Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Drive Thru

Recently, I had been up at the University of Utah, helping with an advanced burn lecture, where nurses, and flight paramedics were tested on how to treat and transport critically burned patients to the nearest burn center. I was to represent the "electrical burn" I was moulaged, to have both arms from the elbows to my fingertips, severely burned after an electrical accident. They dippied my hands in wax, several times, and I had to hold them in a "clenched" position to represent the extent of my injuries. On both wrists, were black burned holes, to represent entrance/exit wounds, from the electrical current. I sat for the next 3 hours, with waxed, clenched hands to test the flight medics and nurses, and learned SO much!
My niece and I met up, and decided to go get something to eat after both our busy days. We went to a fast food restaraunt, in a different city than I work in,made an order, and they had us pull into "lane 2." We were chatting, laughing, and talking about our days. I kept rolling the window up and down to hand my money, etc. I left it down for a second, and continued to talk with her and look ahead. I heard a small, sweet voice, "Excuse me!?" I started looking around, thinking I hadn't paid enough, or something like it, to notice a sweet, roughly 10 year old boy, in the car next to me smiling... "Hi, YES?" I said. "Are you a firefighter?" he asked. "Yes I am, where have you seen me?" He said, "Your sticker, on your car..." I started to laugh, and said "OH! ha ha, yes!!, Do you want to be a firefighter too someday?" He said, "My dad does, he's in Paramedic school right now." Just then his mom rolled her window down and said, "yes, he knows you, he's in the UVU program." So I smiled and said how great it was, and that it is a great program, She then asked, "don't you work for LifeFlight also?" I said, "No, I wish, only really good paramedics do!!" We laughed. I then waved at the boy, told him I loved his haircut and to come see me at the station sometime. He responded by saying he had been there and sat in our tiller, and I told him how much I loved working in the tiller. We said our farewells and left.
I thought a lot about him that night, about how sweet, polite, and how he was fascinated with what I do for a job. It was nice to feel a little guy was so proud of his dad, and new my job, and recognized me in such a random place. I reminded me, of how I am always being watched when I wear the uniform, or drive with the sticker on my car, our fire plates etc. He made my week, and was a great beam of sunshine for me that day. I love waht I do, for the very reason, someone like him wanted to talk to me in a drive thru.
(pictures to come....)

2 comments:

  1. Mindy, I just have to tell you. I have a new respect for what you and your people do--my brother and sister-in-law and their four kids were in a car accident in Tennessee last week. They're all fine--cuts and bruises and a broken leg--but the car is totaled. My brother blogged about how impressed he was with the care and concern the fire fighters and EMTs showed to little Isaac as they stopped his head lacerations bleeding and got him out of the car through the broken window.

    I know the pediatric emergency training is hard, but I'm so glad people like you stick it out and learn everything so that a frightened 6-year-old feels safe when he's hurt and confused.

    Thank you.

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  2. Also I had a brain cloud and spelled your name totally wrong. Sorry! <3!

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