Veterans in EMS
On this Veteran’s Day, as EMS brothers and sisters, we take a minute to salute the many EMS providers that have so bravely served our great nation! We have many of those in our ranks to thank for the freedoms we enjoy every day. Our very ability to provide life-saving services is due to the fact that we live in a stable and free nation, safe from the tyranny and unrest that we see throughout our world. The men and women who are serving or have served as part of our Armed Forces, deserve our gratitude and deep respect for their sacrifices throughout the history of our great land.
Emergency Medicine Evolves in Battle…
Many of the pre-hospital treatments and practices we use right here on the local field have drawn from procedures and protocols that were developed and tested on the battlefield in foreign lands. We have the air evac pilots of the Vietnam conflict to thank for blazing a trail for the air medical/helicopter procedures we use today. Countless techniques such as burn treatments, wound treatments and even some commonly-used pre-hospital medications were tried and tested first on the wounded men and women throughout the world. Documented success of these protocols and procedures eventually found their way from the rice patties and desert battlefields of worlds far removed to the streets and avenues that we all practice on each and every day.
Take a minute to trace the roots of ambulance vehicles and you’ll find their widespread use dates back to Europe and World War I. Who can forget the M-A-S-H units of the Korean War, even if most of us only experienced the drama as portrayed in our living rooms in the persons of Radar, Hawkeye and Frank Burns. If I had time to really research, I’m sure I could write a book and not just a blog about the many advancements of field treatments that have made their way into the emergency pre-hospital protocols and equipment we use in the field each day.
Thank You!
So on behalf of all of us here and our blog followers, we say a huge THANK YOU to all of our veterans, especially those of you who serve together in pre-hospital/EMS services. Soon we’ll begin welcoming thousand more of you fresh from the streets and byways of Iraq. What new procedures will be observed as your experience begins to be recognized and tested on the street back home? We can’t wait to find out. We can’t wait to welcome you home.
Today is your day! Enjoy as we display our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for a job well done!
