In January 1994, the villages of Baldwin, Hammond and Woodville consolidated to form United Fire & Rescue. Proudly serving our communities and the townships of Baldwin, Springfield, Hammond, Emerald, Pleasant Valley, Rush River, Eau Galle, Erin Prairie, Cady and the Village of Wilson. We provide fire suppression, extrication, and rescue services to the citizens of central St. Croix County. United Fire & Rescue now offers the services of over 70 volunteers and 13 fire and rescue apparatuses. EMS for our service area is provided by the Baldwin Ambulance Service and the Woodville Area Ambulance.

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Dedicated to Paramedics, Fire and Police Officers and their Dispatchers:

I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 in the morning as
I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start
CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too
late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible
was done to try and save his life.

I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste
of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your
turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being
able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I've
become too familiar with.

I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a call, Is this a
false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed?
What Hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?". Or to call and ask what
is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life threatening? Is the
caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a
gun?

I wish you could be in the emergency room, as a doctor pronounces
dead, the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying to
save during the past 25 minutes, knowing she will never go on her
first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy", ever again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the
ambulance or engine or cruiser, the driver with his foot pressing
down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air
horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an
intersection or in traffic. When you need us however, your first
comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get
here!"

I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of
teenage years from the remains of her automobile. What if this was
my daughter, sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her
parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a
police officer with hat in hand?

I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and
greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that
I nearly did not come back from the last call.

I wish you could know how it feels dispatching officers,
firefighters and Paramedics out and when we call for them and our
heart drops because no one answers back or to hear a bone chilling
911 call of a child or wife needing assistance.

I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally and sometimes
physically abuse us or belittle what we do, or as they express
their attitudes of "It will never happen to me".

I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain
of missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in
addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.

I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of
helping save a life or preserving someone's property, or being able
to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.

I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy
tugging at your arm and asking, "Is my Mommy okay?", not even being
able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not
knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who
watches his buddy having CPR done on him as they take him away in
the Medic Unit. You know all along he did not have his seat belt
on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.

Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly
understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really
means to us...I wish you could though.
Unknown Author
APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT THE LOCAL POLICE
OFFICERS, EMS PARAMEDICS, FIREFIGHTERS, and 911 DISPATCHERS
IN YOUR AREA. ONE DAY THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR
PROPERTY OR YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU SEE THEM COMING WITH
LIGHTS FLASHING, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY QUICKLY, and THEN PRAY FOR THEM