Recently I was asked to write down a few of my more memorable escapades while in uniform. The first that comes to mind would have to be the night that I learned the value of humility. Let me preface this story of misfortune by explaining the caliber of officer I was early in my career when this event took place. As a young officer I was probably considered a black hole of humor. When I arrived on the scene of a call, my sheer presence would suck the fun right out of a room. If you could imagine Bufford T. Pusser and the drill sergeant from “Full Metal Jacket” having a bastard love child, that would have been me. My uniform perfectly creased, shoes spit shined, back ram rod strait and the physique of a professional athlete, and I was the perfect specimen.

As firefighters we are many times required to go with the private ambulance company while enroute to the hospital to assist the paramedics. My partner and I were on the ambulance one night working a code. I was doing compressions while my partner was bagging the patient and the paramedic was pushing drugs. It was one of those situations that was obvious the outcome would be grim.