Three EMT's kneeling in a growing pool of blood, making a show of performing CPR, knowing the futility of their efforts. A mostly finished case of beer. Two officers holding back one of the victim's friends from the intoxicated driver, screaming his hatred of the man he did not know until minutes ago. I relieved the guy on compressions so he could ready an airway and O2. Logic tells me the blood on the ground is roughly half of his bodies volume.
Every compression forces a few more precious drops to the ground.
Someone takes over for me as I strip off my gloves and prepare to run escort for Rescue 2. The gloves I drop to the ground, hoping to leave the memories of what I've just seen with them. Even with all precautions his blood is now part of me. Not for the first time, not for the last. The faces of my comrades say that they know, too.