Naked Therapy

Some people believe first responders are immune from the terrible things they witness, enabling them to go about their daily duties as if they are a common chore. This, however, couldn't be farther from the truth. Everyone needs something to help him or her decompress. Under stress, your sense of humor is one of the first things to go. But if you can laugh at the situation, you'll be amazed at how much better you feel. Frances Kibbe, an E.M.T-B from a Massachusetts Ambulance Company, uses one such example of this therapy. Looking back, she recalls the time she responded to the state police barracks for an unknown medical complaint. There, she discovered a young female, sitting calmly, and in no obvious distress. Witnesses had stated that the patient, for unknown reasons, had earlier flipped out at a local gas station, screaming and yelling at the clerk. Hoping the patient's current docile behavior would continue, E.M.T. Kibbe started her examination. Kibbe's hope soon ran out though as the patient again went on her emotional outburst, threatening to punch and kick anyone near. With things soon calmed, E.M.T Kibbe, along with another first responder, started their transport to the local hospital. Arriving at the E.R without incident, Kibbe quickly turned over care of the patient and headed for a private room to start her paperwork. Suddenly, commotion broke out in the hall. From a back room, Kibbe stuck her head out, witnessing the female patient she had just transported, running down the corridor as naked as the first day she was born, three large guards in hot pursuit. Ducking back into the safety of her little niche, Kibbe next heard a loud thud, followed by the long squeaking sound of bare skin sliding across the floor. All Frances Kibbe could think about is how much that must have hurt. Using humor however, allowed her to move from the grim and bare it, to the grin and share it.

Frances Kibbe, E.M.T. - B, Massachusetts