For paramedics, doctors and nurses, Christmas sees miracles, tragedies and quiet

“All too often, tragedy strikes on Christmas, local emergency workers said. And the searing memories linger not only for grieving families, but also for medical personnel.

‘It’s your job to fix things and help people,’ said Rich Lynn, a paramedic for Pittsburgh EMS. ‘When you can’t, it creates a whole different aura for that holiday.’

Most people come in to the emergency room on Christmas because they are lonely, seriously ill or injured, said Dr. Tom Stein, an emergency medicine specialist at Allegheny General Hospital.

‘There are not a lot of happy stories in the ER for the holidays,’ said Stein, who spent last Christmas at an Army hospital in North Carolina screening injured troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.”