C-Ville my ass!!! you can't get there from here!!!!!!!!

Talk about the call of the year! Wow.

I 'm on duty tonite, 1400-0000. about 1800, i hear "QVA, snowmobile accident." The tones drop, then they come back and tell us it's on one of the trails in North Nowhere.

We get to the station, call en route, and ask for a better location. They come back with something along the lines of "QVA, it's on trail C-6, approximately 6 miles from the Sportsmans Lounge. Go to the Sportsmans Lounge on Michigan Mills Rd., rescue will meet you with the Pt."

So my crew and I are thinkin "WTF????? Sportsmans Lounge? Michigan Mills Rd? where the hell is that?! We dont know any of those places!!!"

So we ask for better directions... And this is what we hear... "QVA, per Lewis County, go into West Leyden, turn onto Rt. 26 North. Take that into C-Ville, turn left onto Highmarket Rd, follow that to Michigan Mills Rd, to the end. Rescue will meet you there."

There was a moment of silence on the ambulance.

All 3 of us were thinking "W....T....F!?!?!?!? C-ville? C-VILLE?! as in Constableville?!?!
Holy SH-T!"

The driver grabs the mic and says "Fire Control!!! CONSTABLEVILLE?!?!?!"

They respond with "That's Affirmative. stand by for more info and directions."

Driver "Yeah, OK!"

Through all this, you hear all the dispatchers laughing. We at QVA get called out to some real EBF locations, but this... Wow. We're talking about a 45 mile trip just to the Trailhead, then its anywhere from 5-20 miles past where the road ends to where the pt is on the trail. In the meantime, there are about 6 ambulances much closer, including one about 10 miles from the scene.

The problem here is the town of North Nowhere. The end we normally get called to is about a 20-25 minute drive due to the roads being very hilly, twisting, and turning. There are only about 15-20 ambulance accessible roads in North Nowhere, and they are mostly in the southwest corner of the town. Everything else is just seasonal access roads and snowmobile trails. Well doesnt it figure, this sled wreck is on the eastern side of North Nowhere (quite a large town, actually.) and there are only a few snowmobile trails connecting SW North Nowhere to eastern North Nowhere. The only road that totally crosses North Nowhere is the one we were taking, which is about 15 miles south of our scene, with only one very questionable road to even consider as a shortcut.

We call fire control back and ask if one of the 3 ambulances within 15 miles of the scene have been notified and they tell us that the pt is a few miles into the town of North Nowhere and since it's our district, they had to notify us.

So we told them to "go ahead and notify C-Ville and if they can cover it, go ahead and take the call and we'll cancel. In the meantime, we will continue on until we're told otherwise."

Apparently, shortly after that, the county EMS coordinator called fire control and asked
"What's all this ruckus going on with QVA?"

FC proceeded to fill him in and from what i heard, his response was like ours: "WTF?!", followed by, "Oh, HAILLLLL no!"

So he called Lewis County FC and told them to give that call to C-ville, because having us drive 45+ miles to this call was absolutely ridiculous when C-Ville was 10 miles down the road, and we had to drive through West Leyden and Constableville, both of whom have ambulances. plus there were like 4 other rigs besides them that were closer than we were.

They officially cancelled us about 5 miles from West Leyden (A solid 25 miles into our trip) , so we returned. We were just coming back into the village when we got hit for an EMS call right in town, which we handled without incident.

Last night, I was on with the same crew as tonite.
We got hit last night for an MHL transport. Girl had fight with Fiance, cops found her standing next to the river, staring at the water, wearing jeans and a t-shirt in temps of low-mid 20's.

When questioned, she wouldnt answer, then started gettin lippy i guess, so they decided she needed to go for a psych consult. She of course doesnt want to go, she just wants to talk it out with fiance, but as we all know, when the cops say you're goin, you're goin whether you like it or not.

After a few minutes, we convinced her to come with us to the rig.

We got downstairs and outside and she stopped by the back of the rig and launched back into her "I aint goin anywhere" speech. The other EMT asked her nicely a few times, then stepped forward and attempted to politely guide her towards the stretcher. She, of course, tried to pull/step away, so the police officer who was there took one arm, the other EMT on my crew took the other, and the wrestling match began. A few of us held her down, while a few more strapped her in, and once she realized she wasn't gonna win this one, she went into the 'lay there and sob' mode. Throw in a few "f-ck off"s and a couple sentences ending in "you f-ckin' retards" and you have a routine involuntary MHL (aka 941).

We got her dropped off and the other EMT was finishing up his paperwork when the medic came running in telling us we have another call, lets get moving.

That was a weakness/SOB call, and it turns out i know the lady. She's really nice, one of those "Everyone's Grandma" types... its sad. She's real sick, needs heart surgery, but she's been too sick to have the operation. Sad stuff. I didn't even recognize her til i saw her name on rescue's PCR. She looked downright haggard, drained, all that stuff.
She's such a nice lady, it sucks that she's so sick.

Not much else has been going on, except for paramedic class, of course.
The last few weeks have been all about IV's and Airways.
A lot of labs and practicing and stuff... we're off until the 2nd of January, i believe.

We were supposed to have class this morning, but our instructor told us we could have it off.
He said "This is my Christmas Present to you guys. Enjoy this break, because when you get back, the sh-t is gonna hit the fan. I suggest you enjoy the holidays, get some studying in, then on the day after New Years, say goodbye to your loved ones cuz you aint gonna see them again til August. Because after the first of the year, your hospital time is gonna start, then in about 2 months your ride time will start, and you're barely gonna have time to even sleep."

I'm going to do some more studying on break, specifically A&P, Shock, and Pharmacology.
After break, we get into Trauma for a while, then Cardiology starts and that runs from Feb. to April. I'm told that cardiology is what separates the men from the boys, so to speak.
I have to work my ass off here to make sure i stay caught up on my studies. I cannot and will not let myself be placed into the boys category here.

And now it is rant time. Read the whole thing before you get pissy at me.

Is it just me, or is this anti-Christmas bullshit getting out of hand? Give me a break. Holiday trees?! It's a CHRISTMAS TREE!!! The Christmas tree has been a CHRISTMAS tradition for how long? Whatever happened to freedom of speech and expression? People getting sued over nativity scenes? stores being forced to say Holiday Trees instead of Christmas trees because some bigmouth is offended by Christmas?

Look at the U.S. Constitution. See that part there about religion? Now look a little closer. It's "Freedom OF religion". Not Freedom FROM religion. Freedom OF. that means if you have a religion, you are free to express yourself in it.

But no. Some people like to bitch because Christmas and the background and beliefs that accompany it offend them.

Aren't these the same people who bitch and piss and moan about their rights being violated every time someone sneezes in their direction?
If they want their rights granted to them, then quit tryin to take other peoples rights away.

I could go on about this and rant and rave for hours, but i've said enough for now. As it is, i've toned this post down from the original. I was in a pissy mood when i wrote it and in hindsight i may have gone a little overboard on the original.
I'm sure some people are gonna get pissed reading this anyway.

I'm not saying that Christmas is, or should be, the only holiday out there this time of year. I understand that there's Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and other stuff out there, and I AM NOT AGAINST THEM, nor am I against the celebrations and beliefs that goes with those holidays!!!

Please don't take it that way. The people who get me so fired up like I was the other day when i wrote the orignal are the ones who try to squelch everything because they don't believe in any higher power, so they feel that everyone else should have to suffer through their miserable existence with them.

Ok, i'm done for now.
If I just pissed in your oatmeal and the disclaimer didn't
straighten things out for you, here's 2 words for you:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

And a very Merry Christmas and happy New Year to everyone.
I hope it's safe, healthy, and peaceful for all.