Happy 2013!

Here we are, a week into the new year and I haven't even had a chance to recount my New Year's Eve adventures. For whatever crazy reason, I voluntarily signed up to work New Year's Eve. For the last several years, I have worked it as a dispatcher but this year was the first time that I worked it on the ambulance.
My partner that night was a baby-faced rookie EMT. He impressed me early on by completing all the truck checks while I ate dinner with my family. When my family had left, Baby Face confided in me that he didn't feel 100% comfortable with the layout of our district and asked if we could go drive around for a while so he could familiarize himself with the some of the major areas.
Before we could vacate the station, a veteran firefighter called to cajole me about working that night. He told me he had worked the last 3 years. Two of those nothing happened and on the other they had a stabbing. "You probably won't have much going on tonight," he told me. Although I secretly hoped he was wrong, my rookie partner & I wandered into our district unabated by any calls.

Blast from the Past

Two blog posts in one day...albeit this is going to be a shorter one than most. I guess I am making up for lost time...and I feel it best to write while things are still fresh in my mind. Yesterday was a sort of surreal day for me. Not that the majority of my shifts aren't but some have greater moments than others.

Elation and Tragedy

It seems like just yesterday the world held it's breath and wondered if we would reach a technological apocalypse at the turn of 2000. And now, here we sit at the dawn of 2013. The last month of 2012 was filled with tragedy both on a person level and a national level which accounts for my lack of posts. It doesn't seem like it was November the last time that I was able to muster the mental fortitude to spew out a blog post...let alone a quality one. So, here is my first attempt of 2013.

The "Ghosts"

I can't really explain what happened today. It was supposed to be a fun day for me to venture out at 4am to drive to an EMS conference 3 hours away to learn about the whiles of emergency medicine with like-minded service providers. I look forward to conferences and seminars and other various classes. So, why, today, did I find myself in my truck half-way through an afternoon session, shaking uncontrollably and fighting off tears?

Uneventful

I have not been nearly as regular with my posts lately as I would like to be. My lack thereof can generally be attributed to the fact that not much interesting has gone on recently. I have worked quite a few shifts this month and have had several in which I have not ran a single call. To some this could be viewed as a good thing. If I am snuggled up, sleeping soundly at quarters, it means my corner of the world is free from mayhem. However, as are most emergency responders, I am a Type A personality and do not do well with prolonged periods of inactivity.
My coworkers applaud my abilities to somehow bend the powers that be into letting us all have a full nights rest. I, on the other hand, am growing bored with it. Call me sadistic. (You certainly would not be the first.) As much as I DON'T wish evil things upon anyone (not even when it may seem well-deserved), my job also revolves around helping people in need and when no one needs help, my 12-hour shift seems like it lasts an eternity.

Paint

One of the things that I love about my job is that no 2 days are ever the same. Last night was an example of such. It was not actually my scheduled day to work but I went in for fire training. Although I do not fight fire first hand, as part of the department, I am still required to train a minimum of 30 hours per year with the fire fighters. So, I showed up to do my time, mostly expecting to stand back and watch. But not long after I arrived at our training center, we were paged out for a multi-vehicle accident at a busy, high-speed intersection.

Fire Prevention Week

Today marks the final day of Fire Prevention Week. Although fun, it is a busy & exhausting week at the fire station. And, in spite of the fact that I am not actually a fire fighter, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to step out into the community and tout my profession to some degree.
Fire prevention week falls every October in the Sunday-Saturday time period which contains the 9th of October. The history behind Fire Prevention Week dates back to 1871. However, only in recent years has this week of public safety been so widely spread.
There are 2 sides to the Fire Prevention Week coin. It is a week in which we, as public safety professionals reach out to our community, especially the young ones and help them to recognize their role in fire safety and preventing fires. Smiling firefighters can be found throughout schools across the nation showing off their trucks and other cool gear to wide-eyed elementary students. And, in all honesty, we have a lot of fun doing it. But it is also a somber week in which flags fly at half-mast and we recognize those who have fallen in the line of duty.