it is a New Day or at least a Different day

For many years I read of how fire departments were suffering from a lack of volunteers , I even discussed it with several people. I thought how fortunate we are that we still have volunteers . At times we even had them standing in line , more than we could use. Now the fact that we have abused our volunteers has finally come home to affect us . I took one of the first medical first responder courses taught in Arkansas,I had taken EMT years earlier and let some one intimidate me into not testing ( I have never forgiven that person or myself for that). I got up at all hours of the night to answer the pager and go to where some one needed ,or thought they needed help . I volunteered and worked and studied hard as a volunteer firefighter,in fact I let my family suffer because of my desire to help and know all and do all that I could to help. I volunteered with Emergency Management and gave my all . I worked hard at search and rescue and traveled all over at my own expense to take courses and get training . I volunteered to work at events where SAR events were likely to happen. I asked for no pay , I just wanted to help .

Some where along the way I began to understand that volunteers were regarded as a nuisance by  many elected officials and many government employees. While they payed verbal homage to them they laughed at them behind their backs . I do not know how many times I have heard "they are just a volunteer" followed by a snicker. The volunteers were expected to raise the funds to buy the fire trucks for the community , raise the funds to get the training , raise the funds to pay the electric bill , raise the funds for every thing they were to cost the community nothing because they were just volunteers.

These volunteers watched and hurt as there request and concerns were ignored . There were plenty of people who wished to regulate them but none who wished to help them.

Now it is a new day there are very few volunteers left . I recently went on a call where my partner and I were unable to move a patient because of their weight . After numerous pages one local Fire firefighter responded . There is a shortage of volunteers now and our communities are hurting but we have no one to blame but ourselves , all the volunteers wanted was a little respect and we didn't give it.

It is a new day or at least different if you need the service expect to pay for it.

Simple Rules for when You need Help or want to Help

Here are a few simple rules for all you responders  that I have gathered over the years. They might even help a few non response type people.
 1- Never , ever , at all , for any reason self deploy . Well if the zombies have destroyed everything people , resources ,and infrastructure go ahead and deploy

 2- Never commit more than   1/3 of your resources to an incident that is not yours. By committing 1/3 you have probably cut your capability 50%. Think about this 1/3 of your equipment is gone 1/3 of your personnel are gone are you even at 50% ?

 3- When you are contacted to assist before you do anything ask these questions : What are you requesting ? When do you want it? for how long? Who is requesting get an agency name and persons name. Where do you report to ?  Who is the safety officer? if they say they don't have one this might be a clue.

4- when you request resources make sure all of yours are already being used.

5- If it is your incident think outside the box when developing strike teams /task forces. Things like pairing a backhoe with an ambulance to help it get through debris.

 6- Remember life threats before paper work

 7-Everyone get a note book and write down what you do and when you did it.

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Winners and Losers

I have never known what separates the a winner from a loser . Some say its all in the mind but it doesn't look that way on the scoreboard. Some say you are only a loser if you choose to be ,and that is a lie. I think sometimes a loser is just the person that it is easy to overlook and say it won't matter he is not important any way. The loser may just think too far ahead or too much. Maybe dome people get their worth buy forcing others to be losers.I just know I can lose with the best/worst of them ,no success, no hope it seems.

139

I just got back from the 139th fatality in my carreer . Its 1:30 in the morning and I may have problems sleeping tonight. This was a self inflicted gun shot wound apparently. These kind of tragedeys allways make you ask why? is there anything anyone could have done? what drives aperson to this point of desparation? What about the family left behind?Will they survive are will this trigger other tragedies?

The surving spouse will not sleep at all tonight .We will probably be called to the house to try to help them. What can we do to help some one whose spouse is dead by thier own hand. I will tell the truth as I always have tried to do;"I can't offer you any help ,no one can , the only way you will ever find peace about this is through Jesus"

Sadiethewonderdog - Life on the Run

Sadiethewonderdog has just been indicted in the embezzlement case that rocked the snocone world. While her where bouts at this time remain unknown investigators are working on the case. For those who have been under a rock and do not follow the snocone world a brief synopsis is presented ; Approximately  18 months ago Sadie disappeared along with all the assets and ice. from snocone shack inc , a budd company. This placed the once thriving snocone shack in a perilous position , no cash and no ice , competitors immediately began to try to position themselves to monopolize the business.

A worldwide dog hunt began and Interpol was notified. A tip line was set up and her description was distributed to all law enforcement agencies. A sizable reward was offered .

Thousands of tips were received the more improbable ones were weeded out and the more reasonable leads were pursued. One of the most promising leads cost several months investigation and much hard work. However it turned out that Sadie was not living with Elvis at area 51 (however we did get some new recordings).

Satelite imagery confirmed that there were large pieces of ice being transported from the arctic to Antarctica there the ice seemed to disappear. An undercover investigator was placed among the penguins there after hearing from biologist of penguins with sticky blue lips. This operative was able to ascertain that clandestine snocone shacks were being set up and after a few weeks dismantled also a large number of used snocone cups were discovered in a remote area in Antarctica. However the trail grew cold here.

However other investigators began noticing unusual movement in the futures markets of cheap snocone syrup. As these were looked at more closely it was discovered the Bilderburg   group was involved  It was later discovered that an unknown dog was trying to take over this group. However a loyalist members of this group revolted against this newcomer forcing her to flee.Here the case grows murky but it seems that on a trip to North Korea Dennis Rodman was accompanied by a dog wearing sunglasses , a large hat and a brown trench coat.  Since Rodman was involved no one thought this was unusual however when Rodman returned the dog stayed behind.

Recently ,however the world snocone market has been flooded with cheap imitation snocones, appear to be made in North Korea. investigators are attempting to confirm this.However there is no extradition process North Korea.

Consumers should check every snocone before purchase.

We will keep you up to date as they become available.

Random thoughts on why we can't get along

It is around 1:00 am And sleep is a stranger.I don't know why I write these blogs none are ever read maybe it Is a way to clarify my own feelings so that I know myself better.

What is the job of OEM ? I think if it is not to get every one playing on the same team it is maybe to get them playing the same game and using similar rules. The state wants to run the system from Little Rock down the locals think it should be run from the county up.Little Rock wants to be there for the cameras and the locals just want the cameras some where out of the way so they can do their job

Will the system ever work ? Nope not with out  respect for the locals from the big dogs in Little Rock.

I AM an ambulance driver

There is a hilarious EMS blog called "I am not the ambulance driver" it is one of the funniest,saddest,educational blogs about EMS. The title I would assume comes from patients always calling medics and EMT s  ambulance drivers. I have allways tried to avoid the term but today I  told A patient "I am your driver".Then I realized what I had said and begin to think about it. I am the ambulance driver and I am proud of it .I am responsible for helping my medic,and getting you safely to the hospital. This isn't always as simple as it seems today with the patient I drove for miles behind a person at 45 mph, then had to get through an accident,since we had a patient we couldn't stop and I knew another ambulance was 45 seconds behind me.Then I had to avoid the person who pulled  out in front of me and drove 20 mph for 100 yards before turning into a restaurant. Add to that the people who were stopped at the green light,the truck that pulled into the middle turn lane and drove there for a mile or more. I helped unload you made the cot and shook your hand and wished you the best.

I am an ambulance driver but you didn't realize I am also the person who works in Emergency Management,helping you when ever you are in trouble.I am the same person who spoke to you at work about building a 72 hour preparedness kit. I am the same person who trains medical first responders to try and keep you alive until an Advanced Life Support Ambulance can get to you. I am the same person who works out how a search should be conducted for a missing person in your community or devolpes where you should evacuate to in the event of a flood or hazardous materials accident. I am the same person who has to go and beg money to keep your local fire department operating .

I have been the person that fire crews looked to for directions when a wildfire threatened your home. I was the person who had to step up and say this is what we are going to do to recover a body from an industrial collapse, and the man who took the criticism and responsibility for searching the bad terrain for victims of a flood. I am the person who has looked on 70 deaths and cried for those who had died and those who had lived. I am the same person who has taken a baby and done cpr because I wanted the baby to live even though my mine said it was too late. I am the ambulance driver who went in and prayed with the grieving mother whose child had just died.

Even though the medics, nurses, and patients may laugh I am pretty damn proud to be just the ambulance driver.