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Today has been the final day of the Farewell Tour. My last shift on the Eastern Front has brought lots of handshakes and well-wishes. Who knows when I’ll be back. Every shift is somehow memorable, but this one has had compartment doors opening at inopportune times, a minor crash, and a [...] Tags: CMTSU, EMS, milestone, Project 365 | Category: EMS, Project 365 | View Comments |
 Print This PostA hot July day. The problem is it’s only May. The weather people call it unseasonably warm; I call it wonderful. This is New England, so it won’t last anyway. We leave the air-conditioned coolness of the crew quarters for the heat of the garage as the overhead door rumbles upward for what [...]
An elderly gentleman. He sits in his bent car, with no recollection of where he came from or where he was going. Or at least he won’t tell us. The collision was minor, but he has no idea why he suddenly made a left turn into a parked [...] Tags: CMTSU, EMS, nostalgia, Project 365 | Category: EMS, Project 365 | View Comments |
Print This PostThe mid-afternoon traffic crawls slowly across town. I’m not paying much attention from the passenger seat, but suddenly something doesn’t look quite right up ahead. “Hey, isn’t that. . .?” BEEP BEEP BEEP: “Fire Alarm has dispatched Engine 681, Truck 68, and Medic 9 to Local Thoroughfare at Right Here Street for a [...] I sit in traffic in the Witch City, ten minutes away from my date with a timeclock. A midget zips past on a bicycle. He’s dressed in racing spandex, with an aerodynamic teardrop helmet, riding a miniature ten speed; Lance Armstrong at 60% reduction. It’s a good omen for the day. Mid-afternoon we [...]
The full moon blazes across the ocean in front of us, bathing everything in cool white light. High tide caresses the sea wall; the stairs end directly in seawater. Small waves whisper against the concrete. The radio murmurs, Favorite Dispatcher directing a flurry of activity. We are the last line [...] Overheard just now on the scanner: “Neighboring Suburban Fire Department is on the air with a general call, reported fire in the woods behind number 55 Burning Bush Drive.” Really. And the 911 lines were ringing in the background. Battleship gray. Sky the color of the adjacent angry sea, the line between the two indistinct. Space between the two is occupied by water, headed from one to the other. I know which way it should be going, but the wind has decided to play with it instead. Blood red. A cliché of [...] I’ve been working the same two shifts, with the same partner, for 16 months now. I love the cities, and RP and I get along well. One of my shifts has been stable, but the other one. . . We entered the city with a spare truck when we got the contract. No [...] “Medic 9, respond in the cemetery for a motor vehicle crash with injuries.” Size-up begins the moment we get the call and continues throughout the incident. Even if we aren’t conscious of the process, we use whatever information we have to formulate our plans. These change as the information becomes clearer. Once we [...] |
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