In my "other" life, I work as an ambulance driver. In 1998, I was asked if I wanted to volunteer with Port Orford Community Ambulance. I thought it would be exciting (to balance out the relative contemplative life of scrimshaw). Lights, sirens, racing down the highway to save lives.... Well, there is some of that. But not much. Mostly, it's helping our elderly population with the normal health issues many of us will face.
So, for a look at the flip side of my life, here's:
Life in EMS
You know it's rural when this picture shows three fire departments, a police department, and our ambulance crew.
Here's most of our ambulance crew. I'm the guy kneeling on the bottom left.
Now for some action shots:
These next few shots are from a recent wreck on a remote mountain road. I promise not to show anything too graphic. (In this case, all went well) Above: Gayle Wilcox and Assistant Fire Chief David Duncan go down to the wreck.
Below: Dave Johnson goes down to help out.
Below: Chris Speed scrambles to help a second patient while Gayle works with the trapped passenger. The guy in blue t-shirt, Josh Gent was the good Samaritan who may have saved the lives of the crash victims.
Below: Jim Sigman and Officer Dresser assist from the roadway above. USFS supervisor John Williams was a great help at the scene, and later guided the ambulance all the way to the hospital.
Below: Fire Chief and EMT Intermediate Wilcox is helped by David Duncan in this difficult extraction. Let me add that Gayle is on call more than any other EMT, 24 hours a day, and at least 6 days a week. Most people appreciate what we do, though I don't think many really know how much training and effort goes into EMS
(Warning: the following is my rant against some in our small town who like to make life hard for us) I'd like to say to all those who criticize the emergency services with petty (and unfounded) complaints - remember we give up a lot to serve. We don't have a choice at 3:00 am whether we want to respond or not. We respond. So if you get a chance to thank a volunteer firefighter or EMS volunteer, please do. And if you belong to that small group with small minds who prefer to criticize, think twice. Then go thank them.
