Irony. It refers to when words and events diverge.
On Friday of last week, I sent a Memorial Day message to our team. I asked everyone, between their "start of summer" activities, to give a minute of thought to those in uniform (military and first responders) who keep us all safe. I likened Prosperident's team to "dental first responders" because we tend to run toward danger in our work.
Then it became real.
On Sunday, after the driest spring on record, several large forest fires erupted near me, and intense winds pushed one toward a populated area. A CNN story is
HERE.
I am a volunteer first responder (Search and Rescue). Where I live. SAR is a fair-sized group with diverse skills that is often called upon to backstop police, fire, paramedics, and other agencies. I was quickly put to work evacuating neighborhoods on Sunday. Since then, I have spent my evenings leading a team that relieved exhausted police officers, directed traffic, and escorted people into the fire zone to retrieve pets or vital medications.
The evacuees that I have encountered are upset and scared at how they have lost control over their situations, but they are profoundly grateful for our assistance.
The fires are still burning and have consumed 42,000 acres and destroyed over 250 structures. We are hopeful that rain expected on the weekend will finally allow firefighters to get ahead of the fires, but until then there is little relief in sight.
The good news is that, as far as we know, there has been no loss of life or serious injury to date, which is a testament to the incredible efforts of hundreds of fire, police, search and rescue, forestry technicians, animal rescue, etc.
So my invocation to our team on Friday suddenly became prophetic.
If you think your practice needs a "dental first responder," click HERE,
and we will be happy to come to your rescue.
