COLUMBIA, S.C. — The sirens of an ambulance have become commonplace for Orangeburg Emergency Technician Bobbie-Lynn Hughes who has been working during the pandemic.
"These past almost two years have been the hardest in my career ever," Hughes said.
The difficulty, measured in tears, as coronavirus cases spiked and hospital beds filled.
"There’s been hard days. Very, very hard days where we have all cried together," Hughes said, "...trying to do everything you can to help save them and you just can’t.”
While she's been on the frontlines, behind the scenes, efforts have been underway to show small acts of gratitude.
The South Carolina Hospital Association's (SCHA) "30 Days of Thanks" campaign uses Facebook to share positive messages and offer prizes like food giveaways, gameday discounts, and more as a 'thank you' to healthcare workers.
“They are endeared by the public for taking care of them," Lara Hewitt, SCHA Vice President of Workforce and Member Engagement, said, "and I think that has gotten lost a little bit because of the politics around everything associated with the pandemic and so we wanted to bring that back. We wanted to resurface that, and we wanted to show them that they are appreciated."
For Hughes, her "thank you" came in the form of free access to state parks.
"It feels good to see people giving thanks to us for the stuff that we have done and appreciating what we have done and what we continue to do," Hughes said.
While cases have slowed, Hughes' desire to help hasn't.
The emergency technician is in school to become a nurse.
Herself, feeling thankful.
"I’ve wanted to be a nurse for a long time, but working alongside the hard working nurses that I have been, these RNs and these LPNs, they’re brilliant and I want to be just like them," Hughes said.
Good deeds do have a way of spreading.
The Hospital Association hopes others will find a way to say thank you too.
It's not too late to join and make a difference.
Organizations interested in helping recognize healthcare workers can learn how on the South Carolina Hospital Association website.