In the field
A member of the Zuni Hotshot crew reading during a lunch break at the Shepp Ranch on the Salmon River. The shots were doing point protection--clearing brush, lighting backfires, and setting up sprinklers.
You can look at a few photos of the fire I just got home from on Flickr.
Another abandoned accident
Nearly the entire fire department, lots of cops and two ambulances were dispatched to this situation. The power pole was broken, the lines were still in the air, holding the broken pole up, but no driver was to be found.
It’s not unusual to get to a wrecked car and find nobody around. The most common reasons people run are because they’re intoxicated or because there are warrants out of them. Others run because they have no valid drivers license, they were breaking some other law, or they stole the car. Most of the car thefts are from people they know--family or acquantances.
But the people who run are often people who run away from problems other times: they’ve run away from school, from bosses and jobs, from friends and spouses.
We never did find the driver. He’s out there now, running.
Negative transport
Get out of bed, throw on just enough clothes, drive fast, do an assessment, laugh at the forlorn jokes, get a release form signed, wait to be sure traffic control is adequate, go home, look at the stars, go back to bed. . .
Incidents like the Polson balcony collapse put people in touch with why they stay in EMS: it’s exciting to meet challenges for a good cause. The adrenaline, concentration, and skill needed to turn chaos into something manageable is similar to that needed to compete in an important football game. People like the feeling of giving a lot for something worthwhile.
And then it’s back to the routines: people calling an amublance because the excitement feels like meaning in impoverished lives, people drinking too much then faking seizures to get attention, people drinking too much and slamming windows on their fingers, people drinking too much and falling off their front steps, and people drinking too much and banging their car (or somebody’s car) into guard rails.
The hardest challenge in EMS may not be dealing with horrific injuries. It may be staying committed to the patient’s good treatment even when the patient seems unable to take his or her own side effectively. We pick up after people far more often than we save lives.
Roy Anderson's hay burns--worth $25,000
The fire reflected in one of three fire engines the St. Ignatius Fire Department took to the fire. More photos. . .
Topics
Table of Contents
Calls
- Photos from Rattlesnake Fire, Nez Perce National Forest
- Running
- After the reality comes the reality
- Lightning strike sets haystack ablaze
- Diamond Horseshoe story picked up nationally
- Michael L. Umphrey
- Katherine Mitchell
- Valerie Umphrey
- Jim Umphrey
- Joe Durglo
- Teri Miller
- Annie Morigeau
- Gwen Couture
- Eldon Umphrey
- Michael K. Umphrey
- Gary Steele
- Neal Christiansen
- Christa Umphrey
Roster
Michael L. Umphrey
Announcements
- About Mission Valley Ambulance
- Contact Information
- Submit information about your radio
- Emergency-Vehicle Lighting Manufacturers
Schedule
Meetings
Training
- Professionalism Powerpoint
- Listen to breath sounds on your computer
- What do fireline EMTs need to know?
IMS
Incidents: Flathead Agency
- Garceau Wildland Fire "CSKT Division of Fire currently has two crews (40) and numerous heavy equipment dedicated to the fire. Heavy mop up operations continue as crews look for "smokes" inside the containment..."
Reservation Fire News
- Garceau Fire Fact Sheet for August 2, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Thursday, August 2, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen and Jill Cobb Message Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire, lightning..."
- Garceau Fire Fact Sheet - August 1, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Wednesday, August 1, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen, Jill Cobb and Karen SargeantMessage Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire,..."
- Fire Fact Sheet, August 1, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Wednesday, August 1, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen, Jill Cobb and Karen SargeantMessage Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire,..."
- Garceau Fire Fact Sheet - July 31, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Tuesday, July 31, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen, Jill Cobb and Karen SargeantMessage Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire,..."
- Fire Fact Sheet for July 30, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Monday, July 30, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen, Jill Cobb and Karen SargeantMessage Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire, lightning..."
- July 29, 2007 Garceau Fire Fact Sheet (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Sunday, July 29, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen, Jill Cobb and Rich JanssenMessage Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire, lightning..."
- Fact Sheet for July 28, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Saturday, July 28, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen and Jill CobbMessage Phone: (406) 883-2403 What: Wildland fire, lightning..."
- Fact Sheet for July 27, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Friday, July 27, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen and Jill CobbMessage Phone: (406) 208-0934 What: Wildland fire, lightning causedStarted: ..."
- Fact Sheet for July 26, 2007 (Garceau Wildland Fire) " Garceau Fire Fact Sheet Thursday, July 26, 2007 9:00 a.m.Contact: Public Information Officers Terina Mullen and Jill CobbMessage Phone: (406) 208-0934 What: Wildland fire, lightning..."