First Shift

Friday night I hardly received any sleep, not for lack of trying, I was too excited. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I couldn't wait for it to be time to get up...Only I was going to work instead of getting presents. 

My new home is a double company, a Rescue and an Engine-normal crew of 5 per shift. It's not in the area of town I'd prefer, in fact, it's in one of the areas I usually avoid. It could be worse.

I made it to the station about 0625 and had to wait until someone else showed up to get in (I don't have a key yet). I made it in and met my Cap't and the guy who would be driving the engine for the day, the rest of the crew arrived not long afterward. I put my gear on the engine and watched the driver check the inventory log, I was trying to get a rough idea where everything was. The engine was moved outside so we could wash it and clean it up. Cap't came out to talk to me and let me know what my responsibilities would be. I knew that being the rookie I'd get the crappy jobs, but I didn't know I'd have ALL the jobs. Being a Saturday (house day) there was a little more to be done. I had to clean the bathroom, sweep and mop/or vaccuum all floors, turn up all the matresses so they could air out, empty the trashcans, clean the dishes and empty the dishwasher. I'm also responsible for putting the exhaust system over the tailpipe after each call and I'm the one who pumps the gas when the engine needs it (we have a big diesel storage tank at the station).

The first 2 calls of the day were fire alarms-both were false alarms. The first was smoke in the kitchen of a restaraunt, it was the first time their heater system had been used this year. The other was a fog machine in a church that set off the alarm. The next few calls were medical-related. One was a 4-car accident on the expressway. The 2 people in the car that caused the accident were transported to the hospital with neck and back pain.

The next call was dispatched as a possible broken finger. HA! We rolled up to see 2 police cars onscene. Inside, a man was arrested right after we arrived. The lady with the "broken finger" claimed he locked her in a bedroom overnight and threw her down some stairs and beat her that morning. PD came back in to question her after finding out she had a restraining order against him. He got a nice ride with a new pair of shiny silver bracelets, she got to sign a TNT.

We had a break from calls for a while and went to do some hydrant testing. Again, being the rookie, I had to spin the hydrants...all 15-20 of them. We got through one subdivision and had to catch another call. Difficulty breathing at an assisted living facility. Claimed to be in pain but had multiple pain prescriptions, was transported to the hospital. We went in service and picked up lunch on the way back to the station.

Later on, we finished checking the hydrants in that area and ran a few more calls not worth mentioning. That night, we were cancelled on most of our calls. Another fire alarm came in, this time at the mall-it was another false alarm. We also responded to a woman in labor, our driver was a paramedic and rode on the BLS ambulance to the hospital in case she had the baby while enroute. After picking him up, we made it to the station and were able to lay in bed all of 2 minutes before the bell rang again, we were cancelled while enroute. Finally made it to bed about 0245 and slept until shift change at 0700. We ran at least 10 calls and I'm beat. It'll be better once I get used to it, the fact that it gets dark at 1800 doesn't help.

I'll try to write down some notes so I can remember the 'good calls' from my next shift (Tuesday). Until then...it's dinnertime, then naptime.

Take care and stay safe