We are more than working partners: we are a brotherhood. A family.
Name's Eagan. Troy Eagan. I'm a firefighter/paramedic. I do have a family of my own, but more often than not, you'll find me living at the firestation with my "partners-in-crime", Joe Tackett, Duane Barker, Cole Broussard, and Wilheim Ottenger. We are usually on call, so this is why we stay at the local firestation more often than we do at our homes; one never knows when the tones will ring, which will then spring us immediately into action.
When fires or illnesses threaten, there's no time for goofing around. Lives are at stake; we have to take care of it immediately before even more lives are put in danger.
I have been a firefighter/paramedic now going on ten years. It's a job that's never boring: it's full of excitement and lots of danger: guess that's why I do it. I like the adrenaline rush it gives you, and I love the satisfaction we get whenever we pull somebody back from the brink of death or from a burning building in the nick of time. And when people thank us for what we do, well that just makes us feel even better!
That's not to say there are days where we do everything by the book, yet people end up dying or getting injured/burned anyway, even with all the warnings we have given them. it seems the Fourth of July is one of the worst (not to mention, busiest) times for us. People fool around with firecrackers or fireworks, and we have seen the end result when they explode.
Not pretty. Not pretty at all.
People lose limbs, eyes, or even their faces to the explosive devices and now face years of reconstructive surgery or physical/occupational therapy.
I know a little boy in our area who had that very thing happen to him last year. Kid is now missing an eye and is blind in the other. He is learning how to get around with a cane/guide dog and his life will never be the same. It's really a sad story.
I've also pulled adults from burning cars or buildings and no matter how hard we work to save them, they end up dying, either at the scene or at the hospital. Same goes with kids that we pull from the water or kids that get electrocuted. When it keeps happening it makes me or my buddies question our line of work and then we end up wondering if we have chosen the right profession in the first place.
Yet there are the benefits: saving lives or having people thank us or treat us like heroes whenever we ride in parades or pull up to schools or special functions. We enjoy nothing more than teaching people about fire safety or hearing them apply what they've learned when they face a fire or a medical crisis. Then we are glad to be doing what we do and we then work harder to help even more people in our community.
Well, the guys are getting hungry, so we are going to go out to eat, then go to the Red, White, and BOOM! Festival, which is being held here in downtown Nashville; we'll be there all day, working, to make sure everything goes smoothly, especially tonight during the fireworks display. We don't want any unforseen problems cropping up; we want to have everybody stay as safe as possible!
