Earlier this summer I was given the chance to ride along with the Lehighton Ambulance Association.

The main purpose of the invitation was to witness firsthand the kind of waits the ambulance crew was experiencing when trying to cross the Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge in Lehighton, which is undergoing a rehabilitation project, but the experience turned into so much more.Since I sit in the newsroom all day within earshot of the scanner, I was a little nervous about the kind of calls we might get during my "shift." I'm not a "blood and guts" kind of girl, and I don't possess one ounce of morbid curiosity. I even close my eyes through most of the graphic scenes in "Grey's Anatomy" and "Outlander."But this was too good an opportunity to pass up. So, to hedge my bets, I warned my husband to stay near his cellphone all day so he could come get me, just in case we went on a call that was a little more than I could handle. For an extra dose of insurance, when I spied a penny on the ground in the parking lot of the ambulance association, I picked it up and slipped it into my pocket, "just in case."Nothing happened that day that made me want to cut and run, but the ride-along was a real eye opener, and not just because I got to see how long the ambulance had to sit in traffic.It gave me the opportunity to see firsthand the dedication of two very special people.I've known and liked Joni Gestl for a long time. I met Joni years ago when I covered Penn Forest Township and she worked tirelessly to get a Lehighton Ambulance substation built in the township. Fortunately for those of us who live in that rural part of the county, she was successful.Joni is a paramedic as well as administrative coordinator for the ambulance association, so she wears many hats. While I'd seen her at work in her administrative capacity, and I knew her to be well-trained and highly skilled on the medical side, I'd never seen her in action.Emergency Medical Technician Mike Resh, who I didn't know until that Saturday morning, was personable and skilled as well, and one hell of a driver. I don't know how fast we were moving on the turnpike, but we were moving, and not once did I employ my white-knuckled grip, which is pretty commonplace when I'm in a vehicle and someone else is driving.But what most impressed me was the compassion with which both Joni and Mike treated their patients.Having to call an ambulance is scary, whether you're the patient or a family member. When that stranger walks up to you on the side of the road or into your home, and you know you're getting the best possible care in that situation, it has to be enormously comforting.I'm sure there are plenty of calls that don't have a happy ending, but from my limited experience, I saw people literally breathe a sigh of relief, and I even saw a smile or two once the crisis was over.Every patient got the same level of care, the same level of compassion, the same level of understanding.I was impressed, and while I have the utmost respect for what they do what all members of the emergency services do I came away with even more that day.On another note, I also came away more than a little annoyed; OK, a lot annoyed.I was on a total of five calls; four of which were emergency calls, complete with lights and sirens. It stunned me how many people failed to pull over when the ambulance came up behind them.Even if your stereo system is so loud that you can't hear the siren (hard to believe), then the flashing lights in the rearview mirror should be a dead giveaway.If you're so oblivious that you don't notice the lights or the sirens, then maybe you're too oblivious to be driving in the first place.Look at it this way, you or your family could be the next one's waiting for that ambulance to arrive.