Neil Loch sat uncomfortably in the straight-backed chair in front of the training officer’s desk. He was nervous on this, his first day of work, and now his backside was going numb. Calvin Cottrell, the training officer for Westdale Emergency Medical Services, shuffled papers around his desk and frowned into his bushy mustache.
“Sign here.” He said for what seemed the fiftieth time. Neil signed his name again.
“All right. Everything seems to be in order.” Calvin said, leaning back in his leather chair. “Now you go to your facilitator, which is…” he flipped a paper, “Paramedic Sarah Grayson. You’ll be partnered with her for three months, at which time you will go before the review committee for approval to probationary status. Your probation will last a year, and then you will go again before the committee for approval as a permanent employee.”
“So, in other words, don’t make the committee mad.” Neil chuckled nervously, trying to lighten in the stiffness of the moment.
The training officer remained stoic and peered at the new recruit over the top of his glasses.
“Sarah is the best facilitator we have.” Calvin continued, removing his glasses. “If you don’t pass the review board after three months under her training, you aren’t trainable.”
Neil cleared his throat, “Thank you, sir.” He had visions of a gray-haired school marm with a ruler in hand.
The training officer led Neil down the corridor and out to the ambulance bay. Six ambulances and two supervisor Suburbans were parked precisely in line. One ambulance was pulled forward into the drive and sat with the back doors and cab doors open and the hood up.
Calvin stopped at the open back doors of the ambulance and put his boot on the step. Balancing the facilitation notebook and a stack of papers on his leg, he shouted, “Sarah!”
“Coming!” called a muffled voice from under the hood. Neil uneasily shifted the small duffle bag on his shoulder as the hood of the truck was slammed shut.
“Yes?” the voice asked as a tiny brunette walked around the back of the ambulance. “Oh. Hi, are you Neil?” Sarah asked holding out her small hand.
“Uh, yeah. That’s me.” Neil replied his hand nearly enveloping hers.
“Neil,” Calvin said, “this is Sarah Grayson. Sarah will be your facilitator. Now, why don’t you go put your bag in the cab, while I go over some papers with Sarah.”
“Sure.” Neil mumbled, feeling like a child shut out of an adult conversation. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Calvin shuffle his papers in Sarah’s direction. After slinging his bag onto the passenger side of the cab, Neil returned to the back of the truck.
“…sounds good.” Sarah was saying. “Is that everything?”
“Yes, that should be everything. Make sure you turn your papers in at the end of each shift.” Calvin directed, closing the notebook and giving it to Sarah. “Well, Neil, I leave you in good hands.”
“Thank you.” Neil said, with a handshake.
“See you later, Sarah.”
“Bye.” Sarah replied.
Calvin walked back towards the administrative wing leaving the two medics standing at the back of the ambulance. Sarah turned and climbed up onto the floor of the truck, sat herself on the edge, and placed her feet on the steps. Neil didn’t know that they made boots that small.
“Okay, let’s get started,” she said, patting the floor next to her. Neil sat down and rested his elbows on his knees. “You’ve finished your written and practicum exams, had your physical—tons of fun—and passed your drug screen.” Neil nodded and Sarah placed a check next to each item on the paper.
“Have you got enough uniforms?” she asked, tugging on the sleeve of his royal blue polo shirt. It was embroidered with the company logo on the right chest, and had his name, Neil Loch, and title, Emergency Medical Technician, written on the left chest.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Have you had your map test?”
“No.”
“How well do you know the city?”
“Moved here from Ohio three weeks ago.”
“Oh.” Sarah said, looking up at him. “Gotta work on that then.”
Neil saw how beautiful her eyes were. That didn’t help his nerves any.
“So, we have to get you ready for your map test, finish orientation, complete the skills check list, and build up your hours. We can do that.” Sarah closed the notebook and jumped down from the ambulance. “I’ve already checked the truck off for today; you can do it Thursday. Do you know where anything in the truck is?”
“No, not really.”
“Well, let’s start with the outside compartments.”
Slowly, they circled the truck, opening each compartment, pulling equipment out and putting it back. Neil began to feel more comfortable around the truck. He found it easy to pay attention to what Sarah was saying, but he didn’t know if it was because she was a good teacher or because he found her very attractive. Her shiny brown ponytail waved back and forth with every movement she made. Her arms were graceful and strong as she lifted backboards, stair-chairs, and other equipment on and off the truck. Her waist was so small that Neil thought she must have cut extra holes in her duty belt to make it fit.
The two finished the outside compartments and climbed into the back of the truck. Neil had to bend way over to keep from bumping his head. Sarah stood up straight with about an inch to spare. She maneuvered her way towards the cab and sat down in the captain’s chair at the head of the patient cot. Neil sat on the jump bench that ran alongside the cot.
“The main oxygen tank is turned on and off from this valve here.” Sarah said, pointing to a valve at the back of the main shelf. “The flow regulator is over here. There’s always a nasal canulla and a non-rebreather mask next to it. The rest of the—“
The blare of their radio tones cut her short.
“Unit 3, dispatch,” the dispatcher called.
Sarah pulled the radio from her belt.
“Three,” she said.
“Code 3 to Center and Cooper. Pedestrian verses vehicle.”
“10-4.” Sarah replied. “Let’s go,” she said to Neil. They jumped out the back of the ambulance, slammed the doors, and jumped into the cab.
Neil strapped on his seat belt and threw his duffle bag into the floorboard out of the way. Sarah started the engine and pulled on her seat belt. Slowly, she edged the truck out to the street, flipped on the lights, and hit the siren.
“Am I clear?” she asked, looking out of her window. Neil looked out the passenger side. No cars.
“Clear.”
Sarah turned the truck left into the street. Cars yielded to the right to let them pass, but not having enough room to maneuver, Sarah drove down the middle of the street. After a few blocks, she turned right.
“Change the siren,” she directed. Neil flipped the switch to a different setting. “This is Center Street. Most everything in the city runs off of here. Cooper is down by Fire Station 7. Convenient place for a wreck.”
The ambulance blazed down Center, pausing at each intersection.
“There, you can see the fire trucks out now.” Sarah said, pointing to an intersection ahead of them. Police cars and fire trucks lit up the street in red and blue. An officer directing traffic flagged the ambulance to a space near the scene.
Sarah put the truck in park. She grabbed a pair of gloves from the center console. Neil reached over to do the same, but all of the gloves were smalls and larges.
“There are some extra larges behind the seat.” Sarah apologized, “I didn’t think to get them out for you. After you get them on, get the backboard, a head bed, and the stretcher.” With that, she leapt from the truck, slammed the door, and trotted over to the scene. Neil got out and went to the back to get the stretcher. He wheeled the stretcher to the outside compartment with the backboards and pulled one out. Carefully, he pushed the stretcher over to the sidewalk and curb where the patient lay.
A small car was pulled over to the side of the road with its emergency flashers blinking. There were spots of green paint in a few small dents on the hood. A green bicycle lay on the street in front of it and a tall, black teenager sprawled on the ground a few feet away. Blood trickled down his face from a gash on his forehead. A burly firefighter held the boy’s head still as Sarah leaned over and talked to him.
“Hi, I’m Sarah. What’s your name?”
“Demetrius,” the boy said.
“Demetrius, I’m going to put a brace on your neck. It’s going to help you keep your head still. Steven.” She said, directing the firefighter to place the cervical collar on the boy’s neck.
Demetrius’ eyes brimmed with fear. He wrapped his hand around Sarah’s wrist. Sarah placed her own over his.
“I’m going to take good care of you, okay? Now, I need to get you into my ambulance, so my partner is going to put a board under your back. It’s going to feel hard, but it will help keep your back straight. On your count, Steven.”
“On three.” Steven began, “One, two, three.” Sarah, Steven, and another firefighter turned the boy on his side. Sarah ran her hand along the patient’s back feeling for anything abnormal and checking her glove for blood. All seemed to be in order and she signaled Neil to slide the board up to the boy’s back. The team gently lowered Demetrius onto the board.
“Great job, Demetrius!” Sarah said warmly. After Neil secured the chest and leg straps, Sarah taped the patient’s head to the board with the head bed.
“Now, we’re going to put you in the ambulance,” she explained. Demetrius’ hand reached for Sarah’s again. She held it as Steven and Neil lifted the board and placed it on the stretcher. Sarah walked next to the stretcher while the other two wheeled it to the truck. She didn’t let go of his hand until they reached the doors.
“Up you go!” she said, as the stretcher was pushed into the back of the ambulance. “Thanks, Steve.”
“Sure thing.” Steve answered, waiting for Neil and Sarah to climb into the back before slamming the door. Somehow, Neil ended up in the captain’s chair at the head of the patient.
“Get a pressure for me, Neil.” Sarah said, pulling a tiny flashlight from her belt. “Okay, Demetrius, bright light.” Quickly, she shined the light into her patient’s eyes and put the light away. She looked in his ears, and felt his collarbones and the bones in his chest. She pulled off the black stethoscope from around her neck and listened to his heart and lungs.
“110 over 70. Pulse 120.” Neil said, reporting the patient’s blood pressure.
“Go ahead and spike a bag of normal saline.” Neil nodded and pulled the bag from the cabinet.
Sarah pressed her hand into the boy’s stomach.
“Anything hurt here?”
“No.”
The paramedic rocked the patient’s hips looking for instability and checked his legs for any problems.
“Wiggle your feet for me, Demetrius.” Sarah said. The huge Nikes jostled back and forth. “Good job,” she said, sitting on the jump bench alongside the patient. “Listen to me, Demetrius. I need to put a needle, an IV, in your arm to give you some medicine. It will feel like a bee sting, but it won’t hurt for long. Okay?”
Sarah slid the IV tray closer to her on the bench. She prepped the boy’s arm and tied a tourniquet around it. The patient’s veins bulged out. Neil watched as his partner deftly slid an intravenous needle into the vein, released the tourniquet, and attached the fluids. The saline dripped slowly into the boy’s arms.
“Wonderful, Demetrius, you’re doing great,” she glanced up at Neil, “Ready to head to Mercy?”
“Yeah,” he said, got out, and went around to the driver’s seat. He flipped on the lights and siren and carefully pulled away from the scene.
Sarah and Neil stood outside the ambulance in the Mercy Hospital parking lot.
“After you give report to the nurse and leave the patient, you…” Sarah began.
“You finish the run report, get the Doc to sign it, put it in the shift folder in the EMS room, replace all the supplies you used, and tell dispatch that you’re back in service.” Neil finished.
“Great! You’re catching on.” Sarah glanced at her watch. “It’s almost lunch time. Did you bring a lunch, or do you need to stop and get something, or did you just want to scrounge for something at the post?”
“I didn’t bring anything. What’s at the post?”
“Today we’re posted at Fire Station 4; they usually have lots of sandwich stuff. Sometimes they cook,” she paused, “Sometimes they even cook edible things.”
Neil smiled as he walked around towards the passenger side of the cab.
“Where are you going?” Sarah called. Neil turned around just as she threw the keys at him. “The only way you’re going to learn the streets is to drive them.”
Neil walked back around the truck and Sarah went to the other side. On their way to the Fire Station, Sarah pointed out cross streets and landmarks. Westdale was a pretty little town; a little larger than the town from which Neil had moved. There were stately oaks and tall pines; old country stores and brightly-lit malls.
“Why did you move to Westdale?” Sarah asked as they drove.
“After I finished EMT school, I applied to a huge number of places. This one just seemed to work out best. My cousin Mark is on the Fire Department here, so we’re sharing an apartment.”
“Mark…Mark Carter?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“Mark Carter is your cousin? Wow, you don’t look a bit like him!” Sarah exclaimed.
“Thanks, I try not to.” Neil answered. Sarah laughed.
“Station 4 is right up there on the right. See it?”
“Yeah.”
Neil pulled the ambulance into the driveway and carefully backed it into the bay. Sarah handed him his duffle bag and he reached behind the seat to get her backpack. As they got out of the truck, a firefighter with graying hair walked into the bay and towards one of the pumper trucks.
“Hey, Bob!” Sarah called.
“Hi, Sarah!” Bob responded with a wave.
“How’s Karen?”
“She’s doing great! Maggie’s graduating from high school in a few weeks. We’re all excited about that.” Bob said with a huge grin.
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks! See you inside in a minute.” Bob said walking back toward the fire truck.
“All right, Bob.”
Sarah and Neil walked into Fire Station 4. Four firefighters lounged in the main room watching a baseball game on television.
“Sarah!”
“Hey, Sarah!”
“Hi, guys!” Sarah said, tossing her bag on a table by the window.
“Sarah, who’s the newbie?” the man in the recliner asked.
Neil smiled, “Hi.”
“This is Neil… Loch?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, like Nessie.”
Sarah laughed, “This is Neil, he’s my new trainee.”
“Hi, Neil.”
“Welcome.”
“Make yourself at home,” the firefighters said.
“Thanks.” Neil said, a little embarrassed. Introductions were not his thing. Sarah introduced him to the firefighters, pointing to each man in turn.
“Come on. Let’s raid the fridge.” Sarah said, walking towards the kitchen. Neil gladly followed.
The two medics pulled out sandwich ingredients. Neil noticed that Sarah’s left hand was unadorned. They piled meat, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce into two huge sandwiches, got sodas from the machine, and headed back to the main room. Neil sat on the couch to watch the game and cheer for the Cubs with the rest of the guys. Sarah sat at the window, reading.
When Sarah finished her sandwich and walked back into the kitchen with her plate, the firefighter named Jeremy followed her into the other room. The other men looked at each other and snickered. Neil was obviously missing something. Bob walked into the room and sat next to him on the couch.
“Hey, man, where’s the bathroom?” Neil asked him.
“Down the hall, through the kitchen,” Bob directed.
How convenient, Neil thought, as he stood and picked up his plate. He walked down the hallway and could see Sarah at the sink washing her plate, her back to him. She was discussing something with Jeremy, who was leaning his elbow on the refrigerator and trying to look dashing. Neil stood tentatively by the door, not wanting to interrupt, not wanting to eavesdrop, but, also, not wanting to be in the dark about what was going on.
“You have the biggest, most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen.” Jeremy was saying.
“That’s very sweet. My answer is still no,” Anna replied, turning off the water and placing her dish in the rack.
“Come on, Sarah! Just let me take you to dinner!”
“No!” Sarah said, holding up her hands in frustration, “We’ve been through this. I’m not going to go out with you, I—“
Neil cleared his throat. They looked over at him, surprised. He held up his plate. “I came to put my dish up,” he said and walked toward the sink.
Sarah turned to leave, “Just wash it and put it in the drip rack.” She walked quickly from the room.
“Sarah!” Jeremy called, but she did not answer. He growled in frustration and left by the back door to the truck bay.
