Dial 911!

Several days ago I was watching the second season finale of Nightwatch, carried by the A&E Network. For those not familiar with this show, it offers a glimpse of the public safety professionals in New Orleans. Chronicling the events from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. of a given day, Nightwatch follows the activities of law enforcement, fire department and EMS personnel during part of their shift. Both seasons thus far have been fun to watch, but probably not the obvious reasons of high drama and exciting footage. What really made me appreciate this show is the camaraderie shared amongst the various crews. The lightbulb went on and I knew I had the topic for my next (this) blog.

Back in the early 90’s, I worked in EMS, starting out as an EMT-Basic (EMT-B), working my way through EMT-Intermediate (EMT-I) and finally earning my paramedic (EMT-P) certification. I did this for several years before moving into an entirely different field, so naturally the inevitable changes and advances in pre-hospital medicine escaped my attention. Please forgive me for resorting to a cliché to express my point, but really, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Growing up in south Texas, I never had a particular interest in medicine. I had no desire to go to medical school or work in the healthcare industry. I was more interested in an aviation related job, preferably as a pilot. During my high school years, and this was at the height of the Cold War, my chosen path once out of high school was one of the service academies. I mention my interest in the military to illustrate where my focus was at the time. I was ready to climb into an F-14 to fight “the red horde” that would surely invade. Yes, I know. Remember, it was a different time then.

Plans changed, though, and I ended up enrolling at Texas A & I University in Kingsville. Yes, it goes by a different name now, but to me it will always be Texas A & I. I don’t ever call it by….that other name. I joined ROTC and started taking military science classes, which eventually earned me a commission in the Army Reserve.

Anyway, while in high school, and part of college, I belonged to the local volunteer fire department of my small town. While I might not have had a specific interest in medicine, I did enjoy firefighting. The department even sent me to the annual “fire training school” at Texas A & M in College Station. I had a blast there that week, no pun intended, and learned some very useful skills.

In 1989, about the time I moved up to Colorado, CBS premiered a new show called Rescue 911. This was one of the first “reality” shows that I can remember. The show’s format consisted of recreating dramatic rescue calls from across the US. Oftentimes the actual participants helped recreate the story. Each show had several segments featuring a given emergency, with the actual recording of the 911 call typically as a background sound track. Either news footage or re-creations (or both) told the story of the responding fire, EMS and law enforcement units as they performed the rescue.  There was no real attempt to show the hour-to-hour interactions of the various crews, as this didn’t fit the format of the show.

I mentioned in passing that I moved to Colorado in 1989, again due to life having fun with my plans and arbitrarily changing them. I’ve learned to just accept these changes as more often than not I end up doing something better, more fun or having opportunities arise that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of. So, once I got settled in Eagle, the small Colorado town I moved to, I joined the local volunteer fire department. This is where I earned one of only two nicknames I’ve ever had. More about that in a bit.

An interesting facet of living where I did is the way the local fire and EMS agencies are set up, at least at the time I was there. At the time, both Eagle VFD and nearby Gypsum VFD, as well as the Western Eagle County Ambulance District (“WECAD”) were supported as part of a “tax district.”

I guess at this time it would be a good idea to make an official disclaimer a part of this particular blog. Given the nature of both fire and EMS calls, and HIPAA, I want to make clear certain aspects of what I’m writing.

DISCLAIMER

From this point until the end of the blog, material and/or identifying facts about persons, places, things or events have been altered to protect the identity of those involved unless specifically noted otherwise. This does not include publicly available records. By proceeding further, the reader acknowledges this disclaimer and fully understands that no identifiable information relating to any given case has been intentionally released.

With that bit of business completed, let’s step back in time about 25 years and see how much has changed, and how much hasn’t. Don’t worry, I won’t write about any gory calls I’ve been on (yes, there were some really gory calls), or bring up old tragic situations that some of my friends in Colorado who were there with me would recall. Nah, this will be more light-hearted than that. You will hear some “war stories,” though.

 My very first response with Eagle Fire happened to be a medical assist call.  At the time, it was standard procedure to dispatch either Eagle Fire or Gypsum Fire, depending upon where the call originated, along with WECAD. For most calls, the primary apparatus was a light pumper/rescue squad, Engine 912. It looked similar to Squad 51 from the Emergency! TV series….similar, but not identical. As I hopped up on the tail board, and we headed out of the station, my mind definitely conjured images of Johnny and Roy speeding to the rescue. Thankfully this call was for a minor fall, and the person wasn’t even transported to the hospital. The biggest majority of responses seemed to be either medical assist calls or auto accidents. Many times I felt useless on these scenes, as I didn’t have any medical training. At least on traffic accident calls I was either directing traffic, manning a hose or helping with extrication of a patient. Once the department announced that they would pay for an advanced first aid class (“AFA”), I took advantage of the opportunity. My motivation was to be a better help to the fire department, and this would definitely allow me to do so.

What was that? Oh, my nickname? No, I didn’t forget, but now that you mention it, here’s the story. It was just my second training meeting at Eagle Fire and several of us were sitting around a large table in the main room. The Chief looked at me and apologized for not remembering my name. There was a rather large guy sitting directly across from me who grinned and said “We ought to call him Tex.” He got a good laugh out of that until….

Not to be outdone, and with as straight a face as I could muster, I poked him in the chest and said “That’s SIR Tex, to you, buddy!” I sat back, expecting a hearty laugh. What I heard, though, was more of a collective gasp. “J” got a “Did he just say what I thought he said?” look on his face and his grinned slipped a little. About that time the person to his left very discretely removed J’s Mag-Lite he had on the table of him and glanced at me nervously. This wasn't one of those small flashlights. It was the size of a small baseball bat. The room got very quiet.

I was just beginning to wonder what major faux pas I had committed when J burst out laughing and said “I’m gonna like this little pipsqueak! He has the balls to get lippy with me.” This seemed to immediately cut the tension. Little did I know that this guy had a reputation for a short temper and quick fists. We actually became good friends after that, and from then on I was known as “ST.” Disclaimer aside, that was a true story.

About the time I was finishing my AFA class, we were dispatched to a CPR in progress call. We got on scene just before WECAD, and one of the medics happened to be a member of our department as well. As we got the patient loaded for transport, he looked at me and said “ST, can you come with us? We need someone to help with compressions.” I didn’t hesitate, and jumped in the back of the ambulance and off we went. Watching the medics work was fascinating. This was the closest I had been to actual advanced life support in real life. Two things surprised me, though. One was how quiet the noise was when the defibrillator fired. Movies and TV portray this as a loud “thud,” but honestly it’s more of a “click.” The other, sadder surprise was that a flatline on the monitor doesn’t make that BEEEEEEEP we are used to hearing on TV. There was no sound at all. Now, obviously I can’t say that all monitors are silent like that, but every one I’ve seen in the field and various emergency departments have never made that sound.

On the way back from the hospital, I asked many questions about that call, EMT training and what it was like to work on the ambulance. The first tendrils of interest were starting to intertwine themselves in me. I had a regular job, so I wasn’t interested in doing that full time, but doing a 12 or 24 hour shift definitely sounded like it would be a unique experience. I started volunteering more and more to help out in the back of the ambulance as the need dictated and to nobody’s surprise, I signed up for an EMT-Basic course at Colorado Mountain College.

Of course I still responded with Eagle Fire at every opportunity when I wasn’t at work. I still had a blast “dragging hose” and “putting the wet stuff on the red stuff.” Having some medical training boosted my confidence and I felt like I was actually contributing to the department and keeping my community safer. I would go to me regular job during the day, and have EMT classes a couple of nights per week. Throw in the fire department training meetings and there was no worry of being bored.

After obtaining my EMT-B certification, I started taking part-time shifts with WECAD. At this point, WECAD was based off of Cooley Mesa Road about halfway between Eagle and Gypsum, near the approach end of runway 25 at Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE). What a bonus! I could watch aircraft take off and land right from EMS HQ. I would typically work 12 hour shifts, partnered with one of the paramedics. Now that the EMS bug had bitten me, I wanted to take more training. Colorado had a program for EMT-B’s to be authorized to start IV’s and apply MAST after taking a special class and having specific protocols from the agency’s medical director.  Any current medic reading this, listen carefully for the dinosaur’s roar. MAST are no longer used, and a Google search will reveal why.

Now that I was an EMT-B with IV/MAST certification, I started taking as many shifts as I could. Most of these were relegated to the weekend, as I still had a day job. When I wasn’t pulling a shift with WECAD, I would respond with Eagle Fire. As both communities started to grow, and the call volume increased, the WECAD board started considering more full time positions. I looked carefully at the pay scale, benefits, and advancement opportunity and seriously considered applying for one of the new positions.

The decision was made for me, though, as I received my orders for the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course (FAOBC, or just OBC) at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma. Remember me mentioning about attending a service academy and having plans change? See? It did have some relevance. While at A & I, I belonged to a combat engineer unit in the Army Reserve. I had orders for Engineer Officer Basic Course in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, but when I moved to Colorado, and joined a National Guard unit there, I also changed branches to the Field Artillery. My vision wasn’t good enough to qualify for aviation, and there were no combat engineer units close by. Basically, I could choose between infantry and field artillery. Infantry? Screw that! So, off to Ft. Sill I went for the next several months. Desert Shield/Storm happened while I was at Ft. Sill, and was over by the time I graduated. Just before leaving for Ft. Sill, I found out the company I worked for filed for bankruptcy and we received our layoff notices. At least I would be getting a paycheck from the Army while I was at Ft. Sill, so it wasn’t a total loss. I’d worry about getting a job when I got back to Colorado.

While living in Colorado I shared a house with my brother. We initially lived in Eagle, but when the house we rented got sold, we found a house in nearby Gypsum. I had only been in Gypsum for a few months before reporting to Ft. Sill. After graduating from FAOBC, and the follow-on FACBOC (Field Artillery Cannon Battery Officer Course) I arrived back in Gypsum and promptly started taking enough shifts at WECAD to be close to full time. I did this for almost a month before being offered a full time position there. Naturally, I also joined the Gypsum Volunteer Fire Department. I needed a hobby, right? Our house was just a short drive from the fire station, so I was able to make many calls with Gypsum on my days off from WECAD. Since I was now a full time employee with WECAD, the board graciously offered to pay my tuition for an EMT-I course.  The only downside to this was the two hour commute, one way, to class twice a week. It was tough, but totally worth it.

Having my EMT-I certification now qualified me to be the senior medic on the shift, with an EMT-B as a partner. At the time, at least in Colorado, an EMT-I was the equivalent of an EMT-P in other states. An EMT-I in Colorado could do most advanced procedures, including intubation, drug therapy and other advanced cardiac life support procedures. Paramedics had a more skills and much more clinical training.

I’m going to use the term “medic” as a generic term for EMT-I/EMT-P, although the standard convention is to use the term “medic” only for EMT-P’s. This is mainly for convenience, and to hopefully not confuse the issue with all these acronyms. There’s already a ton of acronyms in medicine. Trust me, you don’t want me to start writing in all acronyms. It won’t be pretty.

WECAD was a rural service, in that we served not only Eagle and Gypsum, but covered some outlying towns as well. Our district was oriented mainly east/west, but we also covered such towns as Bond and McCoy, Colorado. These were a long drive due to winding mountain roads. Even when leaving immediately after being dispatched, it could be over an hour to get to the northernmost part of our district. We would transport to the nearest two hospitals, each about 25 miles away. Depending on where we were, patient preference, and the weather, we would transport to either Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail (east of us) or to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs (west of us). Our average transport times from scene to hospital were on average 30 minutes plus, and even longer during icy or snowy conditions. For you medics reading this, think back to your first classes, and how the instructor probably hammered home how important it was to have short scene times, especially with trauma calls. Throw in a long transport time on top of that and you can imagine the priority we placed on short scene times. With I-70 running the length of our district, we responded to many auto accidents on that highway, especially in the winter.

We had three full time senior medics, who pulled a 24 hour shift, a day medic from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, a bookkeeper/office manager and med pool personnel. The med pool were essentially volunteers, and would be the second medic on call to back up the senior medic. While the senior medics were required to stay at EMS HQ during their shift (except on a call, of course), if we had a med pool medic with us, it was their option to stay at EMS HQ during their shift or meet us on scene. Since many of our med poolers lived “up valley” (Avon, Edwards, Eagle-Vail, etc), they would stay at EMS HQ with us and sleep in one of the bunk rooms. Senior medics shared their own bunk room. We would work a 24 hour shift, from 8 am to 8 am. As an example, we would work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then have four days off. I actually liked this system, as we got to work with different partners. We had a few regulars who would sign up for more shifts, so it was common to work with a partner on multiple shifts. I won’t try to BS anyone and say I didn’t have any favorites. Of course I did, more than one. They know who they are, right Andy?

EMS-80, our primary unit

scanned from original print

Both Eagle and Gypsum were still relatively small communities when I worked there. We were dispatched through the Colorado State Patrol, who had a dispatch center in Eagle. We would be dispatched via pager system and VHF radio. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and most had lived in the area their entire life. This tended to pose a problem occasionally for an outsider like me. Here’s an example, and one of my favorite “war stories.”

We were called to an auto accident just off of Gypsum Creek Road a little after midnight. I knew basically, kinda sorta where to go, but wasn’t totally certain. My partner for the night was from up valley, so she was even less familiar with the area than I was. I called dispatch for more information. “Eagle (CSP dispatch), EMS 80 (us), we are heading south on Gypsum Creek Road, but I don’t see any lights yet.” I had heard Gypsum Fire call on scene, so I knew to look for their lights.

“EMS 80, Eagle, that’s affirmative. Head south on Gypsum Creek Road and turn right on Daggett. It should be just past J.A. Bonham’s place.”

Oh, yeah, that’s helpful. I glanced over at my partner and she just shrugged in return. Who the hell is J.A. Bonham?? I was about to call dispatch again when one of the Gypsum Fire officers saw our lights.

“EMS 80, 1414 (Gypsum unit), as soon as you turn on Daggett you’ll see our lights. Just keep on coming.”

Sure enough, I made the turn and saw my Gypsum guys ahead. Our patient was a bit shaken up, but not injured. He refused transport and we cleared from the call. The next morning I was having breakfast with Gypsum’s Fire Chief and asked who J.A. Bonham was. Apparently that was supposed to be a good landmark.

The Chief grinned at me and said “J.A. Bonham? He’s been dead for twenty years, but everyone knows that place.” Well, not everyone, Chief. I sure as hell didn’t know. Just writing this brings back memories of that cold night, and how utterly frustrating it was trying to find J.A. Bonham’s place. I’m tempted to take my wife back there for vacation, and casually mentioning to some of the locals about J.A. Bonham’s place. Now, even 20 + years after that call, it won’t surprise me a bit if people still remember where it is.

I will comment about the way we were dispatched in those days, though, versus what I see now on Nightwatch (and the way many other services do it, and have been doing it). I'm NOT saying that other ways are wrong, just how I perceive it. When CSP dispatched us, they would use mainly clear speech, with occasional 10-codes. "Attention Eagle Fire and EMS, multiple car accident westbound I-70 near mile marker 148. Time is 1630." Nice and clear, usually, with no doubt about what we had, even for the rookies. Apparently New Orleans EMS uses an alphanumeric system to classify their calls. Again, I'm NOT saying this is wrong or bad, but I can just imagine getting a call with that system at 2 in the morning. "Respond to a 34-S on the corner of...." Knowing myself, I would have to think: "34-S, is that a gunshot case or kid throwing up?"

As I’m writing this, I also happen to be watching Nightwatch: Memorable Cases and Chases. Cool! It’ll help me remember a few more things to compare to my time in EMS, and brings me full circle back to what prompted this particular blog. The most striking differences are in the technology. When I was with WECAD, the top of the line cardiac monitor was the Physio Control LifePak 10. We also had an older LifePak 5, but the “10” was our coolest unit. These ran about 10 grand each, so we had only one. This model can monitor in 3 leads, which is really beyond the scope of what this blog is about. A quick look on eBay just now showed me several complete sets for just under $300. Wow! These days paramedics routinely run 12-lead monitors, which is what is found in hospitals. This is a good thing, although I’m glad I only had to learn to read and interpret 3 leads and not 12.

Other improvements over my time include the “cot,” or stretcher as some would call it. Our cot was a Ferno 35, which in and of itself is a nice model. What I see the Nightwatch crews using, though, appears to have some sort of hydraulic assist mechanism which helps them load the cot into the ambulance. This is especially nice (and much safer) when handling heavier patients. Being somewhat of a technophile, I’ve fully embraced electronic forms of communication versus paper. To me, it’s just more efficient and convenient. When working for WECAD, our patient reports, or “trip reports,” were carbonless, multi-copy forms that we would document the nature of the call, our observations and treatments and other pertinent information. Normally our long transport times would allow us to finish this document, which ultimately became part of the patient’s medical record, by the time we reached the hospital. Of course, if we had a critical case, we spent our time performing treatment and care and would finish the paperwork once we got to the hospital.

I’m glad to see that modern EMS crews use either a laptop or tablet device to perform the same function. I would love to know how this data is transferred to hospital personnel, though. Is it done wirelessly or via other download? Maybe one of the Nightwatch medics will comment on this (and does it have Candy Crush installed?). Oh, come on! I was kidding about the Candy Crush thing. Lighten up!

One aspect of “then” versus “now” that hasn’t changed, and I’m happy to see this, is the camaraderie of the crews. Seeing the Nightwatch crews like Nick and Holly, or Dan and Titus banter back and forth as they respond to a scene remind me so much of when I would do the same with Andy, Tyler, Terri or others. I swear I've had pretty much the exact same conversations. Keely, I haven’t forgotten about you, either. We just didn’t have a position similar to yours back in the day. You deserve a shout out here, though, as just by watching you do what you do, I can tell you’d be a blast to hang out with. So, to all you Nightwatch medics I mentioned, the first round is on me the next time my wife and I make it up to New Orleans (or one of y’all make it to the Houston area).

Their names, by the way, are hyperlinks to their Twitter profiles. Check them out, and follow them on Twitter if you have an account. I follow them on my account, and its fun reading what they have to say. This camaraderie isn’t limited to just their own crew. The bond extends to their law enforcement and firefighting colleagues as well (and as it should be). We all rely on each other to do our respective jobs and have each other’s back. Just ask the guy who was foolish enough to push me on an accident scene. One of the Eagle PD officers saw this and had him in handcuffs in short order.

Since moving back to Texas in the mid-90’s, I’ve been happy to reconnect with my friends in Colorado. I enjoy seeing how some of the firefighters and medics I ran with now have grown kids doing the same thing. It’s not a cliché about the fire service and EMS being a “family business.” WECAD has since merged with ECAD (Eagle County Ambulance District – the agency covering the eastern part of Eagle County) to become Eagle County Paramedic Services. Thanks for answering my question about shift times, ECPS. I think I pulled a 48 hour shift once or twice with WECAD, normally to cover for someone, but it wasn’t often. I did 12 hour shifts, like the Nightwatch medics do, as a part timer and when I did private EMS back in Houston. I think that sometimes a 12 hour shift is actually harder than a 24, but that’s just me.

To all the public safety personnel I ran with, thanks for the memories. To those who are currently active, thank you for what you do and stay safe.

Until next time......

carpe cerevisi

"Challenger, go at throttle up!"

Since I started my self-imposed “discipline” of writing a blog every two weeks, I always have in the back of my mind a concern about coming up with a suitable and interesting topic. Sometimes all it takes is a random, fortuitous thought that quickly blooms into an idea. Days like today are easy, in that I have a ready-made topic just based on today’s date. That’s just fine with me. I’ll take easy any day.

Of all my interests throughout my life, I think space exploration, and especially manned spaceflight have always taken the forefront of my interests. As with other blogs I’ve written, I want to remind everyone reading this that the events I write about are filtered through my own memories and perceptions. I try to be accurate with the facts, but I’m sure there are times where I’ll fall short on this. So, let’s see how my recollections mesh with the facts on this captivating topic. We are go for launch!

I’ll start with our dive club meeting last night. Wait, what? Dive club? What does diving have to do with space flight? Well, thanks to one of our members, Shelby Dill, our guest speaker was astronaut Terry Virts! He gave a fantastic presentation, and was gracious with his time in answering our myriad of questions. In case you are curious, there actually is a direct connection between diving and spaceflight. Astronauts train in the neutral buoyancy lab to simulate weightlessness. From Colonel Virts’ description, it sounds like a fun place to dive if not training for a mission. Of course, I wouldn’t want to take my gear into chlorinated water. Salt water, yes, chlorinated water, no!

My earliest memories are watching the Apollo flights. I remember watching TV one day as a very young child when one of the Apollo crews transferred from the aircraft carrier to the silver isolation unit. I recall watching these three guys in green suits and “gas masks” wave to the camera and go into that cool silver “camper.” So, these biological isolation garments (“BIGs”) were used through the Apollo 14 mission, so it had to be one of the earlier missions. I’m guessing it was the Apollo 14 crew, though, as I was almost six at the time. I would’ve been too young to remember the earlier missions, I think.

While I don’t specifically remember this event, my mom enjoys telling the story of how I came home from elementary school one day with a note from my teacher. Apparently I corrected her on some facet of the Apollo program. 

“Patrick, you shouldn’t correct the teacher in class.”

“But, I was right,” I countered.

“That may be so, but there’s a time and a place to do that, and the middle of class, in front of other students, is NOT the time or the place.”

So the story goes. But hey, I was right!

I wasn’t content to just sit around and watch TV about the space program. I also liked to turn flash cubes into a lunar module (LEM). Yes, I added a hyperlink to “flash cubes” because some of y’all won’t know what I’m talking about. So, to make LEM, I would take a used flash cube and remove the clear plastic cover. Then I’d carefully bend out the four expended bulbs into legs, invert them and replace the plastic cover over the bottom of the flash cube. Voila! Instant LEM! Did you ever take a close look at a Hershey’s kiss? They look a LOT like an Apollo capsule, if you ask me. Several months ago, I related the flash cube story to a colleague at work, and got called a nerd for my efforts. It was a fellow scientist who called me a nerd. How ironic. I do take it as a badge of honor, though, to be called a nerd in this case.

While I remember a little about Skylab, I remember more about the Apollo-Soyuz mission. I even built the model of Apollo-Soyuz. I wish I had it today, as I bet it would be a collector’s item. Unfortunately, after Apollo-Soyuz, it would be a long dry spell until the space shuttle started flying several years later.

Watching the space shuttle take off like a Saturn V, and land like an airplane was so cool! I was in high school when I watched John Young and Bob Crippen blast off in Columbia. I know I wasn’t the only one who was totally captured by this event. TV coverage allowed the world to watch both the launch and landing of Columbia, as well as video from on orbit. Yes, you read that correctly: “on orbit.” While the more common “in orbit” is generally acceptable, NASA people typically prefer the term “on orbit.” If the NASA people prefer “on orbit,” then who am I to use anything else?

I was in college when the Challenger accident happened. On that cold January day thirty years ago today, I sat in an English class, wondering if Challenger launched. I had to go by the library after class, so I asked one of the staff if the shuttle launched, and that’s when I learned about the accident. I hurried back to my dorm and went to the TV room, where many of us stayed glued to coverage for the next several days.

image from Google search

Let’s consider what else was going on in the world at the time. This will probably sound crazy today, but seriously, my first thought was that it was a terrorist event. I wondered if Muammar Gaddafi (I googled the proper spelling of his name) had anything to do with it, and if he did, there would be hell to pay in Libya! Of course, terrorism was ruled out pretty quickly, but that first day had me wondering.

Several years pass, and here I am working as a paramedic. My sister told me she met “this NASA guy” at a party and they hit it off. They eventually got married, in fact, and are still happily married today. So, I find out that not only is he a “NASA guy,” but works in mission control as well! How cool is that? To his credit, Mikey was, and still is, quite tolerant of my incessant questions. He doesn’t work in flight control now, but still does support for the ISS.

Thanks to Mikey, he was able to arrange for passes for us (way before 9/11 changed everything) to go inside the original Gemini and Apollo control rooms! Holy crap, I got to sit at the very console Gene Kranz occupied as one of the Flight Directors during Apollo 11 (and other missions). I actually met Mr. Kranz a few years later while on jury duty in Galveston. He was right behind me in line as we went through the metal detector in the court house. As I passed through the metal detector and reached for the little basket holding my keys and change, I accidentally knocked it off the shelf. Keys and change went flying everywhere. Oh, crap, now what? I was frantically trying to pick everything up so I wouldn’t hold up the line any more than necessary when I heard his distinctive voice behind me.

“Here, son, let me help you with that.”

“Ummm, thank you, Mr. Kranz!” was all I could manage at the time. It was cool to meet him, but I would prefer a different setting if I had my choice. I did get to shake his hand, though, so it wasn’t a total loss.

I really need to digitize more of my photos. I’ve got pictures of me sitting at not only the Flight Director’s console, but also EECOM (Think Apollo 13 here…), FIDO, Flight Surgeon and a few others. I had to sit at the Flight Surgeon’s console because I was a paramedic at the time and thought the “upgrade” would be fun.

Speaking of Apollo 13, it was again through Mikey that I got to meet Fred Haise and Sy Liebergot. This was an event honoring the crew and flight directors of Apollo 13. After meeting Mr. Haise, what was one of my first thoughts? My “Bacon number” was now two! Yeah, I know, I’m not an actor, so technically I wouldn’t qualify. Hey, I don’t care, my number is still two!

In just a few days, another anniversary will be here, that of the Columbia accident. On that day, 2/1/03, I was working a weekend shift in a pathology lab when my mom called. She was crying and said she had to tell me some bad news. Of course, when a family member calls, crying, with bad news, you immediately think of another family member. I’m sure my heart skipped a few beats initially, but when she explained what the news was, I was relieved that it wasn’t family. I was, of course, sad for the crew and their families. Once again, as soon as I got home, I stayed glued to the TV, watching coverage of the aftermath.

Now that the shuttle program is officially over, and the Orion Program is just getting started, I often wonder where our space program is ultimately going to go. Are we going back to the moon? What about Mars? I can only imagine what the future holds, and the optimist in me still thinks there are great things in store for our space program in the future.

One can only hope and dream.

Until next time…

Carpe cerevisi

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With 2016 being just a couple of weeks old, the year is already looking good for several upcoming movies. Cindy and I have two under our belt so far. We watched In The Heart Of The Sea on New Year’s Day, and the latest Star Wars movie the next day. I listened to the audiobook version of “Sea” several years ago, shortly after the book was released. At the time, I thought it would make a good movie, and it did! It’s a truly epic story, and one I’d recommend, either by book or movie.

We had an extra special treat when watching the Star Wars movie. We ran into a geocaching friend of ours and his two kids. We haven’t seen them in quite a while, so it was a very pleasant surprise to meet up with them. We were able to sit together, and watch the movie. They had already seen it at least once, and Steven was anxious to get my impressions of the latest installment. What really caught my eye, though, was that they brought in some empty plastic popcorn tubs and drink cups. Yes, you did read that correctly. These tubs were empty! Steven explained to me that they purchased these to be used for free reduced price refills (thanks for the clarification, Steven!) of popcorn and soda. Just a couple of movies, and they would pay for themselves. Excellent idea, especially since there are way more than two we want to see this year! Thank you, Steven!

Google calendars rock, by the way! Both Cindy and I keep our own Google calendars, but share them so we can both see what’s going on with each other. I generally keep such items as trips and scuba activities on mine, while Cindy uses hers mainly for her class schedules. Of course, I add both upcoming movie releases and new TV show releases. So, what’s on tap for this year?

Our next movie looks to be The 5^th Wave. It opens towards the end of this month, and we’ll definitely buy our popcorn tubs and drink cups for future use. Steven said the biggest challenge is to remember to take them to the theater when we go. About a week later The Finest Hours opens, and this promises to be another epic sea tale. Ok, hmmm, so thus far of the four movies I’ve written about, two are seafaring related and two are sci-fi. I see a trend here, I think.

In March, the last Divergent movie is set to open. The first two were fun to watch and I expect the same to hold true with the final movie. Later in the summer, Finding Dory will, no pun intended, find its way into theaters. Who am I kidding? That pun was totally intended! And speaking of summer, what better way to spend a hot, humid day than in a cool, dark theater, watching the next installment of the Star Trek series? Hey, did I remember the drink cup? Heck yeah!

Going into fall, I’m looking forward to Sully and Deepwater Horizon. Sully is about Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who successfully landed that US Airways flight in the Hudson River back in 2009. For my fellow fans of Sai King, remember the flight number? It was 1549. For those of y’all reading this who aren’t Stephen King fans, first of all you have my sympathy. Secondly, I could just tell you about the reference, but I’d rather you just pick up a few King books and start reading. Deepwater Horizon is based on the 2010 accident on that rig.

The Girl on the Train and Inferno are both based on books. I’ve read Inferno, but haven’t read The Girl on the Train yet. Inferno is the next Dan Brown book in the “Robert Langdon” series to be made into a movie. Finally, I have Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on the calendar. After the last Harry Potter movie, I wondered what would come next from JK Rowling’s gifted mind. For those not familiar with the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was one of his text books while attending Hogwarts. I’ve read a few online sources (so it must be true, right?) that Quidditch Through The Ages has been optioned for production as well. This is another of Harry’s text books, and if done properly, it should be very entertaining.

That’s my “short list” thus far. Of course, there are several more movies opening throughout the year, but the titles above are on my calendar for a reason.

Pass the popcorn!

Until next time…

Carpe cerevisi

Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016

Wow, here it is, New Year’s Eve 2015! Overall it has been a fun and productive year. I didn’t get to do as much diving as I’d like, but then again, do we ever? That being said, though, I’d argue that 2015’s dives were definitely the “quality over quantity” variety. I’ll take quality over quantity any day.

January, as is usually the case, was an uneventful month. I have an extended “winter holiday” at work, so depending upon the timing, I get about a week off over the Christmas/New Year holiday. The first part of January is just getting back into the groove at work, and already looking forward to the next holiday. Hey, I’m not gonna lie about that. Yes, I do love my job, and find it most interesting and rewarding. I also love my time off, too.

February saw the return of Cirque du Soleil to Houston with their show Amaluna. The timing for this was perfect, as Valentine’s Day fell on a Saturday. I decided to make a romantic weekend of it, so I purchased some good seats for Amaluna and made reservations for dinner at the nearby Steamboat House. Dinner was, to say the least, exquisite, and just a short drive took us to the entrance to the Sam Houston Race Park, where the Grand Chapiteau was set up. I also had reservations at a hotel close to the venue so we could enjoy a romantic Valentine’s Day and not have to make the long drive back home at evening’s end.

March arrived with a rare treat for me. Most of y’all know that I work in infectious disease research. Back in 1996 or so, I was working as a clinical paramedic and read Richard Preston’s book The Hot Zone. This book was both chilling and intriguing, and was what really sparked my interest in infectious diseases. Most paramedics, not all, but most generally gravitate towards an emphasis in trauma, as depending on where the medic works constitutes a large portion of their calls. Anyway, I remember discussing this book with a fellow paramedic and recall saying something like “It would be really cool to work in one of those ‘space suit labs. I’ll never get a chance to do this, but it would be cool.” Fast forward about a decade and where do I find myself working? Yes, in one of “those” labs! Even now, I still find myself wondering how I happened to fall into such a position. Several names in that book are on my phone’s contact list, and I’ve either worked for them in the past or work for them now.

Yeah, annnnd???

Well, Mr. Preston gave a presentation at work in early March and graciously allowed time for autographs and photos. As I stood in line to have my book signed, I remarked to one of the researchers how cool this opportunity was, and he remarked back that The Hot Zone was what got him started in that line of work. Sound familiar? What really impressed me was Mr. Preston actually taking the time to listen to what we had to say to him and pose for multiple photographs. He seemed quite surprised to hear how many of us were inspired to do what we do just by reading his book.

Richard Preston signs my book!

photo courtesy of UTMB

Just over two weeks later, Cindy and I were on the way to the DC area to visit her sister Connie and Jeff over a long weekend. While there, we were treated to a late snowfall. This wasn’t the light, dusty snow I typically encountered while living in Colorado. This was the heavy, wet stuff. We were dressed for it, though, as part of my pre-travel routine is a thorough review of the local weather forecast. While there for four days, we packed in enough activities to make it feel like a week. We ate at several new restaurants (new for us, anyway), including Ted's Bulletin in DC proper. This had a 1950's malt shoppe feel, and their bakery was exceptional. They even made their own versions of the Pop-Tart, which were excellent. I had one of their salted caramel "Pop-Tarts" and thought it divine!

I’ve been to several of the Smithsonian Museums a number of times, with the National Air & Space Museum being my favorite. This time, though, we also visited the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center next to IAD. For those of y’all who have even a shred of interest in aviation, I urge you to visit this jewel! It is an experience not to be missed. You can see many photos I uploaded from both campuses here and I think you’ll see why I’m so insistent on promoting these awesome venues.

As if March wasn’t packed with enough activities, April came charging in with a blast of a ship’s horn. That horn would belong to the Carnival Freedom, which took us to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay in Jamaica. We’ve done this itinerary several times, but chose it for the diving in Cozumel and Grand Cayman, as well as to experience the Freedom. She’s a Conquest Class ship, so we were already familiar with her layout, having been on the Conquest and Liberty previously. Our CD for this trip was Jen Baxter, a marvelous CD and wonderful person. Jen was gracious with her time, and always seemed to be delighted to see you any time she passed you on the ship. This was also my first time to see one of Carnival’s new shows, Getaway Island. This is now one of my favorite Carnival production shows, and I encourage anyone sailing on a Carnival ship that has this show to see it. Another bonus was getting to see my friend Caroline Picard perform. She makes the rounds on Carnival’s ships, and is a fantastic comedian. She does land based shows as well, so by all means take the time and attend one of her shows. You’ll thank me for it, I promise.

My, oh my, here it is May! Cindy and I took a road trip to the Beaumont area to attend our first of three weddings for the year. Our friends (and fellow BAD members) Keith and Barbara got married and naturally we were there to help them celebrate. I’m glad to see them as husband and wife. They make a nice couple! Now that the water was finally getting warmer, it was time to improve our skills. Cindy and I took the PADI Rescue Diver course taught by Dave Romano. As part of this course, I got re-certified in both CPR and Emergency First Responder. Much of this reminded me of my paramedic days. The practical portion of the class coincided with a BAD group dive at Mammoth Lake. Although we were busy doing scenarios while our fellow BADdies were doing “fun dives,” at the end of the day we were tired but happy rescue divers. We had a nice lunch with our fellow club members (fried chicken with LOTS of sides and desserts…..a quasi-tradition when BAD does a group dive at Mammoth) but we were all ready for dinner at Asiel’s afterwards. Asiel’s is located right at the entrance to Mammoth Lake, so not only was it convenient, but tasty as well.

June came around and several of us BADdies took a tour of the tall ship Elissa and enjoyed a nice after party at a club member’s house. Once again, there was food and drink in abundance, and all of us had a fantastic time. The following weekend a handful of us BADdies headed to Corpus Christi to dive the Kinta S, a newly sunk ship to become an artificial reef. Unfortunately, the sea state (ripping surface and subsurface currents and poor visibility) forced us to cancel the dive. We definitely want to go back, though, and dive this wreck.

July showed up and we BADdies headed west this time, to Canyon Lake. A group of us did a two tank boat dive with Canyon Lake Divers and had fun diving a deep lake from a boat. Due to all the recent rains, the viz was suboptimal at best, but at least the lake was at normal levels. We rented a house for the group and got to hang out and enjoy being amongst friends.

In a previous blog, I wrote about a three tank dive I did in August, so there’s no reason to rehash it here. If you haven’t read that blog yet, I encourage you to do so. I describe a romantic and unique marriage proposal that you probably won’t see in most blogs. I’m still glad I got to be a part of that. Thanks again, Jim!

Annnnd now it’s September! Here we are nine months into 2015 and it feels like I was just putting away Christmas decorations. Of course September means not only another birthday for me (and NO, I still haven’t done anything with that AARP “invitation” yet) but our wedding anniversary. This year I made reservations at Murder by Chocolate for dinner and a mystery show. We did this before and loved it. I’m already looking at their calendar to see what I can set up for another special day. A couple of weeks later and we are off to the valley to dive the Texas Clipper with American Diving. This is another purpose-sunk wreck to become an artificial reef. Visibility wasn’t great, but good enough to enjoy the dive. As with other fun dives, we will definitely want to re-visit the Clipper again. Starting with that weekend, pretty much all of our weekends were busy through the rest of the year.

October means fall weather, football, Fearshire Farms, and of course Halloween. Starting with Halloween, through the rest of the year, I feel like it’s one long “holiday season.” Please let me elaborate here. With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s all so close together, we go from one holiday to another almost non-stop. Lots of cookies, fudge, and other treats are made for each and while the shapes and decorations of the cookie may change, the pleasure of eating them doesn’t. I really enjoy this extended holiday season, and look forward to this time of year as much as any other time. October also gave us our second wedding to attend this year. This time around, it was Cindy’s sister Connie getting married to Jeff. The wedding was held in a large lake house in Bumpass, Virginia. This allowed essentially all of the family to be together.

This trip also gave me an opportunity to have a long overdue reunion with a good friend of mine and his family. After calling John, and letting him know I’d be in the area, we decided to meet halfway between Bumpass and Virginia Beach. We picked a brewpub in Richmond for lunch. I’ve known John Myers since our college days and have stayed in touch with him through all these years. It was my first opportunity to meet his wife and kids, though. Having been “friends” on Facebook with his wife for several years, it was especially nice to actually meet her. Our next trip to the DC area will definitely include a stop in their part of Virginia.

A fun reunion!

With November’s arrival, it was finally time for our long awaited BAD cruise. Our club set this up over a year ago, as part of the club’s 40^th anniversary celebration. About 32 club members booked this cruise on the Carnival Magic, going to Cozumel, Belize, and Roatan (Honduras). We picked this specific itinerary so we could dive in all three ports. Hey, we are divers, on a cruise celebrating a dive club’s anniversary…..of course we were gonna dive as much as we could! Our non-diving members had their own fun, exploring the different ports. Our cruise was a spectacular success, and several cruise newbies got to see why Cindy and I keep raving about cruising. I think we made some converts here, and am glad to see so many happy memories from so many being made.

With December coming up on the calendar, it was time for our third wedding of the year. This wedding united Tiffanie and David in another beautiful, outdoor service in San Antonio. Luckily, Cindy was done with her finals for the semester, so she didn’t have to worry about studying during all the fun. Not even two weeks after the wedding and I’m starting my “winter holiday” at work that I mentioned earlier. This holiday is a paid holiday at work, and this year officially began on Christmas Eve. I took the day before off as a vacation day, so I’ve been off work since the 23^rd, and won’t go back until Monday the 4^th. Gotta love working for the state, right? I sure do!

So, in just a few hours, Cindy and I will be at my sister’s house for New Year’s festivities. We don’t go out with all the drunk/crazy/stupid people. No, of course I don’t mean that all people who go out are drunk or crazy or stupid, but enough of them are that we prefer to stay close to home. We’ll watch movies and play Pandemic, a really cool game I got for Christmas. I also got the expansion sets On The Brink and In The Lab to go with it.  We’ll play a game or two of the base set, then will try our hands at On The Brink. It reminds me a LOT of what I do at work, but at least in the game I can enjoy some chips and queso while fighting pathogens and not have to wear any special protective gear.

So, what will 2016 bring? I’m looking forward to another good year. We are booked on the Carnival Breeze in May, again going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. We really want to dive the USS Kittiwake in Cayman, so that’s why we picked this itinerary. Keith and Barbara are also booked with us (remember me mentioning their wedding in May?) and will be celebrating their first anniversary while on the cruise.

For those going out tonight, have fun and stay safe.

Happy New Year to all!

carpe cerevisi

Dive! Dive! Dive!

No, this isn’t a blog about submarines, or even submarine movies, although that might be a fun topic to explore in the future. Today’s blog is about a 3-tank dive my dive club, Bay Area Divers, did on a couple of offshore rigs yesterday. We BADdies, as we like to call ourselves, stay active pretty much year round, but more so in the summer. What better way to keep cool in these dog days of August than taking a dip in a very large swimming pool, called the Gulf of Mexico.

Unfortunately, diving in Texas falls into two main categories: lake dives and offshore dives. There really isn’t a lot of shore diving in Texas, except maybe near Port Aransas. Visibility (“viz”) in the local lakes is rarely what one would call good, so to find that good viz you pretty much have to head offshore. That leaves rigs, a wreck or two, and the Flower Garden Banks for some true “blue water” diving.

Since Cindy and I love cruising the Caribbean, we take advantage of the fantastic diving there and have logged dives from Cozumel to Belize to Grand Turk. The most common dive trips in the Caribbean, when on a cruise ship stop, is the standard two tank dive. Now, before I get too far along in my ramblings, let me explain exactly what that means. Many of my non-diving friends visualize something like Lloyd Bridges in Sea Hunt, wearing a set of double tanks when I mention doing a “two tank dive.” That’s not the case here, though. A two tank dive refers to a dive trip where one will make two dives, each with a fresh tank. The diver will make a dive, and depending on the dive operator, will surface when either his/her tank is at a certain minimum pressure, or his/her dive computer (or dive tables if going “old school”) indicates he/she is near their no-decompression limit. Normally, it’s the minimum pressure that limits most recreational divers.

Anyway, after diving that first tank, the diver will then spend a certain amount of time on the surface, called a surface interval. Usually about an hour or so, this surface time allows excess nitrogen to leave the body. After a sufficient surface interval, the diver then makes another dive on the second tank, hence the term “two tank dive.”

That’s why I was making it a point to talk about our three tank dive yesterday. We did two dives on one rig, and then a third dive on another rig, using the transit time between the two as part of our surface interval. These rigs were about 37 miles offshore, so we got to experience some nice “blue water” diving with great viz and abundant wildlife. We actually had enough members wanting to dive that we chartered not one, not two, but three, yes three dive boats! In all, there were about 18 divers, plus three divemasters, diving yesterday. I took just over 150 photos, most of which came out nicely. There were several blurry photos and a few who’s composition was not what I had envisioned that went straight to the electronic recycle bin.

One event made our second dive truly special. Two of our club members, Jim McConville and Doreen Wells, have been in a relationship for a few years. Several weeks ago, Jim came to me and asked if I (along with two others) would help him with a “secret project.” During one of our dives, he would give us a signal and we would each unfurl a weighted t-shirt. Mine had “Will” printed on it, another had “you” printed on it, and the third had “marry” on it. Jim would then unfurl his t-shirt that had “me” on it. He also had a ring tucked into his exposure suit, which he’d then present to Doreen. How cool is that, huh?

So, on dive number two, we covertly grabbed our respective t-shirts, tucked into a mesh bag, and clipped them onto our dive gear. After all of us spent some time exploring the rig underwater, Jim nodded to us and then distracted Doreen. We quickly unfurled our shirts, and he pointed us out to her. I could see Doreen reading the shirts, then looking at Jim, who had his shirt unfurled. A vigorous nod from her let us all know we just shared a very special occasion. I’m most happy for Jim and Doreen, and feel honored to have been asked to participate in such a profound moment. Congratulations, you two!

The newly engaged couple

The third dive was just as fun as the previous two, but after what we did on the second dive, it was almost anticlimactic……almost. Hey, it was a fun dive, what can I say? I wonder if Jim and Doreen will exchange vows underwater somewhere in the Caribbean. They can find a minister who happens to be a diver and do the ceremony on the sandy bottom in Cozumel or Bonaire. How romantic, right?

Oh, come on! Surely this would be no different than a couple exchanging vows in freefall. I’m not making that up, either. Some friends of mine actually got married that way. Gary used to operate a drop zone, for sport skydiving. He and his then fiancé, also a skydiver, convinced a minister to take lessons so he could marry them while in freefall. Since the average skydive has about 46 seconds of freefall, most of the ceremony, except for the actual “I do” part, took place on the ground. The wedding party then loaded up into the jump plane, climbed to altitude and jumped out. The minister had them repeat the actual vows in freefall; they opened their parachutes and landed as a married couple.

Having just read about that true story, exchanging vows underwater doesn’t seem all that farfetched now, does it?

Until next time……

Carpe cerevisi