Posts Tagged ‘EMS’ | Next Page ⇒  

In Population 485 I wrote of the little lady who called the ambulance and was then ready and waiting on her porch with packed suitcase at her side.  Fellow named Steve emailed me to say his buddy Rusty (EMS long-timer) calls that a “Positive Samsonite.”

In related news, I figured I’d heard of every rescue mnemonic under the sun, until a guy approached me at a reading this spring and asked me if I knew what “BSDS” stood for.  He said it was reserved for those real nasty calls that are such a mess you just stand there a second, trying to figure your best move.

I thought it over.  Couldn’t get it.

“BSDS,” he said, with a big grin.  “Better Start Doin’ Somethin’!”

Yessir.  Been there.

Quite a bit of first responder training lately*, and even a call or two.  With every year (20 of’em now, if my math is right), I grow more grateful that I wandered into the firefighting/EMS world.  I cherish the camaraderie, I cherish the shared language, I cherish the action, I cherish the privilege of being able to get in there and do our best to help, and above all I love how carrying a pager keeps me centered on the idea that each and every one of us is a mortal vulnerable being, so breathe deep…

*Yes, I hear you, you blue-shirted wisenheimers chuckling about me showing up at the wrong class in the wrong place…(inside joke).

I can see it from my hotel window.  Can’t see all of it, or a name on it.  But it’s one of ours.  Flying out here to Virginia, especially during the layover in St. Louis, I was surrounded by servicepeople in cammies.  A corporeal reminder of what others give while we are off shopping, as it were.

Will be shooting the breeze with paramedics, EMTs, first responders and firefighters tonight.  Home, sweet home, no matter where yer at.  Tip of the cap to my NAAFD crew, and to the Emergicare bunch.  Home soon, pager back on.

Due to my schedule I don’t make as many calls with my local first responder group as I’d like, and with book tour now pretty much underway I won’t make many or any for a while.  But I enjoyed going to training the other night.  It’s just comfortable to hang out in a fire hall with people who speak the language of smoke and rescue.

Safety is always big concern, especially when we work on or near a roadway.  Nowadays we are required to wear reflective vests.  Our training officer sent us a reminder email about this recently, and used a rhyme to drill it into our heads: “If your feet are on the street, your vest is on your chest.”

Looking forward to tour…but also looking forward to being back on the street, vest on my chest.

Talked on the telephone with former ‘Sconnie resident Megan Zabel recently.  You can read the exchange here.  Honest, I didn’t set that pager off myself.