Thursday, July 11, 2013

Rescue the Perishing, care for the dying


I can remember the first time I ever got to drive an ambulance “Code 3”. That’s when you know things are serious because it is lights and sirens. You need to get there and you need to get there as swiftly and yet as safely as one can. Driving an emergency vehicle does mean that you get to drive however you want. It means that there are extra rules and one must drive with extra care so that you can get wherever it is that one needs to be without hurting everyone around you, including yourself.  

I had undergone a lot of training to be in that driver’s seat. We had to learn how to drive our large ambulance and how to handle it under a variety of conditions so that we could get there. Then we needed to be able to assess the people who needed our help, treat their wounds, illnesses and if necessary transport port them to a place where they were going to get a higher level of care.

How does this relate to the week’s Gospel? In a lot of ways!

Where, first of all, are the bystanders? Where did they go? Why didn’t one of them wait with the injured man. They have left. One of them had his cell phone and called in the 911 emergency that had us coming, lights flashing and siren blaring. We had to use the search light in the growing dark but thankfully we did find the man. He was in the ditch, nearly hidden from view. He was bruised bleeding and near death.

Consider and evaluate the scene of this incident: The injured man appears alone. There does not appear to be anyone else with him. Thus there is no one else who is injured and in need of assessment and treatment. Plus there is little to no threat to the team in the vehicle. That’s important. Those who committed the crime have fled the area with their ill gotten booty. We can get out, assess and begin to treat the injured man.

This is simple and easy enough. It is the ABC’s of emergency medicine. Is his airway open and is he breathing. Yes. But his breathing is shallow. Give him oxygen. Has he got a pulse? Yes? Good. Is he bleeding? Yes. Get bandages and pressure on the wounds. Get a “C-collar” to stabilize his neck. Get him on a back board the main stretcher and then get him in the vehicle so that we can get him to a place where we can care for him better... With me so far? We are on our way to the nursing station and relaying information to the nurse so that she and the staff are ready. We spend time at the nursing station with the man and the nurse, helping and caring for the injuries until it is time to take him to the airport.

It is a quiet ride to the airport where we watch the air ambulance coming. There is lots of lights on the spot where we make the transfer of the man in our care, wishing him a safe journey and thanking the staff on the flight who will take charge of our ward until he gets to hospital further away.  Then it is back to the fire department to park in the ambulance’s bay where we clean up, restock our supplies and ready the ambulance for the next time that it is needed. We know we will be going again. It is a matter of time.

The focus is on the care and love shown toward a person we have never met before. We care for him as a person, tending to his wounds, reassuring him in his fears and comforting him in the pain of the journey. Isn’t that what God in Christ does for us? Isn’t that what we as a community of faith and of ministry are meant to do for the city of people around us?

People will only know what we believe by how we love each other. Its how the world measures who God is. It is why Jesus commanded us to love each other as he has loved us. He loved us so much that he put his life on the line. In the cold and in the dark, as he surrendered himself, we were on his mind. Can we learn to selflessly love each other, having been shown by Christ how to do it? Will we not allow the Spirit to move us in to acts of kindness that will bless, rescue and heal people who are hurt wounded and dying spiritually as well as physically? Remember: the Lord visits and redeems his people. God is seeking to rescue that which is lost. His people. You and me. Will you let him?

Jason+

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