Orange County Register; North County News-Tribune; June 1-2, 2023, Page A2
Putting our first responders in the spotlight
BY GAYLE CARLINE
FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Each year I attend the First Responders Recognition Breakfast, a celebration of honorees from our Placentia Police Department, Fire & Life Safety, Public Safety Communications Center, Lynch EMS, and Emergency Ambulance Service.
In years past, this was held at the Alta Vista Country Club, but the pandemic world changed things. For the past three years, the event has been outdoors in the Tlaquepaque parking lot. Rosalina Davis and her restaurant staff whip up fabulous breakfast burritos and there’s plenty of coffee from Golden State Coffee Roasters to greet us.
I am not a morning person, so coffee is a must for me.
Since I live a short mile from downtown Placentia, I am accustomed to walking down to the event. I don’t have to worry about parking, and I get some exercise. Unfortunately, I’ve recently re-injured my back. My symptoms this time include a shooting pain down both legs.
There would be no mile-long hike unless I wanted to whine all the way.
As usual, there were a lot of familiar faces at the breakfast, from Chamber of Commerce members to the City Council, all at tables that had been sponsored by local businesses. I was assigned to the Placentia Library table, sponsored by Placentia FiberCity. Their two representatives, Chelsea and Marcus, were delightful breakfast companions.
There was a moment of confusion when I was telling our library director, Jeanette, that my son Marcus wanted to be a vegetarian when he was little. FiberCity’s Marcus heard his name and said, “Me? Vegetarian? No way!”
We had a good laugh about it.
Every year, the different organizations honor their employees, and we hear the same descriptions, of people who excel at their jobs, who are always striving to be better, learn more, get smarter, and share their expertise with others. I’m inspired each time, and so thankful to have those people taking care of me in an emergency.
This time, many of the honorees were being recognized for their work on a single event in January. I remember reading about the horrific car crash. An allegedly drunk driver hit a van full of people coming home from church. Three people died.
Our emergency personnel did their jobs. They secured the scene, treated injuries, delivered people to hospitals. But they did so much more. Those who spoke Spanish translated for the injured. They did their best to calm the frightened and anguished passengers. They worked efficiently and thoroughly to gather evidence, all with empathy and compassion for the people they served.
Police, firefighters, paramedics all have technical duties that must be performed, but they also require the ability to work with people who are under stress. That’s a special kind of job description.
I tried to picture myself in that kind of role and could not. It’s not because I could not learn the technical aspects. After all, I was a software engineer for 30 years. And I can lend a sympathetic ear and have compassion for those in need. I just don’t think I could put those two together. I get too focused on tasks and forget there’s anyone else in the room, and if I’m taking care of someone, I don’t want to pull my heart away to think about procedures.
I will leave the heroics to our brave first responders, who are made for the task. They’re worth getting up early to celebrate.
Longtime Placentia resident Gayle Carline tracks those moments that shape her days as a wife, mom, computer whiz and horsewoman. E-mail her at gaylecarline@sbcglobal.net.