Falling behind on the blog again

This last week had a lot of things going on, but the highlight to me was getting to run with the department to a car accident up the road from me. It was the afternoon, after lunch, and my wife had left the department pager on to see if there were any calls. I had not been especially busy this day working from home, so I was ready to go too. The bad news was I got on the phone right before tones dropped and the pager went off. The phone call was for something not important too.

So to rewind right before that moment, I'm on the phone signing up for XM radio. Our car has an XM radio built-in, and we have not had it working since we had the free trial back when we first bought the car. We are taking a trip to the northern lower peninsula of Michigan next week, and the radio stations are very limited. It seemed like a good time to give that a try again. I guess this makes me feel like going off in that direction of discussion for a moment.

XM, in case you didn't know, is satellite radio. So basically anywhere that you are in the country, you get all the channels. Includes some modern rock, and some news/talk stuff I like. Anyway, we had decided previously it was too much of luxury for something we would not use all the time. After all, we are trying to not be in the car all that much with gas prices, and being a volunteer with the fire department, most of our time in the car is two blocks at a trip. But with the trip to Michigan coming up we decided to give it a try.

Actually I need to back up one more time. You see, I got an e-mail that sort of dragged me in. It said if I came back I could pay $9.99 a month. This seemed like a good deal, so I talked to the wife about it, and she reminded me to check the fine print. I mean, not that I didn't do that at all, but I sure didn't go crazy reading every line, I sort of scanned it to see what the main point was, and to me the main point was it was cheap. Well sort of. That was the hook, this price, but the deal required paying 1 year in advance for the price. I did not want a one year obligation, I wanted a month to maybe try it out and be able to back out. The deal for that sort of thing is 13.95 a month, paid a quarter at a time. So that is the deal we are trying out.

So the afternoon in questions I was trying to wheel and deal the XM people, and they basically sucked me into a deal that was more than I wanted. We'll see how this goes for 3 months, and maybe I'll cancel. We'll enjoy it for the trip for sure.

So the lady I'm talking to, who clearly sounds like she is in a very large room full of people, and has a very heavy Indian sound accent. She has a script she is reading from asking me more questions, and trying to see if I want more "deals". I'm really trying to wrap up the deal and get off the phone already.

Tones drop. The pager is in the room with me, and my wife runs in and grabs it. I hear while trying to ignore the phone it is a car accident a mile or so up the road. My wife is out the door, as she can see I'm not moving myself yet, and she has to go. She is an EMT and firefighter, and that is likely what will be needed. Finally the lady on the phone wraps it up as I see my wife driving down the road. Shoot! I missed the run...... No wait, I can still make it on my own.

Quickly I put my work instant messenger on "Away", run into the bedroom, grab my helmet, riding jacket, and boots and get myself ready to ride down to the station. I know I'm likely to miss the first out equipment, but I'm only a driver, and not a trained firefighter, or EMT yet myself, so I would be limited on scene anyway. I get outside and start my bike. I'm thinking I need to take it easy. Don't rush, and don't over do it.

The ride down the couple blocks to the station is painful. Traffic on the road pulling off my side street slows me to pull out. The first traffic light is red, and I'm behind a big truck. The light turns green, and we have a 3 way stop ahead. The truck turns right, just like I'm going to, but the good news is main street's light is green, and he turns left, letting me cross to the fire station without a stop.

Just then the engine is leaving the station, so I have to pull over to let them go by, and be safe, and then a medic pulls out. I know everyone is on board. After they leave I decide I should go into the station anyway. Maybe more vehicles will be needed. Maybe the rescue, which I can drive, and I don't even need another certified person on board to take that to the scene. Another driver shows up. He has been around for a long time, and I figure I won't be going now, since he has the seniority. But we are listening over the station radio, and I hear the chief calling for medic outside of our township.

I ask the other driver if we should report we are here and standing by, and he says I should let them know. I just heard the Chief ask for help from another township for a medic. I ran outside with the radio and called to let him know I could bring our medic. We had plenty of EMTs on the scene already, so I didn't need to have one with us. I told the other driver "well, I guess you should go, and I should just take off", and he said, "no, come along, they might need all the help they can get." I grabbed my turnout gear, and we hit the road.

He drove, and I rode shotgun. As always it is exciting to run with lights and sirens. We had a clear shot, and I could hear they were waiting for us to get there. We were advised where to stage when we got to the scene, and I acknowledged on the radio. As we approached the scene, I reported to dispatch we were there. As I got out and got my turnout gear on, the Chief asked for the cot and backboard, so we were off and running right away. We loaded up the backboard on the cot with the cid blocks and a c-collar.

The first victims were being pulled out and into the first medic to go. We were heading for the second car and the rescue crew was holding c-spine and getting a KED on the driver. There was only one victim in this pickup truck. The other medic driver kept the cot from falling down the ditch, and I took the backboard to the extrication team. Everyone did a great job. My wife was working with the patient in this car, and her and another EMT were working quickly to get him secured to protect his back, and I helped get him onto the backboard. We strapped him down, got him on the cot, and hurried him off to the second medic. The other medic driver suggested I go, and I was thrilled. It was cool to be able to follow this specific rescue to the conclusion at the hospital.

The rest of the run was routine. Up the road to the local hospital. Radioing in when I was there. Helping bring the cot in and moving the patient to the hospital bed. Restocking the medic and cleaning things up. Helping get paperwork together. It was great that I knew what to do to help the EMTs and fire fighters do there jobs. I think I will make a good firefighter and EMT myself because of the time I get to spend as a trainee with the department.

While we were on the way to the hospital, I heard the department got another call for a certified person to help a neighboring community. The chief responded and help with another accident. He showed up at the hospital while we were wrapping things up. It felt very cool to be a part of the whole thing. Each one is unique. I feel sorry for people who this is only a job to them and they don't feel the thrill. I feel lucky.

Anyway, it is the weekend now. Today my son played soccer with the local traveling team. He is a great defensive player. They did not have him in much today, which was a bummer, but he did get to do something new today, and they had him play mid-field. They won the game 2 to 1. It rained all the way to the game, but stopped just before game time. The sun came out and it got warm. My wife and I on the way to the game got to finish setting up our XM radio. It is pretty cool. Lost of variety on the radio that way.

Tonight I'm staying off call. My son is having a sleep over with a buddy. My wife took our daughter to a play tonight. She returned and said it was great. She is going to keep the pager on tonight in case something goes down in the township, and I'm going to have a beer and relax. And I'm going to stop writing for now.