Getting there first

It’s funny when you talk about great athletes when they have a bad game there always seems to be a reason. We can blame it on the game itself at times.

When Felix throws a clunker like he did Friday night we use the suggestion, “Hey, that’s baseball.”

Or if Russell Wilson throws a couple of picks we might say, “The line didn’t give him enough time to throw or the receivers didn’t get open.”

It’s easy to find excuses for those athletes we admire. But there are a group of people that work hard as a team that don’t often get a chance to have a bad day because too many lives are at stake.

We all know about the dust storm that hit Adams County and Hwy 395 in particular on Friday. We all know the scenario this time of year. We haven’t had any rain to settle the dirt in the fields and it has been way too hot for way too long.

When the wind blows in excess of 30 miles an hour with gusts over 40 this becomes a recipe for something terrible to happen. Especially when travelers are impatient and figure that driving faster will somehow get them through the dust quickly. Unfortunately driving faster will only get you to the scene of the accident quicker.

When major accidents happen there is a group of dedicated people that don’t avoid the problems they travel right into harm’s way to help those in need. I’m talking about law enforcement, EMS and the local volunteer fire department.

Honestly, I hope I never see them in action but if I need their help I know I can count on them to take care of me. We are lucky to have such a dedicated group of individuals as our neighbors and friends. There were a lot of people that needed their help on Friday and received it because these first responders believe in what they do.

Other than law enforcement, many of these first responders are volunteers. They most likely came from another job after four or five hours when the call went out. They scrambled to the fire station or the ambulance garage and put on their other hat as first responders. The adrenaline amped up and they sped to the scene to help all of those who were in need.

They didn’t ask where they were from, what their religion might be or what political party they favor. The simply went to find those that were most in need of help. Those first responders were on scene for several hours. No one took a break until their work was done and all of those people that were in danger were safe or in an ambulance heading to the hospital.

We owe a debt of gratitude to these individuals for doing a job that most of us are not cut out for.

Make sure you take a little time to thank those that take care of the mess that are created by people that don’t think anything bad will happen to them when they drive 80, 90 or 100 miles an hour or take unnecessary chances in snowstorms, dust storms or foggy conditions. So obviously their help will always be needed on I-90, Hwy 395, Hwy 261, Hwy 21 and the roads of Adams County.

There is another group of people that are unsung heroes. That group happens to be the dispatchers that receive the first calls mostly of the 911 variety.

Their job is very difficult indeed because they need to get as much information as possible to dispatch law enforcement, or fire or EMS or like Friday all three.

They do this all in a room with no windows taking calls from people that are hysterical and have no idea where they are unless their car went off the road at a mile post marker or near an exit sign.

The next time you drive to Spokane or Moses Lake think about where you are. What milepost marker did you just pass? How many miles are you from Tokio or Sprague or the Grant County line?

How many times do you think a dispatcher was told that the accident is about five miles west of Ritzville instead of east? When you live around here you know the difference but if your home is in Montana, who knows?

That is why these fine people ask the right questions because every minute is vital to the safety of the public. I guess my suggestion to you is to pay attention to where you are because knowing where you are might just save a life.

Teamwork is so important in so many aspects of our lives. When it comes to getting their first there a very few if any that do it better than those first responders that live in our communities.