Just some writing…

Blog entry

ACT ONE

EXT. APPARATUS STAGING AREA - DAY
HALLIGAN and DEE DEE leave their engine parked in the staging area of the call and start to make their way to the mess tent, chatting as they go.

HALLIGAN

I honestly don’t see why Hush is crushing so hard on him. Jesus, is he that dense that he’s not even seeing it?

DEE DEE

This is Sam we’re talking about.

HALLIGAN

I know. Hell, when he’s with other medics, he’s talking like they’re all in a garage somewhere kicking back with a beer.

Dee Dee stops just short of being in front of a colored tarp used to triage injured people. Halligan gets to the other side of the tarp and notices that Dee Dee’s not next to her and stops to wait.
At the tarp treating a patient is CHRIS MONTERA and KYLE DAVID BATES. 

Chris and Kyle stop what they’re doing and the four just look at each other, then forward toward the camera. They all shrug their shoulders and continue what they were doing.
 

DEE DEE

You do have a point.

HALLIGAN

I know I do.

DEE DEE

I had to pick him up from St. Jonah a few weeks ago and all he could do was sit in that lounge and talk with AMT’s medics about “reform” and “community model” calling it something like “EMS 2 point 0”

Halligan stops just short of another colored tarp like the one they stopped at before. At the tarp treating a couple of patients are CHRIS KAISER, JUSTIN SHORR, and TED SETLA.
The three medics stop what they’re doing and look at each other, then at Halligan and Dee Dee.  The five look forward toward the camera, shrug their shoulders, and go back to what they were doing.

EXT. CANTEEN DINING AREA - DAY

Halligan and Dee Dee enter the dining area of the mobile canteen. There are a few tables scattered with firefighters and medical folks at each of the tables. The pair stop at the canteen trailer and place their order. They start walking back to the staging area, continuing their conversation.

HALLIGAN
I’ve heard it quite a bit, too. You know what kills me, though?
DEE DEE
What’s that?
HALLIGAN
The time he spends just sitting in front of that computer either in the station or at home just listening.
DEE DEE
Listening?
HALLIGAN
Yeah.
DEE DEE
Listening to what?
HALLIGAN
Various things.
DEE DEE
You know what we should do?
HALLIGAN
What’s that?
DEE DEE
Something like that on our own. Make our own thing to listen to. “By Firefighter for Firefighters”. You know, “This ain’t your daddy’s firefighting radio show.” Think he’ll listen to that?
 

Halligan stops just short of one of the tables as Dee Dee walks past. Sitting at the table are RHETT FLEITZ, ART GOODRICH, TIGER SCHMITTENDORF, CHRISTOPHER NAUM, and JOHN MITCHELL, all in their turnout gear worn down for comfort.

Dee Dee stops just as she gets past the table. The two women and five gentlemen at the table look at each other, then forward toward the camera. They all shrug their shoulders and continue what they were doing, except for John, who briefly interrupts the conversation.

JOHN
I think that’s already been done.

A Veteran’s Day message from Chief, US Army Reserve

Throughout the course of American history, courageous men and women have taken up arms to secure, defend, and maintain the democratic principles of justice, fairness, and equality upon which our Nation's freedoms depend. By their service, they kept America strong, and they have protected our way of life from tyranny's grip for over two centuries. At this moment, men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard are serving around the world. They represent our resolute dedication to achieving a lasting peace out of the new challenges and threats of the 21st century.

On this Veterans Day, let us pause to reflect on the sacrifices of all of
those who have put on the uniform to serve in the United States military. Let us honor our veterans, who proved their heroism and love of country time and again, from Yorktown and Gettysburg, Verdun and Iwo Jima, Korea and Vietnam, to today's Global War on Terror. They consistently defended our ideals across the continents; and they continue to inspire those who defend America today, half a world away. More than a million have died in service to America; and more than a million and a half have been wounded. Some sustained serious injuries in combat and now live with disabilities.

Our Nation will always be grateful for the noble sacrifices made by these veterans. We can never adequately repay them. But we can honor and respect them for their service.

One way the Army Reserve is honoring its Warrior-Citizens is by helping them obtain a job through our Employer Partnership Office (EP). This program allows employers nationwide to easily tap into a network of talented and trained Army Reserve Soldiers, while also expanding the career opportunities available for these Warrior-Citizens. More than 1,190 partnerships with our Nation's leading businesses and organizations have been formed resulting in the availability of roughly 500,000 potential jobs for qualified applicants. Over 3,572 Soldiers, Family members, Wounded Warriors, and Veterans have been hired through the program. EP continues to
be a success for the Soldiers and the partners, bridging the gap between civilian responsibility and military duty.

On Veteran's Day, EP will launch a powerful new job search portal online to increase capability to those seeking employment opportunities as well as vastly improve the employer partner's access to talent. This cutting-edge search engine and other resources are available to all Reserve Component Soldiers and Veterans from all branches of the military to help ease their transition and enhance their post-active duty careers.

Through the EP, we are working hard to ensure that the number of industry fields and hires continue to grow. Employers recognize that Army Reserve Soldiers and Veterans make high caliber employees. If you have not done so already, please visit the new EPO portal:
http://www.employerpartership.org.

I cannot think of a better way for a company or organization to make a more positive investment for our country than hiring a Soldier or Veteran. What a patriotic step for America's businesses and industries to take for the more than 206,000 of our Army Reserve Warrior-Citizens!
As always, I appreciate the commitment these industry leaders have shown to our Soldiers and Veterans who have served our country selflessly and with honor. May God continue to bless our service men and women, whether currently serving or not, as well as their Families on this Veterans Day.

Please know that your service and sacrifices are not forgotten.

JACK C. STULTZ
Lieutenant General, US Army
Chief, Army Reserve

The #HAWTIES calendar

Month	Who	Doing What
January
February
March
April		doing the “Johnny Gage” move with a prefilled syringe of D50 (or epi or atropine… )
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

It’s been joked about for a while now.  Let’s just see who would go where.

I’ve got my 12 picks for the #EMSHawties calendar.  What are yours?  And what would their pose be? 

(re) Writer’s block

Sometimes, it sucks having to do a complete re-write on some things. 

Sometimes, it’s reports.  Sometimes, it’s letters.  This time, it’s way different.

One of my “hobbies” is writing.  I do have a couple of items chiseled out on stone somewhere around here.  The couple of items focus on a paramedic and his crew.

The two books have somehow evolved (albeit still on my computer and on hard copy in a top secret location) into 13 full length television scripts (which I was told sucked when I sent the pilot in for treatment) and a couple/three 30-minute “webisodes”.

Considering I have either 13 hour-long or 26 half hour episodes with a few more barely coming out of my head through my fingers and my keyboard to the white screen of Final Draft, severe re-writes are going to need to be done.  Characters deleted, vehicles deleted, and a couple of characters brought on.

One of the “webisodes” I started gives a DEFINITE tip of the hat to “the Three Wise Men” of #CoEMS (aka @theHappyMedic, @setla, @UKMedic999) and included a character with some “Southern” roots (all that mentioned…bwahahahahaha). I’m even doing my best to incorporate EMS 2.0 into the episodes…thus the majority of the massive re-writes.

The other reason is basically, half of the equation that made “Cavalry” (the series title) work is the “Roy” half of the ambulance.

The main character, the “Johnny” half, is named Sam.  He’s a widower with a 13-year old daughter. This paramedic also has a surprise or two up his sleeve (and in his locker) when the need arises.

The “Roy” half is about 9 years younger, married step-father of 2. He is also Sam’s rock and occasional foot in the ass (for lack of better terms).  Troy gets in his own unique messes, but helps Sam’s daughter pull Sam together.

The rest of the “station” is a divorced gal, a slightly older than Sam BN chief, a “misnamed” engineer, and a freshly DE-mobilized and freshly promoted captain

Wish me luck.  At least it’ll keep me occupied for a bit.

The Combat Medic Prayer

Yep, even someone in green went pink

From now until the middle of the month, I'm helping my friend @Epi_Junky and the folks at EMS for the Cure, who are dedicated to helping find a cure for breast cancer.

This hits a little close to the @avatarpenguin house (and @lilssgjbroyles) because their grandmother was a survivor for a long time.

You can also go to @theHappyMedic's blog and watch the PSA (He also issued a challenge for the #CoEMS folks to do this).

Help me advise a Brother

so i contacted the media to set the record straight......wmbd and the journal star

This is what a friend on my department put on his facebook tonight as his status.  

its pretty much a given that my time at the FD is over so i figured i might as well just tell the whole story to anyone who will listen.....im so sick of this (Assistant Chief)/(Village Board Member) deal i could puke....legitimate concerns were brought directly to the mayor, not by (Board Member) , but some of us ff on the outside of their little group and they seem to be just swept under the rug...so now i feel obligated to share them with the rest of the village residents and let them decide

I'm not sure how it is everywhere else, but in for the (Suburban Village just outside of Peoria) Volunteer Fire Department, of which I'm a member of, this is becoming the new business as usual.  

(Mayor)  is a good mayor who is just trying to do the right thing, when it comes to saving lives you probably want to have licensed people working on your relatives and friends, also you probably don't want your engines or squads sitting on... the pad for ten minutes waiting for people to show up, especially when you have good qualified individuals in town who can't get on because they don't have the votes to be a member or have been driven away by the lack of respect and discipline on the part of the chiefs because its their kids creating the problem.

Yes, I have fallen victim to the chiefs' children, too.  They are at our Station 2, and if you aren't one of their little friends, you're ostracized.  The "children of 2 house" as I call them can do no wrong, they can disrespect the traditions and structure of the fire service.  They can insult more experienced (and LICENSED) people and pass judgment on their treatments of a BLS run, and can do no wrong because they're the chiefs' kids.

(FF's SISTER) it is outrageous what the good ol' boys club of (Suburban Village just outside of Peoria) is doing to the taxpayers of this town..(Suburban Village just outside of Peoria) deserves better and these guys need to be reminded that taxpayers are voters and they can be replaced..people of need to stop voting for their good buddies in the hopes of getting their streets repaired etc., and focus on voting for people who really care about the prosperity and the greater good of the town...stop wasting tax payers money on stupid crap and start using it for the good of the town

I couldn't agree more!

their attitude is they are being picked on and this town would suffer if they were no longer on the dept. but I find myself wondering where the heck they are at in the middle of the night as i run a call by myself, which has happened quite a bit in the last almost 3 yrs I've been on.

I can't say too much...I've been absent a bunch over the last few years, myself, for various reasons.

so one of our members contacted the trying to make trustee (Board Member) look bad and the mayor...in truth it was us guys who spoke with her and not , she looked into it and saw what we were talking about and decided to take ...action, but their trump card trustee (Former FF now Village Board member) , who by the way has decided to make himself the new rep between the fire dept and village hall.....did i mention he happens to be good friends with these chiefs....has effectively stopped the mayor from taking the action she thinks needs to be done. 

God I hate politics...

anyways I figured I'll be demonized and called disgruntled and a troublemaker over all of this i shouldn't go against the brotherhood, which is only there if you keep your mouth shut and don't disagree with them on anything, but really i could care less anymore.


PLEASE tell me it's not like this on other departments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Last I knew, ALL FIREFIGHTERS were BROTHERS & SISTERS


but we lost a great officer who decided he's had enough of this drama....in reality he was the only officer who really ran any calls in the 3 yrs I've been on with the exception of a few...Cap, thx for showing me the ropes and being there when i needed someone to talk to...i love ya man....so when you hear the whistles going off two or three times a call you will have an idea why.

I can't really gripe about people not running calls, like I said earlier, I've been absent for awhile for one reason or another...the most important ones being my kids (@lilssgjbroyles and  @avatarpenguin ) and my girlfriend @shell1972

I leave it in your capable hands for opinions, blogosphere.  What is this Brother's best course of action: let the smoke clear?  Run for Village Board and help instill the changes that Volunteer Fire Department desperately need?  Give up and go to another department?

Other than my captain, my department has lost several other very experienced FF because of this.  One more just may be on his way out the door...quite possibly more.

For clarification:  my type is in Arial
and names have been deleted/sanitized