Dinner at the Fire House

SHIFT 31...Rick's ReFlections of his 32 years career in the Fire Service...

So let me ask, “Where in 2012 can you go and get a ‘full’ dinner for $5 or a $2 breakfast?” It’s just not happening…lest of course you’re at the Fire House. Yeah, we’re covering one another a little bit, but ‘5’ is an easy number to work with, especially for firefighters. ‘Fourth Street Fettuccine’, ‘Fire House Meat Loaf’, a tender pork loin, good ole ‘Big Beefy Bison Burgers’, or anything with chicken and broccoli, that’s what I’m talking about. The buying, the preparation, the cooking, the eating and the cleanup are all just part of the experience. Wrap that all up with conversation, laughs, and an occasional ‘tap out’, create the perfect environment for firefighter camaraderie. Did I say occasional ‘tap out’? Yeah well… sometimes we’ve no sooner sat down and the tones strike…all waiting to hear if their rig is responding. If so, maybe grabbing a chicken leg and head for the door. If not, eh, why wait for the poor bums…let’s eat!

 Any Rocky Road in that?

Of course a dinner is only one aspect of meal…where would we be without some desert? Ice cream is pretty much a given around the fire house. Those who work a ‘shortly’ (OT that a firefighter gets with less than 24 hour notice) have the customary 2 half gallons of ice cream to buy for the shift that they’re covering. And then there are birthdays with cake and the creative singing of ‘Happy Birthday’. Mom’s you might want to protect your children’s ears:) It’s not a pretty site or sound. Or one of PAF&R desert favorites is ‘Cookie Soup’, made famous by Stone who simply under cooked the cookies one day. Afterwards, having them fully cooked...just never seemed right.

And let’s not forget that part of the meal is having all the right ingredients...And if you don’t? Well there is always the other shifts refrigerator and food. OK, maybe there’s been a theft war or two over the years, but hey, what’s a glass of milk, and egg (or dozen), maybe some of last night’s stew or a slice of that wedding cake between brothers? 

 So there you have it. Until next shift…or the next ‘soooweee’ call over the PA.

EMT II, Jerry and the Wild Diabetic

SHIFT 32...Rick's ReFlections of his 32 years career in the Fire Service...

A young Rick, and the old EMT 2 patch

So it was a couple years after my PAF&R beginnings that I really gave thought to maybe one day becoming a Paramedic. Our department at that time had six firefighter/paramedics on duty, but six soon became four with a long term injury and another who was pregnant. Byron was an EMT/II at the time, so they decided to move him over to the Rescue. I decided to give it a go and return to school myself, obtain my ‘II’ as well and join him. Oregon back in those days had a system of EMT I, II, III and IV. The EMT IV was the Paramedic and the EMT II was an IV tech. Along with performing IV’s you also had some additional medications that you could administer. Over the next couple of years with a couple more injuries and another pregnancy I found myself on the Rescue quite often. It was a role that I really enjoyed, and found that when I wasn’t on the Rescue, I was on the Rescue Boat and vice a versa. Soon they even paid us an added differential for this. Cha-ching!

One of the calls that I remember best during those days was responding to a ‘man down’ in the front of the terminal. Over the years the term “man down” can mean anything from a cardiac arrest, to a drunk, to “oh I’m sorry, you’re just sleeping”, or a number of other possibilities. This time it was a significant call on a diabetic with a blood sugar around 20, with 80 to 100 being normal. The beauty about diabetics in this range…a little bit of D50 (thick sugar), can bring a patient around in a pretty rapid fashion…and you, ah, you look like such a hero. Of which of course…we are:) With things being normal, diabetics can be quite abnormal in many different ways. Some we find to be fairly aggressive and many are quite docile. Especially that low, they are often unconscious. Our patient was very docile, perhaps maybe because …well, he was unconscious. So we loaded him onto the gurney and placed him into the Rescue. While I was in the process of acquiring a ‘beautifully placed’ IV, Jerry (my very thick southern drawl partner) grabs the D50 preparing to administer it into the line. It was at this time that one of the Police officers knocks onto the back of the Rescue. I stepped out for a second to answer the officer’s question. No sooner did I stepped out and partially closed the door to maintain the heat on this chilly winter night that I hear a holler come from inside the Rescue. I immediately opened the door and hear Jerry is crying out, “Riiiccckk, I…neeeed heellppp!” I see Jerry is on top of our now struggling patient in an attempt to maintain my ‘beautifully placed’ IV. He was not successful. Oh no…we’ve got blood on the walls, the floors, the gurney and for sure on Jerry, all from our patient flailing his arms and legs in attempt to find any position but horizontal. It looked like a scene from UFC. Bloodborne Pathogens were just beginning to become the focus. A little blood, ah, we weren’t worried! All this time Jerry is doing quite well at keeping the patient horizontal. Not so good at maintaining…did I happen to say my ‘beautifully placed IV’? Other than his cry for help Jerry repeatedly attempts to calm the patient with a ‘Miiissterr, yaaa neeeeddd too callmmm dooowwnn nowwllll.” The police officer jumps into the back of the Rescue to assist Jerry and I grabbed some tape and a 4 x 4 to stop the bleeding. What a great scene!

Tashkent Uzbekistan Ambulance

Now tell me, how do even forget a moment like that? You don’t! And I haven’t. Oh, the rest of the story you say? Jerry, my calm, quiet, very southern drawl partner was able to persevere over the patient, I was able to obtain another IV and administer the D50. The patient quickly awoke from his slumbered state and asked, “ah, it didn’t happen again”… and then he says, “who in the world is bleeding all over this ambulance?” Oh yeah, this is going to be fun:)

A Professional Athlete...Not Quite:)

PAF&R Station 80 - Aerial view show track possibilities...

SHIFT 33...Rick's ReFlections of his 32 years career in the Fire Service... 

Dude, I love my job! They actually pay me to workout:) Then again, if I had become a baseball player they would have done the same, but...we know what happened with that. Being here at Station 80 has had several benefits, one is having workout opportunities that many stations do not. As you can see from the Aerial View picture above we have amazing track options. Sometimes I'm out running myself, other times there are a couple of us or at times up to six. Though I never personally ran the 'Hood to Coast' in August, I would almost always train with the guys who would make up our teams. Half the fun of our track is our 'cool down' time when there is plenty of conversation, stories, along with maybe a lie or two.

Old dude needs to keep up with the young pups...

And then we have this PT room to die for, that even has a view of Mt. Hood. We definitely have no excuse to not stay in shape. Though not every firefighter takes advantage of our PT possibilities, this old dude knows that in order to keep pace with the young it's a necessity. I'll write a bit how that is going for me in future posts.

Yes Vern, that's a cool PT room

Though Fire Departments have always had some form of Physical Ability Test it wasn't standardized until more recently. Many departments now have what is called a CPAT (Candidate Physical Ability Test). This is a pass/fail test that takes the candidate through an eight event course wearing a 50 pound weight vest (75 pounds total for the stairclimb event) and has to be completed within a 10:20 time. I thought you might enjoy watching a short video that gives a demonstration of the CPAT. The journalist in this video, Rachel Thomas, does a great job just completing it. Most departments will have training sessions leading up to the actual CPAT to assist in completing the course in the required time, which is not an easy task.

Well, there you have it. Not quite a professional athlete, but..."I get paid to workout". How cool is that?

Identity…I'm Sorry Sir, You'll Have To Leave Your Face (faith) At The Door

SHIFT 34...ReFlections of a 32 year Firefighter Career...

 It is often said that two things you don’t talk about at work are politics and religion. “Religion is incredibly personal and even more polarizing than politics, so keep it to yourself.” Or, “You shouldn't discuss your religious beliefs or your thoughts about other religious beliefs at work. Religion is a very personal issue and people are very sensitive about it. They don't want to hear that you disagree with their religious beliefs or that you believe your religion is the one in which everyone should believe.” I’m sorry I simply believe this advice to be hogwash. Many hold to this opinion because “religion” is just a fragment of who they are. They have work, they have family, vacation, finances, etc, etc…and they have “religion”.

 This ‘religion’ thing really becomes a hangup for some. Likely because there are those (on both sides) that get a bit to excited about it.

Maybe I can explain my philosophy using a ‘firefighter’ analogy. A firefighter is what my vocational identity is, but there are several pieces that come into play to shape that identity. In my job I must know fire science, building construction, hydraulics, operating a fire pump, extinguishing a fire, how to recognize and control a dangerous situation, medically…especially as a paramedic…how to care for patients, medications and algorithms. Then the firefighter is to keep his or herself physically fit, look sharp, provide tours of the fire house and trucks, and educate the public. The firefighter is constantly involved in continuing education in all the above and at all times maintaining what we call response readiness, responding at a moment’s notice…day or night. Oh, and let’s not forget, swab a floor, cook a meal, and clean house. But wait a minute…I’m a firefighter. Yes, but this is what a firefighter is all about. This is his identity.

In the same way…my life identity…is as a follower of Jesus. Being a firefighter is just one of many pieces of this particular identity. This life in Christ does not stop depending where I am, who I’m with or what I’m doing. It is…who I am! It's what I'm about. This identity is shaped in much the same way as a firefighter. There’s much to know, there’s always continuing education, there’s response readiness, there’s maintaining fitness, there’s educating those around me and being educated by them. All along…this must be accomplished with the character of Christ. More than anything, that means GRACE!

'Response readiness' is required

So…because this is who I am, you can’t ask me to keep ‘it’ to myself, or “not discuss my beliefs”. That approach says, tell me about your weekend, your vacation, your kids’ baseball game, but never talk to me about who you are. But...this is who I am. Sure…I must proceed with amazing grace, with respect. And hopefully I can live out to a great extend St. Francis of Assisi’s quote: “Preach Christ always, and if necessary use words”. His saying states ‘live out the character of Christ daily’. An ‘in your face’ attitude is not required. Rather I hope that my words might proceed only after the character and only then when appropriate. At the same time I must be equally respecting to another. And in this mutual respect we have dialogue.

My ‘identity’ in Christ was there before my career of ‘being a firefighter’ and I intend for it to be there long after my career. Because of this we’ve often had bible studies at the ole PAF&R. These studies, discussions and fellowship began with Duane, Byron and myself and continue to this very day. My hope is that when I’ve driven away from the station for the very last time that the brothers here will continue in their ‘identity’ in Christ in such a way that lives will be left changed by how they live and by what they say.