Look for the Helpers

By Chaplain Joshua Holder

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. (Proverbs 3:27 NKJV)

Quite some time ago, I had a conversation with a first responder after a critical incident, a mass shooting at a parade. The responder faced difficulty processing the incident mainly because of the response of the crowd at the scene. Many people at the parade kept reveling and partying, blocking the streets and preventing police, fire, and EMS from getting to those in desperate need of help. The responder kept saying that people acted like they didn’t want anything to ruin their good time, including moving out of the way for first responders. He said the people blocked the road, stopped to dance in front of the police cars, and banged their hands on the fire truck doors. The responders finally had to stop their emergency vehicles several blocks away and walk with their equipment to try and find those who had been injured.

When they finally got to the victims, the responder told me he expressed anger and distress as bystanders attempted to take pictures of the scene and continued to impede the scene. When his focus returned to the victims, he noticed a bystander doing CPR on one of the victims, desperately trying to give them a chance to survive. In the end, the patients they attended to succumbed to their injuries.

The first responders on the scene went through the normal questions in their heads, “What if we had gotten there sooner?” “What if the crowds were not standing in our way.” “What if…?” Much of the frustration centered on the crowd, which hindered access to the scene.

Something I heard in the story made me pause. One of the responders again mentioned the bystander who started doing CPR and continued until the Fire Department and Paramedics arrived, even with the extended time it took them to get there. Watch for the Helpers!

An important piece of wisdom I learned many years ago as a young paramedic is to always watch for the helpers. One Independence Day, while on duty as a paramedic, I received a dispatch for a cardiac arrest just as the grand finale of the fireworks took place. In the town where I worked, the population nearly tripled on the 4th of July. As my crew and I desperately tried to save a man's life and transport him to the hospital, pedestrians and vehicles refused to move out of the way while leaving town. I felt a surge of anger at their complete disregard for the emergency situation unfolding before us. In my anger, I failed to see all the people trying to clear people out and the extra help that came to the scene from the department to give us an additional set of hands to carry equipment and tend to the victim's wife so we could focus on our job. A Chaplain I vented to later heard me briefly mention the helpers but lament more about the people in the way. The Chaplain encouraged me: amid the chaos and the frustration, watch for the helpers and seize on that. When I thought about the situation and the helpers, it reframed the problem for me, helping me find peace in the frustration and chaos knowing I did all I could, and amid people's disregard, helpers were looking out for the greater good.

In Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, he tells his listeners, “You are the world’s light. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven,” (Matt 5:14-16 NKJV). Jesus’s followers learn that they shine like a light to the world, positioned high on a hill for everyone to see. As Jesus-followers, our light dispels darkness and chaos, so we should let it shine for all to see, helping those in need and guiding others through darkness and uncertainty.

First responders often become callous, focusing exclusively on the negative aspects of a situation and overlooking the positive. In those moments, seek the light and find the helpers. As first responders, we must be a beacon of hope in darkness. In chaotic situations where crowds hinder our response, we should seek the light from fellow helpers and the love of Christ for strength and guidance.

Chaplain Joshua Holder and his wife, Andrea

Chaplain Joshua Holder is an Assemblies of God Missionary Chaplain to First Responders. Joshua has been married to his wife, Andrea, for 16 years. He is also a Chaplain for the New Orleans Fire Department, where he works with the department's Peer Support and Critical Incident Stress Management teams.

Joshua is passionate about preventing mental health crises and suicide in first responders. He has taught at the Serving Heroes National Conference for Peer Support at Chaplaincy and has been a guest for a Responder Health Webinar training on "How Your Purpose Coincides with Your Occupation."

Before Joshua's time in New Orleans, he served as a paramedic in Illinois on multiple fire departments for 16 years while simultaneously serving in law enforcement as a dispatcher for 14 years.

Joshua and Andrea have served in ministry roles for over 19 years.

*The views of this blog are Chaplain Joshua Holder's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the New Orleans Fire Department.