M.a.h. and I exchanged a couple of comments on one of my blogs and she replied back to one that my point was well said.  My reply was meant in earnest, but only after reading her response did I actually think about it's depth.

I had written to always have a blanket/winter gear in your car on one of my blog posts.  M.a.h. commented that even though she didn't live where it was particularly cold, she just might throw a blanket in her car anyway.  I replied back that even if she would never use the blanket, it might be used in time to aid another person who may have been injured.  I pointed out that the plane crash the other day proved that quite honestly, civilians were in truth, the "first responders" and that we never knew when we ourselves might be in that position.  She replied back "Well said".

And there is the reality of it all.  Well said or not, well intentioned or not, it IS true that in these times we all could be called on at the exact moment we least expect it, to be a first responder.  To help another human in need, at a time that they need it most.

Are we, as a nation, up to such a task?  Do the circumstances have to be catastrophic or dramatic for us to want to help?

I think back to a few weeks ago to an Internet traffic video where a lone man was hit by several cars.  People walked past, other cars dodged him, but no one stopped to help him.  Is one life worth less than 155?

Not so long ago, on my way into the city, I passed a woman laying on the shoulder of the road and quite close to the pavement.  This is a moderately busy, but still rural road.  I turned around and called police.  It turns out she was fine, just confused and apparently off her meds, but still, how many people passed her and did not bother to stop or even call on the ever present cell phone?  I was the first to call.

So are people only willing to help if a plane crashes or we are attacked again?  Or there is another natural disaster?  Since when are we not willing to help on an individual basis?

And yes, I know there are many Americans who gladly jump in a lake to save a drowning person, but these heroes are few and far between.  We, you and I, must as a whole, become a nation of first responders.

And hey, you don't HAVE to know CPR or first aid or even how to swim (I don't, so I won't be saving anyone drowning!).  But you CAN do what you can.

And sometimes it's just the simple human touch of wrapping a blanket around an accident victims shoulders that can bring the most comfort at just the right time.

I challenge you America.  Everything is on sale right now.  If you can afford the Internet, you can afford a blanket for your car.  Keep it in the original wrapping until you, yourself become a First Responder.

It will be a better America, one responder at a time.