I was at work, I know surprising, I'm ALWAYS at work. Anyway. I was at work and we were getting a late call. It was to the local detox center* for a male party "too drunk for the ARC." We went non emergent ** and walked in to find a drunk that had fallen in front of us earlier in the day. I was in the back with a patient, so my partner quickly got out to check if the drunk was okay.
Something about my partner that surprises me everyday, is his capacity to care. He is kind to a T. Compassionate and loving with every person that steps on our ambulance (the one time he lost his cool with a patient was when one of our Boulders' finest vagabonds took a swing at me.)
Most people would have seen the drunk fall, looked the other direction and driven quickly on, muttering how he can just call 911 if he needs help. Myself, included, unfortunately. Not my partner. He got out to help this man and stayed with him to ensure that he was alright. Apparently the man had broken his foot not too long prior to this. So he was stumbling because of the alcohol in his system, but he was also stumbling because his foot was broken. And again, I found myself feeling incredibly blessed for the partnership I was a part of.
Fast forward back to the late call. Same guy, same drunk. Now at detox. They felt he was not a candidate for detox because he was unable to walk without assistance (he was using crutches, which apparently is considered an assistant).
We quickly loaded him on our bed to transport him to the closest ER, knowing the wrath that would be waiting when they understood that the detox center was dumping a patient that really should have been kept there.
My partner attended on the call, but in my short time with the man, he never once referred to me as anything but "ma'am" or "Miss." He was polite and kind. And I started to wonder what a man such as he, was doing living on the street and drunk all the time. We got him to the hospital, and as we knew they were livid. He didn't need to be here, he was an ARC patient.
We knew that. but we were told to transport.
Then it happened. They started treating this man with disdain. Like they were better human beings then any other. And I saw red. Who were they to treat this man like he was nothing. Like he was nobody. He IS someone. Someone loves him. Someone misses him. He means something to SOMEONE.
Most of all, he is a son of God. Just like anyone else on that staff. I wanted to scream at them. I wanted to take the man away and take him somewhere else, but knowing that he would get the same treatment anywhere else. And then my heart hurt. THIS is what we've become. Cruel and uncaring to people. This is somebody's someone. But in our world, at that time. He was nobody. I wanted to take their shoulders and shake them as hard as I could. I wanted to remind them that the worth of souls are great!
I wanted them to know of the Good Samaritan
a Samaritan stopped to help this stranger. A man he didn't know who was stripped, wounded. And he stopped. He not only treated the mans' wounds, he took the injured party to an inn keeper and paid for further care, telling the inn keeper that he was to do all that he could to help, and any additional cost would be paid on the Samaritans arrival back.
Then I realized the hard part. That I had treated the man the same way. Like a waste of time, like nobody special. Like a nobody. And I was sad for myself. Disgusted with my attitude. Because truly, drunk or not. He IS somebody's someone. He's GOD's someone. And when he tells us that "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." He means it. The good AND the bad. This drunk, this man, matters to Him. And I was mad that the hospital treated the man like dirt. I was no better that day. Before we left, I went back to shake the mans hand.
He knows us. He loves us. He loves that drunk, even when I didn't.
*The local detox center in Boulder is called the ARC, the Addition Recovery Center. There are two disqualifying symptoms that will get you booted from the ARC.
1. Being unable to walk without assistance
2. Having a fresh or a new injury.
Patients who are sent to detox are put on a cot to sleep until they sober up. They have to blow a .00 in order to be released.
**Non-emergent, no lights or sirens
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