A Career First

Having been in the business for a lot of years, it is not very often that a total new experience hits me like what happened last night...

Engine 6 was dispatched to a car fire at about 3 AM. We just got on the road when we were diverted to a chest pain call. So far, this is pretty normal - but then, it became apparent that the chest pain call was two doors down from the car fire. Technically, the car fire which was spreading to the garage, was a lower priority than someone dying from a heart attack. But, as you may have gathered, dispatch information is rarely accurate, and always assumes the worst when it comes to medical conditions.

Now 5 blocks out from the call, we see a glow in the sky, a plume of smoke, and know that we have a real problem on our hands. From two blocks out, it is obvious that this is a ripping fire, in a cul-de-sac, all the neighbors were awake, and we had multiple people directing us into the fire. To bad we were supposed to park the fire truck, ignore the fire, and go check on the little old lady with chest pain.

There is something about selling confidence to the public and managing your PR that dictated what we actually did. I had the engineer put the pump in gear and by himself, keep the fire out of the garage. While he was doing that, the firefighter and I went to check on the lady. As it turns out, she was actually having indigestion/heartburn and did not want to go to the hospital. She simply had read the signs and symptoms chart on her refrigerator, determined that it said to call 911 if you had chest pain, and the rest is history.

Another engine arrived shortly, finished putting out the fire, and we all went back to quarters.

Lifestyles

In this profession, we touch down with all types of people from all walks of life. For example, a few shifts ago, we were dispatched to a "respiratory distress" call at about midnight. Since 95% of all "respiratory distress" calls are anything but that, it was no surprise for us to find a 20 something guy with his leg in a cast. It was obvious that this was not an emergency so we dug deeper into the story. He had been riding in a cab and had asked the cab driver to call. When questioned, he explained..."I just needed someplace to spend the night." He had recently undergone some fairly minor ankle surgery at the local hospital, but was on his way to Texas after spending a few months in Hawaii. Now, considering that he did not work, had no money, no possessions, and not even enough money for cab fair, I decided he was the modern rendition of the hobo. He was able to travel at will, had no money, yet it was obvious that not only was he doing pretty well, but in these modern times, he had the best of medical care and was able to get 5 firefighters to look after even the most basic need of a place to sleep for the night. In the end, the Red Lyon motel had a shuttle running towards the mission and offered to take him there for the night. A true "King of the Road!"