Warning about language, politically incorrect, derogatory comments.

As you read through this book, you will often find items that will, to some, be considered
callous, politically incorrect, and sometimes crude and seemingly heartless. This is in no
way, my intent with the subject matter. It is a true recount, and will often be created with a very black sense of humour behind it. It is often considered within the emergency services and health culture, that the very dark sense of humour that most of us develop, is a coping mechanism, that allows us to deal with the daily sights we observe, and situations we find ourselves in.

I must also admit that the term politically correct means very little to me. I do not go out of my way to offend people, but if they should be, then that is unfortunate. What you hear from me is the truth, and not gilded to protect those people who are thin skinned in relation to terms, references and common usage names.
The names of the various people and some places have been modified slightly, and if you
are reading this and you say to yourself “that’s me he’s talking about”’ then that means
we’ve had a good shift together.
The other important thing that readers need to understand, is that this is not meant to be a clinical representation of the jobs I’ve done, but just an outline, so don’t go getting picky
with the treatment sometimes outlined.

As a first responder, we are called to assist people, often in their most stressful, and
sometimes embarrassing moments in their lives. We are subject to sights, smells and
information that the persons in need, will not even expose their own families and friends to.
As a result of this, we generally will develop a way of looking at, and dealing with the
exposure, that may seem callous, and in some instances, derogatory towards the person or persons involved, though hopefully the casualty or family are not exposed to these
thoughts.
What a lot of people, that are not in the job, don’t understand, is that all of this constant
exposure to real life situations, many of which the majority of the populace could not even comprehend until they’ve read this book, can easily erode away at your defences. This erosion can chip away at you, decreasing your efficiency in coping with the burden of taking on another persons’ pain, suffering and concerns. It could be enlikened to a ship gathering barnacles over time. Bit by bit they build up, not showing any real impediment in the early stages, but as more and more attach to the hull (our defences), they start to slow the ship down, and can even foul up the ship to a point where it can no longer function efficiently.

Joking about people and their predicaments is like using de-fouling paint on the hull of the ship, reducing the amount of psychological barnacles that stick.
That being said, there are still those things which can get through that anti fouling paint we coat ourselves with, which can put us off course. Some of those stories, you will read about in the upcoming chapters.
Please enjoy the stories, and I hope you can view them in the true way they are meant to be accepted, some with sadness, some with humour and others with incredulity.