Someone once said "Women do not know how to drive!!!"

For the next 2 shifts, I am assigned to the medic unit. The Captain wants me to get as much drive time as possible (both non-emergency and emergency) in order to be turned over as a driver. Essentially, I would get off the engine on a call and get onto the medic unit and drive to the hospital, while the two medics were performing patient care.

Today was a GREAT day to be on the medic unit. We only ran two calls, but they were both accidents. The first call went out as an accident, with the patient no longer on scene. Apparently the accident happened around the corner from her home and some passerby assisted her in getting home (leaving the car off the very narrow road where it came to rest). We quickly left the station and went up into the mountains to assist. Upon arriving at the residence, we had to squeeze through the cluttered hallway in order to get to the patient. She was an elderly woman with some obvious "loose screws," but otherwise she was okay. She refused treatment as she thought she didn't need any assistance and after some paperwork, we were on our way. While in the house and doing a visual search (it is recommended to size-up houses while doing medical calls as it gives us access to areas while there is no fire or emergency). She had a little dog that was running around and jumping up and down....I thought (and verbally said to another FF) that we should "Go for the three." It was one of those dogs that would fly perfectly through the uprights.

On the way back down the mountains, we passed by the vehicle and I managed to snap a few pictures while police and the engine company waited for the wrecker. Fortunately for the woman, the tree stopped her from going down the side of the mountain.







After fueling up and heading back to the station, we quickly tried to eat lunch. We were already about an hour and a half late for lunch and the engine company had already eaten. Two of us managed to scarf down a meatball sandwich while the third medic had to complete a respirator fit test. We were then dispatched out to another accident.

This accident went out as a rollover with possible entrapment. When we arrived on scene, we found a vehicle laying on its side. The driver was trapped in the vehicle, and the vehicle was pinned against the guard rail. While waiting for the patient to be extricated, I managed to snap a few pictures. After securing and stabilizing the vehicle, the rescue squad cut the roof off of the vehicle and peeled it down (similar to how the door opens on Noah's Ark). During this process, another firefighter was kneeling down by the patient speaking with her and keeping her calm. Other firefighters were climbing in and out of the vehicle to get access to various pillars that would need to be cut in order to remove the roof. We then managed to slide a backboard in and remove the patient. During the removal process, it was determined that she fit the parameters for a flyout. We quickly called for a helicopter and setup a landing zone nearby. Upon questioning her, we found out that she had been drinking (mind you this is at 1:45PM). We quickly put her into the medic and transported to the landing zone where we met with the flight medics and attempted to transfer patient care.

After the patient refused transport via helicopter, some words were exchanged between the intoxicated patient and one of the flight medics. In the end, we put the patient back into the medic unit and transported her nearly 20 miles to the hospital specializing in her type of injury.

Spellcheck Not Included

It was a rather uneventful day at the station. We were dispatched to one call...and by the time we pulled out of the bay and to the end of the ramp, we were put back into service.

We spent some time driving around our first due and went up into the mountains. We were navigating through vary tight, windy roads that you must be very careful while traversing. At the top of the hill, we spent approximately 15 minutes trying to perform a 3 point turn to position the apparatus to pull back down the mountain. While up there, we had a beautiful view of the county and parts of DC in the distance.

Here is a picture of our view (DOWN) the mountain....it's hard to tell just how steep it is, but the driver was very happy when we were at the bottom.



I also spent some time creating a new assignment board to use in the bay. Every day, someone would write on the board where every person would be riding and what their assignment would be. And every day, it would be some form of illegible chicken scratch. Finally, I decided to do something about it. Using some printed paper, laminating sheets, and magnets, I was able to come up with this (The finished product is much nicer...it is laid out in a nice neat manner on the wipe board. This picture is for demonstration purposes only):



On the way home, I had a great laugh. I was driving past a dump truck when I noticed a sign on the side indicating "NO TRASH"....but unfortunately for them, they did not have spell check. Their sign really read "NO TRAHS"

"911, What's Your Emergency?"

Yesterday was not that exciting in terms of call volume. We had a total of 3 calls for the day....but that is much better than the last 2 shifts.

We spent a lot of the day doing some training and preplanning. We drove through some confusing new developments to become familiar with layouts and hydrant locations, how we would position apparatus to connect to hydrants, etc. Then we spent some time looking at landing zones for the Medevac Helicopter if the situation arose to where we would need to set up one.

We had a fire alarm call for an commercial building that we went to investigate. After gaining entry, we searched the warehouse and determined that it was a faulty alarm most likely due to a power surge. We then silenced the alarm, secured the building, and went back to the station for dinner.

Our next call came pretty quickly after that, an unconscious female in a car. The car was parked outside of her house. When we arrived on scene, another unit had already made it there and was treating the patient...so we were put back into service.

The third call was for a "combative patient." We arrived and police were on scene to assist. When we went into the NURSING HOME, the patient was barely conscious. There was nothing combative about him. He was on his "last leg" so to speak. We took some vitals, loaded him up, and I jumped into the driver seat of the Medic Unit. It was my first "EMERGENCY" call that I would be driving for. We hit the road with lights and sirens, and sped off towards the hospital. Everyone pulls out of your way when they see you coming, but they aren't the brightest. More often than not, they seem to hesitate and not know what to do. After transferring the patient over to the hospital, we were back off to the station for cleanup and bed.

We slept through the night, being relieved at 0600 by the next shift.

With that, I am off for the next 5 days. I have my Kelly day on Sunday!!

Tell Me Who's Watching

"Sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me"

It's the phrase that is repeated in the 1984 self-titled hit, and recently has become the theme for Geico's advertising campaign. We were sitting in the kitchen after breakfast, and the commercial came on. Captain apparently became inspired and decided to try out his artistic ability.....

Geico original:



Captain's depiction:



I was assigned to the Medic Unit today in order to start my BLS (Basic Life Support) Internship and also to be turned over as a driver on the Medic. In some instances, I may be riding on the engine and when we arrive on a call, they may have me take over and drive the Medic Unit to the hospital while the two Medics work the patient in the back. In order to do so, I have to spend some time doing both non-emergency and emergency driving....as well as street familiarization and major running routes. After all, just because I can drive does no one any good if I have no clue where I am going!!!

It was a VERY SLOW shift. We did not run a single call. I did get to take the Medic Unit out for a bit though, we had to go to the grocery store for milk. I spent a decent amount of time in the kitchen today, as I prepared both lunch and dinner.

In the middle of the day, we got a visit from one of the neighbors, who was very pleased to have us so close. (Not all of the residents are happy that our station is located right in the backyard of their $500K-$1M houses.) She had a very "bubbly" personality...the type that would get annoying after just a few minutes...as she seemed to be bouncing off the walls with excitement about anything and everything (OOOH LOOK, A SHINY OBJECT!!). We told her to go home.....

......and get her children and we would show them around and give them a tour of the station. In appreciation of the Fire Department, she baked a vanilla frosted chocolate cake for the Station. A very nice gesture and definitely the right way to get the Station on your good side.



The day's menu:

LUNCH:

Entree:
Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Side:
Jasmine Rice

Dessert:
Brownies with Chocolate Chips and Peanut Butter Chips (Compliments of JT)

DINNER:

Entree:
Beef Sandwiches

Sides:
Corn
Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

Dessert:
Cake (Provided by one of the neighbors)

Everyone was very impressed with the meals. I am not sure if they thought I couldn't cook......but they were pleased with the results, as everyone had at least seconds.

...This Old "Lemon"?!?

Our day got off to a quick start with a call at 0620 for "Chest Pains." After getting on scene and speaking with the gentleman, taking vitals, etc we determined that the cause was most likely an anxiety attack. Regardless, we transported him to the hospital for further testing and monitoring.

I had every hope that this would be a good gauge for how the day would go......running calls all day long!!

We got back to the station and I made pancakes for the crew. After that, we did the normal daily chores around the station. I spent some time speaking with my officer to setup some time for training and completing some of the practicals required for my Probationary Manual (aka "Rookie Book"). Things would get underway after we completed a walkthrough of a facility in order to Preplan.



Preplans allow you to visit commercial buildings in your area and create floor plans of what the facility looks like, hydrant locations, FDCs (fire dept connections), sprinkler systems installed and locations of the control room, alarm control room, etc.

At 1100, we arrived at the facility to start our walkthrough. While about 20 minutes into our preplan we receive a call...*BEEP* *BEEP* Engine respond to a VEHICLE FIRE located at ........!! We quickly dashed for the exit, leaving the Medic unit on scene to finish the preplan. We grabbed our gear and hastily got dressed in order to respond.

As we were arriving, we could see PD blocking the roadway and a whitish-yellow plume of smoke rising from the engine compartment of a mid-90s Dodge. My officer quickly briefed me on what he wanted done, "Pull the officers crosslay" (meaning he wanted me to pull the crosslay 1 3/4" attack line on the officers side, flake it out, and mask up to make a fire attack). I quickly did as he asked and got ready to attack the engine compartment, which now had flames showing. I opened the nozzle and walked forward towards the vehicle, as my officer used a Halligan tool to puncture through the hood and peel it back like a can of sardines. This gave me an opening to aim the nozzle and make a direct attack. After a few moments, we were able to knock down the fire and then move to the passenger compartment. We found flames underneath the dash, which we made quick work of...and unfortunately for the car owner...FLOODED THE ENTIRE INSIDE OF THE CAR from the floorboards to the top of the door sill. The owner was shaken up, but unharmed. She stated she noticed a burning smell and some light smoke.






We had other calls, but nothing as exciting.....a patient with a possible stroke that was transported to the hospital, a car seat installation for a father-to-be (his wife is due in 3 weeks), and an apartment fire, which turned out to be nothing more than the flickering shadows created by a light and ceiling fan.

I managed to knock out a few training practicals from my Probationary Manual......hopefully next shift is as exciting!!

Here are a few pictures of the engine I am assigned to:




Here is the view going to a call.....

During the day:



At night:



At night with the work lights on:

.....Grease Monkeys!!

I've realized that the titles are boring.....and at some point reading "In the field: Shift 123" will be pretty unoriginal. I'll try to spice things up a bit and come up with something a little more fitting. Since the fire department isn't always glamorous (as evidenced by the last two shifts of no calls), there may be some shifts where I choose not to post. Rather than keep track of everything I do, I'd rather keep people interested......and in some cases keep them thinking I'm actually doing something.

I spent a better part of the day working around the station completing projects that the Captain wanted me to do. I took some of the wipe boards that we had sitting against the wall in our training facility at the station and moved the to the main section to be mounted (one in the kitchen and one in the apparatus bay). I assume they will be used for daily notes, as well as messages to other shifts regarding household items, equipment issues, etc.

I also mounted a large "drug box" inside of our EMS storage closet.



The "drug box" is a large locking box where all of the good stuff is stored.....morphine, tetracaine, etc...all stuff that the medics administer and is tightly controlled and monitored. Everything is kept under lock and key. In order to mount it inside of the EMS closet, I had to first rip out a shelving unit, and then adjust shelving and relocate items onto other storage units.

We finally got called out for a brush fire along the interstate. We had a new officer riding on the Engine and along the way he mistakenly told the driver to go west on I-66 when we needed to go EAST. Fortunately, I had been listening to the entire call and what he was saying and quickly stated the way to go, narrowly making our turn to head in the right direction. When we arrived on scene, Virginia State PD was already on scene and had used their portable extinguishers to try and contain the fire from spreading. We pulled off 2 water extinguishers from the Engine and got to work until the Brush Truck pulled up. The crew split up and another FF from our Engine drove the Brush Truck to the scene.



(Disclaimer: This is only an example, it is NOT our Brush Truck).

The brush truck is a lifted 4x4 pickup that carries rakes, shovels, 250 gallons of water, and some smaller, lighter hoses to allow better maneuverability through brush and forestry. Once he arrived, I pulled the line and continued to wet down the entire area. Our ignition source appeared to be rolls of toilet paper, mixed in with some other shopping goods. After looking at the scene, we assumed someone was smoking and threw a cigarette accidentally into the backseat or bed of a truck, lighting the bag on fire and then just throwing it onto the side of the road.

As soon as we were finished, we received another brush fire call about a mile down the road at an exit ramp. It seems that our flame throwing vehicle left a trail for us.....we quickly put out the small fire and found evidence of some illegal activity: a target bag FILLED with ink tags and electronic theft deterrent sensors. We brought them over to the cops to see if they wanted them, who said "We didnt' see anything, that's a lot of unnecessary paperwork."

We didn't see another call for the rest of the night, but at least another day didn't pass without any calls.

---


Since the Super Bowl, there has been an ongoing joke with one of the guys on our crew. During the commercials, Castrol aired a commercial with the "Grease Monkeys."



At the end of the commercial, the character kisses one of the monkeys. The guy on our crew say the commercial and said "Man that is weird, I'm never kissing a monkey again." We all looked at each other and at him in amazement. AGAIN?!? He now claims that he never used the word "again," but we know better. This is how he was greeted when he went searching for dinner.....

In the field: Shift 8

Well, another day down in the books.

I had hoped it would be a busy day at the station, with things winding down in order to watch the Super Bowl uninterrupted. The day turned out to be a bust....NO CALLS!! While it is good for the community and county, it is boring for me. I spent some time doing training, and doing some PT. The remainder of the day was spent doing odd jobs around the station....labeling backboards, scraping ice, etc.

For dinner, we ended up with a ton of food that is perfect for such a day. Grilled wings and deep fried wings (although not my food of choice, they were good), a nacho dip, chips, deli sandwiches.

We sat around the kitchen watching the big game while everyone was eating, and then moved into the tv room to watch it on our 52" big screen. At the end of the game...it was time for a good night's sleep.

A lot of the fire department is sitting around and waiting.......