To the editor:

I am a volunteer firefighter in Brown County. I work a normal full-time job and have a spouse and two small children at home. All of them hate how much I am not home because of my responsibilities as a firefighter. This was no more apparent than one night when we were dispatched to a car wreck.

I was getting my 6-year-old ready for bed when my pager went off. The dispatch informed all responding units that one patient didn’t appear to be breathing. Immediately my adrenaline spikes and I rush to get my shoes on.

As I prepare to leave, my 6-year-old begins to beg me to stay. This happens often, so I start going through my normal speech explaining how someone needs help and the firefighters have to go help them. I explain that if they don’t get help, they could die. My child looks me in the eyes, appears to consider what I just said, and then says to me “Sometimes people have to die. You need to stay here.” I was speechless. I stood there for a second thinking of what to say and eventually knelt and told them “Sometimes people do die. But it is my job to do everything I can to save them.” I walked out the door as both my children began to cry for me to stay. My child’s words bother me every day.

Someone did die that night. Could I have saved them? Probably not, but every patient that doesn’t make it weighs on the responders. No matter if anything could have been done to save them or not. Every person at some point thinks “If I had done something differently, would they have lived?”

It took over 20 minutes for me to drive to the fire station, get the equipment I needed and get to the scene. Nearly every other firefighter on our roster also responded.

This is the life of a volunteer firefighter in Brown County. Answering the calls for help at every hour of the day, every day. Vacations, holidays and birthdays don’t matter. If you can help, you help.

Every year there are fewer and fewer volunteers. If you are reading this, volunteer. It doesn’t matter if you have time or can physically handle it. There is a job for everyone, whether it’s fighting fires or helping with a Facebook page. If you aren’t willing to volunteer, pay for someone to be there. I don’t want paid for my service. I don’t even want thanked for my service. I just want a qualified person to show up when my friends and family need help. Do Something.

For as long as I am able, I am going to volunteer for my local fire department. I will do everything to help my friends and neighbors in need. I am a volunteer firefighter in Brown County, Indiana.

Hunter Riebl, Brown County (Nashville) Volunteer Fire Department medical officer