How often do you find yourself thinking about the people in your community who work to save lives? Most likely, not often enough. Recently our family was faced with a medical emergency that none of us saw coming and because of the dedicated, professional individuals working that day and the days that followed, we survived what could have been a tragedy.

On Jan. 4, our mom suffered a cardiac arrest while at home. Our dad, all of 75 years, was able to think quickly and do the only thing he knew to do, call 911. The 911 operator that day was successful at getting my dad to do chest compressions until the paramedics arrive. He swears it was only minutes before a team of highly professional EMT’S entered our home. Our mom was then rushed to Southern Maine Health Care emergency room in critical condition. When she arrived, emergency room doctors, nurses and other health care professionals cared not only for her, but our family who quickly gathered, heartbroken by the shocking news. When she was moved to the critical care unit at SMHC the exceptional work continued. How these people do this on a day to day basis continues to amaze us all. It takes a special group of people to be in this line of work.

Our family cannot thank the group of folks that came into our lives during this time. Everyone from the 911 responder, EMT’s, SMHC emergency department, SMHC critical care unit, SMHC ministry, prayer groups, friends and family, we were very blessed with all these exceptional people that day. We will never be able to thank everyone enough for all you did.

So the next time you have to pull over for an ambulance rushing to the hospital, or have to wait in an ER with a non-life threatening issue, remember these exceptional group of people and never forget to take a few minutes out of your day to say thank you for the amazing work they do on a day to day basis, saving the lives of individuals they don’t even know.

On behalf of the family of Muriel G. Guay,

Joyce M. Poulin, Biddeford