August 21, 2013 When a Hero dies.

We walk into peoples lives and sometimes we can't make the difference they hope for. Sometimes we are part of a moment in time where, for them, everything stopped because they lost someone they cared for. And then we leave and carry on with our day. It's our job. We're trained. We don't know these people. We do our best. And we go to the next call.

Then when it's one of our own: Not just our family or friends, but of our EMS family, time stops. Suddenly we are more human than probably any of the people we encounter every day at work.

I've been in EMS in some capacity for seven years now. In those seven years I've felt the pain of loss from within this unique group alone at least twice as often as from all others in my thirty+ years of life.

Craig Gough, may you forever rest in peace. May all those who loved you find peace and comfort wherever they seek it. There are no words for the size or depth of your impact on all those lives you touched.