When big tragedy hits small towns, first responders can pay heavy toll

Most people can shut off the television or put down the newspaper when the tragic news of the Pike County killings finally gets to be too much. But the deputies and paramedics who went into those homes? They can’t refuse to be a part of it. Same story for the detectives and special agents who for two days meticulously and methodically combed four grisly crime scenes for clues of why eight people were killed. They can’t blink it all away.