A few weeks ago, I had weekend duty at the fire house. I'm a volunteer EMT... Yeaaaa go me, whatever! Anyway, we had just finished a 24 hour shift. Ran a few calls that were totally B.S. during the night, and then went straight to an eight hour training burn. Where some of the "wanna be" fireman kept falling out. Now don't get me wrong, we have some of most capable, fit, and not to mention pretty dammed cute firemen at our station. But, when you join and you can't even keep up at the training burn, then there is something that you need to rethink!!! Go to the gym or perhaps slip those sneakers on and take a run. Your heart will thank you for it later :) Anyway, after a tiring eight hours of training which also included some "real" emergencies we were finally ready to head back to the station to complete the final twelve hours of our shift. Woo Hoo!
The ambulance that we were in decided to take a diversion onto it's back... Yes, that's right we wrecked the M-F'er! One of my best friends, we will call him SmartAssBF was driving and the right wheel went off the lip of the back country road we were driving on. Paigie in the back seat said that she heard me yell, SmartAssBF's name three times and then it was too late after that. He pulled the wheel to correct but the ambulance being so top heavy had it's own plans. We ended up spinning around and facing the other direction, the ambulance rolled onto the side and if it hadn't been for the embankment being rather high we would have rolled over completley. Instead we just went upside down for a second and then landed right back on the tires.
The ambulance was a mess! Supplies flew everywhere, map book pumbled us and we got knocked around pretty good. Everyone is ok, lets just thank God that we all had our seat belts on. I must have hit my head so hard that when I went to get up I felt like my head was a pimple that was about to bust! I thought for sure that Paigie was dead, but she's the one who helped me out of the unit... I was back boarded and transported to the hospital. Let me tell you, being an EMT and having another ambulance come for you is a surreal experience. I ended up with my hips being extremely sore, my right shoulder felt like it had been hit with a baseball bat, and had reverse curvature of the cervical spine, probably due to severe muscle spasms. Now two weeks later, I'm still sore, have spontaneous muscle spasms in my neck and lower back and the joints in my ass feel like I'm an 80 year old woman. Physical Therapy is not fun! I'm just looking forward to the part where I get massages! Doesn't that come with Physical Therapy??? If not, it should!
Ok, enough on the back story.... Today was my first day back to duty. All day today I was feeling a bit of dread. I've been nervous, for a few reasons. One, I'm at the end of my OIC Training (Officer in Charge) and I really don't feel ready. They tell me that if you feel ready that means your too cocky and your really aren't ready. But, having this "I suck" feeling is actually a good thing. It makes you realize that your not perfect and you need to keep working to make yourself better. But, I don't wanna be cut loose without someone there to bail me out when I start to royally screw up. Now, I don't think I will kill anyone... I think ;) And the second reason I was dreading it, I'm completely terrified to get back into the ambulance.
Once I got to duty, I say hello to everyone... Give out my hugs and then start to do the weekly check off for the ambulance. Now, this is the first time I've been back into an ambulance since the accident. So, I climb in, and two of the people that I ride with are already checking the unit out. I think great! I can just sit here for a minute and just get use to being back. But, no! I start getting the biggest knot in my stomach and find a reason to get off the unit. I go and "help" with the rebuild of my laptop, by help I mean stand behind the person doing the work and and shot the shit. The best part about that is he was able to save my data. Yeaaaa, I'm so happy! But, he hands me two disks... One with "work" stuff and one with my "pictures". Now, we take pictures at parties and there may have been a few with my boobs hanging out a bit. I giggled, and said thank you. Now, due to embarrassment I figure it's time to go back to the ambulance.
And we get our first call...
SHIT!!!! I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!!!!
I was the OIC so I was supposed to sit in the front seat but I couldn't do it. So, I look at SmartAssBF and he knows what I'm thinking without having to say it and climbs up. I get into the back with the new guy, buckle up. We start heading down the street. Now, A-chick is driving and sometimes she's just a little to rough with it. Today, she is trying to be good, and I'm thankful for this. The call is for an apartment fire so everyone is hauling ass and trying to get there. Inevitably you have some jack ass who thinks that stopping right in front of an Emergency vehicle is better than driving and getting the hell out of the way! So, breaks are applied and the air horn is squealing. Meanwhile I'm sitting in the back seat with my hands on my head trying not to let this knot that had formed in my stomach loosen too much because it will come up in a big mess-O-Chinese food that I had for dinner. YUMMY! The new guy, "token" keeps asking if I'm ok and then when I say yes he proceeds to ask freaking retarded questions. (ok, I obviously wasn't ok so when I say yes just sit down and shut the fuck up) We get placed in service and we can go back to the firehouse, I'm relieved but not entirely sure I will make it.As we pull up and they stop the ambulance to let SmartAssBF out to back us up into the bay I jump out and bolt for the rest room. Yes, eating extra spicy Kung Pao Chicken isn't a good thing when your going to vomit! I got a Kung Pao alright... right back into the toilet bowl! But, I guess it's an extra 800 calories I don't have to worry about... Right???
Now, I just have to wait until next week! Oh, the fun will continue because I'm not giving up... Soon, I will be able to ride on the ambulance without fear!
Oh, All this happened on Sunday... and I'm posting this at 3:54am Monday morning, as I don't know how to sleep! I think I will go and try now, nighty night!
1 comment:
Poor sweetie. When I heard that you were in an accident I was so worried about you. I still am.
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