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Thirty-seventh Job of Bob - Private ambulance service
This entry was posted on 7/6/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
By the time I graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2003 with a four-year degree, the little paid weekend gig at my rural ambulance had run out of funds and I was back to the usual stipend per ambulance call. And, the grocery store debacle was done and over. The little 8-hour-a-week gig I secured in the UW-Whitewater Adult Resource Center paid for gas money, and it was only during semesters. I needed some cash.
For years it was ambulance culture lore that there was a private ambulance service based in Milwaukee, Madison, and other miscellaneous cities that would take an emergency medical technician right off the street and put them in the back of the ambulance as a crew member the same day the person dropped off a half-hearted application. I always figured it was an embellished tale. My young partner, needing money for medical school came up with some stories to corroborate the rumors - she took up a job with the private outfit.
Two or three of our rural members also sought employ at the same place. And, at any given training session, it was hard not to run into someone who had worked at the place at one time or another.
It was true. I popped in the Madison office one desperate day in mid summer after my graduation.
One of the bosses said, "Dude can you drive one of our rigs to Wausua today and pick up a patient to transfer from their hospital to UW-Madison Hospital?"
For those in other parts of the country, Wausua is around 150 miles from Madison.
"Sure," I said, and smiled to myself. And, I made the call to Heide to warn her I would not be home for awhile. I sat in the employee lounge waiting for a crew to assemble for our task and low and behold my rural service partner was half asleep in a recliner chair.
"What the fuck are you doing here ?" she asked.
"Same as you; trying to make a buck or two," I returned.
It became evident within minutes that the place's reputation was not urban legend. They had trouble scrounging up a crew for the trip. Then said crew had a rough time finding any equipment to stock the rig let alone the right equipment.
I lasted for a while in the roll of a private ambulance crew member. But it was too much for a near 50 year old guy with a pesky heart. Once you got to work it was hard to pry oneself out of the place. There was always one more call, always one more emergency, always one more person short, always one more night shift unstaffed, always one more weekend short of crew members. And the equipment and rigs were in a constant state of shambles.
I suppose looking back and staring now at the worst economy since "The Great Depression" perhaps I could use that constant job these days. But then again, time has not dimmed the reality that the insane world of the private ambulance culture is tough....and fatiguing....and you are just marking time.
The whole point of going back to college was to move on from jobs like this. My young partner made some good money not because of the hourly rate (which was abysmal), but simply because she lived there half the time and gleaned lots of hours. But she was 30 years my junior.
By the end of summer, graduate school was knocking at my heart. I left one day after my shift and....
....never went back.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Staff Sergeant Matthew John West, 36, Conover, Wisconsin, died on Monday, August 30, 2010 in the Arghandab River Valley of Kandahar province, Afghanistan. He was one of five soldiers killed when their unit was attacked with an improvised explosive device (roadside bomb). He was assigned to the 62nd Explosive Ordnance Company, 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group based at Fort Carson, Colorado.
The Website livinglegendteam.blogspot notes Staff Sergeant West was a bomb disposal expert. The military lists West's home as Conover, Wisconsin; his family had recently moved there from Michigan. His wife and three children had also lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, near the military base. West was killed a little more than a month after beginning his third tour of duty in a war zone.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned West graduated in 1992 from Gaylord High School in Gaylord, Michigan. West joined the Army in 2004 and had served tours of more than a year in both Iraq and Afghanistan before being sent to Afghanistan again in July of 2010. The Traverse City Record Eagle out of Michigan notes West was trained in Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD).
The Website freedomremembered.com notes West was born on May 20, 1974. He grew up in Michigan and graduated and received a bachelor’s degree in 1997 from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan.
The Gaylord Herald Times via their Website notes that West was on his second deployment to Afghanistan and he had served one tour of duty in Iraq. The record-eagle.com out of Michigan mentions West grew up in the Pine Briar neighborhood in Gaylord and had worked at a couple local grocery stores. West died during his third tour of duty overseas. He was in Afghanistan from March to September 2006, then in Iraq from March 2008 to June 2009.
The Website fallenheroesproject.org notes some of Staff Sergeant West's military Awards and Decorations include: the Bronze Star; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal (awarded twice); Meritorious Unit Citation; Army Good Conduct Medal (awarded twice); National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal (awarded twice); Iraq Campaign Medal w/Campaign Star; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon (awarded twice); NATO Medal; Combat Action Badge; and, the Senior Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge.
At the time of his death Matthew West was survived by his wife Carolyn: three children, 4-year-old Tyler, 3-year-old Joseph, 3 month old Annalise; parents John and Marsha West; sister Kristine (Roger) Willis; grandmother Beatrice West; and, uncle Joe West. Staff Sergeant West was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew J. West was the 22nd military service person with Wisconsin connections to die in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
101,584 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,065 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,469 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1649 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
915 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
32,130 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
12,306 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since October, 2001.
149 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
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