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I wish you knew....
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May 25, 2008 9:05 pm
900 Views
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Dedicated to Paramedics, Fire and Police Officers and their Dispatchers:
I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 6 am as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back while knowing intuitively it is too late, but wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done to try and save his life.
I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke - sensations that I've become too familiar with.
I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a call, "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?". Or to call and ask "What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life threatening?" Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or gun?
I wish you could be in the emergency room, as a Doctor pronounces dead the beautiful two-year old girl that I have been trying to save during the past 25 minutes, knowing she will never go on her first date or say the words "I love you Mommy" ever again.
I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the ambulance or engine or cruiser, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. When you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "What took you so long to get here?!"
I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. What if this was my daughter, sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What will her parent's reactions be when they open the door to find a Police Officer standing there with hat in hand?
I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.
I wish you could know how it feels dispatching Officers, Firefighters and Paramedics out and how our hearts drop when we call for them and no one answers back, or to answer the bone-chilling 911 call of a child or wife needing assistance.
I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally and sometimes physically abuse us or belittle what we do, or as they express their attitudes of "It will never happen to me".
I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain of missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.
I wish you could know the Brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, or being able to be there in time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.
I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm asking, "Is my Mommy okay?", while not being able to look in his eyes without tears falling from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches CPR being done on his buddy as they take him away in the ambulance. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on - this is a sensation that I have become all too familiar with.
Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, who we are, or what our job really means to us...I wish you could though.
PLEASE APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PARAMEDICS, 911 DISPATCHERS, FIREFIGHTERS, and LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
ONE DAY THEY'LL PROBABLY BE SAVING YOUR PROPERTY OR YOUR OWN LIFE. WHEN YOU SEE THEM COMING WITH LIGHTS FLASHING, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, STOP YOUR VEHICLE and THEN PRAY FOR THEM.
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Bad things come in 3's... right?
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Dec 21, 2007 10:44 pm
861 Views
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Wow, what an absolutely terrible horrible no good very bad day I've had!
I went home this afternoon to check on my dogs - I installed a new dog door for them the other day - and found my shepherd laying about 50ft from the house, curled up in a ball and shivering. I first thought, "OMG, what's wrong with my dog?!" but when I got closer I noticed a grey ball of fur curled up against her belly & realised it was my 10 week old kitten.
He was on his side, his fur matted from where she'd been licking him (probably in a feeble attempt to warm/wake him up), and his poor little body was stuck to the snow where his body heat had melted it & then frozen again as he cooled off. His little legs were cold & stiff but his body still had some suppleness to it, which means he hadn't been there ALL morning. My poor dog looked up at me as I tried to take the kitten, with a bashful, "I'm sorry mom, I did the best I could" look on her face, and stuck her nose against the kitty's body as I lifted him up.
I don't know HOW he managed to push the big heavy dog door out of the way... maybe he snuck out as the dogs were running out to pee, or bark, or whatever... and couldn't get back in. Or maybe, as has happened a few times before, he had a seizure outside in the snow (instead of the warmth of the house like usual) and became hypothermic during his postictal (post seizure) stage.
Whatever way it happened, the end result is the same. They teach us in paramedic school that hypothermia patients aren't really dead until they're warm & dead because the body has an amazing self preservation instinct. So needless to say, my training kicked in & I did everything to save my baby kitty's life... but to no avail.
My beautiful sweet cream and grey, curl up under my chin & purr himself to sleep; chase the dogs; molest the old cat; nestle into my hair at bedtime; chase the laser pointer kitten is no more. I miss him terribly!!! 
To add insult to injury... I put a pot of stew on low this morning, so I would have supper ready when we got a work break. Well, we (my co-worker & I ) got back to our station mid afternoon, only to find that the pot had boiled dry & burnt the stew firmly into my $70 Paderno pot! 
What the hell comes next???????????????
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I Will Survive (2007 Remix)
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Dec 2, 2007 3:50 pm
816 Views
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At first I was afraid, I was petrified. When you said you had 10 inches, Lord I almost died! But I'd spent so many years just waiting for a man that long, That I grew strong, And I knew that I could take you on...
But there you are, another lie, I was ready for a Big Mac and you've brought me a French Fry! I should have known that it was bullshit, just a sad pathetic dream, Should have known there was no Anaconda lurking in those jeans!
Go on now - go, walk out the door, Don't you promise me 10 inches, then turn up with only 4! Weren't you a brat to think I wouldn't find you
out!? Don't you know we're only joking when we say size don't count??!!
[Chorus] I will survive! I will survive! Cuz as long as I have batteries, My sex life's gonna thrive! I will always have good sex, with a handful of latex! I will survive! I will survive! .Hey! Hey!
It took all my self control not to laugh out loud, When I saw your little wiener standing tall and proud! But to hell with your ego and to hell with all your needs, Now I'm saving all my lovin' for a cordless multi-speed!
[Chorus] I will survive! I will survive! Cuz as long as I have batteries, My sex life's gonna thrive! I will always have good sex, With a handful of latex! I will survive! I will survive! .Hey! Hey!
Borrowed from another brilliant woman here - if I could link it to her I would!!
***************************************************
It just fits, you know? It just fits.......
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Why?
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Nov 5, 2007 10:49 am
1027 Views
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Why do:
- Men lie about their marital status?
- Women lie about their body type?
- Most people lie about things that can make or break a relationship?
- We feel that as a society we can never be pretty enough, or skinny enough, or popular enough?
- Why do we feel the need to 'doctor' ourselves up, like we do our resume when job searching?
Does it all come down to the fact that we're afraid of rejection and just want to be loved, or is it deeper rooted than that? Was popularity necessary for survival in our Neanderthal stage? Or are we just vain, egotistical creatures?
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Updates to the AMA's Driver's Training Handbook 2007
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Oct 9, 2007 11:13 pm
939 Views
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After witnessing much of the long weekend's carnage & mayhem on our fine city streets & highways, this just seemed fitting somehow!
Subject: Alberta Motor Association's Driver's Training Handbook 2007
Just in time for the start of 2007, please read this to brush up on the rules of the road so as to reduce the number of traffic incidents on our roads.
1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A confident Alberta driver avoids using them.
2. Under no circumstance should you maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, because the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
3. The faster you drive through a red light, the less of a chance you have of getting hit.
4. Warning! Never come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in your being rear-ended.
5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork, especially with B.C. or Sask, plates. With no insurance, the other operator has nothing to lose.
6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a vigorous, foot massage as the brake pedal violently pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to strengthen your leg muscles.
7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to prepare other drivers entering the highway.
8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures; given only as a suggestion and are not enforceable in Alberta during rush hour, especially in Calgary.
9. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that an Alberta driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.
10. Always brake and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire. This is seen as a sign of respect for the victim.
11. Learn to swerve abruptly without signaling. Alberta is the home of high-speed slalom-driving; thanks to the Department of Public Works, which puts pot-holes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them alert.
12. It is tradition in Alberta to honk your horn at cars in front of you that do not move within three milliseconds of the light turning green.
13. To avoid injury in the event of a collision or rollover, it is important to exit your vehicle through the windshield right away. Wearing your seatbelt will only impede your hi-velocity escape from danger.
14. Remember that the goal of every Alberta driver is to get ahead of the pack by whatever means necessary.
15. In Alberta, 'flipping the bird' is considered a polite salute. This gesture should always be returned.
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