Drive-time on the firetruck

As usual, many things have happened lately. I've been on another big house fire, a couple good vehicle extrications, and a few worthy medical calls.

A recent day that comes to memory is one of my new favorites.

The day started off normally, well, as normal as life in a fire station can be. As shift change (0700) arrived, we all got our unit assignments for the day and started about our duties. I went to work checking the supplies in the EMS jumpbags, changing the batteries in and testing the Zoll cardiac monitor, and checking all the stock in the truck. Moving on to check all the fire-related equipment, loading my gear onto the truck, checking my airpack and making sure we have everything we're supposed to.

Once truck-checkoffs are completed, we all help clean the station. The good thing about my station is that it's twice as old as I am, so no matter how much we scrub it, it's just not going to be that impressive.

After all the morning chores are done, if there aren't any calls to run or classes to take, we can somewhat relax. Of course, there's always calls to run, blood-pressures to check, and other things to do.

Mid-afternoon, we'd just come off a call and I'd gotten my lunch and just sat down when an air-horn was blown from in front of the station. Turns out, my truck was being shut down for a little while so one of the guys on another engine could go take his physical.

At the health department, he hopped off the truck and we were down a driver. Since I had just gotten my learner's permit for the firetruck, he volunteered me to drive. The Captain double-checked that I did have the permit, and I hopped up into the driver's seat. I didn't pay much attention before, but now I know, those firetrucks (counting the mirrors) are wider than the average driving lane!

My fun was cut short when we were called back, our guy wasn't on the list to do his physical that day. I don't mind, I'm just happy I logged my first mile or so driving the fire engine.