“This is called sleepy time!” says Dan Loughnane, duty officer for the day at Harrisonburg Rescue Squad.
He flops down on the black leather couch, joining Emergency Medical Technicians Casey Gundersen and Dan Sapp. It is 10:40 on a Wednesday morning.
The room is spacious and clean. Only a large jug of dish soap sits on the counter in the kitchenette area. Paperwork has been filed into the computer and put away. The three are quiet as they sprawl across the couches; the only noise in the room comes from the big-screen TV. They are watching ER.
A lady enters the scene, foaming at the mouth.
“Seizures?” Loughnane wonders.
“Rabies?” Gundersen asks, as they try to diagnose a TV character.
The next man entering the ER is having difficulty breathing.
“Chest tube,” Loughnane states matter-of-factly.
In the next scene, nurses are inserting just that.
A few minutes later, the screen goes black and the credits begin to roll. As if on cue, the squad room erupts into an alarm-clock-like beeping, called ‘tones,’ the signal that there is a call.
*medical situations have been altered to protect patient privacy.
| From the Author: Almost everyone has dialed 911 at one point or another. It's the first number many youngsters are taught. Emergencies and medical problems can occur at any moment. Within moments, Emergency Medical Technicians are sent to the rescue. But who are the people behind the flashing lights and screaming sirens? When assigned, this article was to look at the EMTs within the Rockingham County area. The County has seven volunteer rescue squads, covering Singers Glen, Bridgewater, Clover Hill, Grottoes, Elkton, McGaheysville and Harrisonburg, all report to Rockingham Memorial Hospital. As this story took shape, its focus became the Harrisonburg Rescue Squad. More than half of the volunteers are JMU students who balance their time between school and rescue work. So take a look at a “typical” day for a rescue squad, although no day is alike or predictable. Learn the process to become an EMT. See the difficulties in dealing with traumatic situations, the joy of saving a life and the camaraderie of the station as told through the eyes of its numerous volunteers. |
