthesia might kill a dog his age.
Guess we will put up with the bad breath. I just couldn’t see spending that much money on a gamble that the dog would live to see tomorrow—when I know he probably won’t see next year.
Then I remembered that I had been burning the candle at both ends running EMS calls with you guys and with Bethesda.
In a one-week stretch, I started out with a couple of cardiac arrests and then I went BLUE.
It seems like every call I went on turned out to be some sort of blue tag.
Some of the blue tags were light blue. You know, just a little kooky. Then there were a couple that were totally nuts. Navy blue tags. Dark navy blue.
One of the calls was so crazy that I just can’t even begin to explain it to you. If I start trying to tell you about it you will think that I am the one who should be in the straitjacket.
As I reminisced, I realized some of the job stress that you encounter on the streets. Every one of you have the day to day pressures of life that any average person has—and then you pile Code 5’s, blue tags and frequent flyers on top of that.
Not to mention the trauma. It was a trauma call that sent me over the top.
10-50, PI. It’s amazing with all the plain text radio talk we can’t seem to find any that is an acceptable substitute for 10-50.
The code talk continued on the scene. After the medic unit had left for the hospital I moved over to speak with one of the officers on the scene.
“Looks like an F-Frank to me,” he said. Another officer came up and they repeated the F-Frank talk. I thought how impersonal they made it sound.
Another officer came up. He talked about F-Frank, too. I wondered if they knew any words other than the F (Frank) word.
I moved over to the car and inspected the mangled mess and replayed the video from my mind.
A young woman, the same age as my oldest niece had been struck in the driver’s side by a much larger vehicle. I remembered the blood that streamed down her face from the lacerations on her scalp and forehead.
I remembered her eyes seemed to be fixed at one point. She was seizing. She was pinned in the vehicle. It was not pretty.
I sort of snapped out of it and came back to the present. I looked at the bloodstains and the seat that had been pushed over into the center of the car and I began to cry. As I wept, I prayed for this young lady. I also prayed for my fellow rescuers—especially that God would guard their hearts and minds.
Being the tough guy that I am I only allowed myself a minute to cry—there was still work to do. I sucked up the sniffles and checked in with command to see what I needed to do next.
Later that night my wife told me that I was stressed out (see page 1, paragraph 1) and she helped me de-brief the week.
Whew! It was good to be able to talk about it and to be reminded that we all need someone to talk to—even the preacher.
As I thought about the question of who to talk to, I remembered that my wife is always there for me. I also have a fellow chaplain that I can talk to along with a close pastor friend.
The Bible gave me a reminder that very night of where my hope and my strength come from. I was listening to a sermon by Adrian Rogers and it just happened to be on stress. He used Isaiah 40:28-31 for the passage.
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
What an awesome promise! Everybody will have stress, problems and issues. That’s life.
But God’s promises are bigger than life. He is the source of hope.
Verse 31 is my prayer for each of you. I pray that you will place your hope in the Lord and watch Him renew your strength so that you will soar on wings like eagles and that you will be strong and not grow weary.
Have a great month and be safe out there.
Many Blessings!
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