Time of Death... 19:34

I am convinced that death is the great equalizer in life. On many occasions, I have been a part of a team attempting to re-start a heart or get a patient breathing again. Unfortunately, many times we just can't overcome the damage that has been done to the body, and the time of death is pronounced. Normally I can deal with death. (As long as it doesn't hit too close to home.) I also understand that an experience that brings a huge rush of adrenaline to those of us who work in an emergency situation, is the same experience that has just crushed the lives of the remaining family and friends of the victim. So after the pronouncement of death, I try to take a moment and recognize the depth of what transpired. What I consistently see is that no matter the decisions an individual makes in life, it always ends the same way. Baby, it aint pretty. Death doesn't have to come in the form of violence to be ugly either. If your heart just stops, somebody (like me) is going to hop on top of you and force your chest down nearly 2 inches with all of my strength. I am going to do this nearly 100 times a minute until the Doctor says to stop. Sometimes we go for nearly an hour. Feel your chest. Try to make it move inward even 1/4 of an inch. You are guaranteed that I am going to snap a few ribs while I work. I have done this for little old men, heroine users, teenagers, state prisoners, and church pastors. Life may have been different for each of them, but death was the same. Every time.

Last night, the pronouncement came at 19:35. Just after 7:30 in the evening somebody, somewhere in the waiting room, lost the one person in this world who means everything to them. It struck me how quick my world could change. But through it all, I am convinced even more than ever, that there is something more than just this life. I am lucky to have moments like this that cause me to occasionally re-evaluate my faith and often strengthen it.