MUSINGS FROM THE MIND OF AMANDA

I’m feeling very emotional today.

A very young First Responder was killed in a traffic accident several days ago. His funeral service is being conducted now. I’d never met the young man, but Hunter attended EMT class with him at AC.

At most First Responders’ funerals, there’s a tradition referred to as “Last Call” or something similar. If you’ve never heard this, it’s absolutely gut-wrenching. I’ve watched grown men at funerals go from smiling to literally sobbing when the Last Call is performed. There are videos on YouTube. I’ve only heard a few, but the couple I’ve heard have gone something like this:

Dispatch tones out a call, and says the First Responder’s Agency and radio number.

There’s no answer, only silence.

The process is repeated,

There’s no answer.

Dispatch will repeat.

Again, there’s no answer…until finally someone says that Agency# should be marked 10-7, out of service.

They announce the date they died as their end of watch, and usually say something like “Godspeed, brother, we’ll take it from here” or “Rest easy, we have the watch.”

I don’t have the words to tell you how emotional this is. You feel like your heart is dropping. You can see the all the people who’ve come to be Honor Guard, and you can tell that even though they’re trying to be dignified for their friend, they’re close to breaking. For the family members, hearing the tones on the radio and the calls from dispatch are such a part of their life…and this is the last one they’ll hear. As the wife and mother of First Responders, I can’t even imagine this. And these guys, after all this, will get right back in that cop car, or ambulance, or fire truck and go back to doing their jobs.

Please, support your local first responders. Respect what they do. Love them if you have them. And be ready…it can happen anytime, and First Responders, by definition, spend their time in dangerous situations.