EMT.

One of our paramedics told me a story the other day about a cardiac call he ran involving a very young girl. The child was younger than 2, and had a heart complication. this paramedic described how he was in the back of the ambulance, with this girl dying in his arms, praying out loud to God in front of all the firefighters that he would get his IV line placed in time before she died. He did it, and she improved.

Yesterday, I was in the back of an ambulance on a ridealong. We were transporting a very sick 91-year-old man to the hospital. He had the flu and a rising temperature. He was dehydrated, needed fluids. My friend, the paramedic treating him, took the time to show me how to put together an IV, and then demonstrated how to place it in the man's vein. He explained everything to me, teaching me. He explained how hard it was to start a line on an old person because their veins roll, their skin is thin... then, while in the back of a moving ambulance, on an interstate at 60 miles an hour, and even though he clearly was nervous, he landed the needle in the man's arm perfectly and got him the fluids he needed to save his life.

I've decided I'm going to take the EMT class. The PR girl is crossing that invisible line between field and the administrative side, of only in a very small way. It's only a semester. 2 nights a week, a few saturdays. I want to have even a fraction of a clue what the men and women I represent do each day. I won't be a paramedic, I will only be allowed to do basic life saving, but that will be enough for me. And, selfishly, I'm hoping it will help me stand out to the crews in the field... maybe I won't be just a 'carpet walker'...

I'm going to school in the fall. I can't wait.