Because of YOU!
By Chuck Humphrey, B.A., EMT-B, CAC, CADS*
“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Two Years in a Row
For two years in a row, EMS Week in the United States is attracting a spotlight, unlike any single time I’ve known in my EMS career.
Allow me to divert from our normal model of highlighting all things medical transportation reimbursement and consulting, to shift the focus onto YOU! Because of YOU, a world in chaos…survives!
The COVID-19 pandemic magnifies another National EMS Week. I always knew I could boast of the accomplishments of my many Fire and EMS brothers and sisters, the word PRIDE can’t even begin to explain how I feel in these most extraordinary of days.
How Success Should be Measured
I opened with Emerson’s words as they so completely reflect the measure of success in EMS. And…I think it ironic that the “breathed easier” phrase becomes so much more meaningful to all of you who have been fighting the essential battle for what now seems like forever.
None of us needed this virus. EMS is so difficult, draining, and complex without the complications of the grim reaper breathing down our collective necks as we race against time to save our neighbors.
But, with the pandemic, we are seeing an awakening of the general public to how they process us. Oh, not everyone is there yet…to many we are still “ambulance drivers.” But to so many more the pre-hospital provider community now has a face.
People see you! For maybe the first time in the history of the United States, people really see YOU!
They see you because, once again, you have made an enormous difference in countless lives and with greater risk than ever to your own well-being.
Pause for Reflection and Recognition
For a minute, allow this old EMS guy to encourage you to, first and foremost, take care of yourself. Here at Quick Med Claims, we made a point to place focus on caring during this pandemic.
Our ambulance billing offices, located across 7 locations in the U.S., adopted the banner QMC Cares as our mantra. It was important for all of us who carry the QMC flag, to focus on how we can best make your lives easier. From the ground zero point when COVID-19 was introduced into our vocabulary, it became so much more important that we do more than push paper and cash checks. More than ever, this medical transportation revenue cycle management team became your biggest fans, and that in turn drove everything we have done over the past year and counting.
We hear your stories…staff infected, fears of not getting the truck out the door due to infections and quarantining, isolation from family, long shifts, and dark images. Your words reached our ears and fueled the passion for what we do to support your mission.
For your own good, take a minute and breathe both physically and mentally! There is help for you…seek it! Reflect on those pandemic demons that have invaded your inner space. Become a student of how you may best be able to manage the stress of what you have seen in the field and resist the urge to allow the hopelessness and devastation that this disease has caused to derail your inner peace.
History is history. You can’t change what you’ve lived or seen. But you sure can ask someone to carry the burden along with you by sharing those dark recesses of your psyche that are most likely pushed to their limits.
Today, receive the recognition that I wish to convey using this missive. You deserve it. And, I know that you don’t feel like the hero you are…so allow me to remind you, YOU TRULY ARE A HERO!
As first responders we beat ourselves up when we’re unsuccessful, so now’s the time for you to celebrate the success you have achieved just by doing what you do every day. Because you definitely have made a difference.
You Thrive and Survive!
Look, it doesn’t take a news story to prove to me who you are. Americans thrive on the sound bite and the social media image and we deify those who do but a fraction of what you do. Yet, you go unrecognized because you do it every day pretty much in silence. To many, you’re no more human than the metal box and the rubber wheels that make up your rig…UNTIL, that one moment in time when their world stands still and you’re there to put the pieces back together.
In 2020 and now again in 2021, EVERY SINGLE DAY is EMS Week! You are living through the greatest challenge of a generation and you have thrived and survived!
So, on behalf of a very grateful Quick Med Claims, our staff and management salute your success.
You have arrived!
I close with this anonymous EMS quote to remind you that YOU never have to worry about making a difference.
“Some people spend their whole lives wondering if they made a difference.
Some don’t have that problem!”
YOU, my friend, DON’T have that problem!
Happy EMS Week from all of us at Quick Med Claims!
*Chuck Humphrey is the Senior Director of Compliance and a Territory Sales Manager for Quick Med Claims. He is one of our industry experts with over 30 years of experience in the EMS industry.
If at anytime you feel this world would be better without you in it, or you need someone to talk to, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800-273-8255. Your Story is not done;
Also… safecallnowusa.org is staffed by first responder mental health professionals who are ready to help you.
