Boy Scouts.
Okay, I have to admit it. I have always been a Boy Scout. Literally and figuratively. As corny as it sounds, I wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to help people. Still feel that way. More now after over 30 years of practice than I did at age 14.
Ever seen that movie where, in a crowded theater, a commotion ensues in the audience, the action on the stage stops, the house lights come up and someone cries out, “Is there a doctor in the house?”
I wanted to be “that guy”. First Aid Merit Badge in Boy Scouts just wasn’t enough. I wanted to know everything I needed to know to help someone (especially a friend or family member) when it mattered most, when the disaster struck, when the victim hit the ground. When everyone else did not know what to do.
And now I’ve been there.
First on the scene of auto accidents, gunshot wounds, a lady falling and breaking her hip in the mall, a cousin choking on a shrimp needing the “Heimlich” maneuver, and, yes, a heart attack during a performance at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
It’s the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared”.