Waiting Is Serving
Chief Mike West is one of those people with that EF Hutton sort of mystique about him. When he has something to say about emergency services people tend to listen. At least the folks who want to learn more about their job tend to listen. Today I’d like to pass on a little Chief West wisdom.
Depending on where you work, you may do a little waiting or a lot of waiting for your next call. Nobody in EMS in immune to the process of waiting for a call. It happens to us all. We have colloquialisms for the act of waiting. Going a whole shift without a call is termed “getting skunked.” Some love the slow shifts, some hate them. Regardless of your relationship with the act of waiting, the implication is the same. We believe that the periods where we are not assigned to a call is somehow separate from our job.
“Did you guys do anything today?”
“Naw, we didn’t do anything.”
I’ve always looked at it that same way. Until I heard Chief West make this statement; “Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving.” Mull that one over.
Waiting, prepared to serve, is serving.
