Ambulance Driver

I didn't write this, but it is true, nonetheless...

I'm way more than just an ambulance driver...

Standing in chest deep water, freezing rain falling and stinging as it hits the exposed parts of my body. Holding her head above water to keep her from drowning until rescue could get there to cut her free---
BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

Comforting a 89 year old woman who just watched me and my partner cover the face of her husband of 64 years as he lay dead in their bathroom floor---
BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

On scene at an MVA with mom trapped upside down in her car and her dead sons body laying on top of her, without a second thought for my own safety I crawl into the wreckage to take C-spine control and calm the frantic lady---
BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER

Called away from my just prepared meal to respond to the middle of nowhere to a house with no numbers, no porch light on, nobody waiting to signal us in and they complain because we took too long only to find out the patient left ten minutes ago... so we smile and walk away from the verbal lashing only because we are
JUST AMBULANCE DRIVERS

Standing in the middle of the street at midnight on the wrong side of town trying to patch the holes and stop the bleeding of a 19 year old shooting victim. With the occasional bullet wizzing past our heads we never break stride because this kids life is in our hands---
BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULNCE DRIVER

Doing chest compressions on a 16 year old girl who decided this life was more than she could take. Her family screaming at us to help as though we are the ones who did this to her. Her lifeless body flailing about as the tube goes in and IV's being started, my arms and back burning from the pain of 30 minutes of CPR, never once giving up, hoping she would make it through and over come whatever lead her to this bad decision----
BUT I'M JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER




Death is all around me and still I go home to live my life

I get kicked, hit, spit on, bled on, puked on...

I look into the eyes of a lifeless child at 7am and by 8 am I'm holding my child a little tighter and they know nothing about what happened.

I have hundreds of hours of classroom time

Years of experience in the field

I have challenged death and won

I've helped the helpless

I've neglected my family for yours

I find comfort in complete chaos

I eat cold meals if I eat at all

I work with no sleep for days at a time

I miss birthdays, holidays and school functions

I put myself in harms way for a total stranger on a daily basis

ALL BECAUSE I AM JUST AN AMBULANCE DRIVER



I AM AN AMBULANCE DRIVER, I DRIVE 90 MPH THROUGH CONJESTED TRAFFIC FULL OF PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO YEILD RIGHT OF WAY WHILE MY PARTNER STANDS UNRESTRAINED IN THE BACK OF THIS SCREAMING LAND MISSLE SAVING YOUR LOVED ONES LIFE!! NEVER ONCE DOES HE QUESTION MY DRIVING, HE KNOWS THAT AT THE END OF THIS SHIFT HE WILL GO HOME TO HIS FAMILY SAFELY, BECAUSE I AM AN AMBULANCE DRIVER....

NinjaMedic State Paramedic Credential Examination

KF- Thought I would take a stab at this...

Are you a good problem solver?
I feel like I am. I tend to take a systematic approach to it. Looking at it from all angles and being sure to find the very best solution- 1/2 the time. The other 1/2, I wing it and go with my gut instinct.

Can you concentrate for long periods of time?
I can, but it is difficult. I have to have music to concentrate. It takes my mind off of everything else and allows me to really hone in on what I'm doing.

Are you a perfectionist? 
Most definitely not. If it works, and works well, its cool by me. It doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it gets the job done. What-so-ever 'it' may be.

Do you persevere with your interests?
Sure. When I am interested in it, I go for it.

Are you an avid reader?
Not really. Once in a while I will get into a book or series of books that I really get involved in. But it is rare. A Book has to really capture my attention. My favorite author is Ted Dekker.

Do you have a vivid imagination? 
Oh yes! I can entertain myself for hours on end imagining what happens when I leave a room or whatnot.

Do you enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles?
Eh, I used to as a kid, and kinda still do a little. I get bored with them very easily now for some reason.

Often connect seemingly unrelated ideas?
This is kind of strange and personal, but every night before I go to bed, a thought will pop in my head, and from that thought, literally 100 more thoughts come up in my mind. Stranger than that, before I go to sleep, I have to back trace every thought all the way back to the original.

Do you enjoy paradoxes?
I love them. They are a real workout for the brain. I can literally feel the muscles in my head moving and doing some hardcore cardio and wight resistance. Heavy stuff.

Do you set high standards for yourself?
I do, but I often set them unattainably high, and then I get really let down when I am not able to achieve those goals.

Do you have a good long-term memory?
Yes. I remember the soft, warm fuzzy feeling I had when I was but a fetus. Seriously, though. Yeah. Just the other day I was wondering not that but why i remember seemingly pointless things about my childhood. Little conversations I had with my friends. Things I said when I was 6 years old to my classmates that I wish I could take back because they sound so utterly stupid. It's amazing how the mind works...

Are you deeply compassionate?
I really am. I am compassionate and sentimental. I put up a hard front, but things do really get to me underneath the surface.

Do you have persistent curiosity?
Sometimes, about certain things.

Do you have a good sense of humor?
Yeah, you have to in this business. 

Are you a keen observer?
I try to be.

Do you love mathematics?
Not really. I mean, I don't do math problems for fun - I use it when I have to, but I don't do it for recreation

Do you need periods of contemplation?
Yeah. I love coming home in the afternoon after hours upon hours of bull upon bull dealing with the worlds problems, and just grabbing a beer, and sitting on the porch, staring off into the treeline behind my house, drinking my beer, and smoking a few cigarettes. It is then, I can relax and contemplate my day, and the deeper things of life.

Do you search for meaning in your life?
Not really, I have found meaning. I have a wonderful God who put me here to accomplish His purpose. I have a great career that I love going to every morning. I have the best family a guy could ask for. That is the meaning of life, right there. I am joyful in every situation. I may not be happy, but I have joy.

Are you aware of things that others are not?
I have always had a sort of sixth sense about things. I can always smell fear, deception and worry in a person. I always know when something is bothering someone.

Are you fascinated by words?
Yes, some words I over analyze and end up repeating so many times they start to sound stupid, like they aren't even real words, like stop. Say 'stop' 150 times and see if it still sounds like a part of the English vocabulary.

Are you highly sensitive?
To what?

Do you have strong moral convictions?
Yes.

Do you often feel out-of-sync with others?
Yes. I often feel like nobody 'gets' me or understand where I'm coming from.

Are you perceptive or insightful?
Sure!

Do you often question rules or authority?
Yeah. If I feel a rule in unjust or an authority figure is overstepping their bounds, oh yeah.

Do you have organized collections?
Nope.

Do you thrive on challenge?
Why yes, I do.

Do you have extraordinary abilities and deficits?
I like to think I am extraordinarily charming, good looking, musical, funny, good-smelling, nice, witty, etc and so forth.

Do you learn new things rapidly?
I learn the idea almost instantly. It may, however, take me a minute to grasp the details.

Feel overwhelmed by many interests/abilities?
Not overwhelmed, but I do have many interests and abilities. I love paramedicine, I work full time in EMS, I volunteer with a local rescue squad. I play guitar, I play the bass, I am an amateur photographer, I love to cook, I write poetry, I am a twitterer, I have this blogspot, I love computers and technology and the internet, I design websites, I'm on MySpace, I'm the father of a 12 month old. OK, maybe I am a bit overwhelmed... whew! 

Do you have a great deal of energy?
I think I have an average amount of energy.

Often take a stand against injustice?
All the time. If I see something that I perceive to be 'wrong', I speak up and I don't shut up until someone notices and takes action.

Do you feel driven by your creativity?
Yes. Nothing gets me going more than the thought of creating something new.

Love ideas and ardent discussion?
Yes.

Did you have developmentally advanced childhood?
I was reading by the time I was 2 1/2 . I was in kindergarten for three days before they promoted me to 1st grade. I won several grammar/vocabulary/spelling awards. So yeah, I guess I did. It all went downhill after the 4th grade though... family issues causes one to be less studious at times.

Have unusual ideas or perceptions?
Remarkably so...

Are you a complex person?
I think 'multifaceted' would be more appropriate than 'complex'.

-Mac

Time Passes, the Wind Breaks.

Hello All!

   It has been a while since my last post. I've been busy to say the least. And yes, that is mostly jsut a cheap copout so I don't have to try and come up with a reasonable excuse for the lapse of time since I have posted. Oh well. Just an update. My career is going really well. The family is great. My little boy just amazes me more and more everyday. For starters, he is going to be 1 year old in a week. A WEEK!!! Holy moly! Where has the time gone? It was just yesterday I was standing in the hallway in tears because he was under the bilirubin light because his levels were critical. It was only minutes ago that I was amazed as he turned his head and looked me directly in the eye. Mere seconds since he first said "Dada" and hit me on the head with his juice cup. Now, my 11 month, 3 week and one day old son is lying behind me in his crib sleeping. Unaware that his presence here has been a lifetime, and the blink of an eye. He is so smart.  We have a tall lamp in our living room. and on this lamp, about midway up, there is a circular tray built right in. A while back, Griffin was trying to pull up on the tray that is built in to the lamp, but he wasn't quite tall enough. Right near the lamp, there was a metal cash box just sitting there. He pulled the cash box over to him, climbed onto the cash box, and grabbed the tray that is built in to the lamp. Now what he did was wrong, and we popped him on the hand for grabbing the lamp, and explained that if it fell on top of him he would be hurt. You know, the whole "responsible parent" thing. But it amazed me that he grasped the concept so easily. Griffin is my first and only child, and I guess I never realized all the wonderful things I wouldn't have to teach him. It is just amazing all he knows how to do, and even more so that he just knows  how to do those things. No one has had to show him. He is amazing. He is my world. 

   I will end with one final thought and a photo. Just tonight, I was practicing my bass rhythms and Griffin comes crawling into "our" room (so designated because my son and I share it. 3/4 is his nursery, and 1/4 is my office/music studio/storage space/man cave.) He crawls over to me and starts pulling up on my pant leg. I obviously can't hold him because I am playing bass. So, I sit down on the floor with him, bass in tow. He comes over and sits in my lap. I pull him closer so the guitar is in front of the both of us. What does griffin do? He starts going to town, beating and banging on my guitar. I had a drum loop playing for ease of practice, and he starts bobbing his head to the beat and banging on the guitar. It was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. Not because the song he was playing was a masterpiece, but because he was excited, like he was really enjoying it. Hopefully, with any luck, I can teach him to play and he will love it like his old man does. Or maybe, just maybe, he will teach his old man a few tricks.

   For your viewing  pleasure, here is a picture of Griffin, studio bassist.

Here is a link to a video of Griffin playing bass with daddy:

Griffin Playing Bass