East Amherst Fire Department ....
I mostly love being a member of my Fire Department. The good times far out number the bad. This was one of the bad times ...
I was already half awake when I heard the sirens go by. Somehow, they seemed louder then normal ... I couldn't even recognize if they were fire or not. I flipped my scanner on (I had left it off the charger to long so the batteries were dead and I hadn't turned it on since ...) and when I heard "East Amherst 8 on location" I sprang to life and got myself dressed as fast as I could and drove to station 2. There's usually a good chance of getting on truck number 7 still even though 8 was already on scene ... station one always seems to beat us to the calls.
When I got there rescue 7 was already gone, so I would have to wait in the station house till the truck came back. Which I hate ... I love going to calls and feeling like I'm actually doing something. Sitting around watching T.V. till the truck comes back drives me crazy.
So I'm sitting in the dark with another fire fighter watching the weather channel ... and waiting .... and waiting ......
Truth be told if i was actually timing the call ... they probably weren't on scene very long at all. When they finally called in service (which means the trucks are on there way back to the station) they also called "Twin City to Millard Suburban with two fire fighters on board".
The Red Flag instantly goes up. An ambulance normally runs with two people. Someone to care for the patient and someone to drive. If two fire fighters are on board then there is something really wrong with the patient ... and usually its a life threatening kind of wrong.
Soon the truck comes back ... not with the person who drove it there. Someone else had driven it back. The assistant chief tells us to wash off the truck. So we get out the brushes, the soapy water and the hose and wash off the outside of the truck. I ask Danny, the other fire fighter helping me wash the truck, "What was the call anyway ... why did they need two fire fighters?" He says "four year old, code."
Code is a term rescuers use to describe a patient who isn't breathing and doesn't have a pulse. A code is a dead patient that the EMS crew (and shortly after that the hospital crew) are trying to resuscitate. The odds of bringing a Code back to life are very slim.
So my heart goes out to the family in East Amherst who have probably lost a son or daughter. You aren't supposed to lose a child at four years old. Its not fair. There aren't any words that can console in a situation like this.
I think for the next few days I'll hug my family a little bit harder, tell them I love them a little bit more. I'll probably even be a little more patient with my moms endless drinking.
Its time to take a shower and change. I feel so cold right now.
Its gonna be one hell of a day .......
I was already half awake when I heard the sirens go by. Somehow, they seemed louder then normal ... I couldn't even recognize if they were fire or not. I flipped my scanner on (I had left it off the charger to long so the batteries were dead and I hadn't turned it on since ...) and when I heard "East Amherst 8 on location" I sprang to life and got myself dressed as fast as I could and drove to station 2. There's usually a good chance of getting on truck number 7 still even though 8 was already on scene ... station one always seems to beat us to the calls.
When I got there rescue 7 was already gone, so I would have to wait in the station house till the truck came back. Which I hate ... I love going to calls and feeling like I'm actually doing something. Sitting around watching T.V. till the truck comes back drives me crazy.
So I'm sitting in the dark with another fire fighter watching the weather channel ... and waiting .... and waiting ......
Truth be told if i was actually timing the call ... they probably weren't on scene very long at all. When they finally called in service (which means the trucks are on there way back to the station) they also called "Twin City to Millard Suburban with two fire fighters on board".
The Red Flag instantly goes up. An ambulance normally runs with two people. Someone to care for the patient and someone to drive. If two fire fighters are on board then there is something really wrong with the patient ... and usually its a life threatening kind of wrong.
Soon the truck comes back ... not with the person who drove it there. Someone else had driven it back. The assistant chief tells us to wash off the truck. So we get out the brushes, the soapy water and the hose and wash off the outside of the truck. I ask Danny, the other fire fighter helping me wash the truck, "What was the call anyway ... why did they need two fire fighters?" He says "four year old, code."
Code is a term rescuers use to describe a patient who isn't breathing and doesn't have a pulse. A code is a dead patient that the EMS crew (and shortly after that the hospital crew) are trying to resuscitate. The odds of bringing a Code back to life are very slim.
So my heart goes out to the family in East Amherst who have probably lost a son or daughter. You aren't supposed to lose a child at four years old. Its not fair. There aren't any words that can console in a situation like this.
I think for the next few days I'll hug my family a little bit harder, tell them I love them a little bit more. I'll probably even be a little more patient with my moms endless drinking.
Its time to take a shower and change. I feel so cold right now.
Its gonna be one hell of a day .......