Cruising The Slow Lane

I am a very slow driver. Usually, I do the speed limit, max. Stay in the right lane, use my turn signals, keep a safe distance, 'dont use the car as a time machine' - was once said to me by a Driving Instuctor, and it stays firmly planted. (Another thanks to teachers!) This drives Lady C nuts. I can drive in the parking lot for a space, and manage to miss all the open ones, 'cause I'm rolling on slow. Being on an island, it is really hard to get lost. Where the hell is there to get lost at? I know almost all the short-cuts, the fastest ways to be traffic tie-ups, the weird way to get anywhere, I know. I am a driver who appears well medicated.

Now, combine that little nut of information with how fast I drive a fire truck. Go figure. Vewy, Vewy fass, ewe wascially wabbit. For some reason, driving a $500K truck doesnt bother me a bit. Driving it very fast, neither. Now, dont get me wrong, I operate it as safe as possible. Use all my senses to drive. Watch here, there and everywhere at once. But I do drive 'em very fast. Training to drive our trucks is a fairly rigorous deal. The instructors push you pretty hard, forcing you to learn on double-clutching standard trucks. Moving these behemoths takes and understanding of the whole workings of gears, RPM's, and when and where to shift. Safety, of course, is paramount, and should always be.

Interesting things happen when I am driving. If I am driving the pumper, (the truck that supplies the water to fires) the calls will be of a certain nature, either fire, auto accident, or certain locales where the Ladder truck cant go. Once, I got the whole rig, airborne. A very heavy truck it is. With 750 gallons of water, all the gear, it weighs .... a hellla lot. But I managed to get the sucker airborne. Hit a dip just right, and at 55 MPH, touched the sky. Needless to say, my Captain, good old Conehead, was ... speechless. Once his eyes came to rest back in his head, he kindly asked me not to do it again. I always wondered why everyone seatbelts themselves BEFORE we even leave the station. If we arent going to alarms, old Mr. Turtle, returns. Oldtimers will tell you that 'we didnt start the fire, get there in one piece, etc.' I tend to think of it as we get there faster, we can save a life, but yeah, I do need to get the guys there safely. And I do.

When I was driving Chief Killa, I managed to put some extra grey on his finely coiffed 'do. With him, I drive a Chiefs SUV. Big sucker. Ford. Expedition. Loaded with equipment, heavy as heck too. I can get him to the other side of the island in 10 minutes, max. When doing the reports, he was always wondering how the times of our response to incidents was so quick. Then he would look over at me, and say - " that's right, YOU were driving" It would drive him nuts, because I take what seems like the worst possible way to get to where we are going, only to beat the other companies that are going too. Fun in the sun, I always say.

You probably dont want to know how much fun it is to blast the siren, air horn.

Keep those windows up, the stereo blasting, I will still get your attention.

Big yellow truck in the rearview mirror tends to do that.

Reason for mentioning this is two-fold - One if you are driving down the road, and emergency vehicles are rolling, pull over to whichever side is safest for you. The reason we could be hauling arse could very well be to save the life of your loved one, or even our own. Locations for firefighters, how to get there, should be second nature. We as professionals, are sworn to get there and do good. Fastest, safest route. I may sound like I am playing, but there is one thing in the brain going on - what can we do to help.

The seconds it takes off to get there, could be the defining difference in a persons life.

Our crew was out shopping for what was on the menu one shift, when the call comes in as a cardiac arrest. The location was fairly close, and it was not our alarm. But we knew we were closer than the company that was called, so we took it.

We arrive at the scene, (quickly, dontcha know) to find a 55 y/o male down, not breathing, no pulse, apenic. Family stiil on the phone to 911. Fast. From alarm to arrival was less than 21/2 minutes. The golden hour starts the second you go down. Quick questions on patient history, meds, vitals. Start CPR. Pull out AED. Ventilate, attach O2. Attach electrodes to patient. Detect shockable rhythm. Shock the patient. Analyze. Shock again. EMS arrives. Exchange info. Intubate (put the tube into the lungs) Continue CPR. Analyze. Shock # 3. Regain a pulse. Lose the pulse. CPR. Coordinate the transportation of the victim to the ambulance. Analyze, shock #4. Load patient, grab one guy to drive the ambulance.

A week later the family comes by with Dad, to say thanks.

The thing is, you cant know how many times it runs thru my head - would a second or two have made a difference? And that really wears you down. I try not to look at it that way, but sometimes you have to much time to think.

So score one save.

It sucks to think about the losses.

Stay well.

Aloha.