In 1974 I had the good fortune (or lack of good sense) to drop out of premedicine in favor of a role as a firefighter in a rural fire district in Washington State. Times were different back then. It was very appealing to an 18 year old. What? you’re gonna pay me $820 dollars a month to answer calls, drive giant vehicles and help people? Sure, sign me up.
Definately had no idea what I was in for.
As it turns out, we spent much of our time responding to calls for medical aid. In those days maybe 75 percent of what I/We did. I had to take basic first aid training. Had to learn CPR, then unleashed upon the world to do good. In those days it was “Industrial first Aid” Basic stuff, bandaging, oxygen delivery, CPR and the like.
In Washington State they had piloted programs for the Fire Departments to deliver this aid due to the proximity of our Stations and “trained professionals”.
We did have a chance to drive something like this. Not very useful compared to today’s rigs, I mostly drove like hell, hoping we could get a sick or injured person to the ER before they died or got worse. The one we had was a cadillac with a giant V8 engine and a siren mounted on the front fender that drew so much power it would dim the headlights when we lit it up. It was a blast to drive and very fast. We then had Vans to drive. They were quite a variety and cramped, poorly ventilated and typically underpowered. You name it, I probably had a shot at driving it.
We trained, and trained then trained some more. The firefighting was great back in those days. Not for those that lost homes and property mind you, but for young guys with strong backs and small brains. We were usually understaffed, had little backup and did not have to comply with many of the restrictions, rules and regulations that control every aspect of the job nowadays. Correct. It was dangerous. We inhaled smoke, fibers and God knows whatever else got into our lungs. Thankfully Self Contained Breathing Apparatus was becoming more commonly used when I enlisted. Many of the Guys I came on with have long since died, many from cancers related to exposures on the job. These early years as a firefighter/first-aider were the most memorable. The characters I met, worked and played with were notable. I will speak to some of these folks in future Blog Posts. Hopefully I can did up some of the old photos from the day.