GoofyMom's Even Greater American Road Trip - 2008 - Updated 11/14 About This Page:

[GoofyMom]

Ok, sorry I very rudely left everybody hanging after our day in NYC. I have some time now, so here’s what I did the next day:

Friday, October 3

I believe I left off saying that it was going to be a really early morning. Well, we woke up at 4:30 because today was the day I was joining Sue at work. For anybody who doesn’t know, Sue is a paramedic and works 12 hour shifts. Today’s shift started at 6 am. Steve got me all prepared by making me repeat “Standby One” over and over. Why? I am not sure! I never once heard those words all day long…

I had to dress similarly to Sue – blue shirt and pants and boots, and Steve loaned me a jacket that, although it didn’t say Paramedic on it, did have some EMS-ish logo on it. I totally looked the part. Unfortunately there are no photos to prove it.

We caught a ride to work with Steve at 5:30 and when we got there, Sue introduced me to a few people including her partner for the day, Margo; then she took me upstairs to the… hm, I’m not sure what to call it. Lounge? Common room? It’s where they hang out while they are waiting for a call, where they do their paperwork, and where they can sleep if they have an uneventful overnight shift. The first thing Sue told me is that you never ever say “Gee, it’s quiet” and you never ever make a pot of coffee first thing in the morning because that would guarantee you’re going to be busy. Well, we got upstairs to find a freshly brewed pot of coffee. We dumped our stuff off and headed down to the garage where the ambulances are and Sue started to check and refill the supplies when all of a sudden… yep. The alarm went off.

We climbed into the ambulance and off we went! When we found the place, there were dogs running all over the place. Note to everybody: if you have to call 911, lock up your pets. Emergency people shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not a dog (even the most friendly and docile dog) will be discombobulated by all the activity and strangers and become aggressive! Anyway, they finally convinced the people to put the dogs away and we were able to enter the home. It was a young girl who couldn’t move when she tried to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Eventually, they were able to get her to the bathroom and woohoo! I got to watch somebody pee. We did end up putting her on a stretcher and taking her to the hospital and I hope she’s ok.

We stopped at a bagel place to grab a real quick breakfast. And I mean quick. We brought our food back to the station and just started digging in when we got another call. It was a call to a rest stop. There had been a collision and one woman was reporting minor injuries. So off we went. The lady didn’t really require treatment, seems she was only going to end up with a bruise or two and be pretty sore for the next few days. So back we went to the station.


Margo and Sue finishing breakfast

We finished our breakfast and guess what? Yep. Another call. By this time Sue was blaming me for being a jinx. I was like no way! I wasn’t the one who made the coffee…


On our way to the call


My view from the back of the “bus”


Sue telling me she’s going to have to hurt me for taking her picture while she’s working….

Anyway… We found the house we were looking for and went in to discover an elderly lady who had fallen in the bathroom. Margo and Sue helped her go to the bathroom, and woohoo! I got to watch somebody pee again. Sue has a very exciting job. Ok, I really shouldn’t be so glib about this because this lady was experiencing mini strokes. This one took a bit of time to figure out how to handle it because her left side kept getting weaker and weaker and soon, it was my job to hold her on her chair so she wouldn’t slip off. They had to call for assistance because we weren’t going to be able to get a stretcher in due to stairs and a very tight turn; so Linda (remember Sue’s friend Linda from the WDW portion of our trip) and another EMT came with a special chair to take her out of the house. We transferred her to the stretcher and Sue had the lights and siren going as we headed to the hospital. Margo impressed the heck out of me as I watched her nonchalantly and very smoothly start an IV on some pretty nasty rough roads. My job was to support the woman because even though she was strapped onto the stretcher she was falling off the side of it. Periodically I asked her if she was ok, because she didn’t look comfortable. She started out saying “yes” but by the time we got to the hospital, her responses were “yesssssshhhhhh” and I watched her face fall. I had never seen anybody having a stroke before and I consider it to be a very valuable lesson for me because now I know exactly what it looks like.

Anyway, we got her in the hospital and I watched the American medical system at work. I was impressed. After we left the hospital, we stopped briefly to buy some groceries for lunch. Margo cooked sloppy joes for us.

The afternoon was spent waiting around for calls that never came. What do EMTs do while they are waiting for calls? They watch TV. They mess around with other EMT’s heads…


They do paperwork….


And they hide from the paparazzi…

I had woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and it had been getting sorer and sorer as the day went by, so I headed next door to a very conveniently located ice cream stand and pigged out! Hey, it was medicinal ice cream!

Eventually Sue’s shift ended and it was time to go back home. We got back to find out that Dan had spent the day sightseeing some of the waterfalls and scenic areas of the Poconos, rather than golfing like we had thought he would.


Resica Falls
Sue ordered pizza for dinner. I don’t remember if we did much that evening. My throat was getting sorer and sorer and it was starting to feel like I was swallowing shards of broken glass. I kind of have a feeling that I pooped out early and tried to get some sleep.


The weather today was… sunny and nice
The best thing today was… hanging out with Sue and Margo
The worst thing today was… starting to get a sore throat
Today I tried… going to work with Sue
And the result was… we had 3 calls, 2 of them serious enough to require trips to the hospital

[Wendyismyname]

Very nice update Donna!! I am glad you've been able to go to work with both Bill and Sue now!!! Any chance you might like to do my job some day?? Come on, it's only 4 kids and 4 animals!!

[SouthernBelle]

YOU GO GIRL

for braving the paramedic scene with Sue


Great pictures!! Hurry back I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great day with Sue on the job!! More please

[rescuesk]

Donna was both a jinx and an asset! Seriously, it was alot of fun having you ride along!

Um...more please?

[Minnie Lor]

Originally Posted by Wendyismyname

Very nice update Donna!! I am glad you've been able to go to work with both Bill and Sue now!!! Any chance you might like to do my job some day?? Come on, it's only 4 kids and 4 animals!!

I was thinking the same thing but with a much easier job. Want to come to work with me Donna? I work at a jewelry store. I'd let you try on jewelry.

Enjoying your TR and 'take your friend to work' experiences. Love Dan's picture of the falls.

[chezp]

What a neat day with Sue - it's fascinating to see her at work. By the way, I know the thing about never saying it's quiet - that was the same when I was a journalist. I mentioned the "q" word a couple of times and huge stories broke. Never again after that!

[luvnwdwgal]

What an interesting day getting to hang out with Sue at work! Now hurry up and give us some more......please!

[christiejay]

Sounds like you had a fun day, although I'd rather have gone to see the waterfalls. That was a very pretty picture. Sorry you're starting to feel bad - love your idea of the medicinal ice cream, though!

[pamcarey]

What an interesting update! I'm sorry you're getting sick, though... medicinal ice cream sounds like just the cure!

[lauren-roxy]

What an interesting day!!!

[elbug10]

How that you got to ride along with Sue! Braver of you than I, that's for sure. There's some things that I just don't want to see or know about. I love that you've experienced "Take a Passporter Friend to Work Day" twice now! Oh, and we're not allowed to say the "q" word in retail, either, that or "I'm bored". Be careful what you wish for...

Sorry that your throat's not feeling too good, but glad you had the ice cream idea.

Now stop sending me jokes and get on with this TR, please! Okay, continue the jokes, but work on the TR, too!

[mitchg]

Finally got all caught up with your trip report. How that you got to ride along with Bill and Sue! Sorry to hear you were getting sick.
Looking forward to more!

[Chrissi]

I finally get caught up and you still haven't gotten to the part where you meet your birthday twinkie DJ yet! He's becoming very impatient!