06 November 2005

Gotta Love Dispatch

Yeah-so much for the slow night. We went back to our main station in Waukegan to get some paperwork and realized our back passenger-side tire was almost flat. Perfect timing considering I practically needed a life preserver to get out of the rig.

We got another B.S. call around 0130 for a psych transfer. The guy was a mess-you know, the usual: tried to kill himself by overdose, is a regular crack head and has been married three times, and had such a huge belly he looked 18 months pregnant. His last wife committed suicide and blamed him. Nice.

We received our next call around 0400. Still pouring rain. This time I think my time would be better spent building an ark to live in. A psych return to a nursing home. I could tell she was huge as soon as we got the page. You know-when the name just screams morbidly obese. She was brought to the ER for a psych eval. Another quality use of our tax dollars so the nursing home staff didn't have to deal with her for the shift. When we got to the hospital I looked in room 10 and cringed- there she was, at least 6'6 and 280 pounds. She had to use the bathroom before we left so we waited for her in the hallway. I had the perfect plan to save my back and raise the ER bed to the height of the cot and have her scoot over. Yep. Those dreams were shattered by the ER nurse who proceeded to strip the bed to ready it for another patient. Damn it.

I swear to god all my dispatchers hate me. No matter who is dispatching they always make sure I don't sleep more than 15 minutes at a time. I think they just like to keep me on my toes. Good thing they aren't a fly on the wall because they would be dead from the amount of times I chuck the nextel across the room. Some nights I just refuse to go to sleep; it seems like when I do that we get less calls...I also get less sleep :( I still lose. Poop.

Another seemingly boring day. The firehouse is quiet. Only my partner and I. So far the most exciting thing I've done is practice throwing hose. Which, by the way, I still suck at. Maybe it's not me-the hose just knows where it wants to go and it's not in a straight line.

Well we're going to go visit some kids from a rescue call the other day to bring them fire helmets and coloring books. Hopefully we'll get a call before I'm off at 1600.

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