Dear XXXXX;
Life is difficult, I get that. I truly do. There are financial troubles, family conflicts, friendships that don't last, failed relationships, career disappointments that lead to you being unemployed, etc. You lived in a home that was barely suitable for human habitation because you lost the motivation to take care of yourself and your environment.
You can't cope. You want out. You want to die and you understand what that means. You want closure... the finality.
So you try not once, but twice. Remember last time your sister called us? Remember who pulled you from your vehicle.... in your garage, with carbon monoxide poisoning?
Well... your plan failed again, and I am glad. I'm not glad because you failed at life, but because you failed at dieing. I'm glad mainly because you're only 22 years old. You have a whole life yet to live.
Your request has been denied. You will not be getting an apology from me for doing what I did, messing up your plans for the second time.
You didn't have a DNR order then and you didn't have one two days ago. I acted accordingly.
And not alone.
You see, the reason why you are sitting in the psych ward alive this evening is because a 'higher power' also didn't see it as a good day for you to die. 'His' hands were working my hands... as I worked on you.
Perhaps, you can now get the help you so desperately need and we won't have to respond to your third attempt.
Cpt. Popowich
Senior Firefighter/ACParamedic
It's so easy to overlook, to underestimate. "Cheer up, it might never happen." It's easy to say. Often easy to do, too. Sometimes, however, suggesting that a smile will cure all ills, only shows a lack of understanding. It's a tough one, depression. I see patients practically daily on anti-depression medications. Depression is the only illness named and described with the same word.
The other problem is that depression is a word that is bandied about all too freely. People are depressed when they miss out on a good night out, they're depressed when their boss tells them off, they're depressed when their football team loses. But depression isn't sadness or upset. Hell, we all have bad days... bad moments. Rather, it's a state of mind caused by one of many factors and triggers, some physical, some chemical, some emotional, where a person can appear happy and content with their lives, and yet not be able to cope with all that is happening around them. It's also not something that we can solve in a ten minute meeting while our patient lays tits up in the back of an ambulance. Sometimes, however, just being able to spot the first signs, may be the trigger that leads a patient to treatment and save them and their families heartbreak in the long term. Most of the knowledge I have about depression isn't from books or classrooms, it's from witnessing it first hand. It's from being there myself. It's not something we're taught as firefighters/paramedics to really deal with, because most of the time we're dealing with the consequences, not the disease itself. We can bandage wounds, or we can pronounce death. Understanding that there's a stage before this, a stage that we should be able to spot, may be the most life-saving action we can perform out on the front line.
It's so easy to overlook, to underestimate. "Cheer up, it might never happen." It's easy to say. Often easy to do, too. Sometimes, however, suggesting that a smile will cure all ills, only shows a lack of understanding. It's a tough one, depression. I see patients practically daily on anti-depression medications. Depression is the only illness named and described with the same word. 
The other problem is that depression is a word that is bandied about all too freely. People are depressed when they miss out on a good night out, they're depressed when their boss tells them off, they're depressed when their football team loses. But depression isn't sadness or upset. Hell, we all have bad days... bad moments. Rather, it's a state of mind caused by one of many factors and triggers, some physical, some chemical, some emotional, where a person can appear happy and content with their lives, and yet not be able to cope with all that is happening around them. It's also not something that we can solve in a ten minute meeting while our patient lays tits up in the back of an ambulance. Sometimes, however, just being able to spot the first signs, may be the trigger that leads a patient to treatment and save them and their families heartbreak in the long term. Most of the knowledge I have about depression isn't from books or classrooms, it's from witnessing it first hand. It's from being there myself. It's not something we're taught as firefighters/paramedics to really deal with, because most of the time we're dealing with the consequences, not the disease itself. We can bandage wounds, or we can pronounce death. Understanding that there's a stage before this, a stage that we should be able to spot, may be the most life-saving action we can perform out on the front line. 
