Make no mistake…this is not a happy story…  The multitudes who are not associated with the emergency field simply have no idea…somewhere there is a place we go to download stuff no one should ever have to see or know about.  This is the story of one call on a Saturday afternoon that is now in my psyche and will roam around in there for years to come.  It was a single car fatal traffic accident…it’s one of those calls that we get from only a couple of people so we don’t get that immediate adrenalin rush..in fact, I really thought it was going to be one of those typical Iowa winter calls with a car in the ditch…especially when the 2nd reporter advised it was in the ditch upside down in the creek and looked like it had been there awhile.  Unfortunately the deputy arriving on scene found that there was someone inside..it didn’t really matter at this point how long it had been there.  Put yourself in the place of the deputy who rolls up on the scene, the volunteer ambulance service (our neighbors and friends) who roll up…the paramedics….. and the wrecker driver who generally has to just deal with hookin’ and towin’.  So…now we have a couple handfulls of folks who are seeing things that no one should have to see and this gruesomeness has to go somewhere.

My partner and I now had the plate number of the vehicle (which was out of state) and the owner’s name..because of experience, we began the task of digging to find information for notifications and identification, etc.  We now know that somewhere there is a family whose life is about to turn tragic and they don’t know it.

We turned to Facebook.  There he is….and there was a picture of the car that matched the license plate check.  At this point, my partner says..yup this is probably him..hopefully some dirt bag stole his car and it just hasn’t been reported yet.

Nope.

Our victim was recently married, recently became a father, was in the military and had just come home around the 27th of December.  The thing that about brought me to my knees was his post on the 27th saying not to miss loving and hugging the “shit” out of your family over the holidays because family is everything.

Ref my blog the other day about the importance of the social media and reading that your Great Aunt Matilda had died and sending good karmic vibes to your family.

I’m sending good karmic vibes to his family. 

I hope the other emergency crews have an emotional outlet…this isn’t the first and it won’t be the last…God have mercy on us!

Until next time…..