Busy Day

It was the sound of my ringing phone that roused me from a deep sleep. The sound of the Y-Com dispatcher chased the last bit of sleep from me as I jumped out of bed and hurriedly threw my clothes on to head to the cardiac arrest I had just been dispatched to.

For the next four hours I comforted family members of the deceased, made the call to the funeral home and worked with deputies as we walked the family through an at home death. As I was helping the funeral home and the deputy move the deceased to the gurney, my phone rang again. This time to be dispatched to a Wildland fire.

Arriving at the scene of the wild fire, I met with the duty officer and got a quick report on the status of the fire. For the next two hours I took pictures, comforted the home owners who were watching the fire move towards their home and encouraged crew members.

When the fire had finally been out out, I headed back to the station to download photos and wrap up the morning events. As I walked into the station my stomach growled and I realized that I had missed breakfast and lunch. I also realized that I was wheezing like a pug dog. The Chief listened to my breathing and ordered me to have one of the paramedics give me an emergency breathing treatment.

As the breathing treatment was finishing, the pizza that the Chief had ordered arrived to feed all of us. I do not know when pizza had tasted so good. As we visited and went over the morning events the stations emergency tones rang out and the medics ran out to answer yet another injury call.

Finishing at the station I headed home, making a quick stop at the church to take the photos that had been requested by denominational headquarters of the Church's Saturday night dinners for the needy and homeless. As I walked into the house I began stripping off my smoky and sweaty clothes with Hope Puppy leaping around me. Wrapping a clean shirt around me I sank wearily down on the couch and put my tired feet up.

It was about then that Y-com dispatcher called again and requested that I respond to a traffic fatality. With a sigh, I threw my clothes on and headed to the accident scene. Of course since traffic was at a standstill that meant I had to park on the shoulder of the highway and hike the 3/4 of a mile to the scene. Wheezing and coughing as I arrived on scene, I listened to the scene overview from our duty officer and soon I was busy at work.

2 hours later, I thankfully got a ride from the Odot supervisor back to my car and headed to the station. Once at the station I received yet another breathing treatment and waited for the last of the crews to arrive. I finally headed home after setting up an appointment with the crew for a debriefing for the tomorrow afternoon.

Now I am curled up in bed. Tired, but knowing that what I did today made a difference in the lives of a lot of different people.

I think that is a pretty good way to end the day.

Just Connie