Rescue 12 Responding, page 2
So, she prayed: “Oh God: I’m so sorry. I am afraid. I know you warned me. I knew I shouldn’t have come, I knew, but I did it anyway. Please forgive me.” She opened her eyes, feeling her heart racing and her head spinning. She gasped, trying to think and all she could see was her mom and the pain that would come. Tears ran down her face, “Please, tell Mom I love her. I am so sorry.” In that last breath, fear released, and peace settled. Terri closed her eyes and submitted to the darkness of impending death, held firmly in the arms of Peace. “Mom, I love you…
Instantly, Terri sensed that she was somehow walking within the darkness that surrounded her. The farther she walked, the more she became aware of her own senses. The drugs and alcohol lost their hold on her with each step she took. Suddenly, eternal light broke the darkness of death. Terri looked around and saw a Great Light before her, and she began to walk a little quicker. A few steps farther, and she began to hear angels rejoicing. She was not alone. Peace who had held her as she transitioned into death, could now be seen. Terri smiled as she looked at Him who silently walked with her.
Terri stopped and paused to look around at all that was before her. She breathed deeply of the revelation that the acceptance, for which she was so willing to compromise, was surrounding her freely. Her heart rejoiced as she walked deeper into the Light.
Mrs. Blake, Terri’s mom, had the worst day she could ever remember. She arrived home at 8:00 pm, tired and stressed from the pressure of putting together proposals for the school board funding. The tight finances and emotional involvement of all the people kept her mind bouncing from line items to available funding. Her mind was trying to resolve the struggle. She was looking for a moment to rest. She was so tired. As she entered the kitchen of her home, she saw a note. Before she could get it off the table, a deep fear for Terri’s safety jumped into her heart. The note said that Terri had left on her date and that she would be home late.
She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes as she momentarily tried to understand why she suddenly feared for Terri. Maybe it’s just because I’m so tired?
Mrs. Blake went to the refrigerator and made a quick ham and cheese sandwich, and then walked into the family room and turned on the TV. She knew she shouldn’t have let Terri go, she knew she should be praying for her, she knew. “Pray, pray, pray,” cried the Spirit of God unto her. She reasoned to herself, she would pray when she went to bed, as was her custom. She thought she had time. But she didn’t. She fell asleep.
“Mom, I love you…”
Terri’s mom awoke from a dark dream. She had heard Terri’s voice from within her spirit. She knew something had happened. She fell to the floor and prayed. Maybe, she wasn’t too late. Her prayers were more like groans, not words, and not her own. The Spirit of God was interceding through her. Images came to her imagination and wisdom in how to pray flowed to her. Spiritual power surged through this mother’s prayer.
Debra returned within the hour to her friend’s home. The music was playing loudly as she opened the door. “Hey, guys, where are you?” she asked as she walked in. Suddenly she froze and screamed as she looked around the house and saw her friends all lying still and unmoving. She grabbed the phone and dialed 911, then fell to her knees and began to cry.
Just west of Interstate 75 on Gibsonton Drive sits a small firehouse in a small rural community, just south of Tampa, Florida. There are three firemen and two paramedics that wait there. The two paramedics ride together on an Advanced Life Support rescue ambulance known as Rescue 12. They had been partners for years. David, the senior paramedic, had just laid down at midnight to sleep, and Jonathan was trying to finish up some paperwork when the loud alarm went off.
“Rescue 12, respond to ‘Unknown,’” the 911 dispatcher declared. Simultaneously, the fire engine crew was dispatched to the same location to provide manpower for the call. All five men raced into the dark and towards the ‘unknown.’
Arriving at the scene together, the five men walked up to the ranch-style red brick home to enter through the carport door. Jonathan was first in, his arms full of emergency medical equipment. The dining room was immediately inside and offered the only light. For a moment, he froze at the door, and the other men behind him stopped to look at the horror that covered this veteran paramedic’s face. Instantly, he sprinted in. His fearful expression helped prepare them as they entered the house. They knew it was bad.
Yet nothing could fully prepare them for the horror they were about to face. Each fireman had to pass by the dining room table that still had a few of the straight white lines of cocaine. Each man raced in and stopped at a different teenager. Cool and lifeless, stiff but flexible, one by one, the teenagers were rolled over onto their backs and were examined for breathing or a pulse. The rescue team were looking for someone that they might be able to save. Each man knew as first responders that they had to contain their emotions so their heads could be clear enough to seek out any that might still be alive.
Jonathan took the Electrocardiogram Machine, the EKG machine, and pulled the large black paddles off, pressing the paddles against the bare chest of each teenager. At each confirmed death, the teenager’s expression of horror was sealed upon the heart of this paramedic. He swallowed deeply, trying to remain in control. Paramedics aren’t allowed to stop and cry, he demanded of his thoughts as he forced his emotions into submission. He pressed on to the next of death’s victims. One by one, each heart created nothing but a straight line on the display screen.
David yelled out, “Jonathan, come over here with the EKG machine. This one is still warm, and I think I had a weak pulse! But…” He paused as his hand searched for her carotid and femoral pulse, “I can’t find it now!”
Jonathan ran over. Quickly, he placed the black paddles against the bare chest of a blonde sixteen-year-old girl. The EKG machine display panel revealed a heart rhythm of chaos – Ventricular Fibrillation. Jonathan held his breath as he shouted, “Stand Clear!”
The firemen ran to that call. They knew that command meant that one might survive. Instantly, Jonathan pressed the red button on the EKG machine, and the young girl jumped from the electrical current that shot through her body.
“The EKG shows a supraventricular tachycardia. Do you have a pulse?” Jonathan was not looking at his partner for the answer. His eyes were fixed on the EKG machine.
“Yes, yes I do. We have a pulse, but, it’s weak,” David responded in guarded pleasure. They watched as the young patient took a deep breath.
The paramedics looked carefully at the patient. Jonathan responded in a monotone voice, “Her heart rate is 240 beats per minute.”
A firefighter grabbed her left arm and took a blood pressure reading. “Blood pressure is sixty over zero.”
Without much speaking, the two paramedics established an IV line into her arm and silently administered medications that might keep her heart from returning to the chaotic rhythm. Her breathing remained steady and supplemental oxygen was given to her through a mask.
“Her heart won’t take much more of this. She will probably return to V. Fib soon,” David whispered to the others. His voice was low for fear of breaking. Any minute, they knew her heart would begin to spasm and contract in chaos, shaking, no longer pumping blood, and would stay that way. An overdose of cocaine has that effect on the heart. They suspected that drugs were the cause of the death of the other teenagers. Their hands were tied. There wasn’t anything they could do that would reverse the effects of the cocaine overdose, but they worked to do all they could until the end.
Outside the house, police were arriving and immediately began the process of determining what had happened. Debra sat quietly in the back of the police car, crying and waiting for her mom to come and get her. The neighbors had gathered outside the house and tears flowed freely between them,
The paramedics began the emergency transport to the hospital. Jonathan drove the ambulance while David watched and waited with his patient in the back of the unit. But there was a Physician in that ambulance that they could not see. One whose hands were free, and in whose hands was healing.
Terri awoke in the back of the ambulance. Her heart rate spontaneously dropped to 140 beats per minute. She whispered something. The paramedic bent down to hear her. She said it again and again. “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who sits on the throne.” Then she fell asleep.
David checked the pupils of her eyes for a response. They were responsive but were constricted, as if seeing a great light. “What happened?” he asked, as he awakened her again. Her vital signs were all within a normal range. Now it was his heart that was beating fast. He knew she should not even be alive. Quickly she answered each of his questions with such clarity that he was baffled. She should have been more confused, but she was not. Her eyes were now focused and full of life. “What happened? How are you feeling?"
She looked at him, “Wow! You’re not gonna believe me, but I’ll tell you. The party went bad, really bad. But then something amazing happened.” She began to think about all that she had just experienced, “I saw a Light, then I saw heaven.” Her words gushed from her, “I saw my mom there, too. She was on her knees praying. I saw her prayers surround me. I thought I was going to die. I told God I was sorry and then the darkness disappeared.” Terri stopped talking for a moment and looked beyond David to the memory relived.
She continued in whispered amazement, “I kept walking, and in the Light, I could see and hear like I could never ever explain. It was so beautiful. There were angels there too, and they kept saying, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!’” Terri’s voice filled with awe. “I just stood there and felt such love and acceptance. I knew I was home and at peace. Somehow, I knew that ‘holy’ meant God had everything in control and everything is ok. All of a sudden, I could hear God speak in my heart. He said that if I wanted to I could stay there in heaven, but my mom had asked for me to return. He would let me choose. It was so hard because I was so happy there. It was so wonderful. I knew I should come back and as soon as I thought that, a lamb ran up to me, and I bent down to hug him, and then Jesus came from beside the throne and held me. He told me I was his little lamb and he will watch over me. He said I was forgiven, and my life has purpose. He told me that he would never leave me, that he will always be with me, and then I woke up here with you.” She looked up into the eyes of the paramedic and saw tears running down his face. “I can feel Him here now. Can you feel Him here too?”
David spoke in a whisper. “I felt like there was someone in here with us when we left the house. I have felt that presence before, but usually, it was when someone was dying. I assumed you were going to die.” David looked into the young girl’s eyes. “I wanna know this God of yours. He must have brought you back to life and, yes, I can tell he is here now.”
Terri took his hand. The ambulance continued on the way to the hospital. Life and death were again in the balance in the back of the ambulance. But this time, the patient was bringing healing to the paramedic.
She spoke. “You can receive Him by just asking. Let’s pray together. I’ll say the words, and you repeat them.”
“Dear Father God… I am a sinner… Please forgive me… come live in my heart… be the Lord of all my Life… and all my decisions… Thank you… in Jesus Name I pray… Amen….”
Another battle for life was won for the Kingdom of Light.
Terri let go of the paramedic’s hand once the ambulance arrived at the local hospital. She watched as he took the IV bag off the hook and held it. He disconnected the oxygen and EKG wires from the wall. David’s partner, Jonathan, came from the driver’s seat and opened the back door of the ambulance. He looked at Terri with surprise. She was doing so well! He released the stretcher from the clamp that held it securely in place on the ambulance floor and pulled it out quickly, he could hardly wait to turn Terri over to the ER staff so he could find out what David had done to have made such a difference in her condition.
The report was given to the ER nurse. “The patient was critical, and then she had a remarkable spontaneous recovery.” David knew there was more, but he only had to report on the medical physical aspect. He nodded goodbye to Terri, then walked out of the patient’s room. The bathroom was the only place in this busy ER that he could be alone. He went there quickly.
David stood at the sink. He pressed the soap in his hands and lathered fully up to his upper arms. His pale face reflected a brightness in his eyes that seemed odd to him. What happened in the ambulance? What had he just seen? What had he just heard?
“Dear father God,” these foreign words lingered on his tongue, “What does it mean?” Questions flew in David’s mind. He looked in the mirror again, trying to analyze what was different in there. “Please help me. Please teach me.” David tried to adjust the outward mask of control that would hide his new inward emotional dilemma, yet also, joy.
“And please show me I’m not crazy!” He laughed at himself as he walked out of the hospital bathroom. He felt cleaner than he had ever remembered feeling before. David decided to follow this newly discovered inward journey and find out.
Terri was in bed 2 in the ER. The monitor was recording all the vital signs and relaying the information to the nursing station. Terri’s mother arrived by police escort a few minutes later. Tears flowed down her face as she looked at Terri and rushed to her daughter’s side.
“Mom, thank you,” Terri’s voice broke at the sight of her mother’s tears.
“What do you mean by thank you? I just heard they found you at Tommy’s house! My God, what happened?” Terri’s mother held the bed railing for support.
“Mom, Mom, please listen to me! I don’t know how to tell you this, but I… I died,” Terri paused and looked into her mother’s eyes, “I saw you praying for me. You saved my life." She paused again and took a deep breath, “Thank you.” The light that came from Terri’s face brought a peace to her mother that strengthened and consoled her. “Mom, I saw Jesus. I will never be the same.”
Terri’s mother held the railing a little tighter still. The two spoke of things present and things to come. There was peace. In the midst of this storm, there was peace.
David walked into the room. “Terri, may I speak to you before I go?” His voice was soft and barely heard above the beeping of the EKG machine.
Terri held out her hand to David, and then introduced him to her mother. David looked with awe at the woman Terri had seen in her vision.
“Mrs. Blake, your daughter has quite an experience to tell you about. She is an amazing patient. Never had a patient like her before.” David’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Did she tell you she prayed with me?” His eyes rose from the floor and focused on this powerfully spiritual woman.
Mrs. Blake’s voice whispered joy and acceptance, “David, you were right to believe what she said. I’m proud of Terri and happy for you.” She paused and considered her words before she continued, “You found God in the back of your ambulance. Learn the first lesson: He is always there! He is always with you. David, He is now in you.” Again, she stopped and looked deeply into David’s eyes. “Learn to listen for His voice. You will know it when you hear it. There is no voice like His.” She smiled, revealing a truth held so precious to her, “David, always follow that voice, and He will always lead and teach you. He often speaks loudest in the language we understand best. To the fisherman, he speaks of fishing. To the farmer, he speaks of planting. To you, as a paramedic, listen and see if he speaks the clearest to you from the ambulance. The lessons can be learned right where you are, all you have to do is listen.”
David felt a hunger in him that he had never known before. Something deep inside him cried out for more. He drank the words of Mrs. Blake, and they satisfied him. “Can I call you if I have any questions? I mean, if you don’t mind?”
Mrs. Blake took out a worn book that she carried in her purse. She opened the leather cover and wrote her phone number. “This Bible is used, and it has a lot of underlined parts that have meant much to me over the years, but I would like to give it to you. Please call me anytime. David, if you will ask God, He will, Himself, teach you more than I ever could.”
He took the Bible and rubbed the cover. “I don’t know what to say,” he stammered, “but thank you.” Two loud tones pierced the quiet. The portable radio interrupted their conversation.
“Rescue 12, respond emergency to 5521 Elm Street. Shooting,” declared dispatch.
David nodded in farewell as he left. He knew he was not leaving that room alone. There would be an unseen Physician on board his ambulance. “God… I’m ready, teach me…” David whispered his prayer as he hurried down the Emergency Department corridor to take the next emergency call.
Two demons of distorted form and power stood watching. They had set the trap. All they had to do was watch and wait for the door into the thoughts of a human to open. Tonight, they would take their pawn to a new place of captivity to their evil voices. Their faces smug in the simplicity of their plan. Everything was working according to their schedule. It was just another night on the streets. Tonight, an angry young pusher would be freed to murder.
The human players were in place. It was an exchange of money for drugs delivered. Simple. The wrinkled unwashed addict, aged greater than his years, had begun to tremble with his need. While he didn’t have enough money, he still hoped for a miracle. Maybe, he could get the drugs and leave fast. Maybe, Joey wouldn’t count all the money right now. Maybe.
