I have really enjoy doing the 9-ECHO-1 blog. But like I said over there, there is something I wanted to do that really would not fit, at least I didn't think so, on the 9E1 pages. So here I am.
Most everyone knows what 9-ECHO-1 stands for and where the name comes from. BUt where does MEDIC 914 come from?
Several years ago I was a volunteer paramedic with my town's rescue squad. We all had individual radio numbers assigned, and mine was 914. When my agency began providing paramedic level service, I would use the call sign MEDIC 914 whenever I was communicating on a non-unit level.
At that time, the concept of Incident Command had not caught on much. OF course, that led to some pretty darn humorous stuff on the radio. And so, in the interests of being the "class clown" and calling attention to myself, a lot of times, when my unit arrived on the secene of some "less than life threatening medical situation" you might here something like "MEDIC 9 on scene, we have a two story wood frame apartment complex, nothing visible from the outside. MEDIC 9 has Butterfly Apartments Command, we're investigating, Sector 5". And always, I would get a chuckle or some sort of remark from the 9-1-1 center personnel.
Everyone thought that was kind of funny, the way I did that. But of course, when I rolled up on the "thoroughly life threatening medical situation", it went something like this "MEDIC 9 on scene, we have a single vehicle rollover crash. I have multiple patients in the north and southbound lanes. Traffic is blocked in both directions. MEDIC 914 has I-95 South Command at MEDIC 9. I need 10 ambulances to the scene and 10 helicopters to the pad".
Let me clarify one thing. This took place back when we thought helicopters were life saving creatures. Back when all things in a resuscitation effort ceased while the
But anyway, I hope you enjoy the new blog. Don't forget to check out the other one, but keep coming back to this one. And please, offer comments, ask questions, or argue.
I love a good argument.
