It is easy to get lost in the rhetoric of today’s turbulent political climate. President Donald Trump’s invocation of Pittsburgh in his reasoning for opting out of the Paris climate agreement left a sour taste in the mouths of many Yinzers. Liberals, conservatives, progressives and populists alike cringed at the thought of being labeled a stagnant community reliant on times-gone-by and so buried in the Rust Belt that we all risk contracting tetanus at any moment.
Times like these remind us the importance of remembering who we are. It seems as though there are an infinite number of forces pulling us in different directions and dredging deep divides right through tightly knit communities. This is not an argument for or against climate policy or any other political idea; it’s about protecting and preserving our identity as a community.
Throughout my time as a Pittsburgh paramedic, I have been so fortunate to be immersed in every corner of our great city. In times of crisis, Pittsburghers invite us into their homes when they couldn’t imagine calling anyone else. In these moments we see people in their most raw, honest form. We don’t need an EKG monitor to see into the heart of this town.
I offer you some examples of our identity.
It was 2 a.m. on a cold, February night in the midst of a snowstorm. We squeezed the ambulance down a narrow street in Polish Hill but could only get as close as five houses away. We trudged down to the patient’s house, where the husband was waving feverishly at us. The woman was struggling to breathe and an EKG showed she was clearly having a heart attack.
We had an ever-growing list of things we needed to do to help her and looming over us was just the logistics of getting her to the ambulance in 5 inches of heavy, wet snow. We went outside to figure it out and two 80-year-old neighbors had shoveled the path from the back of our ambulance to the patient’s front door. The 10 minutes we were gifted by those gentlemen saved that woman’s life.
On Christmas Eve, we responded to Mount Washington for a person who was unconscious. We found an elderly man who had passed away while his family was getting ready for the holiday. After sitting down with the patient’s relatives and giving them the sad news, neighbors started arriving. With each one came part of their own families’ holiday, given to their neighbors in need. Food, coffee, kind words and hugs were piled upon the grieving family. With each new arrival, the pain of losing a loved one was eased just ever so slightly.
Yet another woman’s husband was out of town for work. She tried to make it to the hospital herself, but waited too long. When we pulled up to her car with the blinkers on in Shadyside, the baby’s head was already sticking out. One stranger was brushing her hair, holding her hand and telling her it would all be OK while another was on the phone with 911 getting instructions on what to do. We brought a healthy baby into the world and three strangers became forever friends.
An elderly man mowing his lawn in Crafton Heights fell victim to the humid, exhausting heat that comes with the unforgiving Pittsburgh summers. We stabilized him and took him to the hospital. Afterward, we stopped back at his house to make sure his door was locked and his neighbors were finishing his yard work.
I could go on and on about all the amazing hues of Pittsburgh that have shown brilliantly through the darkest moments. Even in their most trying times, people offer to make us lunch, give us a warm cup of coffee or try to stuff money in our hands like they’re our grandmothers. Every day in Pittsburgh, strangers open their hearts and minds to perform CPR, to stop bleeding and to render aid and comfort to those in desperate need.
This is our identity. Pittsburgh is a place full of people who shovel walks, deliver food, offer comfort and lean on each other. We band together and glow with resilience. We embrace each other with ignorance to creed, background or neighborhood borders. We rally for the vulnerable and are champions for our community. We raise each other up in times of triumph but aren’t afraid to hold each other accountable when we overstep or take too many liberties. We learn and grow together.
No matter your political views, these are the things we must remember in the face of today’s tumultuous political climate: We are the caring, hopeful and indestructible Yinzers. That is one title that cannot be taken away from us.
James Dlutowski is a crew chief paramedic for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (jameseymedic@gmail.com).
First Published: June 10, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
