Lidia Celebrates America

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EMT 1

Ah, one seven Charlie's nine-eight, for 33 minutes. (muted electronic humming) Not bad, not bad. (distant phone ringing) -

EMT 1

Bein' an EMT, it makes you a different kind of person, because it makes you a team leader, it makes you think on your feet. (electronic chiming) You have to have that kind of mind, to help somebody Yes. - who is helpless. -

Lidia

Bein' an immigrant, and bein' for two years in a refugee camp, I was aided and helped by people who cared, by people who wanted to make life better for somebody else. Working on the show, and meeting these first responders, really affected me, deeply. With the COVID pandemic, how has your risk increased, and how are you handling it? This was nothing that we've ever imagined, or could have imagined, that we were going to have to deal with in our career. And we were just every day, just loss of life, and, um, we really came together. (somber music) -

Lidia

Do you get gifts of appreciation? Every restaurant, like on the planet, was sending us food, every day. There was not a single person who went hungry. Every tour, every shift, every member had food, they were bringing Lysol, Tylenol. Ah, what else? Those um, those face shields? You know, like the plastic face shields? It was just incredible, it really was. (continuing somber music) -

Lidia

What kind of person does give of themselves? I think there's a common denominator there, and, and that is need to nurture people. Whether you cook for them, and feed them, or whether you're with them in the front line, there's a common denominator of wanting to do good, to give back to society in some form.