The days of handing a laryngyscope to a new paramedic and telling him to go out and not kill anyone need to come to an end.

If you work commercial ambulance in a high volume system, and if one of you is a paramedic and one an EMT (the standard in our system), you and your partner are going to need to work out a way of dividing up the calls.

Write to elevate the spirit you have seen in people you have cared for — in their worst and best moments. Use your writing to try to understand the world, not to condemn it. Share your victories, your defeats, your frustrations and your hopes. Write to show that you have walked down the EMS streets.

You have these moments in life. Sometimes you see something for the first time. Other times you are just reminded of basic truths. This was such a moment for me when you see the world very clearly.