Ambulances and Hoses

So I had a rather interesting weekend and I thought I would share it. In order to get the best story (maybe not the best) I have to include Thursday night in my tale.

Thursday afternoon, I went over to Garrett's apartment as usual. We continued our Friends marathon, and we're getting close to being done with Season 2. Only 8 more! Anyway, so I went home. I pull into my driveway and see a big white cloud by the side of our house. Now, we live in a valley, so many times at night we have fog everywhere. So I took a look around, checking for more fog. There wasn't any fog anywhere else in the area. I was perplexed. I got out of my car and the smell of burning wood filled my nose. I quickly walked to the house and looked over the railing by our side door. Sure enough, I saw fire! I raced inside, threw my stuff down, and sprinted into my parents bedroom. We have fire! My dad rolls over and say, "What do you mean fire?!" I replied with a "Fire, fire!" We went back outside got the hose going to sprayed water all over the area for the next 40 minutes. We decided that we didn't need to call the fire department as the fire was nearly out anyway. I got down in the area with a rake and jostled everything up while my dad continued to shower the area with water. After forty minutes, my dad and I were statisfied that the fire was out. It was the most bizarre thing.

The next morning dad and I went back out to check out the damage. The area was a bit crispy. We still haven't figured out what could have started the fire. We have many theories, but no proof of any of them. I'll put up some pictures later of our unusual fire.

Friday and Saturday were filled with studying for finals and tests. Sunday was my day of work. I worked a 12-hour day with the Meramec Amubulance. I was very nervous about the whole situation at first, but as the day went on, I became more comfortable. Honestly, we did not run any calls, but I still got my hours in and got a patient contact. Now I only have 4 more shifts and 5 more patient contacts. We collected donations outside one of the local grocery stores for a few hours. We were collecting donations to send Missouri children to burn recovery camp. We had a decent amount and my arms had marks on them for holding the fire helmut for three hours, but it was fun! My patient contact was an elderly lady in a car who needed her blood pressure taken. She was on high blood pressure meds and needed it to be checked every so often. And congrat me, I didn't mess it up, even though I was scared to death that I would miss either the systolic or diastolic. I know I can take a blood pressure, but we have practicing on classmates and Garrett too! However, its quite another thing to do that to a complete stranger for the first time. However, I survived!

Next weekend, I have work with the ambulance Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then again on Tuesday. All 12-hour shifts. I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to it, however I would like to see some more action. I'm not saying a need a 5-car accident with lots of injuries, but something would be nice. Its all about experience.

I'll be sure to let you all know next week how everything goes. Wish me luck!!

Until next time!

Lots of Love!

~A