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It’s 10° out and I’m flashing back to my private EMS days. This jacket has been with me since 2005. It’s warm, comfy, and Highly Visible. With new patches, long underwear, and my Thinsulate watch cap I can go all day in this weather. (It helps that the new rig has a great heater, and… Continue reading 22/365: Day 12
My last shift in The City was average. We ran a few cancellations, a chest pain at the clinic, a serious trauma, and. . . 04:00, on a small side street. The police are already on scene as we roll in with an engine, an ambulance, and a paramedic unit. The call is probably BLS;… Continue reading Farewell Tour
The other medics have gone out on a call. If cancelled, they will stay out for coffee. I may not see them again until lunch. The BLS crews are all asleep. Some are recovering from a rough night shift while others rest up for the marathon ahead. I sit in the empty garage listening to… Continue reading anticipation
Into the distance, a ribbon of black stretched to the point of no turning back a flight of fancy on a windswept field standing alone, my senses reel. . . A shift swap has brought me back to the Witch City for the afternoon. My old shift is now occupied by new medics. I roll… Continue reading Earth-bound misfit
Flagged down on highway Fell asleep in passing lane Not overdose; high.
It's a relatively normal morning. We get our first call before coffee. She's a regular chest pain patient; an uncontrolled angina. Oxygen, IV, monitor; 12-lead ECG and nitroglycerin. The only hitch is with the aspirin. She doesn't like the taste and refuses to swallow it. The early morning traffic is light, and we make easy… Continue reading Just ducky
For a while now I have been endeavoring to teach Kiddo situational awareness. This is largely centered around parking lots and traffic, things like "Don't put yourself between a moving vehicle and a stationary object," and "don't walk behind any car which could back up." It will eventually extend to the things any young woman… Continue reading Situational Awareness
"[Redacted] Ambulance Company, your call is recorded. What's the nature of the emergency?" "Hey, Favorite Dispatcher, it's M505. Can I get the dispatch time for our last?" "[chuckles] Geezer Squeezer?" Oh crap. Much of our equipment has nicknames. Some are silly, some are offensive. Most of them would be understood, if not appreciated, by the… Continue reading Recorded for Quality Assurance
A sunny Sunday morning. A crowded neighborhood; the closest thing we have to tenements, filled to the brim with people seeking the American dream and finding everything but. Paramedic 9's diesel screams at the curb, nose to nose with a fire engine in the tiny one way street. They will have to back out. We… Continue reading Muerte
Coming up on today's episode of What Were You Thinking? EMS Edition: A dispatcher confuses the medic crews, A diabetic takes his insulin and goes out for the day without eating, Texting and driving almost kills a man, A coworker loses his temper, And I make a poor first impression. Stay tuned!
Notes from Mosquito Hill 