Metro Ambulance Services paramedics work hard on Labor Day to help save lives.

This Labor Day holiday, many had the day off from school, work and spent their day at home. However, others like emergency first responders spent the day away from their families trying to help save lives.

“Today has not been bad, you know we’d much rather be at home with our families, but it’s just another day as far as running calls you can’t really judge a day just because it’s a holiday. We have 5 ALS trucks and Four BLS trucks, we’re staffed pretty good, we got all our equipment, and all of our personnel are ready to respond.”

Chief Paramedic of Metro Ambulance Service Teddy Derrick says although most holidays paramedics spend their time away from family, they have a strong bond working together and consider themselves to be each other's, second family.

“ This is like your family away from home, we kind of watch out for each other and take care of each other, if someone goes on a bad call and we’re able we try to help them, you know, you got to be there for one another, you got to depend on one another,and you got to trust one another, you know it is like a family.”

Derrick added that the family gathering comes to an end whenever a call comes through the radio.

“ We have a minute to get into that truck and be responding, we can pretty much be anywhere in the county in less than 20 minutes, so here in town we can usually be from here to wherever in about 5 to 8 minutes.”

Derrick says that even though he had to work this year on Labor Day, he could not see himself working anywhere else.

“ I’ve been here 16 years, and if you want to work in EMS this is a good place to work, good experience, and you can’t beat our beat our benefits and the longevity of the company and not worrying about if you’re going not to get a paycheck or not, I’ve never had to worry about that, and it’s just a good place to work.”