Hi folks,

Last night I was voted in as the newest member of the Atlantic Beach Rescue Squad. It's a combined volunteer ambulance and water rescue squad located on the south shore of Long Island, NY. I'm really excited for this new adventure, and hopefully I can have a meaningful impact on making my town a better/safer place to live.

It's been many years since my old EMT certification expired (I volunteered for four years in college) so I need to take the course over again, which will not happen for a few months, but for the time being I'm being trained up as a driver. I'm sure what knowledge remains from my old EMT days will make me useful as well.

My old squad had a duty rotation so there was a crew "on duty" at all times, and other than that you had no responsibilities. This new squad is much more like a fire company. When the pagers go off, everyone responds to quarters and the bus(es) leave when there is an adequate crew. So, any suggestions from the more experienced folk out there for someone carrying a pager for the first time in years? How did your routines change when you started? Anything you would do differently, that I can do right the first time? What should I keep next to my bed, ready to go in the middle of the night for when a call comes in?

Thanks for any suggestions. As I mentioned, I'm really excited!

Welcome back to the "Brotherhood"

"What should I keep next to my bed, ready to go in the middle of the night for when a call comes in?"
Clothes, shoes and duty gear ready to go.

Having no idea about your family life, decide now when you will be responding. For me, between the hours of 0600 and 1900 M-F I don't respond. Now, I have three children from 2 to 10 years of age and my fantastic wife and I try to split as much of the duties as we can. I work two jobs so when I'm home I get to put everyone to bed. Love it! As far as getting ready and what to lay out at night. If your squad issues jump suits use it. Dress for the weather. A few weeks ago we had a structure fire at 0013 am. Weather was in the single digits. under my turnouts I was wearing just jeans and tshirt. I knew that I would be working hard and would be able to stay warm. I did have my job shirt in the truck for afterward but I was never cold that night. Keep a spare change of clothing in your car, toiletries as well. Good Luck and welcome back to lack of sleep, acid stomach from to much coffee and some occasional sighs as you head out the door again!
Very little else in life is as rewarding as serving.
Keep us posted.

Sounds like you need to know if there will be nights "OFF DUTY". When I was a Military Policeman, there were times we were "off duty" (subject to call in) and times when we were "OFF DUTY" (not subject to call in).

When subject to call in we stayed close to the post and sober. We also kept a uniform and everything but sidearm and radio ready to scoot in 5 min.

Since I was SRT, and rarely drank to excess, I was almost always subject to call in.

Good luck and enjoy.

No kidding about being rewarding Matt26.

I worked my first call with the new squad early this morning. I can guarantee that this patient would have died if not for the efforts of my squad. (The call started with "simple" chest pain and ended with CPR in the back of the bus during a mad dash to the ER while deploying the AED. Patient regained a pulse in the ER.) It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to make that kind of a difference in someone's life (actually, to be honest, it's the first CPR save I've been involved in), and it feels damn good.

I'm glad to be back at it, and I can't wait to upgrade my skills and certifications.

Congrats..



Remember, with your pager comes great responsibility to serve your community..

The words "I didn't think" need to be removed from your vocab. As professional responders, its our job to always think and be prepared for anything.