Meris's Blog

Sweet Baby James

The trailer is the last one on the right, pressed up against the infinite night sky. I swear I can see everything and nothing at the same time in that sky as I round the corner to search for the stairs. Eric shines a flashlight at the ground and I see the beginnings of a step. With one foot reaching out for it, I look up.

"Shit!" I jump back into Eric, who catches me around the waist without hesitation, pulling me away from whatever unseen danger I encountered. He starts laughing as… Continue

Added by Meris on March 12, 2008 at 12:37am — No Comments

Rain

The rain beats down heavily on my windshield as I wait for the light to change. My driver's side window is open, as I listen to the sound the water makes as it smacks against the road and my outstretched hand. My hair is sopping wet, still dripping puddles onto my now see-through shirt. I shiver slightly, but I'm not truly cold. Two boys stand on the corner next to me, waiting for their turn to cross the street.

Death Cab for Cutie sings to me of being loved one day as the light turns… Continue

Added by Meris on March 12, 2008 at 12:33am — 1 Comment

Vindicated

It's a busy night at the station; it's Wednesday, which is known by many to be the night of the clown cars. On any given Wednesday night, you're bound to have at least three and a half full crews ready to go. But, of course, nothing ever happens.

The county is quiet, save a few fire alarms here and there, but they all end unspectacularly.

I sit on the couch, yawning as I work on a cross-stitch. My fingers are numb, but I push the needle through again, watching as the teal thread… Continue

Added by Meris on March 12, 2008 at 12:31am — No Comments

Ground Level Fall

As I'm returning to the station from my ITLS (International Trauma Life Support) class with Drew, I hear the tones drop for a ground level fall. I'm almost 100% sure that we won't be going, but Drew grabs my arm as he heads for the medic.

"Let's go," he says with a sigh.

"Why us!?"

"Everyone else gets off in an hour; we're here all night. Let's go."

Eric, Drew and I climb into the medic, and I'm beyond frustrated. I'm tired from class, I have studying to do, and to top it… Continue

Added by Meris on February 22, 2008 at 7:48pm — 3 Comments

Radio Free Nation

I had the privilege to be interviewed by Marty Owings for Radio Free Nation. It was a completely painless experience (no scary questions, unlike my philosophy final), and I encourage you all to shoot him an email should you know someone you'd like to hear interviewed!

There's a link at the top of the page to the interview, and… Continue

Added by Meris on February 17, 2008 at 7:22pm — No Comments

Karma

It's 3am and I hear the tones drop for a bleeding call. Sounds like ALS, and I'm not first run, anyway. I roll over in bed as I try to ignore the sounds of my partners moving around. The light in my bunk room turns on, and I hear Drew telling me to get up.

"No," I say adamantly.

"No?"

"No. I'm not first run."

"Come on dearheart," he says, "it's a BLS leaky catheter call and the career staff doesn't want to get up." Cursing them as I throw on my boots, I head out to the rig.… Continue

Added by Meris on February 7, 2008 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Difficulty Breathing

It's 10pm on a Friday night and I'm fast asleep on the couch, laptop whirring busily on my legs as my two female partners talk about their children. I hear something about a daughter selling Ritalin in school, and I roll over in my sleep. The other mother mentions something about how her son is going into professional baseball. I rub my eyes, sit up wearily and ask myself if this is the seven year old son I met last year. I shake my head and stretch, hating the fact that it's not even close to… Continue

Added by Meris on February 2, 2008 at 4:30pm — 1 Comment

Drew

My heart sinks as the tones drop. I know it's something bad; I can feel it in the air.

"Station 1," the dispatcher begins, "respond to 852 Westbury Lane for an unresponsive male." I look around; it's just Drew and me. Everyone else is still at the hospital on another call. Panicked, I pick up the radio.

"Station 1, central."

"Go ahead Station 1."

"Medic 1 will be en route; requesting ALS."

"10-4, Station 1."

As Drew starts the medic, I hear dispatch tone out for… Continue

Added by Meris on January 13, 2008 at 11:00pm — 1 Comment

Active Labor

"We got a pediatric BVM?"

"Yeah."

"Alright...what about the IV boxes; all sealed?"

"Yep, both sealed."

"OB kits?"

"Two of 'em, not like we ever need them," I say with a wink. I hear the pre-alert go out, and we stop checking off the rig to listen.

"Station 1, active labor." My partner glares at me.

"Really, Sam? Didja have to go ahead and jinx us like that?" I jump out of the back and look for the medic.

"John, I'm going on this." As the daughter of an… Continue

Added by Meris on December 26, 2007 at 5:30pm — 1 Comment

Conversion

I'm barely awakened from my 10:30am nap when an EMT student taps my shoulder.

"Um, Sam," he says quietly, "I think you need to get up; there's a call, and I think it's a code."

Up like a shot, I grab my boots and head towards the rig.

"78 year old male, unconscious, not breathing. Sam, I need you to unhook the monitor, grab the drug box and the IV box and put them all on the stretcher. Can you do this while I drive?"

"Yep," I say regrettably as I hit the wall, "not a… Continue

Added by Meris on December 4, 2007 at 6:00am — No Comments

Faceplant

[[Okay, this post belongs back with the EMT school entry. This took place then, but I forgot to write about it...how, I don't know.]]

SMACK!

I feel the cold from the concrete as I roll myself over. "Oh...shit," I hear my partner say as he looks down at me. The warm liquid running down my face paired with the searing pain across my cheek tells me I've done some serious damage.

"Sam, your face is like...bleeding!"

Rewind.

All day long we've been in class learning… Continue

Added by Meris on November 26, 2007 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Unappreciated

As I'm climbing off the medic after a call, we get toned out again and I see Drew and Eric headed to another unit.

"Come on Sam, let's go," Drew says grabbing my hand as I step off the medic, "dislocated hip."

I sit in the back of the medic envisioning a frail old man that slipped down the stairs, dislocating his hip. I envision his pie-baking wife dialing 911 and greeting us with, "thank you so much for coming; I know it's late." When we arrive, what I find is very different.

In… Continue

Added by Meris on October 28, 2007 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Code

"Station 2, unresponsive patient."

The tones drop for another county, interrupting my dream. Frustrated, I roll over in the bed as I hear station 2 and central dispatch corresponding.

"Medic 2 is en route."

"10-4."

"Medic 2 has arrived on scene."

"10-4."

"Central, show that we have a working code."

"10-4."

In my dream, I wonder about how little central dispatch ever seems to say. I hear the door creak open as light streams in the room. Someone pushes my… Continue

Added by Meris on October 25, 2007 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Precepting, Round 2

"Sam, this is your call," says my favorite paramedic with a wink. "C-Spine," I say more to myself than anyone else as I wrap my hands around our patient's neck. It's my first call ever as a precepting EMT, and it has to be an unrestrained passenger in a two-car motor vehicle collision. Our driver slides a collar under my fingers and secures it in place. As we carefully backboard our patient, I ask him about his pain, run the gamut of SAMPLE questions, and once we have him in our medic, I start… Continue

Added by Meris on October 19, 2007 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Sam, the EMT

I've grown restless of being an ambulance driver. I've run the gamut of precepting requirements and I'm now an official non-probationary medic driver. I should be excited, but I'm not; I long to be in the back.

Whenever we run a call, I get to help out a little bit. It's something like, "Sam, can you get a pulse-ox on him," or, "Could you get me a bp on her?" The little bit I get to do is thrilling.

I'm a doctor's daughter who wore kid-sized scrubs when dad would take me on rounds. I… Continue

Added by Meris on October 9, 2007 at 10:00am — No Comments

Tick...Tock

There is a moment in time when everything stops. The moment immediately preceding the radio dispatching you to a scene, time halts completely; the world falls under a silence like none other. I never noticed this in the beginning of my career in EMS, but as I work more often, I begin to notice it.

We're watching TV, when suddenly the picture flickers, and we're dispatched.

A fly buzzing about halts in midair for no more than instant, and we're grabbing our coats as we head towards the… Continue

Added by Meris on September 5, 2007 at 12:00am — No Comments

MVC

"Station 1, Motor Vehicle Collision on Main and 1st, two patients."

The tones drop and I'm grabbing my coat as I'm tripping out the door. I've never been to a motor vehicle collision, and I'm giddy with excitement. I start up the truck and beg my partners to hurry. I want to be first on scene.

We arrive and I see that we are nowhere near the first on scene. Blue lights from the police mingle with the red from the fire engines, and I feel a migraine fast approaching. I grab the giant… Continue

Added by Meris on August 29, 2007 at 9:30pm — No Comments

First Call

After my EVOC certificate arrived in the mail (and was promptly framed and put on the wall), I began precepting as a driver. Precepting, I learned, is just a fancy word for 'training'. I make my way over to the station one Wednesday night, and meet the crew I will be running with. I meet Steve, John, Hank, Drew, Ed and Liz, all of whom I am sure I'll come to know and love.

John, a professor at my university, gives me the orientation. He tells me about procedures, courtesies, ettiquite and… Continue

Added by Meris on August 21, 2007 at 2:30pm — No Comments

EVOC

One particularly cold and cloudy Friday evening in October, I find myself sitting in the training room of Clearview Volunteer Rescue Squad with my best friend Olivia. We grab a seat near the front, being the eager students we are, and carefully lay out our pens and paper. One light flickers incessantly in the corner, giving the already dim room lighting worthy of a B-list horror flick. I look around the room, and I am surprised to find that other than one instructor, Liv and I are the only… Continue

Added by Meris on August 20, 2007 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Sam

When I walk into the bland beige building of the Clearview Rescue Squad for the first time, I calmly hold out my hand and say "My name is Samantha Montgomery, and I'm here to interview for a position on the squad." The man to whom I am speaking peers down at me over his huge, square glasses and says, "so it's Sam, then?" I must look confused, because he straightens up and repeats, "It's Sam. You can't possibly think that you'll get any respect with a name like Samantha," he trails off and then… Continue

Added by Meris on August 19, 2007 at 11:30pm — No Comments

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