This is National EMS Week. A time for all of us to take a moment to thank all of the people involved in our Emergency Medical Services, commonly known as EMS. The system starts with an emergency call to 911, where the emergency dispatchers take the appropriate action and get the information the responders will need.

New Holland EMS is working for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The holidays and vacations that many are able to take off and spend with their families is not always a possibility for these folks because they still need to be available. The Dispatchers, First Responders, Fire Personnel, EMT's and Paramedics of your community are always on standby to handle emergency calls.

Many days, the EMS providers are not even able to get through a complete meal or a complete night's sleep because duty calls. This group does not have set hours and they sacrifice a lot of their family time to respond to calls or participate in training on the latest procedures or techniques. While everyone else is taking cover from a storm, they continue to answer the call. They do not care who you are or how much money you have or your ethnicity. They only care about your well being and how they can make it better. With all the dedication and effort these professionals put in, the average person does not think about them until they are needed!

The news is always talking about heroes and we, as a community, sometimes forget we have our own local heroes - the EMS professionals that live and work in our community - and that includes EMTs, paramedics, first responders, fire personnel, and emergency dispatchers. These people have only one goal to help save lives.

Thank you to all our local heroes for the job you do each and every day!