Too Late to Stop, too Early to Quit!!

Recharge

2012-02-09T02:55:00.001-06:00

The reason for this post is that the most excellent musings of the magnificent Lt. Morse at Rescuing Providence got me thinking.

How do we recharge? Obviously we sleep, eat, and whatnot to recharge physically.

What about mentally? As for me, I read other bloggers, ride my motorcycle, lay on the floor and play with the kids. Just about anything that will take my mind off of whatever has me blocked. Something to put a smile on my face. Talk to a friend that you haven't seen in a while, that sort of thing.

Grabbing a couple of beers with the guys after work. Every friday morning (I work midnight shift, so don't judge me!) A few of us from work hit a local bar for a couple of beers and some laughs. We call it "hitting the reset button", basically a time to mentally wipe away all the work stress and frustration so we can enjoy the rest of our weekend.

So, I guess the point is, find your "reset button" and mash that sucker!

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Recruit class

2012-02-06T20:40:00.001-06:00

It really is invigorating for me as a firefighter and instructor to teach. The recruits ask tons of questions that force me to keep myself sharp on my knowledge.

The class is split evenly between people completely new to the fire service and those looking to improve on their knowledge and skills.

I love teaching!!!!

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Fisher Calo project update

2012-02-05T09:25:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the pause in posts. I am currently doing interviews with a couple of guys who fought the fire and will try to get a post out soon.

I have so far found five guys from five different departments that were there to interview. I am starting to realize this may turn into a far bigger project than I thought as these guys are suggesting others to talk to that I didn't know of.

I take the history of the fire service in general seriously and this project is obviously close to home.

More to come!!!

Lopsided mutual aid

2012-01-11T02:38:00.000-06:00

Some stats for last year were discussed tonight at the Township board meeting. It was open to the public, so I can talk about them here.

67% of our runs last year were to our neighbors to the south. The guys and gals over there are in a manpower crunch. I believe the number is 9. Their daytime availability is 0.

Meanwhile, we have close to 30 on my department. 5 of whom live in the town to the south. The township board is concerned about how much money of theirs is being expended in essence providing fire and ems protection to our neighbor. I cant say as I blame them.

The folks on the department south are good people and do a good job, it is just that there aren't enough of them.

Merger was a word bandied about tonight.

Time will tell.

Fisher-Calo Fire, Part One

2012-01-08T23:35:00.001-06:00

Like most major fires at a business, "the big one" was not the first fire there.

In fact, there was a fairly substantial fire in September 1974 which involved about 1,000 drums of waste paint pigment and other waste. The fire department allowed it to burn out, as they were unable to bring it under control.

Remember folks, this was the 1970's. Foam was not readily available, and in fact a lot of departments did not have any foam capability at all. One of the exceptions at the time was Scipio Twp, as they have the airport in their first due. Engine 4, a 1950's Dodge, had a foam cannon mounted on top of the pump panel.

The departments who did have foam capabilities did not keep large quantities of it on hand due to the high cost and short shelf life of the foams of the day. Thankfully, things have changed!

There may have been other fires also, but this is the only one I have found referenced so far.

Fisher-Calo had been in operation at the site for about two years by the time of this fire in 1974. Fisher-Calo and various subsidiaries began operations at KIDP in the early 1970s. The site facilities were used for processing and distributing solvents, metal finishing supplies, and other industrial chemicals. Fisher-Calo also operated a solvent reclamation facility on the site for several years to recover and resell paint and metal cleaning solvents. Chemical wastes were either stored in metal drums and buried, or stockpiled on the site, or the wastes were disposed of directly on the ground.

Fisher-Calo Fire 1978

2012-01-06T01:27:00.000-06:00

Here is an excerpt from an online source.........

"The Fisher-Calo site is located in the Kingsbury Industrial Park (KIDP) in La Porte County, Indiana. The KIDP is located in the southeast section of La Porte County, approximately 12 miles southeast of La Porte, Indiana. The Fisher-Calo site is located on three areas at KIDP: the One-line Road property, the Two-line Road property, and the Space Leasing property. The site is a former industrial chemical processing and distribution facility. The facility is located in an area that previously housed the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant, a U.S. government installation used to manufacture military ordnance.

In the early 1960s, the ordnance plant was closed, and the land was purchased by a private developer who subdivided the property to form an industrial park. Fisher-Calo and various subsidiaries began operations at KIDP in the early 1970s. The site facilities were used for processing and distributing solvents, metal finishing supplies, and other industrial chemicals. Fisher-Calo also operated a solvent reclamation facility on the site for several years to recover and resell paint and metal cleaning solvents. Chemical wastes were either stored in metal drums and buried, or stockpiled on the site, or the wastes were disposed of directly on the ground.

In 1978, a fire broke out at the site's solvent reclamation facility, destroying several bulk storage tanks, trucks, and drums of chemical wastes and solvents. Later that year, buried drums were discovered on the property. In 1979 and 1980, drums containing chemicals and sludges were removed from the site. Waste materials, mostly still bottoms were stored in drums, tanks, and containers at the site. Some of the drums were reportedly leaking. The site is fenced and isolated. Approximately 3,700 people live within four miles of the site. The nearest public water supply well is located within one mile of the site, and the closest residence, using groundwater as a water source, is located approximately one mile from the site."

There is much more to the story of the fire and the men who fought it. One of them was my Uncle. One of my earliest memories of Uncle Lou and the fire department was of being at his house visiting my cousin and him coming home with his white Chiefs helmet so covered in soot that it looked black until his hand smeared a spot clean putting it on the table.

I will be talking to firefighters that I know, both active and retired, and getting their story. I will also try to remember conversations and stories of men who were there but have since passed on.

The old Fisher-Calo site is a Federal Superfund site with pollution pumps still in operation today.

Progress!

2012-01-04T01:10:00.001-06:00

Good news at the FD tonight, we are moving forward with "I am Responding" and will hopefully have it up and running soon.

I loved it at the old FD. It was always great to know how many others were enroute to the station so we could wait an extra minute or two to fill the engine. Minimal delay to response, and then a good crew to get things done, which we all know is crucial early on in a fire.

Anyone who has arrived on scene with just two guys on the rig know exactly what I mean!

The Tragic Impact; UPDATE

2012-01-01T12:46:00.002-06:00

It has been some time since I wrote about this back in June of 2010.

Please reread or read for the first time.

Some excellent news about the young lady. She has since the incident made a full recovery and in fact I had several opportunities to speak to her. She is now going to college and is doing well mentally with help.

She seems to me to rather well adjusted today considering the last time I saw her.

What long term effects she and her family may have from the attempted suicide is not for me to say. But at least she is alive and seems to be reasonably happy.

Hopefully 2012 will be a continuation of good things for her.

Happy New Year to all my loyal readers!

Asthma Inhalers BANNED here in the USA!

2011-12-14T03:00:00.001-06:00

Now that I have your attention.

Someone sent me a link to this article.

The obvious political rhetoric notwithstanding, WTF?

As an advocate for our patients, I cannot condone this idiocy. What about those folks who do not have a regular Doctor? Are we about to be transporting folks to the E.D. so they can get an inhaler?

I see all kinds of trouble coming down the pike on this one. Will folks who can barely afford the necessities be able to fork out the money to go to the doctor for a prescription that they don't really need? Is there about to be a spike in the number of responses for difficulty breathing?

How will this action by the government help anyone? Well, the Doctors and clinics stand to make more money and the wait may get longer for a Doctors appointment.

The drug manufacturers stand to make a bigger profit.

While the people suffer.

Time to check the drug box and make sure the albuterol isn't expired.

I am betting that we may soon be going through enough of it that we won't have to worry about it expiring before used.

Thoughts?

What do you think???

2011-12-14T00:30:00.001-06:00

I would especially like to hear from Joe Schmoe, Justin "HappyMedic" Schorr or maybe Motorcop on this, since they are in California......

Go HERE then come back.

Okay, did you read it? All of it?

Good.

I am not sure if we need a ban on devices across the board, hands free devices might be enough. I haven't seen the NTSB data, but I wonder what our friends in states where the bans have been in place think.

Have you seen a decrease in accidents involving wireless devices since the law change? Or are people just ignoring it? The ban here in Indiana is (IN Law HERE) just on texting.... It has only been in effect since July, so I cannot say if it is making a difference yet.

Personally, I can drive and talk just fine. Would there be a ban on passengers and drivers talking next? I just had to play devils advocate with that. But what would be the difference? Talking and driving is talking and driving. It doesn't matter if the conversation is going on with someone 100 miles away or two feet. The conversation can be a distraction.

I want to hear what you think! Post your comments below!! Both of you!

Delayed....

2011-12-13T01:22:00.001-06:00

Well, the Recruit class has been delayed until mid January. I am kind of glad, that way the holidays will be over and there wont be any big interruptions.

In other news, our department Christmas party was very nice, we even sang some Christmas carols together. Yeah. We really did. It seems kind of campy now as I write this, but it was kind of nice.

I am going to look into doing a product review of a very well known equipment manufacturers newest stuff, so stay tuned........

Sunday preparations...........

2011-12-04T08:44:00.001-06:00

I am going over the files in my laptop today and looking over my teaching materials. Tomorrow night I will begin working with a group of motivated and dedicated instructors here locally to teach a group of recruits how to do the job.

To me, there are a lot of different levels of teaching in the fire service, but none more important than having the opportunity to mold recruits into firefighters. They are all bright eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go.

No jaded veterans to win over to the subject at hand, no know it all's wanting to argue with the instructor, just good men and women who have decided they want to be there and learn how to do it.

Frankly, I am very much so looking forward to the next 6 months of classes. When they come out the other side, they will be FF2, with HazMatOps and Tech Rescue Awareness Certified.

I wish that I had had an opportunity to get this much training in one shot when I started. It took me the better part of 8 years chasing around to find classes to get those certs. Back in the days when there was no online resources, and the only way you heard about classes was through mailers. The old annual fire schools are becoming a dying breed here in Indiana, thanks in large part to the state getting more involved with making sure there is greater access to training statewide.

I have seen tremendous strides forward in the way we do training here in the Hoosier state. It is not perfect by any means, but it is a far better system than previously existed. I am glad to be a part of it.

See you in class!

Wayne

Woah. That sums it up.......

2011-12-02T20:02:00.001-06:00

I have been a bit, well lets say, lethargic in posting to the blog.

I have even been lethargic in reading my favorite blogs lately.

I just got a reality check.

I ambled over the border into the big bad buckeye to check out my friend EpiJunky's blog, Pink Warm and Dry and found this.

Wow. Hit the nail on the head for me. I have been trying to think of old war stories, or waiting for something interesting to happen to share with you, my readers (yes, both of you!).

I forgot how and why I started this blog in the first place. I just wrote about what was going on, what happened, and how I felt.

Then I got all high minded about it. I wanted to try to elevate the purpose. In doing so I lost my way.

Couldn't see the forest for the trees.

Well, screw all that. I hope to still have a meaningful impact with my posts, but I am not going to concentrate on trying to write with that in mind. I am just going to write.

Thanks Epi, I needed that slap upside the head. See you at FDIC again this year? It is close enough that you don't need to get on a plane........;)

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T07:01:00.001-06:00

I hope all of my loyal readers, (Yes, both of you!) have a safe and happy Thanksgiving today!

If you have to work, I hope that your shift is the "Q" word and you still manage to have a good meal.

What's in your pockets, or hanging on you?

2011-11-22T08:29:00.001-06:00

There always seem to be discussions on what's in your pockets, or what gear you carry on you threads on message boards and the like.

Personally, my gear is horrible as far as pockets go. I keep my gloves and hood in the cargo pockets and a pair of lineman pliers in the right hand coat pocket. I have a piece of webbing in the radio pocket and that's it. I wear a radio strap and have a "truckie" belt with a couple of carabiners and a small rope bag on it.

I know that I am increasing the chance of getting tangled in thugs with some of my gear, but having had to bail out once before without a belt or rope, I will continue to carry them. The radio strap is a convenience, the radio pocket is right in the way of the chest strap for the scba and makes it impossible to access once dressed. No good.

To further make some of the extreme safety sallies out there shake their head, I wear a Cairns N6A with the good old fashioned eagle on it to catch wires and such. The thing is, I have been wearing this style of helmet for 15+ years and NEVER had it get caught in anything except a training prop.

What do you carry and why??

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Interdepartmental relations, or, how to piss off your neighbors!

2011-11-20T12:23:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to write this for some time, as I have been the cause of some bad feeling at times, and have also repaired some relationships with other departments too.

This may come as a shock to you, but I am known for saying whats on my mind. Those who do know me are most likely already rolling their eyes in anticipation of me blathering on for God knows how long.....

So here it goes.

How do you get along with your neighboring departments? Pretty good? Bad? Wanna punch each other out?

Why? Does anyone even remember how it got started now?

Why is it that we don't get along with each other so often? Well, I have some ideas about that.

Pride.

We all take pride in our departments. This almost inevvitably turns into "we are better than them because (fill in the blank)....." Once our trash talk reaches their ears, (it always will) they get mad, and say some hateful or nasty things about your department and the war is on. Pride in is not in and of itself a bad thing, but try to restrain from the temptation to compare your departments abilities or whatever to others in a negative light.

Hyper criticism

It is an easy trap to fall into of being overly critical of others decisions on the fireground. Everyone would "do it" their own way to an extent. Tearing down every little decision made after the fact is a time honored fire service tradition!! We pore over every action, order and result from every call. Trying to keep this from degenerating into a bash-fest is a daunting task.

Misunderstanding

Remember that anything you say that could have a negative connotation will be looked at in the worst possible light, making you the bad guy!

Then there are those times where you (read I) just muff it. We recently had headsets installed in all of our rigs. I pressed the button to talk, thinking I was on the intercom. NOPE. I was transmitting on our department frequency. It was right after a call, and our mutual aid department heard every word. I was questioning the intelligence of the home owner, (who did not realize they had a gas range instead of an electric one). I did not call them anything unprintable, just wondered aloud how you could not know what kind of stove you had in your own home. As it happened, the homeowner was frineds with one of the guys from our mutual aid department. He came back on the radio with, "You know, that is a friend of mine you are talking about!"

Long story short, I immediately upon returning to quarters called our neighbors and explained things and ate some crow. Bad feelings repaired and all seems to be well still, 3 months have passed.

We have to work together more and more these days, with shrinking budgets, reductions in manpower and fewer resources. We really need to start treating each other better.

Myself included.

In Brotherhood,

Wayne

Ropes and knots

2011-10-27T00:31:00.001-05:00

Ropes and knots? WTF is Firecap bringing that up for!?

Well kiddies, I have been noticing an unfortunate tendency to forget everything we know about ropes and knots once we pass that section in recruit training or FF2 class.

Now, be honest with yourself, if I handed you a piece of rope and asked you to tie a bowline could you? How about a clove hitch?

I might be able to do both of those and a water knot, but that's about it. I am not a little fella, so the likelyhood of me rappelling down a cliff face to rescue some idiot hiker who was where he shouldn't have been are pretty slim.

BUT every firefighter needs to know some basic knots and hitches. The next time you have to go up on a roof, you could tie off a rope to your tools (saw,etc...) and climb up and then pull them up with turn handy dandy working rope. Or, if you are cut off and have to bail out a second story window you could tie off to your tool and wedge it across the window opening and lower yourself with your life safety rope.

I always carry a piece of webbing in my pocket just in case. In case of what? Just in case!!! You never know when it will come in handy.

When the time comes on the fireground to utilize a rope, you need to be able to tie that knot or make that hitch almost without thinking. Practice makes perfect! Tie knots once a week just to keep it fresh in your mind. You don't need to know them all, but learn a few really well!

I know its a cliche, but the life you save may be your own!

Stay safe!

In Brotherhood,

Wayne

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Asking questions......

2011-10-25T08:53:00.000-05:00

......is not as easy as it may seem.

If you want honest opinions from a group anyway. A long time ago, a wise old Chief asked me if I knew why he always asked the low man on the totem pole for his opinion first, then moving up the ranks.

Nope. I had no idea.

Well here's why folks. If you ask the senior man present first, or the guy who has a domineering personality, the rest are likely to fall in line behind him. BUT, if you ask the low man, he will speak his mind. You will get more honest opinions that way and maybe some better ideas out of folks who might otherwise clam up and defer to the more experienced guys.

It not only gives you a better range of opinions, but the low man will feel like his opinion is valued. Why shouldn't it be?? Oh, and make sure you don't let the older guys beat up the rookie for his opinions! That will just serve to make him keep quiet the next time.

Be faithful leaders today folks!

In Brotherhood,

Wayne

Getting things done!

2011-10-23T18:40:00.000-05:00

More than two years ago, a used portable light tower was purchased for the FD from a local contractor. Mechanically good, just a nasty looking thing cosmetically.

Attempts to repair and fix up were squashed by former Chief for petty reasons. IE, didn't like the member attempting to get it fixed and such.

Now, in just one 8 hour day, it has been cleaned up sanded down and a fresh coat of red paint is on.

Amazing what people can accomplish when the leadership allows them to.

Later all!

Wayne

Observation

2011-10-20T03:58:00.001-05:00

That is the best word I can think of to describe what I am doing at my fd right now. I am learning where things are at on the rigs nowadays and learning the new apparatus they have purchased over the last five years.

Mostly, I am observing people. I know a number of the guys very well, having fought fire with some of them for over ten years. I am watching the guys whom I don't know that well. What their attitude towards and during training is/are. How they conduct themselves. Are they bullying others around? Do they listen when the older more experienced guys are talking?

Trying to get a good read on what kind of firefighters they might be. In some cases I just wont know until I see them on the fireground.

I hope to be posting more regularly soon. Life has had me by the short and curlies for a number of months, but I think I am winning now!

Until next time, be your brothers keeper.

Wayne

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A new direction.

2011-09-27T13:10:00.000-05:00

I sit here writing to you from my desk at my new home. It has been a bit of a struggle to keep things going here on the blog with all the turmoil that I have been dealing with at home and work, not to mention the fire department.

I have moved out of my departments area and am unable to stay due to residency requirements. So, I am headed back to a former department, to be a rookie again. Yay.

Of course I will not be subject to some of the same rookie treatment that untrained new kids get, as I know a lot of guys here and have been a Captain here before.

Still, I find myself worrying how it will go. Tonight I find out. I went to the business meeting and reapplied already and tonight is drill night.

I will have to interact with guys that I do not know, and with guys I have not seen in some time in this type of situation. Personal traits and behaviour will have to be learned as I try to not run afoul of anyone.

Still, it is good to be back here. There is a new Chief, and a renewed sense of purpose in a department that has always had the right stuff. I am excited to be part of a new day here.

Until next time,

Drive fast and swerve. It throws the other drivers off guard and you can go faster!!

I KIDDDD!!!!!!!!! DRIVE SAFE!

Wayne

Retread......

2011-09-14T04:52:00.001-05:00

As some of you know if you follow me on Twitter (@firecap5) , I am going back to a FD that I used to be with and joining again.

The now former Chief, a man I had some fairly serious differences of opinion with, most certainly did not welcome me back with open arms!

Could it be because I left on bad terms? No, I was one of his appointed Captains when I left.

Maybe it is because he is currently in a relationship with a former girlfriend of mine. Quite possible, it (and she) are a non issue to me, it has been 10 years ago.

More likely it has to do with the unkind but true things I have said about him in the years since I left. I didn't even realize the depth of his lack of leadership and really just awful behavior until I moved and spent some time with the new department.

I have always been know to offer my unsolicited two cents anyway, so when people would ask how the departments and Chiefs compared, well, it was usually a pretty colorful comparison.

I am only moving for financial reasons, and am not real thrilled about leaving the department I am on. They are a fantastic group, and as good a bunch of firefighters as I have ever had the pleasure of serving with.

Sometimes, God lines things up for you to move in another direction. First, I found a place to live that is going to save me 50% on my monthly expenses. Then a good friend of mine was chosen to replace the Chief I am talking about.

I will see how it goes, but tonight was a bit rough. The ex-chief was fairly rude to me, and as an applicant I had to do something that I hate. I had to bite my tongue. I find I am getting better at this as I get older, but I sure don't like it.

Sorry for the confusing story, but I am sick, and under the influence of cold medicine.

Stay safe!

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The dialysis chronicles

2011-09-12T14:03:00.001-05:00

As I sit here waiting on my patient to be ready, it occurred to me that I should blog this. For all of you looking to get into ems, this is likely what you will find yourself doing at the beginning of your ems career.

Pay your dues and remember, these patients are people. I can hear it now, "Of course they are people Cap', we know that!" Some folks lose sight of that and stop treating their patients with all the care and dignity they deserve. It is easy to get complacent and stop being your patients advocate.

I have a new patient who requires around the clock supervision. Today is the first run with them. When the morning crew picked them up, the caregiver handed them a key to the house and said "just put him in bed and lock the door behind you when you brig him back."

WTF??? REALLY?

Without getting into trouble, the patient is not capable of self care. Period.

When dispatch, and my supervisor told me this was what we were going to do, I balked. HARD.

First off, if we leave the patient like that I feel we would be abandoning him. Aside from the legal problems that could result, there is the problem of the (likely ) lazy caregiver who was going to leave him unattended. Well, after I balked, the problem was resolved. Dispatch called the caregiver and they will be there to transfer care of the pt to. Hopefully.

I will be watching for signs of neglect or abuse by the caregiver. I am my Brothers keeper on the foreground, and my patients keeper on the ambo. Anything less would be morally wrong.

Stay safe out there!

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This day.

2011-09-11T14:36:00.001-05:00

If I have to explain what it means, you wouldn't understand.

FDNY continues to lose responders due to this day.

God Bless.

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Time management, or the lack thereof....

2011-08-16T07:46:00.001-05:00

I suck at time management. Bad. I have tons of things that need my attention, and I seem to never get anything completed. At least, not for the last three months or so.

I could make excuses, like I have been working to much, or that my kids have kept me busy, or that I don't have all the parts I need......... You get the picture.

But it really boils down to drive. My drive is lacking due to the situation I am in financially, having to work two jobs and just barely getting by.

But enough about my piddly problems.

I have over the years experienced an ebb and flow of drive in the fire service. What causes this you might ask? Well, I might answer that bad leaders have had something to do with it.

A department near me that has been complaining for several years about their leader has finally addressed the problem and has installed a new leader. The department is suddenly energetic and working together to mend the damaged and neglected items from the prior leader.

It has helped that the new guy is not a micromanage and delegates duties and this makes everyone feel more important and worth.

Kind of a cool situation. Gives me hope for myself!

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LVAD and me.......

2011-07-21T04:33:00.001-05:00

Well, not me personally, but one of my patients from yesterday.

It was my first experience with one, but I learned a lot fast. The patient also has a internal pacemaker and defib. There are several important things I learned that I want to pass on to you.

1. The LVAD makes a constant whirring that can be plainly heard when auscultating. This pt had the device placed just below the heart, masking the heart beat almost entirely using cheapo steths. A good Littman might make a difference, but I am to poor to buy one! (HINT, HINT! I would love to try a good Littman stethoscope if some one wants to send me one for a product review! Firecap5@gmail.com)

2. The LVAD is powered by an external DC power supply with two batteries. The batteries can be changed, but only one at a time and in the proper order. (If you run into one of these patients it would be a good idea to inquire as to the proper procedure to do this for the specific device your pt has.) Hopefully you will never have to replace a battery in the field, but better to be prepared for it just in case!!

Oh, I forgot to explain what the heck an LVAD is for those of you not familiar. It is a pump that moves blood from the left ventricle directly into the aorta to maintain a good blood flow.

3. While I found a pulse quickly and easily on my pt, I have been told that it is difficult to do by our other EMT's that have taken care of this pt. A blood pressure is also VERY difficult to obtain due to the reduced pulsing of the blood flow due to the LVAD's constant flow.

I have been told to watch the pt like a hawk and at the first sign of trouble to BF and B (beat feet and boogie) to the nearest emergency room where the pt will most likely end up being flown to Chicago ASAP.

That pretty much sums up what I have learned today, if I have anything wrong, please let me know!!!

Until next time sports fans!!

Wayne

FIRECAP5

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Shame on me!!

2011-07-20T09:52:00.001-05:00

.........for leaving you waiting on the edge of hit seat for my next post! Well, I have no excuse!

I will say that working the BLS rig doing the dialysis shuffle has been for the most part routine and numbing. I have built a good relationship with our regular patients, and it is a bit sad moving the same folks back and forth just so they can an survive.

I am getting ready to work the next three days on the rig during the day and my full time at night.

Well, until we meet again!

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Muncie Indiana LODD

2011-06-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

I am not really sure what to say at this point, other than I feel so very sad for the Brothers in Muncie.

The latest here: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20110615/NEWS01/110615021

The word from the friends I have downstate is that the deceased was a good friend of one of my MC Brothers and that he had been laid off from the department and had only been back on the job for a month.

I most likely will be making the trip to Muncie for the funeral..................

My first day on a transfer rig

2011-06-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I promised it. I Tweeted about it.

Here it is. My thoughts about my first day on a private ambulance doing the dialysis shuffle.

We had a total of three patients, two who were ambulatory and one who had to go by cot.

The crew consisted of myself and another EMT-B and a driver. The driver has been doing this for about two years, and the EMT is brand new, with less than a year on the job. The rig is a Ford Vanbulance. Yuk. Tight quarters and it reminds me of the pictures I have seen of rigs in the UK, except no where near as well organized and with limited cabinet space.

Having spent nearly all my time in type 3's, this rig is less than nice to me. But, it is what it is, right?

When we went to get our first patient, I found myself on the end of the cot with the levers. The other EMT is at the head. As we roll up to the chair the patient is in, I am looking at the height and see that the cot will have to be lowered. I say to my partner, "Down" as he is looking me in the eye. He nods, I pull the release and..........the cot slams to the floor, startling the crap out of the patient. He let go of the cot.

WTF? I suppose it is my fault, since I was on the foot and pulled the release. At least my partner blamed me. In front of the patient. Once in the facility, and then again later, after I had been talking to the patient and had her calm and comfortable in the back of the rig, getting her agitated again.

Now, regardless if it was my fault, or his, or both (I vote for both to be fair) I strongly feel that you NEVER have discussions like that in front of the patient. EVER. So, I just clammed up and said nothing hoping it would kill the line of conversation as I gave him a look that said shut up. Luckily, he did.

I did not feel the need to revisit the topic later either, so we will see how that goes. The next two patients were handled quickly and without incident.

I have discovered a few things. My EMT partner does not inspire confidence in me, acting as though he is the best thing since sliced bread and knows the job in and out. His condescending attitude did not sit well with me, as I have been in EMS since he was still in grade school. The older I get, the less patience I have for know it alls and incompetents. He is a know it all, and I am suspicious that of his competence. I work with him again this coming Friday. Joy.

I do like the attitude of the owner and supervisors about how to treat the patients. This is a small company that needs to keep every client they have to keep the three ambulances and the employees working.

I will post more soon, time for sleep now.

The start of a new adventure...........

2011-06-09T23:57:00.001-05:00

...........why do I do that anyway??? I mean end the post title with a bunch of dots and then begin with a bunch...........

I digress. The new adventure. For the first time in my nearly 20 years in emergency services, I will begin working directly for a private, for profit, transport EMS service doing the "dialysis shuffle".

I have to say, I am not overly pleased to be doing it. But, for me it is a financial necessity as my better half recovers from surgery to her hand and cannot work. The loss of her income has become a bigger problem than I initially thought it would be.

Anyway, I decided to look upon this as an opportunity to explore this side of EMS and try to gauge the effects of this component of the system on the patients and their caregivers. I am actually excited about this aspect of it.

I will try to post regularly my experiences and thoughts on this as I work my way into what I have always felt was the dark side of EMS.

I mean, after all, these are non-emergent transfers to facilities for somewhat routine procedures. Do we really need an ambulance crew and rig to perform this function of healthcare or is there a better way??

I have a ron of questions and no answers or even well formed opinions at this point! Time will tell folks!

Follow me on twitter @firecap5 and you jut may see tweets from #myemsday...........

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Reflections.................

2011-05-30T18:02:00.000-05:00

http://nottrainedbutwetryhard.blogspot.com/2010/05/for-memorial-day.html

Last year I posted the above poem.

This year, I hope that you will go and listen to this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huRwBFmAx78

Tornado Warning

2011-05-28T07:14:00.000-05:00

Like a lot of the Midwest, we have been hearing our Tornado sirens this week. Luckily, the storms were short lived and no Tornado's were spawned by them here in my neck of the woods.

Some guys from the next department over claimed to have seen numerous clouds with rotation, but I am more than a little skeptical about that. Especially since we were in the vicinity of their reports and saw nothing.

I am inclined to blame their apparently faulty sightings on several factors.

One would be a lack of training. Here in our part of Indiana there is not very frequent training on storm spotting.

The biggest factor though, would be the age and experience of some of these folks. I am sorry, but with nearly 20 years of experience of all kinds under my belt, I just don't get overly hyper whenever there is a storm. I understand and respect that there is the potential of tornado's from the storm, and I am dutifully watching for the signs of rotation in the sky, (BTW- a Thermal Imaging Camera gives an awesome look inside the clouds when the rain is to heavy to see the clouds.....just sayin') but I am not going to jump the gun and call out rotation unless there really is.

There may be a tendency to inflate the severity of the situation so they can look braver in the eyes of their girlfriends when they tell the story of the "big storm".

Now maybe I am being overly hard on these young guys.

Maybe I am not.

Just saying.

Okay, so I was wrong!!

2011-05-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

I honestly thought I could get the move done by now...........

Man was I wrong! There is a lot more to this moving thing than I ever thought! I will be posting here again until I am actually ready to pull the trigger on the new one folks.

I am sorry for the delays and silence. Between working on the new site, working two jobs, going to kids baseball games, riding my motorcycle, washing all the dishes while Momma's hand heals from surgery, changing diapers, running calls, and trying to sleep in between all that I have been slightly busy!

I am still here, just a bit busy!!

2011-05-02T01:34:00.003-05:00

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Whiskey Delta, Whiskey Delta!!! Well done!!

2011-05-02T01:34:00.001-05:00

It is done. I hope the families and the Brothers in FDNY get some closure.

Come home safe. All of our Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen are owed a debt of gratitude for their service. I don't care if they are 18 or 80, they have paid for the freedoms we all enjoy.

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Moving..............

2011-04-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

Soon my loyal readers (Both of you!), I will be moving my blog.

I will of course keep you posted on developments. Suffice to say, I hope you will follow me to the new home................

In Brotherhood,

FireCap5
Wayne

Ah, brush season has arrived!

2011-04-06T19:51:00.000-05:00

Are you ready?? The brush is drying out and the threat of wildfires is on the rise. My department has already ran 6 brush fires in the last two weeks and I am sure it is just the tip of the iceberg.

The burning buffoons will soon be at it.

How many of you have met these folks? You know, they like to burn brush in 20mph winds and are surprised when it spreads to the farmer’s fields that surround their house? The guy who started the fire then went inside his house and left it unattended until we show up when it has started to burn his neighbor’s fence?

Well, I have a real doosey for you.

Some years ago, the department I was on at the time was dispatched to a grass fire that was spreading towards some homes. Well, when we made scene, we were able to quickly put out the slow moving small fire that had crept from the burn pile where it started across several well kept lawns. Turns out the guy who was burning the pile of yard debris is in a wheelchair and could not keep it contained.

OK, no big deal, we can understand that. Once back in the trucks, we observed that maybe he shouldn’t be burning brush if he couldn’t keep it contained due to his physical limitations.

Several days later, we are called back to the same address for a brush fire again. This time the fire is going uphill towards the guys house after he couldn’t keep it contained. Again. We put it out, and the Chief cautioned him that maybe he should be a bit more careful. Now as we discuss it later back at the firehouse, we are little less understanding. He needs to not be messing with fire in his yard before he hurts himself or someone else, we say.

A week later,( Yep, you guessed it!) we are back at the same address with the same guy in a wheelchair, with the same problem. This time though, we are worried. The fire has run down the hill behind his house and is getting very close to getting into the marshy ground filled with cattails and peat moss (If you have never seen a bunch of cattails go up in flames, you would be amazed. They burn like they are soaked in gasoline!)

We realize two things. We have to catch this one fast, and our hose reels on the tanker (Our designated “brush” truck, a 1966 Ford 1250gal tanker with a 500GPM Darley pump on the front bumper with a platform to stand on around it) are never going to reach that far. So, we pull the reels to the front deck, mount up, and down the hill at the fire we went. We managed to get almost to the fire before the front tires cut ruts in the ground and down she sank. The front deck usually sits about 3 feet off the ground. Once we came to a stop, I was able to walk off of the deck onto the ground.

What can we do now? The only thing to do was what we did. Pull the reels out and stop the fire from there with the water we had. Luckily we got the job done and didn’t even have to get our feet wet in the marsh! Disaster averted!!

Kind of.

We still had a truck stuck in the mud.

The local tow company brought out their biggest tow truck and plucked us out of the mud and back up the hill. BARELY. We were worried there for a while that the tow truck was going to pull itself down to the tanker when it started pulling itself across the road! That stopped once the tow truck operator lowered the stabilizers and the wheel lift to hold his position.

All the while, the homeowner watched all the trouble we went through. He never even said sorry that I know of. Evidently he finally learned his lesson after that escapade, as we never got called back there again.

In Brotherhood,

FireCap5

April Fools

2011-04-01T09:04:00.002-05:00

Some time ago, when I was still at the mill and a fill in Lieutenant, we pulled one of my favorite pranks on a recently hired guy who is now a Shift Captain and still a good friend of mine.

One of the buildings that has to be checked twice a shift is the mills Corporate Office building, a three story building set in a semi wooded area just outside the main gate. We decided to scare Greg, the new guy, by waiting in a dark hallway in a doorway to jump out at him. As luck would have it, the security check happened at the same time every day so we were able to get set up and ready for him ahead of time on a midnight shift.

Jim, (Also now a Shift Captain) and Rick went down to the bottom level to the hallway in question and waited for Greg to get off the elevator and walk down the hall. (Greg had two days before let slip that he was kind of scared of this particular hallway because of how dark it is. EPIC FAIL.)

Well, Greg must have heard them breathing as he stopped just shy of the doorway they were waiting in and called out “I know you guys are down there!!” Fuck this! I am going back!!” which he did. He got back on the elevator. Jim and Rick sprinted up the stairs to try to scare him as he got out of the elevator. They beat him to the next floor and were ready to spring their trap.

As the doors to the elevator slowly opened, the only sound was the almost silent breathing of the ambushers and the quiet thunk of the doors opening all the way and hitting their stops………

Then, ever so slowly, Jim and Rick see the quivering blade of a pocket knife emerge from the elevator door! Greg says, in a voice trembling with fear “You better get back, I’ll cut ya!” Well, naturally Jim and Rick backed off and let Greg get off the elevator unmolested!

When Greg came out of the building to get back in the SUV that was his assigned Patrol Unit, the majority of the crew was standing out front waiting for him. Jim and Rick told him their side of the story and we all had a few good laughs. Then we all went to get in our vehicles to leave.

Remember I said the majority of the crew?? The Ambulance crew had crawled into the back of the SUV and was waiting. Greg got in, started the engine, and almost had a heart attack as the guys in the back seat popped up screaming and yelling!!

Greg almost broke his neck trying to get out! He forgot to undo his seat belt at first, but quickly found the latch and half fell out of the car, screaming like a little girl!! We all laughed so hard it hurt!

Greg laughed about it too, once his heart stopped trying to beat out of his chest! Funny thing, he always checked the back of the patrol units before he got in after that………

I wonder if he still does?????

In Brotherhood,

FireCap5

Here we go again!

2011-03-31T19:42:00.000-05:00

Some time ago I asked you, my loyal readers for help in renaming my blog. Thus we now have Too late to stop, too early to quit.

I need your help again.

I need a catchy name for the address of my blog. As you all know, it is still the previous name. I want something short, sweet and to the point. The name of the blog is simply too long to use, and the initials may be confusing….hmmmm…..www.tltstetq.com??? Nope, no good!!

I need something smart, sexy, and memorable. All things which I am not!! LOL

MAYBE I will reward the winner with some juicy gossip about Capt. Wines (www.ironfireman.com Check him out if you haven’t already) and his grooming habits! Or maybe some of the sparring I witnessed in Indy between Dave Statter (www.statter911.com) and Rhett Fleitz (www.firecritic.com)!! Or such other punishment as the court may order!!

So, if you have any ideas, let me know here in the comments, or hit me up on Twitter @FireCap5 or at FireCap5@gmail.com. The sooner the better as I am looking at buying my own domain name.

In Brotherhood,

FireCap5

“Let’s make it rapid guys!”

2011-03-29T08:09:00.001-05:00

……….says the Paramedic as he climbs in the car with the patient.

It is around 4pm on a warm summer day and we are on the scene of a 2 vehicle MVA on a highway and on a curve. It is a notorious curve that gains an even worse reputation in the years following this day.

A pickup truck was coming around the curve at Forest Preserve Road and the highway when it collides with a midsize sedan in an off center collision. I don’t know who crossed the center line, but the pickup’s left front tire rode up the hood of the car and then the drivers “A” post, pushing it and the roof of the car down onto the head of the driver. The front wheel and axle assembly of the pickup was broken off.

There were three of us on the truck, one of which was my good friend Rob, the Assistant Chief. He did a 360 of the car and scene as Frank and I prepped the Hurst tools. Our tools were more than 20 years old and we had only recently acquired them from a department near us. Prior to buying them we were still using hand tools and an air chisel. We had done a lot of training with them and were up to speed.

When the Medic asked for it to be quick, we decided to just remove the roof so we could pull the patient out of the seat onto a board and into the waiting ambulance. I quickly made the cuts to all the other posts then came back to the drivers “A”.

The Medic had a stack of 4x4’s in his hand ready to apply direct pressure to the large wound on the forehead that was bleeding profusely. As soon as I finished the cut I put down the cutters and helped get the roof out of the way. The medic and his partner grabbed the patient under the arms and onto the board and moved to the ambulance faster than I had ever seen up to that point.

They didn’t hang around on scene long either. They took off at a fast pace within a couple of minutes for the nearest hospital, about 5 miles away.

We completed the extrication in 5 minutes 30 seconds that day; everything and everyone fell into place perfectly.

There is nothing better than knowing you did exactly what needed to be done and did it just right. That is the kind of thing that keeps you coming back to this work.

In Brotherhood,

FireCap5

Life after the fire service.......

2011-03-27T23:47:00.001-05:00

.....can you even imagine it? I took a leave of abscence for three months after losing two friends from my department in 1999.

It didn't take long before I had to get back on the truck as they say. Every time I heard the sirens and air horns, I felt that that was where I belonged, on the truck. Not sitting on the porch with a beer. I had to go back.

So I did. It was hard at first, and every time I drove a tanker I was a quivering mess of nerves, fear, and anguish. I sometimes imagined what it had to have felt like for Pappy and Brian as they rolled on that curve on a cold October day.

The feeling of impending doom, the resignation that it was not up to you anymore. That it was all in Gods hands now.

I still have my moments of fear while riding in apparatus. I have seen what can and does happen.

You are not immune to it, none of us are! If you think you are, I will be glad to provide you with a reality check.

This is not the post I was trying to write, but it is what it has become. Much like conversations that ramble all over the place, so to does my mind when I get to typing.

I know I get a bit passionate when I talk about my friends, but until you lose someone like we did, you can never understand the depth of pain, hurt and utter devastation that comes from a LODD.

I pray you never do.

KTF.

EGH

OMNIS CEDO DOMUS.

This is my mantra. It is my greatest single passion in the fire service today. To hopefully have a positive impact on as many as possible. To teach something to you that may keep you alive. Or to just be the guy yelling SNAKE! and pointing out a danger.

In Brotherhood,

FireCap5

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Crap! I need another one!

2011-03-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

A long time ago, in a jurisdiction not so far away..................

My department responded to a house fire at 2am. The fire was in a building that had at one time been a one room brick schoolhouse. This building was where my Grandfather went to school in the 1910's and was not far from my parents home. I used to ride my bicycle by it all the time.

Well, on arrival there was a column of smoke and a lot of flames visible through the windows. My buddy Rob and I packed up, pulled a preconnect off of our Engine 4 (A 1985 GMC chassis with a FMC body, Darley 1,000 GPM pump and poor pump maintenance practices.....but I digress) and made our way to the front door. Another crew secured the utilities by turning off the gas valve on the LP tank and pulling the meter for electric.

As we made our way inside and started to hit the fire in the front room, Robs SCBA stopped flowing air. Just flat stopped. No bell, no nothing. He tapped me on the shoulder and we backed out together. Once outside, he dropped the bad pack at the base of a tree in the front yard and grabbed another one off E-4. Once he was ready, we went back in and hit it again. We got the fire beat back into the dining room before my pack malfunctioned. Same problem. Same result, as we backed out and I dumped the bad pack at the tree in the front yard and grabbed another!

We were back in for a few minutes when Robs ran out of air. Back out again. The next pack he grabbed had an air leak on it that bled his air off so fast we were back out again in 5 minutes.

Another pack in the growing heap at the base of that tree.

We were only in for a couple of minutes when the hose went limp. Talk about a sinking feeling! The fire started to slowly grow and march back into the room as we backed out. When we got outside we found out what the problem was. E-4 had lost prime and could not draft to save its own life! After a couple of minutes, the Chief decided to pull old E-1 in to finish the job. (See more on E-1 in this post) Well, the old girl finished the job but burned a ton of gas doing it and we had to have the hood open to help keep it cool.

When we went back in we pushed the fire back to the room of origin and it looked like we had it just about knocked when it came roaring back to life and pushed us back out of the room! Someone thought they were doing us a favor and turned the gas valve on the LP tank back on!! This went unnoticed for about 10 minutes and we just held our position as the gas burned.

Finally the error was found and the gas turned back off. Another crew came in to relieve us and after a short break, Rob and I went to work on ventilation to move the smoke out. I managed to throw my axe through the hole I was chopping in the roof. It just slid right out of my wet gloves. (Note to the young bucks, if you have room, carry an extra pair of fire gloves, especially in the winter.)

This fire highlighted how poor our maintenance of both apparatus and equipment was back then. The SCBA's were old Scott Pressure Pack II's and the problem was caused by worn and dirty valves in the regulators. Our fault, not Scott's. And E-4? The packing was so worn as to be nearly non-existent. We never could get it repacked correctly and we were to stubborn to take it in to get done by a professional mechanic.

Moral of the story? Do your maintenance as if your life depends on it! Any one of the malfunctions that Rob and I had happen to us that night could have hurt or killed us.

Take it easy,

FireCap5

Blogger Meetup 2011

2011-03-25T20:17:00.002-05:00

I am blogging to you live from the meetup! CAPT. WINES, DAVE STATTER, RHETT FLEITZ, TIGER SCHMITTENDORF and many more are here with me having a good time! Wish you were here!

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Edited for SPEELING! Thanks HM!

Thinking tactically..........

2011-03-24T01:09:00.001-05:00

As I sit here at work, I am reading an article in Fire Engineering about additional alarm considerations.

The author makes some very important points about when to call for additional alarms and why. When I was at the mill, I would call for additional alarms anytime I has anything bigger than a dumpster fire. With the extremely limited manpowed there, I had to immediately consider what would I do for troops when they inevitably would need rehab. My number one concern was always the safety of my guys and gals. The fire will always eventually run out of fuel and stop on its own. The lives of my people are more important!

I would hope by now, with all of the writers and speakers out there these days that the concept of " it is easier to cancell the mutual aid when you are sure it isn't needed than to get them there fast when you are sure you do need them".

I would much rather, as an incident commander, get help rolling ASAP and then send them back later without utilizing them than to wait to call for their response until I discover I do need them right then. If you wait you run the risk of all sorts of bad endings. You could lose the structure due to water supply, or not havimg enough pump capacity to put the fire out.

You could end up with the worst nightmare for any fire service commander, members trapped or injured and not having a dedicated RIT team standing by.

There are a lot of tasks to complete and roles to fill on the fire scene. Do you have enough people on your first due assignment to get it all done in this age of brownouts, staff reductions and station closures? You may still have two engines and a truck responding first due, but now the truck comes from farther away and all companies have just 3 or even less on board.

Don't be afraid to pull that first alarm early on. To those that may say you are overreacting to the situation I say they may be complacent.

There were numerous occaisons at the mill where when the first alarm companies arrived they simply helped with manpower and their Chief handled accountability for me (thanks Bill!). There were other times where before the first alarm companies made scene I was calling a second or even third alarm once I did my 360 and saw what I had. Fires in coal fines below grade, oil basements, slag pit explosions and garbage transfer stations on fire all caused me to strike additional boxes for outside assistance at the mill. I never had anyone hurt on my watch, thanks in part to calling early for help.

One instance also resulted in holding damage to some burnt wiring and a oil pump and gas heater being the only damage in a area of the mill that had burned in the past with damage in millions of dollars. Thanks to additional alarms early, we saved the mill a lot of money in damages and potential lost productivity.

Just some random ramblings at one in the morning.

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My luck runs out!

2011-03-16T03:16:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in a earlier article I've been lucky with my driving to calls. Well, then my luck ran out!

I was responding in the middle of the night with a heavy rain coming down to a car accident. When I got to the intersection of the highway on my way to the station, i pulled to a quick stop then i started to pull out. Well somehow I missed the 18 wheeler bearing down on me down the highway. I pulled my S-15 about halfway across the road and thw semi promptly sheared the very front of my truck off!!

It just barely clipped off my front bumper, smash the grill and the hood and basically made a mess of the front end. Needless to say I was shocked, scared, freaked out and thankfull to be ok!

I didn't make it to the scene of the accident. I created the scene of another accident forcing more responders to divert to my accident which luckily nobody was injured at.

The moral of the story is take your time, watch what you're doing and make it there safe. Luckily all that was damaged in my incident was my truck and my pride. I came very close to becoming the first line of duty death for my department that night and since then I've been a lot more careful driving tp calls. Taking more time watching what's going on better with the realization that I can't do anybody any good if I don't make it there to help them because i am in a crumpled heap on the side of the road somewhere because I was acting like an idiot.

That was many years ago now and I feel like I have become a safer driver both responding to calls and going anywhere else.

I ride my motorcycle as if everyone else on the road does not see me and is going to try to run me over.

Just like I tried to run over the semi I didn't see one cold dark rainy night.

Be carefull out there!

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Old Tanker 3

2011-03-14T05:44:00.003-05:00

Ah the memories! Old Tanker 3 at my first department was a 1966 Chevrolet with a monstrous v-6. It kind of looked like the later kodiak chassis and was one of my favorites because it had an old mechanical Q siren on the left front fender.

I loved winding that thing up to an ear piercing scream as we approached intersections!!!!

It was a 1500 gallon tanker with 250 gpm portable pump on it. It could dump water out of three sides of the truck via butterfly valves that were re eased inside the compartments, so if you dumped, oh had to attach a piece of hard suction to it to make it into the dump tank.

It had been state of the art when she was new, but that was 25 years before. It had a three speed manual transmission that would jam into 2nd gear if you were foolish enough to try to downshift to slow down! I had to drive it to or from a number of fires in second gear only!!! That was NOT fun!

If I can find a picture of the old girl, I will add.it later.

OK, I found a pic from the web of a truck similar to Old Tanker 3, but it is missing a few things. Somewhere I have actual pictures from back then of the truck, but I can't seem to find those.

2011-03-08T18:01:00.000-06:00

A long time ago, when I was a young, dumb rookie. It was so long ago that my pager was a Motorola Minitor, you know, the original one that doubled as a weapon if needed it was so big.

We were called out for a report of a structure fire at about 2am. As soon as the address was read my heart skipped a beat. Or three.......... It was my Aunt Nancy's house!! My Uncle Lou had passed on about 5 years prior and had been a long time member and Chief of the department I was now on.

To say my adrenaline was pumping would be an understatement. I flew out of bed, jumped into some clothes and ran full tilt to my pickup truck. I raced the two and a half miles to the fire station and met the Chief at the door. He lived three houses down from the station.

(*Side note- Do you think I maybe violated a few traffic laws and was maybe even a bit reckless getting to the station?? Yup. Me too. I would chew the ass of any of my guys who drove like that now as a Safety Officer. I most certainly don't condone what I did, so any of you young bucks out there better think twice. I got lucky. THIS time.)

We grabbed our gear on climbed into Engine 1, a 1974 Ford Pumper built by Darley. She looks like the picture except it had a full light bar and was yellow. Darley made a ton of them back in the day! As we got down the road, dispatch finally gave us more information.

It was the wood shed down the hill from the house that was on fire. I breathed a sigh of relief. My Aunt and my cousin were OK. The rest of the call was uneventful. We set up and put out the remains with the water from the booster tank on the engine and my Aunt was very grateful to us.

I, dumb as I was back then, thought it was noteworthy and good that I got to the station so fast that I boasted about it. The older guys had to have thought I was a damn fool. I know that I think that I was a damn fool back then. A 18 year old know it all, taking unnecessary risks and making a fool of myself.

Good thing God takes care of fools and drunks, or I would not be here now!

Backdraft, Ladder 49 and Rescue Me

2011-02-24T00:55:00.001-06:00

One cable series and two movies. Three different views of the fire service. Are any of them accurate? Are any of them completely inaccurate?

Backdraft- A tale of a firefighting family and a series of suspicious fires.

Ladder 49- A story that focused more on the human side and Brotherhood.

Rescue Me- What I feel is a story of a man on the brink of total collapse who happens to be a firefighter.

All three have some things dead nuts on about the job, how we interact with each other and what we do. They all also have some things wrong.

I have felt the pressure to do well in the eyes of my peers like in Backdraft. I have experienced the Brotherhood amidst tragedy like in Ladder 49.

The one thing that seems to resonate with me most now from these examples is Rescue Me's potrayal of ghosts. Maybe not in the same literal sense they depicted early on , but in the sense of being haunted by the things we have done, or failed to do. The Brothers gone forever but truly not forgotten by those of us who shared danger with them. Haunted by the memories of mans inhumanity to man and our feeble attempts to right the wrongs visited uponm the helpless.

The victim of an MVA that bled out almost before mmy eyes when I cut the drivers "A" post that was crushing her forehead. The teenage kid that I couldn't save from the flames due to the volume of fire I faced down alone because there was no one to back me up as I pushed it back and made entry. The victim of domestic abuse who lied to my face about what happened while giving me a look that said "I know you know the truth".

The sad fact of the matter is that the saves and rescues give a good feeling that is still overshadowed by the carnage of the job and as my friend Chris Kaiser over at Life Under The Lights calls it, "splashed sadness".

Break time..........

2011-02-21T09:16:00.002-06:00

It can be an emotionally draining and very hard job we do.

I for one have shot the bolt and need to regroup.

To quote Gen. MacArthur: "I shall return!"

USFA, AFG and SAFER

2011-02-14T23:49:00.001-06:00

I was just reading about the proposed budget and the cuts to AFG and USFA and the increase to SAFER.

First off, an increase to SAFER is most definately needed, and I am all for it.

But the cuts? No way. We as a nation desperately need to balance our checkbook, but there are certainely less important areas where cuts can and should be made.

AFG is in my opinion one of the best uses of taxpayer dollars, right up there with national defense. The core business of government is to protect it's citizens. The Armed Forces, Law Enforcement, Fire Departments and EMS all do just that. It is right and proper for taxpayer dollars to be used for these things.

The National Endowment for the Arts?? Not so much.

AFG cuts will impact smaller departments that do not have the resources to otherwise fund important equipment purchases to do so. I mean, you can only flip so many pancakes to raise money for eguipment.
SAFER does nothing at all for the majority of fire departments and firefighters. It is a good program for career departments, but only addresses staffing, and then only for a period of time after which the municipality has to pick up the labor costs. I wonder how many previous SAFER act recipients have let the staffing slip back when the Federal dollars ran out?

If I was a cynic, I might wonder aloud if this democrat proposal is supporting union jobs on the backs of the AFG's lost funding.

Now before I am hung in effigy in front of any halls, I have been a union official and griever. I am NOT anti union.

Just some random musings. I will have more to say later, I have to stop typing. My Blackberry has impossibly small buttons for long term typing!!

New gear!

2011-02-14T17:26:00.000-06:00

Thanks to a grant award (One more reason to actually do the required training, you qualify for grants) we are getting 10 new sets of turnout gear.

I am one of the lucky recipients of a new set! We have opted to go with Bristol, as it is what we have now, and their standard configuration incorporates many features that are costly options with other gear manufacturers. I also like it for its low weight, and maneuverability.

I will not say they are the best out there, but in my 20 years in the fire service I have wore none that were overall better.

There will be a radio pocket, loops for hanging a flashlight, pass device and two small metal rings that could be used for a glove holder or (in my case) a personal CO detector. The pants will have a cargo pocket on each leg.

Not super fancy, but very nice in my opinion.

Oh, and Happy Valentines day!

Blizzard of 2011

2011-02-02T08:56:00.001-06:00

It hasn't turned out to be the end of the world like the media tried to make it out.

For those of us who live in the Great Lakes, it is just a slightly worse storm than we get many times a winter with the infamous lake effect snowstorms. Oh sure, we are getting a fair bit of snow, and the roads are terrible, but the same conditions can be found when we get a good Lake Effect storm.

For those of you who are not familiar, a Lake Effect snowstorm is just a storm that comes across the lake, picking up mass amounts of moisture from the open water on the inland seas that are referred to as the Great Lakes. Once the storm makes landfall, it then dumps the mass amounts of moisture in the form of snow. Heavy, wet snow that is usually accompanied by a good stiff wind, resulting in a lot of blowing and drifting.

On the whole, I would rather see simple system snow than lake effect. The worst is the blowing and drifting though. When the wind is whipping, a mere 1" of snow can wreak havoc with the roads by drifting them shut. Drifted snow is very compact and sometimes, depending on the size of the snowflakes that are blown into drifts, they can be as hard as a rock.

Well, I am going to cross the street and plow out the station. Stay safe and warm!

BTW- Now would not be a good time to post pictures of your Jeep in a nice warm desert Schmoe, I might have to drive out there and cuss you out if you do!

Ice Rescue Training, new suit FAIL!

2011-02-02T08:08:00.000-06:00

Well, we did our ice rescue training last weekend.

It was the usual rehash of what we do and say every year, a good refresher for everyone before the annual ice fishing derby next weekend so we are ready with the know how fresh in our heads.

We have new dry suits and we used them for the first time.

They are different than our old suits. The old ones are neoprene and have begun developing pinholes in the last two years, so 4 new Stearns suits were purchased this year. The new suits are a nice bright orange color, and at first glance seem to be far superior to our old ones. There are more/ better straps to tighten the extremities to reduce the chance of an air pocket pushing you out of the hands or feet. The hands are move flexible and have a better tactile sensation then the old.

Then, there were the problems I encountered when I donned and used the suit. They are supposedly capable of fitting a person up to 6' and weighing 330lbs, and I am just short of each of those measurements.

My problems;

1.Getting my feet into the integrated feet. It was all but impossible to do alone. There are no straps to assist you in getting your foot seated in the boot and the thighs of the legs were barely big enough to allow me to get in with blue jeans on. Why isn't there a strap that passes from the outside of the leg to the inside after going under the foot. If there was, with a loop on each end, you could quickly and efficiently pull your foot into the suit. Must make to much sense. So, Stearns, you get a FAIL for ease of donning.

2.Adjusting the extremity straps. Not easy with the suit on. Now you have to have someone to help, taking more time and manpower. Again, Stearns, FAIL for resource management. Tying up two guys to get one in the water is wasteful. Make the straps with some material on the end that does NOT have velcro on it so it can be grasped with the suit hand and manipulated.
3.Ease of movement was fine when I was shuffling across the ice towards the hole, but as soon as I had to get down on my hands and knees, all the slack in the suit was gone and I could not move freely, increasing the time and amount of fatigue for the rescuer. Then, while in the water, a hole opened in the seat of the suit right on the center seam, tearing equal distances from the seam in both directions. Am I to fat for the suit? Not according to the information panel on the suit. Am I to tall? Again, not according to the panel on the suit. Stearns, FAIL for ease of movement. Cut the material so that you can put your hands over your head without pulling up on the sides of the suit, and cut the crotch down a little lower so there is more room to move. I had to be helped to a standing position because I literally could not get my knees high enough from being on all fours to get a foot underneath me to stand up. I felt like I was hobbled. It was humiliating to have to be helped to my feet like that. DOUBLE FAIL.

Folks, that was some damn cold water. By the time I got to shore and doffed the suit I was shivering uncontrollably and had to be taken home to dry off and get some dry clothes on. I have never in my life gotten so cold, so fast. It took a good two hours to warm back up after that escapade. I will readily admit that none of the others had any problems with their suits, but I was the tallest rotund guy there. (I prefer the word rotund, but it still means FAT. Time for a diet.)

Maybe Stearns needs to change the parameters for sizing of their suits, maybe I needed the next size up.

One thing is certain. I am dragging the old suits out and throwing the best one in the truck so I only have to worry about a pinhole here or there instead of a one and a half inch tear gushing water in on me.

Or better yet, I will stay on shore with my Safety Officer's helmet on and ensure everyone else is doing it safely. Yup, sounds good to me!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2011-01-30T19:36:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the complete and utter lack of posts here lately, I have been slightly busy.

The tempo at work has picked up and overtime was required. The pace at home has also been hectic with everyone in the house sick to one degree or another.

I hope to return to my regularly infrequent posting schedule here soon!

Thanks for continuing to hang around waiting for something to happen!!

The beginnings of a new year

2010-12-26T18:56:00.003-06:00

Next week there will be a meeting with the Chief for all applicants for officers positions for my department.

After he weeds out those who do not meet the requirements set in our bylaws (Minimum of FFII, Haz-Mat Ops, and EMT-B, attendance over the previous year of 30% or more for call outs, and several others..........) the rest of us will have a joint meeting with him and then an individual interview.

One person who has been an officer will not be next year. He did not have good attendance this last year.

Time will tell what role I will find myself in next year, but I will do as I always do. The best job I can.

Enjoy your New Years celebration safely! See you next year, unless something comes up!

Chicago LODD

2010-12-24T16:15:00.002-06:00

As i sit here with my family safe and warm tonight, my thoughts drift to the families of FF Edward Stringer and FF/EMT Corey Ankum.

Remember the Fallen.

I am ready for the holidays to be over.

Merry Christmas.

Why are you trying so hard?

2010-12-13T22:36:00.007-06:00

I don’t write a lot about EMS 2.0. I do read quite a bit about it though. Check out these other blogs; Here, Here, and here to read more about it.

I ran into what I feel is another facet of EMS 2.0, our own conditioned responses to our patients. I was listening to HappyMedic and Motorcop talking about an animated clip where a highway patrolman is watching Fire and EMS go nuts over "LOOK AT THAT MECHANISM OF INJURY!"

I watched this morning as that type of scenario played out in front of me. While on my way home from work (It has been snowing like gangbusters around here the last two days) I encountered a minor MVA with a pickup truck nosed into an enormous snowdrift in the road and a SUV that had hit the back end of the pickup at about 15 MPH. The SUV driver was not hurt and the driver of the pickup had a very minor lac (it had already stopped bleeding) to the top of his head from popping one pane of the sliding rear window of his truck on impact. We are standing on the side of the road with traffic squeezing by behind us in a stinging North wind with snow blowing all around.

(I am going to try to get clever here like Motorcop and give the guy a funny, yet descriptive name!)

So "Not Really Hurt Guy" or NRHG, states he is ok and doesn't want to go to the hospital. Enter an EMT I know from the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) in his POV without even a BLS kit, just some 4x4's and a portable radio. We will call him "Ink Still Wet".

Me: (To ISW) NRHG says he is ok and doesn't want to go to the hospital.

ISW: Ok.

ISW to NRHG: Sir, you really should go to the hospital, it takes a lot of force to pop that window like that.

NRHG: I am fine, I don't want to go.

ISW: Do you have any other medical problems?

NRHG listed two common, totally unrelated medical problems.

ISW: Oh, you really should get looked at, especially because of those issues.

NRHG: Well, I could just go to the urgent care clinic when I get to town, I was on my way to town anyway.

I think AWESOME!! We can't suggest to him to just do that like 999Medic does, but he wants to do that himself!! Common sense rules!!

Me to ISW: You could secure a refusal...........

ISW: I think you should go to the hospital sir.

Me: Sir, did you have any loss of consciousness?

NRHG: No.

Me: Do you know what year it is?

NRHG: 2010

Me: Who is the President?

NRHG: Obama.

Me: Do you have any blurred vision?

NRHG: No.

ISW: Well Sir, I still think you should go to the hospital.

Me to ISW: If you don't need me, I will go ahead and get out of your way.

ISW: Ok.

So I left. Wondering why ISW was trying so hard to get this guy to go. He didn't really need anything other than maybe an aspirin and a washcloth to clean up the quarter sized thin film of blood around the 1/4" laceration. Is it a lack of experience? Was he scared to make a decision? Or was he taught that you have to talk patients into going to the hospital when they don't want to go?

Here in Indiana we are constantly reminded that as EMT's we do not diagnose, just transport the sick and injured.

Well, I say BULL. When EMS made the scene, they secured a refusal. After driving ten miles out into a raging snowstorm in 20 to 30 MPH winds because ISW didn't want to ask questions to make sure the patient was ok and just get a refusal on scene and cancell the medics. His engine showed up so he had the forms to do so, yet he chose to persist.

Wasted time, effort and needless danger for all the responders because ISW din't want to accept a refusal. How often does the same type of scenario play out in your neck of the woods?

Are we part of the problem in this regard? Are we filling ER's with folks that don't need to be there? Are we potentially abusers of the system too??

A new beginning.

2010-12-08T18:17:00.002-06:00

To late to stop, to early to quit.

What does that mean?

To me it means I have been doing this job to long to stop. it has become a part of who I am. It is more than just something I do. It is a part of me the same as my right hand, I cant imagine life without it. For the years I was blessed enough to make a living doing this job I was the happiest I have ever been with my work. The mill was not perfect at all (Just read my blog from the beginning!!!) but I got to get up in the morning and got to go to work doing what I love.

I am (I hope!) at about the midway point of my time in the fire service. If the good Lord sees fit to allow me to live long enough to put in another 20 years I will be thankful to say the least. I am not ready to quit by any means. I cant imagine life without the fire service at this point. I don't even want to think about retiring!

I started when I was 18, just a few months out of high school. Two of my Uncles and several of my older cousins had been firemen, one of them on the department I started with. Uncle Lou gave me my earliest memory of the fire service when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. I was at his house playing with my cousin when he came home from a big fire. He walked in the door with his rubber coat draped over one arm, his black helmet titled back on his head as far as it could go. He walked in and kissed my Aunt them took off his helmet and placed it on the table in front of me. When his hand came away from the helmet it smudged off the soot, revealing the white color of the helmet. My Uncle was the Chief. He served the people of our township from 1955 until his death in 1987. Oddly enough my cousin never followed his Father into the fire service. I guess he just doesn't have it. The it that makes a man (or woman) put service above self.

I didn't realize I wanted to be a firefighter until July of 1992. I had graduated high school in May and was just kind of floating, no real direction. Doing nothing.

I was at a teen dance at the local Grange about a quarter of a mile south of the grain elevator in town. The dance was well under way when flashing blue lights illuminated the room from out side and the roar of motors at full throttle permeated the walls. (The fire station was located almost across the street from the elevator.) A number of us ran to the windows and peered out at the scene. The firefighters vehicles racing up the road to the fire station and the grain elevator truly FULLY involved. It was a sight the likes of which I have never seen since. The sheer volume of fire was incredible.

I watched as fire engines and tankers and ladder trucks from all over the county tore by going to the fire. It was what we refer to jokingly as a "Ya'll come" fire.

The first Monday night of August 1992 I stood up at the monthly business meeting of the fire department and joined.

So here I am, almost 19 years later.

To far into the job to stop, and to much time left to quit!

To late to stop, to early to quit.

2010-12-06T01:12:00.000-06:00

Well, the winner of the help me name my blog contest is the Grumpy Dispatcher!!!

Thank all of you who made suggestions!

Hi!! My name is Wayne.
I am posting this from work in Northwest Indiana.

I suppose that it is about time I got on a first name basis with all of you!

I am looking forward to getting the blog freshened up with the new name and such here soon.

Oh and Grumpy, you won a free autographed picture of me! I usually get $20 bucks for one, but you get it for free!! It is sure to become a instant collectors item due to my enourmous fame and the amazing popularity of my blog!! Congrats!!

Name Change........

2010-11-27T11:28:00.003-06:00

I have for some time wanted to rename this blog. Unfortunately, I have no dang idea what to call it!!

Not trained but we try hard was a direct quote from a co-worker at the mill and was often repeated as a sad commentary on the state of things there.

It no longer fits what I am writing about. On occasion I think of stories that happened at the mill, but for the most part it is whats going on now. I have already changed the pic at top, and yes, that is from a fire I was on. It was my first structure fire as a brand new Lieutenant. A real wing dinger that one! Explosions and flying, burning 55 gallon drums! Tons of fun! But that is another story.......

I am hoping that you, my loyal readers (Yes BOTH of you!!) will be able to help me.

If I choose your suggestion for a new name for the blog, I will award you........................

...............something to be revealed at a later date!

So, hit me with your best pitch for a name!!

Thanksgiving.................

2010-11-27T07:06:00.003-06:00

While many folks spent their day Thursday with friends and family giving thanks many of us either were on duty or were called away from dinner to help others.

For me it turned out to be a gift.

Not because I don't like my family, but because of what I experienced as a result.

We were called out for a sick person (To much stuffing perhaps?). I was a little further away than usual so I missed the rescue. I continued on towards the station as per our SOP. Before I could make it to the station, we were called out for an unconscious female at another residence.

The Chief lives very close to the second address and made the scene before I got to the station. I radioed him and he had me respond with equipment from our station to the scene POV.

Once I pulled up to the scene, I joined the Chief inside. Without going into details, the woman is elderly and has been suffering from a condition that requires around the clock care which is provided by her husband of many years in their modest home. As we cared for her, her husband kept trying to calm her down and reassure her. He repeatedly called her by a pet name that she no longer remembers, his voice cracking slightly as he fights to maintain his composure.

After we get her into the ambulance and leave the scene, I think about the love of many years that has not faded with time to the extent that he cares not that strangers hear his wife's pet name. A love that is so strong that he has cared for her alone for years.

That there is still love like that in this world is something worth giving thanks for.

Mais Coq!

2010-11-01T00:43:00.000-05:00

My buddy Fred the paramedic. What can I say about him?? He was the life of the party every shift. He started working at the mill about a year before me and knew every FA box location as well as the systems techs! Fred worked midnights and on midnights we tested boxes. The task was assigned to the ambulance crew so Fred became the Guru. He could tell you how to get to every one from memory.

Sometimes, when there was a lack of landmarks, or he just felt like it, Fred would whip out his handy dandy railroad crayon and draw a little picture to help point the way.

Mais Coq.

Mais Coq was a caricature of a chicken from the neck up with the inscription "Mais Coq" under it. He was known to haunt the elevator at the BOF regularly in spite of someones best efforts to erase it. He was on the wall, in the hall, big and tall. He was in the air(on a crane), by the chair, and everywhere!

He came in different flavors too! The ever popular Punk Rock Coq was sporting a mohawk and numerous piercings. The Coq de Fluer, and many others that I can't remember!

This was brought to mind when Fred posted on his facepage today that he had spotted Mais Coq on a boxcar that he had tagged at the mill several years ago.

Long live the Coq!! One of the little things that made working under the conditions we did bearable.

From the "You cant make this stuff up!!!" files..........

2010-10-11T00:49:00.001-05:00

Imagine if you will, another dimension. A dimension of sight and sound. A dimension where abnormal things happen. Welcome to, the drunken idiot zone!

From the "you can't make this stuff up!" files, I bring to you a tale of three drunken idiots.

We get dispatched to a MVA, unknown injuries. We beat law enforcement and the medics there by 10 minutes. Upon arrival, a pickup truck was found partially up a tree trunk with the left front wheel on the tree. Drunken idiot #1 (D.I.1) was in the drivers seat, and D.I.2 was in the passenger seat. As we pulled up and it dawned on these two that someone with flashing lights had arrived, D.I.1 went into a fandamntabulous fit of contortions to self extricate himself from the truck through his window. Once he had, he fled up the street. D.I.2 then nonchalantly slides over and fastens the seat belt around himself in the drivers seat. D.I.2 is intent on taking the fall for his buddy, who we later find out, has no drivers license. Well, PD showed up and began to sort things out.

Enter Drunken Idiot #3.

D.I.3 is stuck behind all of our combined Fire, Police and EMS vehicles and desperately wants to get home. To the house next to the ongoing incident. He is told by one of the Sheriffs deputies that it will only be a few minutes and we will be out of his way. Well, maybe he had to pee, because shortly after he was told to wait, he drives his pickup up onto the lawn of the accident scene, nearly clipping one of the cops! He parks his truck in his yard, gets out and ignores the officers commands to stop. Well, that doesn't sit to well with the boys in brown and tan, so they go knocking on his door.

Meanwhile, D.I.2 is standing there with a dumb look on his face as the cop that was talking to him goes to join the others in their noble quest to determine WTF D.I.3 was thinking! D.I.2 notices a loose, unopened beer in the back of D.I.3's pickup. Stating to us, "Well, he ain't gonna drink it!" He grabs the can of PBR and opens it and starts drinking it. None of us could believe what we were seeing!

We called out to the cops, and one of them came and rather angrily took the beer away. About that time D.I.3 opens a second story window and starts yelling at PD to "Get off my lawn!! This is private property!!" This only seemed to intensify the officers desire to converse with him face to face. He finally came to his door and was promptly drug outside where he got an ass chewing by the Sergeant that would have made my Marine Corps Drill Instructors proud! He was not arrested since he then followed their advice to go inside and behave. (Why they chose to let him go is beyond me. Any thoughts M.C.??)

DI1 returned to the scene about then, complaining that his chest hurt from the crash. He ended up refusing, as did DI2, but they both got a ride from PD. To the county lockup.

We just shook our heads and went back to quarters. Our time in the Drunken Idiot Zone was over!

Watching it burn.....................

2010-10-06T07:53:00.002-05:00

OK. I wasn't going to comment on this situation, but here goes.

First off, read the article.

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Firefighters-watch-as-home-burns-to-the-ground-104052668.html

OK. I may tick a few folks off with what I am about to say but here it goes.

You get what you pay for.

That is a lesson my Father imparted on me at a young age. The gist of it as explained by my Dad is this; If you try to get by to cheap it will come back to haunt you. You can either choose to pay for the best, 2nd best, etc, or get by without what you need.

The Cranick's decided to try to get by without what they needed (Fire Protection) and are now paying the piper. It is a crappy situation, one which I am glad will not happen here in my area of Indiana. Seems to me the situation is not unlike what the case was around most of my county prior to the 1950's when most of the volunteer FD's were started. Prior to that, there were three fire departments in the entire county, 2 municipalities and one Federal FD for the Ordnance plant. Needless to say, they did not routinely go out of the city or off the Federal land to fight fires. So folks homes, farms and businesses burned. To the ground. People died.

So, folks decided enough was enough and started forming VFD's and got some monies from the Township Trustee's and started putting out fires.

Sounds to me like the people in that area have decided not to be put to the inconvenience of forming VFD's and putting out their fires and paying a little more taxes for the service. Sounds to me like the City of South Fulton decided to get a few dollars to fight fires for those who wanted to pay. Those who choose not to pay get nothing.

Their tax dollars are not going to pay for Fire Protection, so they have none. Which is what they chose. The City pays for the trucks, the equipment and the labor of the firefighters from the taxes the city raises INSIDE the city limits, not out in the unincorporated ares of the county. If there is no mutual aid agreement in use, or a subscription paid, they have no legal duty to act unless there is a life in danger! Shame on the municipality that if the AHJ! They have a duty to provide this service, not the neighboring city!

So quit bashing the Firefighters, they had to do as they were told. Heck, even the homeowners don't blame them!

It is an imperfect system and needs to be fixed. Maybe Mr. Cranick should talk to his neighbors and look at forming a VFD together............................

Or just continue to "get by".

A fundamental difference.

2010-09-23T01:15:00.000-05:00

Service above self.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

I know it doesn't apply to all folks of the younger 20 somethings, but it seems to be that they have lost the meaning of these quotes, or just never consider it.

Their motto is "Self above service."
What do I get out of it? How does doing this serve me? There needs to be more than just satisfaction of helping someone involved.

We tend to get the cream of the crop in any generation, but the numbers of the best seem to have thinned a good bit and more chaff is making it into emergency services. We all know people like this.

I find myself pondering if this is a contributing factor for the volunteer recruitment and retention problem.
What more can we offer this group?

Should we even try?

Responses are up, manpower is down, availability of the manpower is even worse. Do we cater to the wants of the me generation, or make do with less?
How does this affect the public in our response area? Are we doing the best for them by pandering to the next gen, or a disservice?

What do YOU think??

A blast from the past.........

2010-09-18T14:22:00.002-05:00

I was talking to one of my good friends from the mill last night and he reminded me of something.

Something that happened about three years ago.

I was the Lieutenant on the midnight shift, and we had a kind of tradition of scaring the crap out of new guys. One of our favorites was FA Box 199 (See the post about that
http://nottrainedbutwetryhard.blogspot.com/2008/12/fa-box-199.html ).

But in this particular instance, we came up with a better one. Gary joined the crew in the fall and was a pretty quiet guy overall, but then he made the fatal mistake of telling us that when he was on Patrol, the security check of the Corporate office made him nervous, with the basement hallway bothering him the most.

Insert evil laugh!

We waited for the next time that Gary was on patrol, and were ready when he went to make his scheduled check of the building. We dropped off two guys from the engine at the back door, and they went down to the basement hallway and hid in one of the doorways to scare him when he came down to check the dock door. Then, the rest of the crew waited across the way where we couldn't be seen (It is fairly wooded around the building) and two more guys hopped in the back of his patrol car after he went in the building.

Well, Gary got off the elevator on the basement level and started down the hallway, flashlight quivering as he slowly walked down the hall. As he neared the doorway where the two guys were going to jump out and scare the crap out of him, he heard some thing and chickened out. Gary called out for whoever was down there to come out (Which of course they didn't) and then went back to the elevator. The two guys waited for him to get on the elevator and then vaulted up the stairs to scare him on the ground floor.

They made it up to the area of the elevator just as the doors opened.

No one came out. Then, ever so slowly, a 3 inch knife blade began to emerge shaking from the elevator. Gary was completely freaked out by now, so in the interest of their own safety, the two guys called out to Gary so he would know who was there. They all three cam out the front doors of the office together, with the rest of us still in hiding. There was a good bit of laughter and then the two guys got into the engine.

About then, Gary gets back into his patrol car and starts the engine. Now the two guys in the back jump up and start yelling. Gary goes into convulsions trying to fling himself out of the car, screaming like a little girl. Once he clears the car he runs away a bit until he realizes he's been had.

Twice.

We are all laughing our butts off and then converge on him to welcome him to midnights. He is now one of us.

Poor Bastard!

Musical mayhem!

2010-09-17T14:10:00.003-05:00

Jennifer Nettles belts out "All I want to do-oo-oo-oo-oo, do-oo-oo-oo, do-oo-oo-oo-oo is love you" on the cell phone of the female patient as we board and collar her after the MVA, providing the soundtrack for the scene. It played over and over again as her phone continued to ring.

Patient 1- (The aforementioned female) was the restrained driver of a Plymouth Neon that took on a flatbed (Rollback) International tow truck that had just repossessed another vehicle of hers.

Patient 2- was the restrained driver of the tow truck and was running for his life (His words) after a family member (Passenger in the Plymouth) allegedly brandished a shotgun at him as he loaded the car on his flatbed.

As P2 was attempting to pass the Neon, the driver of the Neon deliberately put her car in the path of the tow truck to stop it.

Well, it worked. The tow truck was now in the ditch on one side of the road, teetering at a precarious angle. The Neon, with a smashed drivers side, came to rest about 60 feet further up the road in the opposite ditch.

Now we have multiple PD units on scene due to the crash and the weapon waving brother. Don't these people watch Op Repo??? Shit, let it GO! It ain't no joke if you don't pay that note!

Oh what fun! Poor EMS, we loaded both parties in the back of the only ambulance and the argument continued in the back of the rig until the medic got a little assistance from the PD Major who bellowed at both of them to shut up.

"All I want to do-oo-oo-oo-oo, do-oo-oo-oo, do-oo-oo-oo-oo is love you"

The shotgun was claimed to actually be a Black and Decker cordless drill (Not sure I buy that story, I know PD didn't) to simply remove the license plate from the vehicle. I mean, really?? A drill?? That was the best story he could concoct? A disappointing attempt at best. I am pretty sure the repo guy has seen a shotgun or two in his career, not to likely that he couldn't tell the difference between a long gun, and a cordless. drill.

"All I want to do-oo-oo-oo-oo, do-oo-oo-oo, do-oo-oo-oo-oo is love you"

Minor lacs and 2 sore backs were the extent of the injuries, but I am sure that the pain from this day will last a long time as the PD was considering reckless endangerment, brandishing a firearm and several other charges........

The owner of the repo company showed up and looked pretty shocked at how bad a little car messed up his truck. Gotta hand it to the girl, she definitely was willing to risk it all to stop the repo. DUMBASS.

Now maybe I can get back to sleep for my next midnight shift.

Random Midnight Musings...........

2010-09-15T02:45:00.001-05:00

Why is it that some folks go out of their way to make their job miserable?

I think that we are all guilty of letting things at work get to us from time to time, but there are also those who operate that way on a day to day basis. You know, the boss is always wrong, the administration is out of touch with what's going on, I don't get paid enough, and on and on. This type of mentality was rampant at the mill. I have never worked somewhere with so much negativity on a daily basis. Hate and discontent becomes a way of life, and even positive things are turned into negatives. For instance, we got a brand new rescue truck at the mill and it replace 2 old worn out vehicles(one of which no longer ran!) And most guys were bitching about the chassis that was chosen, the type of lights on the truck, and how the compartments were laid out. Yet when they were asked for input during the spec process no one said anything. Their response at the time was, "no one will listen to our suggestions anyway, so why bother."

Why bother. Defeatism and a victim mentality.

I don't miss that. My partner on midnights now reminds me of those guys.

Glad I am only going to be working with him for a month.

9 years...........

2010-09-11T05:25:00.002-05:00

I remember.

I make sure that my children do also.

Please make sure to Never Forget.

I haven't.

http://www.fdnylodd.com/9-11-Never-Forget/Memorials/Blood-Of-Heroes.html

Arson..............

2010-09-03T05:20:00.002-05:00

Well, our recent string of arson fires has apparently ended.

Seems that a member of the neighboring department that we were assisting with all those fires had a firebug in their midst.

I really feel sorry for them as a department. I have known some of the guys over there since high school. They are just sick over this. They feel angry, ashamed and devastated that they didn't figure it out and get rid of the trainee who has admitted to it.

Unfortunately now, they will wear a badge of dishonor in this county and will only be known (Unfairly) as the department that started their own fires. Firefighters from other departments will make jokes to them and reopen the wound of this event for years to come.

But I won't. We work pretty closely with them and there has even been talk of a merger with them. You don't deliberately hurt family.

Hmmm...........There's a lesson for the Fire Service as a whole. Don't hurt family.

AHHHH!!! The little Green men are back!!

2010-08-29T08:10:00.002-05:00

Mark Glencourse, the author of 999medic.com, has made his return to blogging!

I would strongly urge all of you to check out his blog. I know I am tickled pink that he is back and am looking forward eagerly to his next post!

Do as the Captain tells you!

Fundraiser for the MC today......

2010-08-28T21:51:00.002-05:00

Today my Motorcycle club sold corn on the cob at "Pork Fest" to raise money for the State Burn Camp for kids that have been burned in our state. We are a firefighters M.C., so it is a natural fit for a charity.

The process sounds a lot harder than it is. First, we take the ears of corn (Still in the husk) and soak it in a trough of water and sugar to get it ready to cook.

After it has been soaking a while, it is transferred to a metal garbage can that has had a metal grate installed about 6 inches above the bottom (Water is poured in to this level) that is on top of a heat source. (We use burners from those wonderful turkey cookers)

Once the corn has been steamed for a while, (We check to see when the kernels of corn feel soft through the husk) it is transferred to a cooler to wait to be served.

When it is served, we shuck the ear, leaving the husk on the cob at the bottom as a handle to hold the ear and dip it in a crock pot of melted butter (Actually, the crock pot is mostly filled with water. The butter once melted, floats on the water and so we go through less butter. The corn gets a good coat and we don't use 10 pounds of butter to fill the pot!) and then hand it to the customer to salt as desired.

We sold each ear for one dollar and made money.

You can get two dollars, but we made a good profit as it was.

If anyone has questions about the process, feel free to ask me!!

Ch....Ch....ch....changes!

2010-08-26T16:15:00.002-05:00

Hello all.

I seem to be running short on mill firefighting material to blog about, and my VFD is not all to busy (The recent arson's notwithstanding.) so I find myself wondering if I might make a few additions in topics to blog about.

I may add the occasional political commentary.

OR

Stuff about my new job doing industrial maintenance again after a number of years.

OR

Stuff about my life in general.

I may even get around to revealing myself.

What do you think?? Comments encouraged!

The games afoot..........

2010-08-22T13:28:00.002-05:00

.......with a rash of suspicious fires in the area. Not in my first due, but in our 2nd due areas.

6 in the last 3 weeks. It may not sound like a lot to some of you, but for our mostly rural area, it is a substantial spike in fires period in such a short time.

All of the fires have been within a 3 mile area except for one which was about 7 miles away.

All share some common methods of ignition and all have occured in the late evening hours. Last night they hit 2 structures within minutes of each other. So, for the 5 time our area of the county has been stripped of resources while we contend with these incidents.

I just hope they don't realize that my community has a lot of beach homes and cottages that are empty most of the time and start on us next. So far all the structures have been barns or empty houses. Thank God.

I hope not to have to report that they (if there are more than one) have "graduated" to murder.

Stay safe out there.

New addition to the family

2010-08-15T08:41:00.002-05:00

On Friday, my second daughter was born. She weighs 7lbs 6.5 ounces and is 19 and 3/4 inches long.

She has the cute meter pegged out! I am, without a doubt, a blessed and happy man.

I love you Kasey!

Shaking the cobwebs out...............

2010-08-08T06:20:00.002-05:00

The dream was good. I don't remember exactly what I was dreaming about, but it was not a bad dream, as dreams go.

Then reality closed in. I was awakened by the beeping of my FD pager, which barely registered on my tired mind. The voice over the radio barely cut through enough for me to realize I needed to get up and go across the street to the station.

When I was 18, I would erupt from my bed and jump into the minimum amount of clothes then run to my vehicle. Now, at near 40, I crawl out of bed and stagger around trying to find a pair of socks because I know I am about to spend several hours in my Haix leather boots. I then bounce back and forth around the house like a drunk ping pong ball, trying to round up my shoes, then my portable radio and then my keys.

Normally I am about the first one at the station because of where I live. But it is 0-dark thirty and three others have beat me there. We fire up the mutual aid engine, get dressed and head out into the night.

We are going to help out the neighboring department with a pole barn on fire. When we arrive, it is rolling pretty good. We relay water up to the AHJ's engine and the tankers start a loop to keep us in water.

I am not sure when I woke up completely, but I do know that it was after we were in the engine and moving.

Have a good Sunday. I am going to try to get some sleep!

My Sunday Zen..................

2010-07-18T21:09:00.002-05:00

Just a good day. Rode the bike, visited with friends and relaxed.

"The sun warms my back,
The Breeze cools my face.
My mustache tickles the tip of my nose.
I enjoy the peace and quiet,
Disrupted only by the thunder of my pipes.

The rumble of the v-twin,
The mild vibration of the rubber mounted motor.
The solitude of the open road
My feet on the highway pegs.
Music pours into my ears
And soothes my soul as I enjoy,

My Sunday Zen."

Thats odd.............

2010-07-18T08:46:00.004-05:00

We are dispatched to a female who fell and hit her head at home. As I am sure happens to others from time to time, I was taking care of some "personal business" at the time and had to quickly finish and get to the station. Good thing its right across the street.

I climb into the rig with the Chief and we head out. *Side note: On dispatch we get the barest of information, nature of call and location is all. Once we go enroute, the dispatcher rattles off all the information. For us, often we have arrived and are stopped in front on the house in question waiting for the dispatcher to stop talking so we can tell them we are on scene.*

We enter the house which is undergoing a serious remodeling. We find our patient supine in the middle of the floor. There are several sheets of OSB (Oriented strand board) which are not nailed down to the floor joists and she is laying partially on one. As I continue my scan of the scene I note a medium sized dog who looks friendly enough, and an orange tabby cat. The patient tells us she was trying to get the dog out of the hole in the floor when the sheet of OSB she stepped on came up towards her face and she fell back hitting her head on a wall as she went down.

She is laying about 1 foot from the opening in the floor and I am kneeling down putting a cervical collar on her when the unexpected happened.

I can see the dog on the other side of the patient, as I am trying to keep an eye on him. I have know dogs to be okay with our presence, but once we touch "Mom or Dad" its game on. Pooch seems to be taking it well though. That's when I feel a cold nose on my elbow. I recoil a bit as it is not the dog I am looking at and the nose is way to big to be the cats'.

I turn and look and here is another dog, with its body in the crawlspace and its head poking out of the hole to say hi! He has that goofy happy silly dog face on, and makes all of us, patient included, laugh a bit. Pooch 2 continues to poke his head up from time to time, including once when the Medics first arrived, scaring the heck out of them at first.

The lead medic decided that since we already had the patient boarded and collared, he would move the patient away from the dog-in -the hole and grabbed the foot of the board and pulled her away from the dog! We then carried the patient to the cot and away she went to the hospital.

As for the dog in a hole? "Dad" arrived shortly thereafter and took care of the critters.

We had a good laugh trying to figure out a term for looking under the floor for hidden dangers on medical scenes!

Just a quick note.

2010-07-11T06:35:00.002-05:00

I sort of alluded to it in my last post, but I have found gainful employment.

I am back into industrial maintenance, making less an hour than I made as a Captain, but more than I could even as a Paramedic around here. So, I can't complain.

It felt pretty dang good to get back to work, and I am looking forward to my first paycheck since April.

Have a good Sunday folks.

Waxing philosophical...............

2010-07-10T16:15:00.002-05:00

I am sitting at home watching it rain, and have been reading some of my favorite blogs latest offerings. My buddy Chris Kaiser over at www.lifeunderthelights.com has gotten my attention with a post about sporks.

Hmm. Sporks. I agree with him in his analogy. Check it out.

But that got me thinking about the growing movement known as EMS 2.0 and how those of us who do not work on the ambulance fit into it. My FD arrives ahead of the county run 3rd service ambulance and cares for the patient until they arrive. For most guys and gals around here, that is the extent of their involvement. Aside from an occasional ride in with a full arrest to do compressions.

Much like the ambulance crews are looked down upon and sneered at by some hospital health care workers, we are exposed to the same treatment by the ambulance crews. It is odd to me that this happens. We hold the same certification from the same authority. We respond to the same scenes and perform the same interventions, yet we are treated like incompetents or tolerated like an ignorant child.

In the 4 years that I worked on the ambulance and took people to the hospital, that was the same treatment I experienced from a few Doctors and Nurses.

I actually had a rookie EMT on the ambulance treat me like I was incapable of spiking a bag. The medic asked for it to be done, I wasn't doing anything at that moment and the EMT from the ambulance was. He practically tore it from my hands muttering "I better do that." and giving me a look.

You know "The look". The one that betrays the thoughts of the person. The look that says "I doubt you could possibly know what you are doing".

Now, I am not telling you all this to throw rocks. The point of this post is this; we, as EMS Professionals, had better clean up our house a bit as we move forward to better this Profession.

ALS vs BLS is an example of this. I will say only two things on this topic.

1. ALS is better than BLS
2. The Paragods (You know who you are.) out there need to treat the Basics better.

(ALS vs. BLS might as well be Career vs. Volunteer the way people get fired up over it! Let it go!!)

We need to stop churning out Certifications like they mean nothing, because they are starting to mean less every year. There is no shortage of trained people, just a shortage willing to work for crap wages and benefits. I held off two months into being unemployed before I started applying for an EMS job because of this. As it turned out, I am making more an hour as an industrial maintenance mechanic than Paramedics (Outside of Fire Based) do in the area, including the county service.

If we can reduce the number of trained individuals, the pay will have to go up. No one will die from a lack of care, that is a myth.

Stop bashing Fire Based EMS. It works just fine. Are there some apathetic fire based Paramedics? Sure there are. I have seen just as many apathetic 3rd service government medics. We know based upon who is on the rig when it arrives whether or not there is going to be a transport (Unless the patient is unable to sign the refusal.).

Well, now that I have probably pissed off almost all of my EMS buds with one or more statements in this post, here comes the big one. (At least to me.)

Respect is earned, not given. Earn it. Every day, on every scene. Be the calm Medic or EMT who doesn't yell. Have a good "cotside manner". Be the guy that patients you have had in the past request you by name on your day off, and when you are called by the medic on scene you leave your home and go to the scene. (Thank you Bear, for the shining example.)

Transcend the normal expectations of the Profession, and grow it.

Good News today

2010-07-06T11:09:00.002-05:00

Well, after a long 2 month fight, I have been awarded unemployment benefits!

My former employer fought my claim and initially won. I appealed and we had a telephone hearing with an administrative law Judge last week.

In the mail today I received the good news that I won. The Judge found that I was not discharged with just cause. While this does not get my job back, at least I can pay my bills and take care of things again.

I think I may even have a beer to celebrate!

4th of July, 2010

2010-07-04T09:56:00.002-05:00

As I look out my window this morning (I live across the street from the station) I see the guys who are going to the parade with the engine cleaning it up out on the pad. They polish and shine, wash and wax.

I am going to a parade too. In a different town, on my Harley. My motorcycle club is riding in this parade . So I have some washing and waxing of my own to do. I will be loading my saddlebags with ice and bottles of my favorite adult beverage for the after party. BBQ and beer, fireworks and fun.

This is what the 4th of July has become.

But what is it really about???

Independence.

Freedom.

Self Rule.

The founders of our Nation had the courage to stand up and do what they thought was right to create this country. They gave a lot to found this country, in many cases their lives.

I try not to get political on my blog, but I will say this as a veteran.

Do not let anyone take away the freedoms which we have defended. Foreign or domestic.

Anything less is a betrayal of the spirit of our forefathers.

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July.

A nice relaxing day. Now that the work is done!

2010-07-03T14:25:00.003-05:00

Well, today we had a little festival here in my town.

We, (The FD) put on two demonstrations for the crowd. This morning we cut up a car (My former beater with a heater of a mill car) and I then drove it away with the door missing and the roof flapped. Everyone did a good job and it went smoothly.

Then this afternoon, we did a water flow demonstration by flowing various hand lines and master streams. This went well also, with the kids enjoying the cellar nozzle demonstration immensely.

We then packed up and went home. A good day and some good PR.

Enjoy the 4th folks. Stay safe and use a designated driver if you do drink. We don't want to meet by accident.

Storm Stories, 3.0

2010-06-28T10:31:00.004-05:00

Well, we just got back to the station right?

Okay, just had to check, I let this sit for a bit.

The next thing was a call out to assist P.D. with traffic on the highway. (Yep, the same spot that made me turn around on my bike.) We send our rescue down to help. Surprisingly the deputy didn't take off after we arrived. (Usually they do, but this guy was a prince!) Now, I have been riding in the rain and was soaked to say the least. Of course my socks are wet. Ever try to get your feet into leather fire boots that are just a bit snug when wearing wet socks? (I had been wearing my riding boots on the first calls.)I spent the trip there trying in vain to force my feet into my boots. Then, after we arrive, with my feet propped up in front of the dashboard with the A/C blowing on them. I finally manage to get one foot into a boot. Another 5 minutes or so and I finally get the other foot in. Needless to say, my language was a bit salty at the least during the process and my buddy who was driving the rescue was very helpful (*Snort!*), offering moral support.

Well, we had been there for about 30 minutes when we get dispatched to a report of lines down on an occupied car on the other side of town. Our hot stick is in the rescue, along with the linemans gloves. So, the engine comes down to do traffic and we head off to the lines down.

When we get there, there are indeed lines down on a car. An elderly couple in a Cadillac sit in their car with lines draped over the hood and roof. A check with the "hot stick" reveals that the lines are indeed not live. We use the linemans gloves to move the lines off the car and still end up having to talk the couple into getting out of the car. It so terrified the woman, that she was crying. Well, we got them both calmed down and ended up giving them a lift down the street to their home as neither wanted to drive their car. (I had the rookie drive it home for them.)

We then went back to the station again.............................

Good day so far, then the police showed up!

2010-06-24T14:48:00.003-05:00

This morning I went on a ride with three of my buddies on our H-D's. (If you follow me on Twitter, you already knew that!) We are all in the same FF's motorcycle club, and were all wearing our vests with colors.

We ride across 4 counties to get to my buddies parents lake house, so he can pick up his Dads Insulin that he forgot there last weekend that he will need later today as he is running out. The lake house is down a secluded country road that dead ends with only one more house on the road after the one we are going to. The four of us wheel around and face our bikes back out the road and park. My buddy shows us around the property a bit and then we go inside. He retrieves the medicine, we use the bathroom, and then go back outside.

The old guy at the last house has been peeking around the corner of his garage at us the whole time, and we saw he was on the phone at one point. We aren't doing anything wrong, so we do not worry.

We throw our legs over the bikes and fire them up. We laughed and said "I bet he called the law on the big scary bikers, and they will meet us on the main road!"

Close.

As we came around the first turn on the dead end road, 3 County Sheriffs Deputies and 1 State Trooper greet us with their lights on as they roll to a stop and hop out of their cars. We all stop and shut off the bikes. Sure enough, the old man called 911 on us. He told them we were breaking and entering and taking things out of the house. After a quick explanation and an ID check, we are turned loose. One deputy tells us that they are going to go tell the homeowner everything is OK, as he evidently had barricaded himself in the house.

Ah well, we make friends everywhere we go!

Storm Stories, Cont......

2010-06-24T06:55:00.003-05:00

As I walk into the station, the guys greet me by asking what kind of a moron I am for riding in this weather. I reply "A big one"!

Not long after I get there we get called out for a tree on a house with people trapped in the house. Of course it is not as simple as just driving over there. Trees are down all over because of the 90 MPH winds we were having so we had to cut our way through to the house, clearing two trees from the road along the way. The winds were still biting into us and while they were no longer 90 mph, limbs were still dropping from time to time as we forced our way in. When we arrived, we found a large oak, dropped right through the center of the house.

Turns out no one was hurt, and they had all actually made it out before we arrived with their neighbors help. So, we turned around to leave.

On our way back to the station, we spotted a 25 foot or so boat capsized in the channel under the highway bridge (My district has a chain of lakes in it). We call it in and drive just around the corner to our boat's mooring. We pull along side the hull and put a man in the water who checks under the boat, finding no one inside. We then followed the current and looked for anyone on the water. Finding no one, we can only hope that the boat came loose from its mooring and ended up capsized during the storm with no one aboard. (This later proved to be the case.)

So, back to the station again.

More later folks.

Dang delays!

2010-06-23T21:44:00.002-05:00

Sorry folks, but a new round of storms has come slashing through my section of the midwest tonight.

I will get back to posting after things calm down.

When duty calls.....

2010-06-18T13:05:00.001-05:00

Sorry folks, I have been tied up prepping an extrication class for my VFD and of course, searching for work.

I hope to have some good pics from the class and good stories for the blog after the weekend.

Storm Stories

2010-06-09T21:55:00.004-05:00

We had some pretty good thunderbumpers roll through here on Friday afternoon. I, in my infinite wisdom had decided to ride my motorcycle to a M.C. meeting two counties away, leaving the house about 30 minutes before the storm.

As Red Foreman would say, "DUMBASS!"

I made it about 20 miles before the rain started. I stopped and put on my rain gear. Then as soon as I got back on the road, the weather sirens began to wail and the wind went from almost nothing to what was later clocked as 70-90 mph straight line winds. I was leaning at a 45 degree angle to keep the bike up and had a large tree limb land about 30 feet in front of me!

I went about another three blocks to the local FD and sheltered there. After about 30 minutes, the storm let up and I headed home. FAST. I was riding in a steady rain, and it took me longer to get home because of a downed power line across the highway which left me on a detour through the county (And without power until this morning). At one intersection, I had to cross an angry torrent of water across the road about 2 feet wide and 3 inches deep. Doesn't sound like much? Try it on a H-D Road King Classic. In a car or my truck, no biggie. On the bike, well it made me nervous. But I was fine.

I got to my house and put up the bike, then walked across the street to the FD, where we were about to start running the first of 9 calls related to the storm......................

More about those in my next post.

More crap to keep up with!

2010-06-09T16:03:00.001-05:00

If you feel the need, you can find me on Facebook now too!

Just search for FireCap5!

The Tragic Impact

2010-06-05T08:58:00.001-05:00

I was sitting home the other day when we get paged out for an attempted suicide about a mile from the station. As we get enroute, dispatch fills us in on what waits for us at the scene. A 17 year old female has shot herself. We have in our rescue 5 responders, one Paramedic and 4 EMT-B’s. The Ambulance calls for a helicopter as they leave their base about 15 miles from the scene, and we had our engine secure and prep an LZ near the scene.

The patient has been distraught because her ex-boyfriend shot himself and died a month ago. She has Facebooked to her friends that she is done and is sorry, then shoots herself at her ex- boyfriends’ house. She is in his room, while his parent’s are home. When we make the scene (2 minutes from time of dispatch.) she is still conscious and fighting because she does not want help, she really wants to die. She shot herself with a large caliber handgun in the stomach. Once the ambulance arrives, the medic knocks her out with something from his kit, and finally, she can be more effectively treated and packaged for the helicopter ride that she will not remember.

Now, a bunch of her friends that saw the Facebook post have come racing to the scene. Carloads of teenagers are held at bay by the PD as she is moved from the house to the ambulance; crying and wailing ensue as soon as she is visible. We get her loaded in the rig and after working on her in the back of the rig for a couple of minutes, we move to the LZ in a park 3 blocks away where the chopper is about to land.

The chopper lands as the ambulance pulls up. The mother and father of the girl are at the LZ. The chopper shuts down and we prepare to move her to the chopper.

As soon as the back doors of the rig open, Mom starts to yell. An anguished cry of mixed fear, pain and desperation pours out of her in a burst of emotion. She yells her daughters name and tells her she is not allowed to leave. She wails that she has to make it. Dad stands with her, holding her arm stoically; trying to maintain his composure at the sight of his baby girl on the cot with dual bore IV’s and a tube in her mouth. The medic in charge yells for someone to get her back as she continues to scream at her daughter to not leave.

Unfortunately I am right there. My ears are ringing from the force of Moms terror. I tell her to please step back, that the medics need to be able to hear to take care of her daughter. I feel guilty for having to be the bad guy, for if it was my daughter, I would most likely end up arrested. Wild horses wouldn’t keep me from my little drop of blood in this world, no way. Dad kind of nods at me and then half pulls his wife away from the back of the rig as she still yells, half sobbing now.

The kids from the scene were not able to get as close though, thanks to PD. They are in a knot of anguished humanity down the street. Crying and holding one another as they watch all this.

As we move her to the choppers cot, I deliberately try not to look at her face again. I know what will be the result for me if I do. I have several faces stuck in my mind that come back to visit me at inopportune times already. I try to insulate myself from the sight.

She is flown to a trauma center directly from the LZ. I do not know how she is doing. I kind of would rather not know. That way, if it is the worst, I can fool myself and just say, I don’t know. I can pretend that all is well.

But we all know better than that. We have seen and will see the tragedy of the human condition time and again as we roll out the door to help our fellow man in their hour of greatest need.

And we have been scarred for it.

For Memorial Day

2010-05-30T13:45:00.002-05:00

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915. Here is the story of the making of that poem:

Although he had been a doctor for years and had served in the South African War, it was impossible to get used to the suffering, the screams, and the blood here, and Major John McCrae had seen and heard enough in his dressing station to last him a lifetime.

As a surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Major McCrae, who had joined the McGill faculty in 1900 after graduating from the University of Toronto, had spent seventeen days treating injured men -- Canadians, British, Indians, French, and Germans -- in the Ypres salient.

It had been an ordeal that he had hardly thought possible. McCrae later wrote of it:

"I wish I could embody on paper some of the varied sensations of that seventeen days... Seventeen days of Hades! At the end of the first day if anyone had told us we had to spend seventeen days there, we would have folded our hands and said it could not have been done."

One death particularly affected McCrae. A young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, had been killed by a shell burst on 2 May 1915. Lieutenant Helmer was buried later that day in the little cemetery outside McCrae's dressing station, and McCrae had performed the funeral ceremony in the absence of the chaplain.

The next day, sitting on the back of an ambulance parked near the dressing station beside the Canal de l'Yser, just a few hundred yards north of Ypres, McCrae vented his anguish by composing a poem. The major was no stranger to writing, having authored several medical texts besides dabbling in poetry.

In the nearby cemetery, McCrae could see the wild poppies that sprang up in the ditches in that part of Europe, and he spent twenty minutes of precious rest time scribbling fifteen lines of verse in a notebook.

A young soldier watched him write it. Cyril Allinson, a twenty-two year old sergeant-major, was delivering mail that day when he spotted McCrae. The major looked up as Allinson approached, then went on writing while the sergeant-major stood there quietly. "His face was very tired but calm as we wrote," Allinson recalled. "He looked around from time to time, his eyes straying to Helmer's grave."

When McCrae finished five minutes later, he took his mail from Allinson and, without saying a word, handed his pad to the young NCO. Allinson was moved by what he read:

"The poem was exactly an exact description of the scene in front of us both. He used the word blow in that line because the poppies actually were being blown that morning by a gentle east wind. It never occurred to me at that time that it would ever be published. It seemed to me just an exact description of the scene."

In fact, it was very nearly not published. Dissatisfied with it, McCrae tossed the poem away, but a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to newspapers in England. The Spectator, in London, rejected it, but Punch published it on 8 December 1915.

Professional Terminology

2010-05-12T16:49:00.011-05:00

I have been helping out with an EMT class here at my VFD on my days off and now, every time they have class. It seems like the terminology has stayed the same since I first got my first EMS cert 11 years ago. This is a good thing.

But I have a question.

Why can't the fire service leave well enough alone???

The terminology for the stages of fire has changed. The old terms are replaced and altered in every new edition of FF I/II text. The integration of NIMS approved terms I agree with. But why does it matter if we call it smoldering or decay stage of the fire? The problem really starts when the new guys start to correct the old guys with the current terminology. Some of the new guys get pretty arrogant about it, thinking that they now know more than the guys that have been around. They look upon some of these differences as proof that they are smarter than the old guys. Then they start to mouth off a bit. I have heard that answered in several ways:

(New Guy)-"It's called the decay stage, not smoldering." Usually done in front of others.

(Old Guy)- "Well, when I went through the class that was what we were taught." Nice and respectful but firm.

Then there is;

(New Guy)- "What are you talking about? You don't even know the stages of fire!" Ouch.

(Old Guy)- "Listen fanewgy (Pronounced Fa- new- ge, which stands for Fucking New Guy), I was putting out fires while you had shit dribbling out your diaper and down your leg, shut up."

Does this sort of exchange (Even the somewhat nice one.) help with crew cohesiveness? Or is it a divisive exchange?

Does it matter that the terminology has been changed?? Who cares, we should know what they mean, right??

In my humble opinion, it does matter. How can we be looked at as professionals when we don't all speak the same professional language?? How do you think it looks to an outsider when we have to confirm that the terminology being used means what we think it does?? One or the other or both persons look ignorant of the job to the outsider. What if that outsider is an elected official? What if they form a negative opinion of the entire organization from seeing something like this? Now, I realize that this is less likely to affect a large metropolitan department, but what about your smaller municipalities and the small volunteer department where everyone knows everyone?

I think it has something to do with the dumbing down of the material to a lower reading level to make it "easier" for everyone to understand. Some of the texts have been dumbed down to an eighth grade reading level, while others are still at a high school graduate's level.

How does that help us maintain a high level of excellence in our staff? Is it our goal to make it possible for everyone to obtain the certification, or to ensure that the certifications recognized prominence, distinction and importance is maintained? Why would we seek to cheapen academia in the fire service? We should instead be looking for ways to safeguard the integrity of the testing process, the learning methods, and the practical exams. The size of the FF I/II book has doubled in size since I took the class, and all of the additions are worthwhile and important. This is a step in the right direction. Why then, is it written to a lower grade level?

Now, I know I am pissing in some folks potted palms here, but I am not suggesting that we throw away those who do not have a good reading aptitude. Better ways of teaching them need to be found, but not at the cost of the level of the training material.

Some people seem to want to have us classified as unskilled labor. Their argument is that firefighting is a hands on job, not a thinking job. As long as they can perform the physical tasks, that is more important than a "Piece of worthless paper you can wipe your ass with." (I have literally heard Certifications above the minimum referred to like this!) In some states, the final exam can be given orally.

This is not allowed in EMS. If you cannot read well enough to pass the final exam, you cannot read well enough to look at medications and ensure that you are giving the right medication to the right person in the right dosage. Makes sense, right?? Of course, there is nothing that needs to be read on the fireground. No Haz-Mat, MSDS's, alarm panels, caution labels on aerials, or street signs along the way! No Sir!! No gauges on the pump panel, no friction loss, no evacuation distances in the ERG, nothing like that.

That argument is demeaning to firefighters everywhere. As the number of fires has continued to diminish, our services are called for on more and more specialized incidents. Rope Rescue, Trench Rescue, Confined Spaces, Haz-Mat, Swift Water, etc. The list goes on and on.

This is not our fathers fire service. Maybe 50 years ago being able to do the tasks physically was enough. Today our mission is to broad and varied to allow our education to go backwards. We owe it to ourselves and our eventual replacements to secure and improve fire service training.

Another meetup and film premiere!

2010-05-10T20:18:00.003-05:00

I am shamelessly copying my pal Chris Kaisers post to my blog because I too plan on being there in Chicago on the 16th for the meetup. I hope to see you there too! Or, if San Fran or Philly is closer to home, go there! The point is, GO!! MOVE IT ROOKIE!!!

From www.lifeunderthelights.com :

"So I’m going to be in Chicago on May 16th at Fado Irish Pub (100 W. Grand Ave, Chicago, IL) at 7pm for this. You REALLY HAVE TO BE THERE. If you’re in the Midwest, come on down and have a pint or two with EMS friends to celebrate EMS Week 2010. There’s gonna be a couple of movies screened, fellowship, food, and beverages.

The information is all contained on this Flyer:

Chronicles of EMS/FireStorm Flyer

Oh, do you see the times for Philadelphia and San Francisco? If you live around there, you should go there and hang out. Chicago’s gonna be cooler, but you know

Please, if you’re coming shoot me an e-mail at Proems1@yahoo.com or @ckemtp me on twitter. I’d love to see ya there!"

Mothers Day

2010-05-09T08:50:00.003-05:00

Today is a day when we thank our Mothers for all they do. My younger sister (I almost said little sister, she hates that though, so I am being nice!) and I are taking our Mom to a smorgasbord restaurant about 30 miles from home that we all used to go to when Dad was still alive.

Maybe twice a year we three get together and have supper together and remember times there when my Grandparents, my Mom's sister and her husband and son and the four of us would go to this small cafe and break bread together. The food is and always has been good.

After all I have put my Mother through, the least I can do is take her to dinner!

Have a good day with your Mothers today.

Happy Mothers day to all the Mothers who may read this!

Morning routine.

2010-05-08T21:02:00.002-05:00

Ever notice how much we are creatures of habit? Or just how certain things occur every day at about the same time?

Take for instance the human animals habit of relieving itself when it first wakes up. While we sleep our bodies continue to operate and produce waste. So, when we get up in the morning pretty much the first thing we need to do is go to the bathroom and release the pressure.

This works well. Except for when what wakes you up is the fire pager or the station tones. If I have to go when I am awakened, I will hit the bathroom before I head for the apparatus bay or the car to go to the station. Then there are the times where the urge is not present when I wake up. SO I head for the rig. Then the urge hits me about 2 minutes past the point of no return. You know, when you have hopped on the apparatus and headed out the door to the call.

What to do now?? Well, I hold it. Sometimes for a long time. Sometimes I get lucky and we get cancelled and are back in the station quickly. We were dispatched for a car fire this morning, and we rolled out in 4 minutes with 6 on the engine. (I am very proud of my VFD's response times and staffing we routinely turn out!) ALL of us evidently had the same urge this morning and were racing to the 2 bathrooms when we came back after getting canceled. Six guys tried to get out of the engine and across the bay to the bathroom. Luckily for me, I was riding backwards on the same side of the truck that the bathrooms are on!

As soon as the engineer pulled the parking brake, I popped open my door and hopped out and beat everyone to the bathroom! There is no relief like the relief you feel at this time.

Of course after completing this task, we all had several cups of coffee around the kitchen table and refilled the "reservoir"!

Depression

2010-05-07T12:19:00.003-05:00

How many of us suffer from it? Job stress, family stress, and a myriad of other causes.

I was talking about it with a good friend the other day. He is a cancer survivor and suffers from a good bit of depression as his cancer can return at any time without warning. I have suffered from bouts of it ever since 1999 when I lost my friends.

I know it is taboo to talk about this in the fire service. We are all big tough folks who can deal with it, right? We are afraid that if we reveal our emotions that we will be looked at as unfit for the job, that we are lesser men because of emotional problems. How widespread is depression in our ranks? How many times have you had a bad call and then snapped at loved ones for next to no reason? Could it be that our job stresses and the resultant behavior is a key factor in the high divorce rates in our profession?

I hope that if you need help, you seek it out. We are not Superman you know.

And then........evereything clicked.

2010-05-06T11:45:00.002-05:00

This story is from the archives in my mind and occured about 12 years ago.

I was a new EMT and had only had minimal contact with a few patients. The VFD I was on at the time was close to the ambulance base in town and we usually had an ALS rig on scene with us at the same time we arrived or just 2 or 3 minutes behind us. As a result, all of the EMS responders on the department had a jump kit issued by the department and went directly to the scene.

In our area is a assisted living home run by the county. We were dispatched there for a 89 year old male unconscious, not breathing. I responded from my house and was on scene in about 4 minutes. When I pulled up to the door, I was met by staff who told me that my patient was down the hall to the right. When I got to the room, there wasn't anyone doing CPR, no one was even in the room with him. I stood there for a moment, hoping to hear the sirens of the approaching ambulance or hear more guys from my department coming. Nothing. CRAP! I don't want to do this alone, I have never had to to this alone and I was drawing a blank as to what the heck I should do!!

OK. OK. ABC's first. So, I put down my kit and got to work. He had no teeth and I had to fish his dentures out of the back of his mouth as he was laying on his back on the floor. No breathing, no pulse. CRAP!!! I dropped a OPA in and tried to get a breath in him with my BVM, which was successful. Okay, "A" is taken care of. No "B", so in goes another breath and then I started to work on the "C".

After I don't know how many cycles, I grabbed my portable radio and asked dispatch for an ETA on the Medic rig. They replied by telling me the rig was coming from a town about 20 miles away!! CRAP!! (Whole lotta Crap on this run, isn't there??) So I do the only thing I can, keep on working the patient. This was before any of the VFD's carried AED's here so all I could do was continue CPR. As I started compressions again, I heard the "KBCFD"(Kinda Big City Fire Department) get on the radio and tell dispatch they were rolling from their station 4 with a rescue and an engine to help me. Station 4 is only about a mile from the scene that I am on, and I was tickled pink to hear that they were coming to save my sorry ass!

They were on scene in about 3 minutes. When the Captain, (He is now Chief of Department) walked around the corner and asked if I wanted his guys help, all I could do was nod my head yes. I was exhausted. The KBCFD guys came in with an AED and took over from me. I staggered into the hall and stood there with the Captain and caught my breath. The Medics showed up about 5 minutes later and took the poor guy to the hospital. He didn't make it, and I got a few lessons out of the whole thing. When the CRAP! hits the fan, remember the ABC's and go from there, patients will die on you and don't get complacent about when the ALS rig will show up! I found out when I was doing my report that I worked the guy alone for about 15 minutes.

I had been terrified of what would happen when I was put in the situation. I was scared I wouldn't be able to act and do the right thing. I was scared to screw up. Hell, I still am. But I know now, thanks to this patient, that I will do what I am trained to do.

Primary Election Day

2010-05-04T14:02:00.001-05:00

Get out and VOTE!!!

Excercise your rights folks!

Morale and Retention in the FIre Service, Part 4

2010-04-29T10:06:00.001-05:00

Morale and retention in the fire service

Part Four, Equipment

Picture this scene, an engine equipped with a 1,000GPM pump, deck gun and 1 ½ lines pulls up to a house fire. The guys who get off the truck are wearing Nomex long coats, bunkers and thermoplastic helmets. They pull axes and the 1 ½ line with a smoothbore brass nozzle on it and head for the fire. Ventilation is accomplished by two axe-wielding smoke eaters who open a hole in the roof as the search team crawls in wearing SCOTT Pressure pack II’s on their back. A Chief talks on a large first-generation Motorola portable.

Think this is a scene from the not-so-distant past? WRONG! This goes on in many places even today! There are many departments that are operating with 1960’s technology in today’s reality.

Lack of necessary equipment is a serious problem; not only in retention, but obviously in the safety of the troops. Does it make sense to have a crew on the roof for 20 minutes to chop a vent hole with axes, instead of 10 minutes with a saw? Not only is it more work, but it increases the danger to that crew, and the firefighters who are operating on the interior. These types of situations can cause people to lose the will to volunteer, especially if you have officers who are indifferent to the problem. For a career department, the line firefighters are likely to start looking for greener pastures. I know of guys looking to move to smaller departments than they are on now for reasons like these.

There are department’s still purchasing new apparatus without technology that is taken for granted by many of us in the fire service. Is it a lack of funds, or a lack of resolve? Perhaps even a resistance to change?

Lack of funds

There are many grant and loan programs available to the fire service. You just have to look for them and apply. Do you have a good relationship with your politicians? Look at the possible reasons for it. Build bridges to them; explain WHY you need the funding. No matter how dumb you consider their questions to be, answer them truthfully and without sarcasm. They do not understand the job like you do, and need to be educated. Turn them off or tune them out and they will do the same to your funding!!

Lack of resolve

It is easy to try once and give up when you get turned down. But if you want to advance your departments equipment, you need to persevere and fight on. But do so in an intelligent, peaceful way. Go to great lengths to explain why you need this piece of gear, what it will be used for, how it enhances operations. Always put emphasis on how it will positively impact the outcome of an incident. Get them on your side, make them understand the reasoning behind how we operate and you will have it easier in the future.

Most local politicians are reasonable people, if you explain the reasoning to them; they will tend to agree with you. Be prepared for any possible questions and have your resources ready to answer them with more than just your say so.

Resistance to change

Unfortunately there are leaders in the fire service who are resistant to change. They may be behind the times technologically and not want to learn anymore. They want it to stay the same, because if it doesn’t, they are afraid they may become irrelevant relics in their departments. These are the ‘we’ve always done it this way’ types. Because they did without the TIC’s and CAFS (or foam in general) they don’t see the need for it, or are worried about getting passed up by others. The fact is, they are holding back their organizations and endangering the public when they refuse to keep up with tech.

I hope some of you have noticed a common thread here. Education. One word with a HUGE impact when put to use. Educate the public, the politicians, and yourselves. It is the key to advancing your department and making things better.