Paramedics – The Forgotten Heroes Who Always Answer the Call
Anthony Crocock, MBA
CCEMT-P, FP-C, Educator, Empowering prehospital providers through advanced training, critical care, and flight medicine. Passionate about clinical excellence, leadership and unlocking full potential in EMS Let’s connect
When disaster strikes, when the unthinkable happens, and when the world feels like it’s collapsing—there’s one cry that always echoes through the chaos: “Call an ambulance!”
And we come.
Paramedics are the ones you cry out for when your child stops breathing, when your mother collapses at the dinner table, or when the world falls silent after a car crash. We come with sirens wailing, hearts steady, and hands trained to bring order to your worst day. But here’s the truth that stings:
By the time we arrive—through bumper-to-bumper traffic, reckless drivers who won’t move aside, and understaffed systems—we're not met with relief. We’re met with frustration.
“What took you so long?”
That question cuts deep. Because while you were living your nightmare, we were leaving ours—on the last call. The child we couldn’t save. The father who died in our arms. The overdose we reversed only to be cursed at when they awoke. And yet, we showed up for you. We always do.
When the pandemic crippled the world, when fear took root in every home and hospital—we came. When others stayed away, when no one wanted to touch, breathe near, or even go outside—we showed up. Gowned, gloved, soaked in sweat and stress, we climbed stairs, sat on floors, and gave our lungs, our backs, and sometimes our lives for strangers who never knew our names.
And now? Forgotten.
There are no parades. No medals. No nightly applause.
There’s just the next call.
This isn’t about martyrdom. This is about recognition. It's about remembering that paramedics aren’t just ambulance drivers—we are clinicians, caregivers, decision-makers, and protectors. We are the thread between panic and peace, chaos and control. And yet, we are systemically underpaid, undervalued, and overworked.
Every politician calls us heroes when the cameras are rolling. Every patient calls us slow when we’re stuck behind traffic with no escort. And every day, we still show up. Why?
Because it’s not about the thanks.
It’s about the people.
But here’s what we’re asking in return: Don’t forget us.
Don’t forget the paramedic who knelt in the broken glass to hold your mother’s hand. Don’t forget the one who carried your child through floodwaters. Don’t forget the one who sat in the ambulance with your brother and talked him out of ending his life.
We are more than the flashing lights. We are more than a transport service. We are human. And we are here—until the world remembers what it so often forgets:
Paramedics are the backbone of every emergency response. We are the first in. We are the last out. We are the forgotten heroes.
And we’re done being silent about it, not because we need the recognition, it because we need better resources, pay, benefits and representation at the highest level so we can continue to do what we love to do.
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