The Boston Tragedy

Maglin Halsey

Today during class we found out about the explosions at the finish line of the Boston marathon. Wow. My heart sunk. I’ve spent today trying to figure out why this event hit me in a way different from any other traumatic event on the news.

It was only two years ago that I was crossing the finish line of my first marathon. When I crossed that line, I couldn’t talk. As soon as I tried, I found myself sucking in all the air I could muscle. The push to the finish line had taken my breath away. Today, runners and spectators also had their breath taken away as the explosions went off and chaos ensued. As I watched replays of the scene, I felt that same sense of gasping for breath that I had two years ago when I finished my marathon.

As I continued to watch news coverage, I found myself being specifically interested in the emergency medical services. Stretchers moving everywhere, bandages, splints, blood. It feels different to watch an ambulance and its sirens after becoming a certified EMT. I have found that since becoming certified and riding on the ambulances in Greenville, I am much more aware of the situations around me. Anytime I pass a car accident, I’m automatically thinking. What happened? How many people? Are there any life-threatening injuries? There are always ambulances sitting at the scene already as I pass, but this is how I am programmed to think now. Any time I see someone in the crowd at a football game looking faint in the heat, I’m starting to think about what I’m going to do if they get sick. What medical conditions do they already have? With that frame of mind, the events today struck up the same thoughts. How did they triage the patients at the scene? Who needed attention first? What were the life threatening injuries?

What would I do?

And every time I hear a siren now I’m thinking, how do I get out of the way for the ambulance? As the truck passes me with its sirens on, I quickly glance to see if one of my classmates is on the way to the call. When I hear a story on the news, I wonder if one of my classmates was at the scene.

Every emergency event becomes personal to me.

I finally realized that if anything like what happened in Boston happened in Greenville, my classmates and I would, all of a sudden, be available resources. We ride in the ambulances once a month to continue learning how to handle emergency situations, but what would we do in a situation like this? I have quickly come to realize how close to my heart any emergency situation hits. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by the explosions and all of the emergency personnel who were there saving lives.