Icy Roads Take Me Home

My school was out yesterday and I stayed in....all day.  I never even got out of my jammies.  It was nice.  Late yesterday afternoon we got a call that said school would begin at 9 this morning and buses would run at 8.  Teachers needed to be in house by 8:30.  I thought that it was odd that we were starting so early....all the county schools surrounding the Alex City system were either closed or starting at 10.  But hey...I live in Randolph County and don't know what the roads in Alex City were like....No problem I thought....that meant I had some extra time and could leave later than normal.  I got up at 5 and piddled around, got dressed, and headed out at 7.  Normally I leave about 5:45....at least this morning it would be daylight.  The road looked fine in front of my house...but looks can be deceiving.  Less than a mile from my house was the first patch of ice.  I was fine with it.  It was on an uphill section of the road but my car felt sure footed so I plodded on.  Plodded is a good word since I was only driving 25 in a 35 mile zone.  I came upon four other patches that were not as kind as that one had been....you could see signs of cars sliding on the road.  I slowed down a bit more.  When I finally made it into Roanoke proper there was a lot of ice....and McDonalds was closed.  That should have sent up red flags...but it was not until I put my brakes on to stop at the red light that I began to slide and felt a little sick at my stomach.  I decided before I went much further to call the Randolph Co. Sheriffs department and check the roads and the bridge over the Tallapoosa river in Wadley.  I explained to the deputy who I was and what I was doing and she immediately responded that ALL Randolph county roads were travel at your own risk AND the bridge was closed.  By now I had slid through downtown Roanoke, was in tears, and terrified.  Remember...I am a girl from SOUTH FLORIDA!  Ice + Karen = hazzard.  In the parking lot of Piggly Wiggly (yep...we really do have a grocery store named that) I decided to turn back.  The drive back was even scarier, if that is a word.  I called my boss and left a message on his answering machine that I was not going to make it today, called Mary and asked her to call Janice (our secretary who gets our subs), called Frank and told him I was headed home.  I went less than 10 miles and it took me 30 minutes.  The east bound section of Hwy 22 was icier than the west.  I guess more people had been coming than going.  I made it back to the house, sat down and emailed my boss, worked up some lesson plans, and called Mary again.  I sent the emails to Trina (across the hall friend) and Mary to make sure at least one of them got them....and settled in for another day at home.  I then, of course, got to feeling like a whimp because driving on ice is an issue for me....AND because this is the beginning of the second semester and I missed the FIRST DAY....just like I did the beginning of first semester when I fell and hurt myself.  Do you think this is a sign?  So, here I sit today....all nice and warm....think I will find another book to read.  I enjoyed the one I read yesterday.  I think I could get used to retirement.  Maybe I will try it out in a few years.  What do you think?  If you are where it is icy...please drive carefully and be safe if you have to get out.  If you are where it is warm....I could almost hate you.  I will try work again tomorrow...maybe it will warm up enough here to melt this wicked stuff.  Happy Tuesday to All!

On Being a Paramedic

Ok...quick story and then I have something very special for you to read. My childhood friend Jeannie Berry.....moved from Florida to North Dakota when we were teenagers....and we lost track of each other....until a few years ago....we found each other again with the help of the internet. Anyways...she is a paramedic...and wrote an amazing saga about being a paramedic. I thought it was definitely worth sharing it with my readers so here it is:

Hi! The following is my story of working a declared emergency as a paramedic. It is also my new blog on myspace. Hope you get a picture of what it is like for all emergency workers when there is an emergency in your area. Take time to appreciate them all.

I have just finished working a 72 hour shift - most of which was during a time of a declared emergency due to a winter storm. I have to say it was very exciting, but almost scary, at times. The storm came in with ice first - LOTS of ice! Then we had snow, then slush, then ice... through it all, the roads were very slick and, at times, almost impassable. Trees were falling across roads - and on houses - power lines were coming down - yet people still had to get out in their cars to see what was going on. The result was.................... car accidents running out our ears! I would get a call for one and have more coming in before I even finished that one! My partner and I decided we needed to have the power of arrest in times like this. No one was supposed to be on the road anyway, but of course, the ones who think they are an exception and they can do anything because nothing is going to happen to them - they were the ones we were running to. There were so many joyriders going in the ditch and hitting each other and we had to go see if there were injuries and get a refusal - and here the truck is tied up and can't respond to another call that really needed us. We should have been able to arrest them right there! Well... we should have been able to do something! How about the power of citation?I was the only medic in the county for 60 hrs of it, so I was kept hopping! If I was on one of these calls where there was supposed to be injuries... Well, here is an example: I was on one of these calls waaaay out on a mountain and a call came in for a broken back. They had to send a basic crew out with the rescue squad to go up and get him. They got him packed up and tried to bring him down the way they went up and too many trees had fallen. It took them over an hour to find a way to get him down and to the truck. By then I was free of the accident scene and was waiting for them. If these "stupid" people had stayed home I would not have been at a joyriders accident and I would have been available to go up with the squad and get him.We drove over trees, through trees, under trees so low and ice laden that I think the truck even ducked to try to make it. Over power lines and under them so low that I actually felt the truck cringe when they scraped the top. We crawled along mud tracks with the rescue units cutting a way for us through the fallen trees. I was at an accident scene - again a joyrider - when a tree almost fell on me. Well, not real close - but close enough! It scared me. I refused to look up because if I was going to get hit, I didn't want to see it coming since there was nothing I could do about it anyway. I figured if God determined it was my time and He chose a tree to take me home, I just didn't want to know about it first.With no electric we had trouble finding fuel, food was hard to find... no lights or heat at the station (not that we really got to see it), our radios were out and I was the only one with a working cell phone so that was our contact with dispatch.I ended up with a 5 yr old who couldn't breathe and I had to be taken in by the rescue unit amphious vehicle, a diabetic emergency, 2 chest pains, a serious cardiac dysrhythmia, a broken back (fell 30 feet out of tree he was cutting limbs out of), a broken hip, abdominal pain (again taken in by rescue),... there was more - and the myriad of car accidents. You get the picture by now, I guess.I think if I had any doubts as to whether this was what I should be doing, I sure have none now. I am glad I was working during this time. I enjoyed every minute of it and to know I was there during a time of crisis is a feeling I can't explain.We don't get the recognition that fire and police get - and that is okay. I don't do it for recognition. The thing is... you may not hear much about us but if you need us - we are there! I am proud to be a paramedic!

Jeannie