Start/Finish

I spent 12 years working on ambulances in a volunteer and paid capacity as an EMT, even dispatched some. Never opted to become a paramedic thou, I could tell when a heart rhythm was bad, but it was Greek to me as to what it might mean, so knowing my limits, I declined training. During these times I responded to countless 911 calls and transported many sick people. One time we were treating a lady for a head injury and she remembered falling down the stairs and correctly answered every question we asked of her (Reagan was president) and her pupils were PEARL. So we released the paramedics and set to transport the patient. As soon as they drove away, the lady looked at me and said, “Who are you and what’s going on”? I couldn’t radio the paramedics fast enough!

My career in EMS started off really slow. My first call was a; I’ve fallen and can’t get up. We had to force our way into the house, but in the end we only picked the senior up and put them back in their chair. No injuries. Later that night another crew got called back after they fell again and this time they had broken their leg, so they were finally transported.

My last call also started out slow, but ended very differently. We got a call to transport another senior to the hospital who had broken their hip a few days earlier, so no big rush. They had finally conceded to their family that they were in fact hurt. While driving to the hospital we heard a call out for a head on collision on the highway we were traveling down. As we came around a corner there it was. I stayed with our patient and my partner went out to help. Apparently some teens were racing their cars and one jumped the medium and collided with the other car that was heading to a mall that had a husband and wife in it. The wife was trapped in the car and the husband was free, but injured. The teen wasn’t wearing their seat beat and went through the windshield and was in the road not moving. My partner went to assist the couple since there was already someone with the teen. Once the regular EMS arrived they got back into our ambulance and finished transporting our original patient and I haven’t worked as an EMT since. Not a bad way to end it though. By then my back and mental health had suffered enough and it was time to move on to what became a career in insurance with a stop along the way at a funeral home.

1972