I have responded to countless disasters of many different types, spent more hours than I have spent sleeping in some version of an emergency operation center or another and even had to use my life safety training, such as CPR, on more than one occasion. I would say that emergency response is part of who I am; even my initials are AED. However, though I have been in this field for half my life, I have always been the helper, NOT the one needing help.