'Twas the night before Christmas and all through station
The lights were turned down and the TV was off
When out of the darkness arose ringing and light
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow
The wreckage was there and came slowly in sight
They leaped to the task without a second thought
The smoke of the flares...the stench of the blood
With one driver out...the other pronounced dead
The monitor showed a heart rate which was to slow
Atropine...Dopamine...Epi and much more...
The sun was rising as they reached the ER
The ride back to the station was quiet...and then
Of a labor that...however needlessly bear
A quick glance at the clock as they started their car
To give someone back their one chance to live
Anonymous
All was quiet except for the snoring dalmatian
Their boots had been placed by their bunksides with care
In hopes that the shift change would finally be here...
The rigs had been washed and the Christmas music was soft
The Paramedics and Fire Fighters laid all nestled in their beds
While visions of home life danced through their heads...
The Klaxton brought tidings of something not right
The Paramedics and Fire Fighters were all dressed in an instant
And aboard their trucks and racing into the distance...
Reflected the lights in a hellish red glow
The sirens they wailed while the federal screamed
Moving too slowly as if in a nightmarish dream...
Lending fear...and pain...and loss to the silent night
Each of them thought of their own mother...father...brother...or son
Each prayed in silence..."Dear God...let me save at least one."
And for more than two hours they worked and they fought
To free the two drivers who hadn't been thinking
Their driving would suffer after a full night of drinking...
The screaming of metal...the lights blinding flood
The cry of one driver...the whine of the Jaws
Putting fear aside...they never gave pause...
They focused their efforts on keeping their heads
C-spine and backboard and IV in place
They loaded him up and started the race...
And BP revealed a systolic to low
Level of consciousness rapidly dying
Despite all of this...the Paramedics kept trying...
To keep their reason for being...from opening death's door
They fought and they prayed and tried all that was known
While trying to tell themselves...fault wasn't their own...
They'd given all that they know...and all that they are
But the doctors pronounced with barely more than a glance
And gone in a blink was the patient's last chance...
Despite what they'd been through the singing began
At first it was one...and then all followed suit
This effort together was merely the fruit...
Was one of a million they knew they would have to share
As they sang out the words of the song..."Silent Night"
They acknowledged to themselves that they put up a good fight...
They all realized who and what they are
And on Christmas morning as they all drove away
They knew they'd all try again soon after Boxing Day...
No matter how hard or how much of themselves they must give
So please...when you pray on this new Christmas morn
Add something for these "Angels of Mercy"...for all that they have borne...
Look at the faces...look at the eyes...veterans...rookies...
all working together as one...
Now think about all those times these "Angels of Mercy"
did what had to be done...without hesitation...
On Christams morning...please say a silent prayer for ALL the Paramedics and Fire Fighters
who will not be with their families this Christmas...or ever again...I know I will...