When lifesaving is the last thing on your mind, you may find yourself the only link between life and death for another person. The first person that I ‘saved’ was a little kid sitting in a seat in the row ahead of me in an auditorium. He very quietly, with no wiggles, moans, or any other clue tried to choke to death on hard candy. I happened to notice his ears turn extremely dusky and grabbed him without thinking, turned him upside down and did an instinctive maneuver that eventually dislodged the obstruction. (Before Heimlich’s maneuver…I’m not a spring chick). The next was one of my own children when a physician made an error in prescribing that would have killed my daughter had I given the med as directed. (It was 3 x the adult dose for a 22-pound toddler.) And sometimes a genuine smile can save a life. Had a former patient who had intentionally OD’d call on the telephone; she remembered me, and I couldn’t place the voice. She finally let us help her before it was too late and the reason, according to her, was that she remembered me always smiling when I talked to her six weeks previously when she was my patient. You just never know. Besides, you don’t have to ‘save a life’ to be a good nurse and a valuable human!!