Thank you Carlos.
One thing I always think about when it comes to being always ready is this. Rely on your training and how you have trained yourself but understand that that your preparation is never the real deal. There are always factors which even with a high level of training do not conform to a trained response.
I actually have a latin phrase and symbol from The Division video games. This resides on my back back I use for work or in most cases just in general. On one side strapped in with a tactical med-kit (which I now have fully stocked for anything from minor cuts to treating broken bones and major lacerations or puncture wounds. I also keep an up to date epi-pen (though I personally have no allergies and also a small amount of synthetic insulin (this for my father just in case). On the other side I keep a small survival kit including you basic stuff, compass, multi tool, fire starter, a hooked needle, surgical string and my good knife when not on school grounds. Anyway, I brought all this up because the saying is.
"Extremis Malis Extrema Remedia" - Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I wear this because in the course of my life I have had some times where I had to "flip the switch" and run on the purest of instinct and ignore certain reactions to things to help others. One of the first times I ever did this consciously was in my early 20's when there was a drive by on my street in St. Louis. I remember hearing the squealing tires and the gun shots followed by the screams. The moment now in my memory seems so clear but at the time I was running on instinct. First my typical reaction,to being outside during gunshots (not that unusual in the area I lived) was hit the ground and work my way inside. But, this time was different. I was working on my car in the back alley. I heard the noise and I really don't know why but I booked it up the street to where I heard the screams coming from. I found a few people standing around and a man no more than my age laying in an expanding pool of blood. I remember the feeling of tearing the sleeves off my shirt one to tie above the wound in his upper arm and the other to apply pressure to the wound on his right side which was a nasty one. I had to yell at some one to call emergency services, I remember talking to the kid to keep him awake as shock was setting him in, asking him where he was originally from, did he have any kids, siblings, a girlfriend. I remember his skin turning more and more pale as I held his wound and the feeling of my hand growing warm as blood soaked through the cloth I held to his stomach. I will never forget his face, ever. He finally passed out, and his breath became shallow. It wasn't much longer that EMS arrived and took the kid into an ambulance, and I was inside washing up after giving a statement to the police. That situation took only about ten minutes total but has changed my life forever.
About a week later I got a visit from an older lady from up the block. She told me her grand-son had passed and wanted to invite me to his services. His mother and grand mother thanked me personally at his wake. I remember asking them why they thanked me, he passed anyway? His grandmother replied with this, "You were the only one ready and willing to help, did you see anyone else on the street with you? You did this for no reason but love and that's why God put you there." After his services were done I remember telling myself I would do my best to be ready for a number of situations, Blackwater (the security company I worked for at the time as a fire arms instructor, actually not to proud of that once certain things that were happening over seas came to light) had a pretty intense training program for the non-military vets that were working field jobs for them (like me).
I am sorry this turned into an essay, but this is a clear memory of when I adopted the saying of always being ready. a short time later I was in Ferguson, Mo during the protests, aiding those whom had inhaled tear gas (I had to undergo both pepper spray and teargas exposure tests to hold the position I did, so exposure was a feeling I could somewhat handle for a time longer than those never exposed) or had injuries from the clashes with police and other protesters a like. That is when I added in my own, desperate times desperate measures, though I didn't have the latin saying for it until a few years later. I still think it and meditate on these sayings a lot. Now that I work in schools I have even further thought of it. We have had threats of shootings, the last one, I was one of maybe 35 of the 100 or so staff that showed up. Had something happened I would defend those kids with my life. Since that first experience I have always kept my first aid, CPR and firearms instructor (though I don't teach fire arms anymore) up to date and valid. Again, I am sorry this turned into an essay, this is just one of those memories I don't talk about much because it always ends up coming out in a flow and it isn't a happy memory.
This is a great saying to contemplate Carlos, sorry I guess I had to get this out, once it started. Thank you again for sparking this thought Carlos, these are sayings I never want to forget.
Much Love, Peace and Respect,
Kobos
What has to come ? Will my heart grow numb ?
How will I save the world ? By using my mind like a gun
Seems a better weapon, 'cause everybody got heat
I know I carry mine, since the last time I got beat
MF DOOM Books of War
Training Masters: Carlos.Martinez3 and JLSpinner
TB:Nakis
Knight of the Conclave
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