Thursday, May 19, 2011

My culinary talent - Franklin Fire B Shift

Today I was on shift at Franklin Fire with B shift, my usual shift. I jumped out of bed at 5:30 and packed everything I needed. Then it was off to Jakes to get some cheese for my burgers I forgot yesterday and some coffee. I was getting back in my truck in the parking lot when my pager went off for a car accident in East Andover. I decided to head to the scene in my truck so I could leave and go to Franklin from the call instead of being committed to the rescue or the ambulance, making me late. When I got on scene I checked with John, the EMS chief, in the ambulance who was evaluating one patient with no injury. So I headed to Franklin and got there with plenty of time. Jason and I checked Engine 4 and started on the rescue when we got a med call. We got back from that med call and my mentor Phil stopped by. Phil checked in with me then the Deputy Chief gave his daily talk with the shift. Soon after the talk we got another med call for an injury from a fall Alpha level. These calls aren't exciting and don't evoke any kind of adrenaline rush. It's a part of the job. But this call reminded me of how rewarding EMS can be. An elderly woman had fallen in her house and it was emotional for her and her daughters. For Captain Goldthwaite, John, and I it was easy to evaluate the situation and ensure them that we were more than happy to take the woman to the hospital (though she did not want to). We left the call insisting they call us back if anything changes. The ride back to the fire house felt good. We ate lunch soon after. In the afternoon we cleaned out a space in the back of the firehouse which will be used for a fitness space. Jason and Phil put me on the stair climber and put a 75 pound vest on me. I did one stair a second for 3 minutes. It's the same test professional firefighters must take for professional certification. 4 PM came around and I headed to the kitchen to start cooking. The first step was to put my tater tots on a tray and preheat the oven. I set the oven to preheat and was out on the apron when the smoke alarm started going off in the kitchen. I couldn't believe it. Luckily Jason reset it and this minor hiccup didn't impede my cooking progress but just embarrassed me. I fired up the grill and made burgers and hot dogs. They hit the spot. Captain Fecteau relieved Captain Goldthwaite for the night. It was a training night for the explorer post (kids on the department), which Jason supervises so I went to an abandoned house with them to practice search and rescue in a simulated structure fire search with our hood backwards so we couldn't see. Captain Goldthwaite's son is an explorer and we teamed up. On the second floor we completed our search in one room and found a victim in a closet in another room who we evacuated out. After the drill we got back to the station and I took a shower and changed. I'm sitting in one of the recliners now and we just got back from a med call in Tilton which we got canceled from enroute. For some reason I can't write right now so my bad for the grammar.

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