Renee worked with me at my primary agency, she was my partner when I was an EMT- Basic and my Senior Medic as I worked to earn the right to be cleared as a Medic myself. She always had a smile and a HUGE cup of coffee. We seemed to get a lot of unresponsive patients together, seizures, trauma, overdoses, if you were unconscious Renee and I would pick you up. It meant a lot of emergency runs to the ER, she didn’t mind she told me through a big grin, “I never get to drive emergency at my other job.” Her other job was EMS Chief for a small rural agency with which I now work. Not her only “other” agency but the one I think she loved the most. There she was the one in the back when things got sticky, with me she could just drive. That meant a lot, I knew she trusted me and it taught me to trust myself.
My favorite memory of her was the blue tooth head set she wore. I know that sounds strange but hear me out. Small enough to be hidden by her shoulder length hairstyle, you could only tell if she had it on her if the right side of her head blinked at you. This proved to be a trying test if you couldn’t see the right side of her head to tell, like when she was riding in the passengers seat. Many a time I was driving along and there would start the Abbott and Costello routine. She would talk and I, without fail would respond. It would take me a minute to figure out that she hadn’t brushed her hair, she had turned on the headset. Our conversations would continue to grow confusing and her smile would continue to grow as well, always to the point were she would laugh and say “hold on, I think my partner is having a bit of a senior moment.
After she died I searched the internet for a fitting quote, memorial or poem that would help express how so many of us felt that day. Alas none was what I was looking for. Despite being horrible at poetry, I gave it a go. Renee would have liked it, or at least would have liked laughing at the face I made trying to work on it. I included it here, if it fits for someone you know, feel free to share it.
Your long hard shift is through
You’ve done your job and done it well
You did the best that you could do
For your patients or for a friend
Never leaving when they needed you
Staying right through till the end
No matter what the call
No patient ever too big
No problem ever too small
Even when the call was bad
Always trying your hardest
Giving everything you had
When there was nothing you could do
And when your partner needed someone
We could always turn to you
I don’t think I’ll ever find
Your patient and their family
Were always on your mind
To do a job you loved so much
We promise to show every patient
Your kind and loving touch
But this promise we hold true
No matter how much time will pass
We will always remember you
Your long hard shift is through
We will do our job and do it well
The best that we can do
