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Friends since high school, their lives have orbited and intertwined for decades. War, marriages, children, careers; all have come and gone yet friendship remains. Upstairs we dance the ballet. Compressions, airway, breathing, electricity. Three paramedics, four firefighters, and an EMT all choreographed around one person on the floor. Downstairs a lone EMT does the real [...] He sits on our stretcher inside the Medic 9 looking slightly dazed. The firefighters and police officers have retreated to their respective vehicles, their part in our little drama now complete. As I peel back the layers of sweatshirts to check his blood pressure, he fixes me with an alcoholic gaze. His eyes struggle [...] Our city is one of a number of places which can lay claim to being the “Birthplace of the American Navy.” Local fishermen and sailors figured prominently in George Washington’s narrow escape from New York and in his famous crossing of the Delaware. Tonight there are no foreign troops in our harbor, yet the [...] It was some time before the Cowardly Lion awakened, for he had lain among the poppies a long while, breathing in their deadly fragrance; but when he did open his eyes. . .he was very glad to find himself still alive. –L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz After our second dead patient [...] “Medic 9, respond for the overdose. Caller reports the patient is in the garage.” We arrive first at a commercial occupancy late at night. From the looks of it, there shouldn’t be anyone here. The windowless steel building is dark and desolate, sitting on the edge of a scrapyard. We circle the building once, looking [...] Late lunch. Football game. Loud bang shatters afternoon. Duty calls, lunch cools. Overheard on the radio tonight: “Ambulance 683, respond to the police station, in the lockup, for the party who can’t open her eyes.” “Ambulance 684, to the carwash for the motor vehicle crash with injuries. Inside.” It’s hot, sticky, almost a full moon and it’s baaaaaaack. The night is still young. “Medic 9 with Ambulance 9, respond for the reported shooting.” It’s 0730 on a Sunday morning. What the heck are people thinking? Go to church! We roll into one of the sketchier areas of our small city, asking for a status on the police units. The last thing I want is to stumble into a [...] The curtains are closed against the summer heat, and an air conditioner chugs away in the window. Our patient sits in an overstuffed chair to one side of a dimly lit room, loudly protesting that he’s fine. In fact he probably is, but we have to assess him anyway. To one side sit a couch [...] Beer. Bicycle. Pain. Red light ride to trauma docs Helmet would’ve helped /—/ uneducated about home BP machine not dying tonight /—/ Medical. Trauma. slow day turns to fast evening more calls than medics |
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