Bonner EMS staff don't deserve to be stalked

I am an emergency medical technician and presently give my services to the people of Bonner County through Bonner County Emergency Medical Services. I am distressed that some people of this county have found it necessary to follow me from call to call and around the city of Sandpoint for some personal vendetta or need for retribution,

I live in Coeur d'Alene and have no political agenda in Bonner County, and cannot even vote here, but I am hurt, denigrated and upset that political candidates and their workers seem to have chosen to follow me around, to see if they can catch me doing something evil. I drive 100 miles, round trip, to work here, to respond to emergencies, to try to save people's lives here and this is the thanks I get. I am being paid well below industry standards for this work, but I do it because I love helping people. I have worked for BCEMS since its inception and even for a year before that at even lower pay as a member of Westside Fire District.

I spend 24 hours at a time away from my family. I sleep in living quarters with five other people and what are we doing in our 24 hours at work? We are waiting for your call for help. Never has one of us refused to come to your aid. Never has one of us stopped from responded to a passed-out drunk, a frightened elderly person, or crying child at 2 a.m. We go to sleep with our walky talkies on all night long, just listening for your trouble.

We have opened our doors to you. We have invited every resident of legal age to come to our station and spend time riding with us, to show you what we do. Who has responded, who has come, who will even ask us questions? I have contacted hundreds of citizens of Bonner County in their time of need and great distress.

Now don't get me wrong, there are many citizens who have shown their appreciation. Someone gave us a large gift certificate for a local coffee house. Others have sent baked goods. We have been invited into several homes when we work holidays away from our families.

But right now, there are a few who have decided we are evil and need to be destroyed, and they have started their campaign by following us around and taking our pictures while we are working.

I believe that they are trying to catch us at a bad moment, maybe after a bloody traffic accident where a child was in critical condition and we decided to have a cigarette outside the hospital, or perhaps when we go to the store to purchase dinner while in the ambulance. So now I feel like I am in jail. I need to stay at my station and go nowhere but to the scene of tragedy, to the hospital and back to the station. I feel that if I stop and get a soft drink, I might be accused of wasting public money. Now I drive around, looking over my shoulder at vehicles that are following and judging me.

Please, folks, I am only here to help. I have no agenda. I have no thought of gain. I only want to serve in the way I know best — answering the call in a medical emergency. I could go somewhere else and earn more money. I could go somewhere else for more career advancement. I chose Bonner County. Why? Because two years ago, when Bonner County citizens asked for my help, I answered.

STEVE KUKURUZA

Coeur d'Alene