Well, I have been putting this off for days hoping that it wasn’t real, but here we are. Melinda Fultz, where do I even begin? We met when I was still in high school, but your impact didn’t start until years later. Steven and I were chasing people away all evening after the plane crashed. They wanted to get up close and personal. Steven and I just wanted pizza, you pulled through. Little did I know then that a few years later we would be working together as EMTs. Hard to believe we both survived it. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the amount of times you wanted to slap me for something. But then on the flipside, you were my bad influence in the first place. I’ll never forget the long drives up to Sunbury or out to Lancaster together to stand on the sidelines for the roller derby girls. But then we wouldn’t have had so many teams to stand by for if it wasn’t for all your hard work and dedication. Oh yeah, Pam thought I needed to be broken out of my shell, so she thought it would be hilarious to send me to that first bout. I have no idea how after all of the shenanigans Shannon thought it was a good idea to make me Kayden’s godfather, let alone have me at her side for the C section. I guess through it all, no matter how much time passed between seeing each other, we always had each other’s back. Wow have I failed. I took for granted so many opportunities to come see you before and even after your stroke. I remember the night we went to a viewing together for the guy that got hit in front of our station. If I was going, you were going. It was the mom in you that you showed me so many times. I’ll miss your stories, food recommendations, cooking, humor, and just the person you were. You truly were one of a kind. I just wish I would have showed it better. I just want you to know that your efforts and impact never went unnoticed. I love you. Rest easy.
What if the person you’re sitting next to right now goes home tonight and takes their own life? Did you see it coming? What were the exhibited warning signs? Could you have said something?
I just want to show you something here. I wrote a book covering a lot of issues faced in EMS. The book also covers my journey to find a #churchfamily and be baptized. God gave me the message. I put it into circulation. A year and a half later it is still sitting in the top 100 Men’s Christian Living books. It is in the top 30 EMS kindle books. Top 160 overall EMS books on Amazon. When you glorify His name, he rewards you. Maybe not the way you expect but rather in the way He sees fit for you. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0924NDQ3J
Following the success of the message of my book, I reached out to a former paramedic from Texas who is traveling the country in an ambulance to talk to first responders who have dealt with their share of struggle in the job. He drove out here to Delaware on a beautiful Tuesday morning in August to discuss my story.
Today, about a month later, the interview has released. You can follow this link to access it. If you know somebody who might benefit from his videos please don’t hesitate to share. It’s time to talk about it. The days of “suck it up” are over. https://youtu.be/dPkeiZzxOmA
Please if you enjoy the interview, don’t hesitate to like, subscribe, and get notified about future interviews. He’s coming back East this week for more content. Help this message get out.
The value of an EMS chaplain cannot be understated, but sadly it’s underutilized. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the work of the day while still dwelling on that thing at home. Sometimes we are just not as spiritually available to our patients whose spirit alone is injured.
“The hot lead bullet had lodged itself in the ceiling. Her daughter sat in the living room, holding onto a letter from her mother telling her how much she loved her.
When the chaplain arrived, he listened intently as the daughter reported events of the day. My partner that day, a mother of many children, was also the designated mother for our company. She was always the one who would check on you first after a bad call. She was the one you could vent to without your frustrations being spread far and wide. She stood with this girl wiping her tears and offering bottled water while she talked with the chaplain. I sat in the ambulance, ipad in hand, and did my paperwork for this run. In this moment of profound mourning, Pastor Curtis looked at the girl and offered to pray with her.
Amidst his prayer and his counsel, he looked her in the eyes and said, “If you had known that on this day, at this time this would happen, you would have moved mountains to prevent it.” These words have stuck with me and remain a powerful memory from this scene. In that moment he visibly eased the guilt on that girl’s face. As if she had a deep spiritual epiphany, she stopped blaming herself. This is not to say that her mourning was over; but from that moment, she never once repeated that it was her fault for not being home when it happened.” Christopher Turnbull, The Double-Edged Sword
I can think of 3 people I was close enough to that had I put the effort in to connect more deeply, to understand who they were, not just like them, I could have been their phone call.
I reflect back in hindsight not knowing their struggles, not seeing the signs, until I did… the day they died.
If there’s one thing anybody takes away from my book, it had better be that there are so many options out there. If your only foreseeable future is a hell on Earth for the next 5 minutes, and you’ve made up your mind, call somebody. Call that person who has been making it hard and tell them about themselves. Call one person in your life that has made you laugh and thank them. Prolong yourself just long enough to have another voice on the other end of the phone. I’d be willing to bet that at the end of the conversation, you’re sidetracked just enough to make one more phone call. I have spent the last year advocating for the national suicide prevention hotline, and it was a long number. Today, it’s 9-8-8. Make the call and stick around.
Better yet why don’t we call people anymore? When I was in 8th grade watching wrestling on TV, I spent 2 hours on the phone with my buddy who was at his house watching the same thing. We laughed, we made fun of the wrestlers. We watched the toy commercials between matches and declared loudly how bad we wanted the cool new Nerf gun. Then by 10th grade, he faded away. There were no more long phone conversations. There were no more weekends glued to the Playstation with chips, ramen noodles, and Mountain Dew. Why? What changed? I still don’t know.
In the 90s you weren’t cool unless you had your own corded phone in your bedroom. AND if you were super cool, you had your own phone number. Maybe it was AOL that took away our ability to speak? The last words spoken before a conversation were whatever expletives we uttered as we listened to the phone line connect to the internet. Then when you were connected and discovered you had mail, you pulled up the chat box to see who else was online. The art of multitasking was developed as you had 16 different chat windows open talking to so many different people at once. If somebody walked away, you knew it because the conversation froze; that or your parents picked up the phone to make a call (’90s problems).
Nothing has changed today. We stretch ourselves across multiple text messaging conversations. When somebody doesn’t answer we don’t care because we have 30 other apps to get to looking for likes, shopping, shares, food, God forbid porn. But in that text message, aside from emojis, do you really know what that person is feeling? They just texted “LOL” so they’re definitely not crying over their wedding album right now, right?
I see posts all the time about how we’re such great friends that we can go long periods without talking and just pick up where we left off. What’s a long period? Since the last time you worked together? Since the last time you ran into them at the store? I don’t know about you, but I work a lot and go home tired a lot. I overbook my days off so it feels like I no sooner wake up and it’s bedtime already. What are my friends up to? I don’t know.
I think that we live in a time when we have no idea what influences are getting into our friends. We are attacked daily by everything–finances, politics, hot new gadgets, credit cards, cars, solar power, fossil fuels, everything. The only way to listen and maintain a well-connected friendship is to call and check in, even if just to ask if they’re still alive. Then like the video below, you can be the jokester or the screaming infant. Be who you are. Your true friends know you.
Life is hurtful sometimes. Make a phone call. Don’t be like an AOL chat box left wide open because of a poor connection. When your friend answers in tears, you may have just saved their life. I’m going to start calling more often. In your darkest hour, call me. Don’t suck it up.
Upcoming ConEd Opportunity 2.0 CEUs. This is the class that accompanies my book, The Double-Edged Sword, designed to address multiple areas of interest mentioned throughout the book. If you have not already done so, pick up a copy of the book here (not required for class): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09K21SLZM then click onto https://www.120compressions.com/service-page/stress-management-course-2-0ceu-1?referral=service_list_widget to sign up for the class. #smashthestigma #paramedic #ptsdrecovery #itsokaytobebroken #itsokaytonotbeokay #firefighter #emergencymedicalservices #EmergencyMedicalTechnician #anxiety #depressionawareness #resilience #leadership #mentalhealthawareness #youarenotalone #youarenotyourthoughts #youarenotyourpast #jeremiah2911 #chaplain #emschaplain
President Biden Sings Law Extending PSOB Benefits for PTSD, Acute Stress, Suicide
This is a win for first responders. This will recognize work-related suicide as a LODD moving forward. If management cannot evolve into leadership and address the issues taxing their employees, then their families can still be taken care of.
Comparatively if you lose a limb at work, you are compensated. Until now if your line of work caused you to take your own life, there was no compensation.
I’ve hated this man. I’ve not loved him at full capacity. I’ve fed him lies & told him he wasn’t good enough and have allowed others to tell him he wasn’t good enough. He has been broken. He has allowed others to treat him disrespectfully. He has run through brick walls & battle for others who won’t even stand up for him. He couldn’t stop individuals from abandoning him, yet I’ve seen him get up and stand to be a light to the world & love others despite all that. He has stood paralyzed by fear while he fought battles in his mind, heart and soul.
This man has screwed up many times, as a son, husband, father, nephew, boyfriend, cousin, friend, Brother and leader because he doesn’t always say or do the “right things”. He has secrets. He has scars… because he has a history.
Some people love this man, some like him, and some people don’t care for him at all. He has done good in his life. He has done bad in his life. He is random and sometimes silly. He is who he is.
You can love him or not. But if he loves you, he will do it with his whole heart, and he will make no apologies for the way he is.
This man is a WARRIOR & A SURVIVOR. He’s not perfect but he has a lot of WORTH!
Christopher Turnbull 