|Dustin Ward|
It’s a call you hope to never make: dialing 9-1-1. While accidents and emergencies can’t be avoided forever, there is a stress and panic in knowing if your situation should be that of a call to Emergency Medical Services.
This was the call we had to make for the first time just a few days after Thanksgiving. Our oldest boy, while engaging in some fun play with his younger sibling, took a spill and cracked his head against the corner of our wall. We were faced with that awful feeling of ‘should we call an ambulance or can we make it to a hospital in time without anything major happening during the trip?’ We felt our best option was making that call.
While my wife rang 9-1-1 and talked with Dispatch, I stayed and applied pressure to my son’s head, blood still present every time I had to shift the damp cloth. I tried to prepare him, and myself, for the arrival of EMS, and how they were coming to help him.
I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, but within very little time we saw the flashing lights of Gray’s ambulance come down our road. I switched places with my wife to greet the team, and to my surprise and delight, I see Captain Hale Fitzgerald approaching. After some warm hellos, he mentions that with New Gloucester’s team already on a call, Gray’s team would be assisting.
It took a bit to calm my son down having strangers in his home, but I write this in such gratitude and thankfulness for how the team, and Captain Fitzgerald, handled the call and our family. Captain Fitzgerald provided such a calm and sincere presence that even my frightened son allowed the Captain to wrap a bandage around his head, a pretty big feat given how scared my son originally was. The crew took care of us, and showed such compassion, reassuring us that this was the right call, and then provided some things to look out for, given the open wound. The biggest thing that stuck with m, is I didn’t feel like I burdened them with a call that I am sure didn’t rise to the level of severity that it felt like. Yet they made us feel like we did the right thing, and that it was ok to reach out for the help.
As a Select Board member, I know I find myself bogged down with crunching Fire and Rescue budgets, thinking about price tags, and then concerned with operations and policy. Now, having had to be on the other side of that call and see the team in action, it reminds me of something said in one of our meetings. I paraphrase here, but it was the reality that ‘When you make that call [to Fire and Rescue] you want to know that team has the best tools available to care for any situation.’ Our situation was that statement come to life.
I write with appreciation of what our New Gloucester and Gray teams do in order to provide the best service to this town. During this holiday of thankfulness, I would say that I am thankful for New Gloucester Fire and Rescue Department, its many members and staff. Most of all, I am really thankful for Captain Hale Fitzgerald and the care he provided to our family on that evening and his support throughout our time getting to know him. My son still talks about the bandage, and would have worn it to school all week if we allowed. Unfortunately, he will have to enjoy the glue stitches the hospital provided for him, but I am sure he will have a similar thankful attitude for the efforts of our Fire and Rescue Department.
With great appreciation, we thank you and those who serve in a similar Public Safety capacity for taking our calls when we aren’t even sure we should make them, and for providing the utmost care when you arrive.
— Dustin Ward
