I've been putting off posting for one main reason: I feel like I'm at the point in my career where I'm starting to feel burnt out. I'm almost a year into the profession and, don't get me wrong, I love it. But I come to work, and while I love the job, I hate everything it has to offer. I hate the people, I hate the stress, the calls, the 911, the radio, everything seems to tick me off in one way or another. "Maybe it's the department," I say to myself multiple times a day. After all, turnaround is pretty bad in Middle-of-Nowhere, Texas, and I could just call myself a victim of the system. But, for some reason, I just can't bring myself to leave..
I'm going to tell you a story. It ends sort of like Romeo and Juliet; Tragically. However, I know this story will be appreciated by those in this field of work. It's pretty long, so I apologize in advance, but I think it's interesting, and I hope you find it to be as well.
It was 2:00 am (what a way to start). I had just switched to day shift a few weeks before, so I was sound asleep. I was woken up by sirens, only to find it to be my ringtone. (I knew sirens would get me out of bed faster than homemade tortillas with butter..)
"Hello?"
"Daniel!"
Ugh, my trainee.. I told her to call me if she needed anything, and she has delightfully taken me up on this offer at some God awful hour of the night.
"Uh, yes?"
"Hey, I need your help with something. It's kind of hard to explain. See, this lady called from Canada, she said her name was Jane. Jane said she got an email from her friend, Monica, who came to our county a few months ago to live in an RV. Jane said Monica has been pretty sick, she dislocated a shoulder after being kicked by a horse, but she didn't go to the hospital. She also has some kind of infection, but she refuses to go to the doctor."
Now at this point, I'm quite perplexed.. This story is starting to sound less like a situation, and more like a bad dream. But it continues.
"Jane said that she got an email from her friend saying that she was felt like her organs were shutting down. What do I do?"
Now at this point, not only has my interest piqued, but I'm wide awake. I also don't feel like helping my trainee coordinate a search and rescue effort from home. Things like this don't happen everyday, nor every week, not even once a year. This is truly a once in a small-town-dispatcher-career type of call.
"I'll be right there."
So I drive to dispatch, only being able to wonder what I might find waiting for me. I arrive, and my coworker gives me all the information she's been able to get until she didn't know where to go with it. She did pretty good. Point of contact, description of the PT, she's got me impressed. So, we get to work. I call the POC in CANADA, of all places.. She tells me everything she told my coworker, and I assure her we will do everything we can to try and help. She gives us the name of the property owner where Monica was taking her RV. Perfect!
We scour the interwebs and phone books and come across one possible match. My coworker calls. It rings, and rings, and rings...
"Nobody answered.." she said.
"What address is listed?"
"It's just a PO Box.."
And we're back to square one. Things are starting to look pretty grim right about now. By this time, it's around 3:00 am. I'm tired, and my coworker is becoming discouraged. But we keep trying. We call her friend back.
"Hi, Jane? This is Daniel from the sheriff's office, I spoke with you earlier."
"Hi Daniel, yes. I've been going through my emails. I have one of her very first emails where she describes how to get to where she is staying at. Here's how it reads:
'It was a long drive down Interstate 56, until I finally made it into Texas. I took the exit and got on US Highway 140, to find myself on a two lane road. I drove this road for 60 miles until I reached my next turn, in the middle of a small town. I made a quick stop for gas, then I cut onto US Highway 187. Another 45 minutes, and I was at the home stretch. Down State Highway 99, I drove towards my location. I actually went too far, ending up at the Ghost Town at the end of the pavement. I turned around and found my location two miles back down the road.'
Does this help you any?"
It was as if the Heavens above had opened up, and we were, literally, given a gift from God.
"Yes ma'am, it helps tremendously. I know almost exactly where she is. We are going to do our best to get her some help.. Yes ma'am... I will call and let you know... You're welcome.. *click*..."
I turn to my coworker and say, "We're going to find her!"
She smiles, with pride and courage, and says, "Lets do it!"
We call the deputy on call, now around 3:15 am, and give him the information. He takes the info, and says he will wait for EMS at the station to escort them. We get a hold of EMS and give them the information. They seem to be kind of confused about it, but we tell them to trust us, we are sure she will be there. They get set and they take off, their red and blues piercing the night skies in Middle-of-Nowhere, Texas. Now we wait..
My coworker and I are anxious, we are hoping, praying, that they find this woman who is obviously in some sort of medical distress. Time goes by, and we start to lose faith. Then, the radio clicks.
"Ambulance 56, Dispatch, we have located the property, show us on scene."
My coworker and I shoot a smile at each other, and she gets on the radio.
'Dispatch, Ambulance 56, copy on scene, 0355."
We are so happy that we were able to guide EMS and get them to the right place. We wait a few minutes, and the radio clicks again.
"Ambulance 56, Dispatch, call the air service, have them out to the municipal airport priority 1, we have a middle-aged female patient in pulmonary distress and septic shock."
"Ambulance 56, good copy, 0412."
Things sound pretty grim, but we are determined to get this woman some help. We call the air service, and they say they will be there shortly. We notify the ambulance that their air unit is enroute, and all seems to have found a happy medium for now. I thank my coworker for all her hard work, and tell her she did an excellent job with the call. I tell her I'm glad she called me, and that we did all we could, that the rest would be left up to fate. I jokingly tell her, "No more weird calls for the last two hours of shift, alright?" I go home, snuggle back into bed, and say a prayer for Monica, hoping she will be alright.
Fast forward to the next evening, I'm out of town having dinner with friends. I get a phone call from dispatch, (the sirens go off and everybody in the restaurant looks at me sort of strangely), and I step outside to take it. It's my coworker from the night before.
"Daniel!"
"What's up?"
"She died.."
"What?? Who died?"
"Monica, the lady from last night.. They got her into the helicopter, but she lost stability after that. They delayed their departure to try and stabilize her, but it was too late... She didn't make it.."
"Well, we did all we could.. right? It happens. I hope you're not too upset about it, I know you were hoping everything would be ok, we both were..."
"No, I'm fine. I know it happens. I mean, we did what we could. At least they found her, and she didn't die all by herself. She had people there that, even though they didn't know her, they cared for her."
"That's exactly right... Well, thanks for calling me. I'm having dinner, so I'll be out for a while. Call if you need anything.. Alright.. Bye.."
And so ended the call. We really did all we could, using our resources and man power, and bringing a new definition to "Emergency Services". I think that this call truly showed everybody involved going above and beyond the call of duty to fulfill their missions in public service. I find this story sad, but rewarding. I know we did all we could, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
After all that, I'm going to sit here in the comm center and wait for trouble to happen. I'll take things a day at a time, a call at a time, and go from there.. Happy Dispatching :-)
