Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Mardi Gras 2008


Evening to all,
As we settled down after another Mardi Gras we need to look back and reflect. This year was different in many ways. A lot of first time employees, new Bike and Gator team even our own Command Trailer. The earliest Mardi gras in twenty five years, and one of the shortest on record.
With that we can as a community hold our heads up high because with this fine city still just shy of 50% population from post Katrina. We collectively cause the need for more EMS items than ever before, not recent years not ten but freaking ever. Let us not forget the rain even cancelled a days worth of parades during this time as well! Which left a few of us with the sudden realization that as a whole us New Orleanians are unable to consistently sustain a normal functioning ability to live with out the need for someone else to tell us what is wrong with us!!! Being drunk, my hand hurts, something fell on my foot, and juice got in my eyes etc etc is no reason to call or activate an emergency response!! But low and behold it happens more often than anyone with the brains God gave a rock would dream of!!! Just because you travel and spend your cash here, doesn’t mean that you can come and decide for the first time in your life to binge drink and survive!! More tourists visit our cots than anyone else during this time simply because they drink themselves to stupidity!! Sure our people maintain their share of ignorance (which we take pride in) and can justify shooting at least one person at each parade. For what, a damn 5 cent plastic crap bead!! I know what you’re thinking, you don’t just tell them, Hey stop being as dumb as a stump!! There isn’t any reason to send you an Ambulance for that Bullshit!!! Well we wonder why our selves!! So the sirens continue to roll!!!!!
Let us now look and talk about the Women and Men that provide this excellent profession medical coverage to all the citizen and tourist alike. For twelve days straight many of us worked twelve to seventeen hour days. Causing us to be away from our families and kids. From our ability to revel in the festive natural of this moronic event, so you may be safe. It starts with the ladies in our communication, yes okay guys a couple of you are up there too!!. These ladies daily not only deal with the call of service from people who most of them couldn’t walk if they had to think about the process of one foot in front of the other with out falling down! Then they have to control and coordinate the placement and disperse to call’s about 85 tired, angry burnt out medics. My hat goes off to them!! GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then the medic’s that roll on all these call’s for service. With minimal rest no food half the time and a never ending string of calls, they continue to show up each day. Some how being able to hold back the urge to simply beat the living crap out of the stupid drunks. Not ripping a new ass into the ones that want a ride because they have a cold, their back is sore or nine months ago got knocked up and simply didn’t have enough time to arrange a ride to the hospital. Let’s not forget not going off on the nurses that tend to give us crap! But each day dressed to the nines, fully prepared to serve for the day. Still professional and compassionate for those those truly need it. Once again proving why we here are the best of the best and if you question that, you just ask one of us. Twenty plus years of this Mardi Gras stuff and proud as hell to know each one of the men and women that are New Orleans EMS medics.
The administration that stood side by side with us each day. This it self proves why they are where they are in the service and why we are who we are.
Lastly the guys in rescue and supply. With out the unknown amount of hours and time supply puts in to obtain and keep the needed stock so that the job can be done would blow your mind. Rescue, keeping it all together and in order to help, lessen the amount of chaos during the season. At the same time looking so damn good!!!!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said T-Man...Congrats to all of you for doing it again and again. The only thing I wish is that I was there in the trenches with you all for it. I miss you all and hope to see you all soon.

--Nick

Unknown said...

Fucker, You almost made me cry. By the way, when did you learn how to spell : ) I miss you all! Hugs and kisses...
Scoot

T-MAN said...

Spell check, a proofreader and and english majors approval, why how do you do it?? Where the hell are you two when we need you!!!!

Anonymous said...

Was thinking the same thing Scooter...LOL Terry...you know that if I could have been there I would have been. Missing the trenches a lot!

--Nick

Anonymous said...

Thanks Terry for all you do! keeping our trucks running when we ummm...dont check the fluids. bringing us supplies in the field, helping on calls. 6232 we could not do it without you and always with a smile on your face! I wear this uniform with a fierce pride that out of a million plus medics in this country only a few hundred have walked in these shoes and only a few with any longevity. To those before me the utmost respect to those behind me you deserve to be proud so keep up. What said it all to me was from the first day of the tent to about the fifth day when those poor little state medics went from chipper to those forlorn looks on their faces like, "where do you keep finding these patients? it never ends!" And we didn't stop for nothing either. We showed them didnt we? I love you all with all my heart

--- Kim

Anonymous said...

T-man! Outstanding & strong work Lil' Daddy... I had never known you to display so much verbiage, and it sounds like you hit the metaphorical nail on the head. It seems that the old cliche' seems appropriate just about now... "the more things in life change the more they stay the same". Different characters today, I'm sure, but the same job, the same stress & probably the same variables. From an EMS perspective, Mardi Gras will only get worse without adequate staff, manpower and/or equipment; however some of my best memories are during my tenure with the Delta watch with some of the Best heroes in the business and YOU my trusted friend are the Best cut man I have ever had the pleasure of working with side by side. So Kudos to you and your EMS brethren my friend as I reflect & remember "....look down the road and who can it be, it's the red & white lights of NOHD!" LOL!

"Heroes never Die & Legends of the Game live Forever!!"

-->Mr. Situation

Anonymous said...

T You made me home sick even more. Cant tell you how mutch i miss working Mardi Grass with all of you. Well there is always next year. Love you all.

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"Freedom isn't Free"