My son has surprised me

I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, my son has grown up with my EMS stories from long ago and those of the many dear friends I have now who I met in the EMS world. But I was surprised anyway. Friday, someone from Fairmont State University's EMS department called for my son, Tim, who is 17. Unbeknownst to me, Tim has applied for early admission to the basic EMS class, the Emergency Medical Technician-A (for Ambulance) course. I have lots of feelings about this - a certain pride that Tim wants to follow some of the footsteps of his Dad. (Not all of the footsteps, mind you - he's going to WVU's School of Journalism next year, and plans to steer clear of the Law School.) I feel some envy, because I'd give just about anything to relive those days. But most of all, I worry because I have to accept that Tim is about ready to face some of the nastiest observations that life has to offer. I don't mean to offer here much "expertise" about the practice of EMS. After all, I ran my last emergency call the week before Tim was born. For a description of modern EMS, Rocky's the expert, and her blog is a whole lot more informative. I don't remember nearly enough to function in an EMS job now, but I certainly remember the sights and sounds. Little vignettes play on my mind's movie screen: Deangulating (straightening and tractioning ) a femur fracture in a 10 year old girl, while the toughest state trooper I ever met stood beside me crying; the dead 3 year old boy crushed in a car wreck by the body of his mother, who was too stupid to put him in a car seat; the hundreds of cardiac arrests, most of which ended badly; Leroy the truck driver, trapped in his cab over a hill in a driving rain, the truck unstable, and the rescue REAL dangerous; and so many more memories play. And I also see the unhealthy lifestyle - fast food gobbled down between calls, bouts of 36 hours without sleep, pretty wild off-duty parties. (Boy, I hope Tim will be smarter than his Dad, and avoid those.) We as a society expect certain people to experience and process the worst that we have to offer. And we expect them to either do it as volunteers or do it as too-poorly paid career people. Sigh - I have to remember the story of the kid who was kept in his room and pampered until he was 21. He then went out into the world, and died of happiness. Tim is ready to take this next step in his life. I guess I just need to encourage him, and live with it.