April 8, 2025 • 27 mins
Ever wonder what happens when you bring someone along for a ride-along on a ambulance or a fire engine for the day? According to first responders, it’s either a total snooze-fest, or a wild and crazy adventure—and there’s rarely anything in between. In this episode, Jimmy and Megan dig into the strange superstition known as the “ride-along curse,” sharing their own stories from both sides of the experience.
From Megan’s unforgettable EMT training shift—starting with a pedestrian hit by a bus, and ending inside a jail—to Jimmy’s long string of chaotic ride-along days involving helicopter transfers, mental health crises, and a particularly animated gunshot patient. These stories aren’t just for shock value. They show how even routine calls can spiral, how adrenaline can affect performance, and why real-life practice is essential for responders at any level.
At Life Safety Associates, we train safety teams to stay calm under pressure—and that means preparing for days like these. Whether it’s your first shift or your fiftieth, the ability to reset, refocus, and work the problem is what separates the confident from the overwhelmed. This episode dives into what that looks like in real time—so you'll be ready to expect the unexpected.
Life Safety Associates specializes in emergency response training for corporate ERT Teams. We help businesses create competent and confident first responders who are ready to handle unexpected emergencies. For more information you find us @lifesafetyassoc or email@lifesafety.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jimmy (00:00):
What's happening.
It's Jimmy with your girl, megswith another life and safety
podcast, hello, and today we'regoing to talk about the ride
along curse.
So you're like what is that?
It's a thing you get the mostworst, crazy, busiest day when
(00:29):
you are a ride-along or you havea ride-along with you, or you
absolutely have the most boringdown.
Megan (00:37):
Don't do anything day and there is no in-between.
Jimmy (00:40):
There's no in-between, it's a thing between.
There's no in between, it's athing.
And so what a ride along is islots of times people will want
to just see how it is and get onan ambulance or a police car or
a fire engine and just ridealong and just spend the day, a
shift, with that entity and tosee what's going on and kind of
(01:06):
see how the other half live.
If you will, there's also anEMT school.
You have to have a ride alongpart of the curriculum, but you
have to do it, I think.
I think I live up to one shift,right, correct?
Yeah, it's one shift.
Now, and I'm asking Meganbecause she's went through EMT
school closest, or?
(01:27):
most recently thank you, betterwords, um.
So I've been on both sides ofthis coin multiple times.
So I'll tell one of my earliest, back when I was still in high
school, when I went to EMTschool.
I had to do my ride-along forEMT school and I went to the
(01:54):
local ambulance house.
I remember I grew up in a smalltown and there was two
ambulances was two ambulancesand one kind of midtown to one
part of the town and then onefarther up the street for the
other side of the town.
And, um, they got there and wedidn't do anything.
(02:20):
Oh no, you sat there and theywere like, did you you bring
your EMT book?
And I go, yeah, and they said,okay, start rereading the first
five chapters.
And I was like what and Iactually rode with um, one of my
EMT instructors because Ithought I would be able to get
like some more hands-on and likejust get more training were
(02:43):
like, yeah, just be the firstfive, we'll see what happens.
And she came to our small townfrom like la city and so she was
like super, like just seasonedthe new, lots of stuff.
And I was like, okay, and thenwhat?
(03:05):
And then she's like we're gonnawait for a call and I'm like,
okay, and then what?
and she's like we're gonna waitfor a call.
So I'm like, oh this is prettyboring so she like, do you want
to train on anything?
And I was like, after like thefirst three hours and I was like
(03:28):
yeah, let's train on.
You know this apparatus and Iwas like, okay, and it was the
hardest apparatus, arguablybecause there's just lots of
steps and lots of straps and Idon't remember what it's called.
I don't think they use themanymore, but it was a green,
(03:53):
fairly flexible backboard,basically that went around your
head and around your torso andactually you're sitting down oh,
yeah, yeah, yeah, the uh, oh,what's it called?
Megan (04:04):
what's it called?
I want to call it the kid.
Jimmy (04:05):
Yes, that is, we still train on that nice so we had to
do the kid and I don't know why,but I was like freaking out, I
couldn't do it.
I think it was because I was infront of my instructor and like
her paramedic partner and I wasjust like I don't know, I just
wasn't doing a good job, likeI'm choking and and she's like
you got to figure this out,hurry up.
(04:26):
And I was like, ah, and it kindof bothered me.
And then we started putting itaway and we got a call out and
it was my buddy's grandma.
Wow, that's rough, unconscious,unresponsive, not breathing
grandma, that's rough.
Unconscious unresponsive notbreathing and my instructor took
(04:51):
the family out.
And that's when, if you've beenin our classes before, I've
told the story about the firsttime I ever did CPR.
That was that?
And went back to the stationand I was like what the F just
happened?
That was crazy.
And they're like, yeah, oneminute you're not doing anything
(05:13):
and then you get on it andyou're just like crazy and I was
like, wow, you can't always belike this.
And they were like nah, notreally.
We either run two or threecalls a day or we don't do
anything.
And I was like, okay, andthey're like we'll probably get
another one.
So it was a 12-hour shift andthat was the only call I got, so
(05:34):
guess what?
I left.
They ran all night.
So it was like super crazy.
So like, that's just like oneexample.
Megan (05:44):
And I know you've had a couple ride-ons right yeah, I um
, because I was a squad leaderfor my, for the squad at my
class um, they allowed squadleaders the opportunity to do a
ride-along on a 911 rig.
Normally the ride-alongs theydid with Royal Ambulance was who
(06:07):
we mostly worked with, and theydo IFT or inter-facility
transport, my words, which isjust bringing patients who have
graduated out of hospital andtaking them to a skilled nursing
facility or bringing them backhome or transferring from one
hospital to another Usuallynothing particularly life-saving
(06:28):
, typically the patients arepretty stable and you're just
sort of transporting them.
But so I got to work a 911shift, which is the you know the
prized shift where you get todo some, hopefully some actual
life-saving things.
And I had the crazy shift, thenonstop we worked.
(06:50):
I got there at like I think,probably 8 pm and like 10
minutes into our call we got theor 10 minutes into the shift we
got the call that there was apatient who was a pedestrian who
was hit by a bus and was inpretty bad shape, and so it was
(07:13):
like, right off the bat, we'restarting strong, got a lot to do
and the patient, unfortunately,was with his dog at the time
when the dog did not make it.
The patient, unfortunately, waswith his dog at the time when
the dog did not make it and thisdog was obviously really well
cared for, much more cared forthan the human.
And I think the hardest partabout that call fair warning it
(07:35):
gets rough, but the hardest partabout that call for me was that
the patient, like every youknow, 30 seconds to a minute
would ask me, hey, where's mydog?
What happened to my dog?
And I'd have to remind him.
Oh well, do you remember what Itold you?
Your dog died.
Your dog didn't make it and hekept asking.
(07:56):
I had to keep reminding himbecause we had to check his
mental acuity and figure out,you know, make sure that he
could remember things that justhappened.
We were pretty sure that he hada massive head injury because
one of his pupils was adifferent size than the other
and also with the, you know,resetting memory every 30
seconds to a minute was not agood sign, but he was up and
talking and was in pain but waspretty high functioning, for you
(08:21):
know, somebody who was just hitby a bus.
And then I was really freakedout because this was my first
time working on a real human andit was like this crazy.
You know you don't expect yourfirst patient to be.
You know a pedestrian who washit by a bus and I freaked out.
Jimmy (08:37):
I was like ah.
Megan (08:38):
I don't know what's happening.
I don't even remember where tostart.
Yeah, it was not my finestmoment.
Jimmy (08:44):
Um, how much did they let you like talk to the patient
really?
Megan (08:47):
They actually let me do a lot.
It was I was really lucky Um,my, the paramedic who was on the
rig that I worked on wasfriends with my EMT school
teacher and so uh, which is howI got to do the ride along, um,
and so he was warned that I wascoming and like knew of me and
that I was one of Jerry's kids,and so he let me do a lot.
(09:10):
I got to do a lot of thesecondary exams, so like
checking the head for BCAP, bcapwhat Wow?
Oh my God.
Dcap, yeah, dcap.
Pdls oh wow.
Acronyms Ac my God, dcap, yeah,dcap.
Ptls oh wow.
Jimmy (09:25):
Acronyms.
Acronyms.
Megan (09:28):
But I got to, like you know, do it.
But I just forgot everything.
And I was like, ah, eyes, okay,pupils, not equal round and
responsive to like, oh my God,leg, leg injury, does he have a
pedal pulse?
And I was like like jumping allover the body, which is not
what you're supposed to do.
And then eventually we droppedthe patient off and then the
paramedic was like so how do you, how do you think that went?
(09:51):
I was like not great.
And he said, yeah, that was notgood.
Let's, let's talk it through.
What are you supposed to do?
And I was like, now that Iwasn't in the adrenaline fueled,
like what is going on?
I was like, oh well, you know,you start with the head and then
you move down and then you goin order and this is, and I like
recited the procedure.
And he was like, yeah, whydidn't you do that?
I was like I don't know.
(10:14):
And then Blood and shit bro yeah, right, but so my brain just
completely left me on that firstpatient, um.
But, like I said, he was up andtalking.
And then, uh, we actually had apatient later that night and
brought it to the same hospitaland they're like, hey, were you
guys the one who brought in thepedestrian?
We're like, yeah, and he waslike he crashed almost
(10:36):
immediately after Um, like hewas in the, he was in the CT
machine and like his heartstopped and they started doing
CPR on him and running codes.
And it was crazy, like how hewas.
He seemed perfectly fine.
Like I was like, wow, this guygot away unscathed from a bus
accident and then he did not.
I don't know if he lived ordied.
(10:56):
I like to think that they, youknow, you know, brought him back
, but I don't know.
Jimmy (11:01):
Yeah.
Megan (11:01):
But it was so crazy to be like, yeah, one moment he was
up and talking and you knowfunctioning, and then the next
he was having someone do CPR onhim.
It's crazy.
Jimmy (11:11):
Yeah.
Megan (11:14):
And then the next call out.
We had like maybe 10, 15minutes to do our paperwork.
And then we got another call tothe jail for a suspected
overdose in the jail.
So I got to go inside the jailand, like you know, see the
patient and help get him out.
(11:34):
And that one I was moreprepared.
I was like, okay, I'm ready,I'm going to remember how to do
the procedure.
I don't want to, you know, letmy teachers down, right, but
that one was a crazy one,because they're like what the
cellmate was like uh, I don'tknow really what happened.
Like he he might have takensomething, but I don't know.
But then he was shaking and nowhe's on the floor and now he's
(11:56):
not breathing right and hesounds weird and I can't wake
him up and I don't really knowwhat happened.
We're like okay, um, and becausethis, you know, this one I took
more of a backseat from and Ijust sort of watched and didn't
do too too much on, because youknow we had the sheriff's
officers there, you know,escorting the patient and you
(12:20):
know it was just, it was a, itwas a charged situation, but I
did get to give Narcan to thepatient and it did not help.
So we know that it wasn't anopioid overdose, or at least not
only an opioid overdose, and we, you know, I got to put the NRM
, the non-rebreather mask, onhim so he was still breathing on
his own but he wasn't gettingenough oxygen.
(12:41):
So we put oxygen on him um, andthen, other than that, I just
kind of watched while theytransported him um and they gave
me the option to not sit in theback because they're like, well
, it's a full house back here.
We got um, we had the, myparamedic um from the unit I was
on, and then we had one of thefirefighters come along, and
then we had one of the sheriffsum to come to come along to be
(13:04):
in custody of him.
I was like you can sit back hereif you want, but you got to sit
in the jump seat and you got to, you know.
And so I was like, are youkidding?
Of course I'm going back there.
Of course I don't want to missout on this opportunity.
Yeah, um, but it was.
Those are the fullest house inthe back of a rig that I
experienced.
Yeah, as far as I'm aware, Idon't know what happened.
(13:29):
I mean, he was still not awakeby the time we dropped him off.
Jimmy (13:32):
Wow, we had another friend, no, in the know, in the
know, in the know-know, and wewere doing a way to ride along
and we ended up with threestudents on the ambulance.
So there's five people in theambulance.
(13:53):
Oh my gosh.
And it was really messed upbecause the two of the
ambulances they're supposed totake, the two other kids I'll
say it that way Saw them andleft were like no, not today.
And we ended up with somepretty crazy calls.
(14:16):
We ended up with a transferfrom a helicopter to the
children's hospital for arguably, probably one of the worst top
three worst calls I ever saw.
We're not going to talk aboutthat.
And we got directly after thatcall call.
We had a person and on theground it was a really hot like
(14:44):
fall day.
Yeah, I had to go in the fallbecause I wasn't working on the
fire engine, I was already outof the season, so late fall, and
it was like barely hot that dayfor some reason, and the ground
was hot and the guy waswrestled by the police and held
(15:05):
down.
So he had burns on the back ofhis arms, ow, and he was violent
, and so they were like, yeah,we got it, and the paramedic I
was with was like, yeah, we hada police officer ride with us,
so I was driving the ambulance,the paramedic was in the back
(15:27):
and three students and a policeofficer and the guy.
We pulled over to a stoplightand he guy decided to get froggy
and he jumped on the policeofficer.
So the police officer, theparamedic and the boy so it was
a boy and two girl, um, and theboy, the paramedic and the cat
(15:53):
and the police officer jumped onthe guy to restrain him.
And then one of the girlsapparently knew like some kung
fu grip thing and like put theguy's arm in like some twisted
thing and like tied him up, likeliterally, like kind of like
(16:13):
you saw restraints on the guy,and so we got him back to the
hospital and he was, um, he hada mental issue and he was just
off his meds and apparently heliked to fight when he was off
his meds that's rough, it wasrough, and so that was pretty
(16:34):
wild.
So in that same era we hadanother I don't know so long ago
I can't remember if it was thesame ride-along or not, but
there was a car hit by a train.
Different ride-along, because Ijust remember the hair color of
the guy I was with.
(16:55):
He was blonde and then the onewas brunette and then the two
ladies had black hair.
So the blonde boy on this otherride-along in the same time
frame I think they were in thesame class even this person
passed out driving across thetrain tracks and then got hit by
the train.
Person passed out drivingacross the train tracks and then
(17:20):
got hit by the train and umpretty dramatic situation.
Yeah, we got there and theparent, the firefighters were
doing, uh, cpr on the person.
And we got there, paramedicdropped a intubation tube and
we're doing our thing, and thekid hid, he went and got back in
(17:40):
the ambulance and it was justlike dude, you're the jinx,
we're getting crazy calls, justbe ready.
And the first, out of the gatean hour in train accident.
And then I think the paramedicI worked with she always would
say you can break the curse ifyou buy us lunch or you buy us
(18:03):
ice cream in the afternoon.
And lots of times the studentsdidn't have the money or they
just weren't prepared for it.
And.
And then that kid, though,ended up having money and for
some reason he bought us icecream, and then it worked Nice,
nothing happened the rest of theday, and I was like well, this
(18:26):
is actually kind of boring,let's get something happening,
so that I mean blessing or curse, right, and then one more ride
along story.
That well, it wasn't really aride along story, it was.
I was an extra hand, um, I'dgotten on duty and all of my
(18:52):
both the fire engines in myfirehouse were on strike teams,
so they actually left the countyto go to big fires and they're
rounding up all of thestragglers, if you will, it's a
then just kind of dispersingthem on other places.
So I got picked up and I gottaken out to Marysville and I
(19:13):
got to work on what they calledtheir squad, which was basically
a pickup truck with somemedical stuff in it, yeah, and
not sketchy at all.
So we were there and they hadthe fire engine and they
actually had a ladder truck.
And I got there and they werelike, oh, you're not from here.
(19:34):
And I'm like, yeah, I'm, you'renot from here.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm not arattle hugger like that.
They're like, oh no, anytimeanybody ever does overtime
shifts here or anytime we have acurse, I'm like well it's not
overtime, it's regular time.
It's my first day on shift andthey were like yep, we're done
for.
And I'm like well, let's makespaghetti for lunch and I'll buy
(19:57):
ice cream.
Like let's not have jinx.
I was like I've already been inthis game for a long time Like
let's not jinx us Like nope,that's how we roll here, and
they're like.
I was like oh man, we're talkingabout it, yeah, so I got there
right around lunchtime, so I wasable to make spaghetti, and
(20:17):
it's always a jinx for spaghettion fires either for lunch, you
either get like a really big,crazy fire and you end up
throwing up your spaghetti orgood.
Megan (20:26):
So then why would you ever make?
Jimmy (20:29):
it because you're or you're good, and so I was trying
to counteract, like the badjuju being there for overtime
with bad juju or good juju withspaghetti, right, you got to
play the superstitions on eachother and it went against us.
Ah, let's see this gnarly DUIrollover accident where the guy
(20:56):
was ejected out of the car.
We had to do a low-angle roperescue to get him off of the
ground kind of a thing out ofthe area.
And then they were like yeah,you can go home, now I have to
spend the night.
I'm going to the big fire.
I was going to just switch outwith a firefighter the next day
(21:19):
and they're like, oh man, thatwas gnarly.
So that night we went tostabbing and two gunshots
Stunning, yeah, and one of thegunshots it was a large man
beating up on a smaller man, andthe smaller man took out his
gun and it happened to be asmall caliber 22.
(21:41):
And shot the larger man in thebutt.
Huh, and it went through hisbutt and it exited right next to
his manhood.
I'll say it that way Ow Lots ofvessels.
It that way Ow Lots of vessels,lots of blood there.
Megan (21:58):
Lots of blood there.
Super sketch.
And the guy was like and, mindyou, this is like our third gun.
Jimmy (22:05):
You know, whatever many gunshots, it was Second gunshots
.
Whatever it was, it was nuts.
At like 3.30 in the morning weliterally woke up and like I
don't remember driving there, Idon't remember driving back, I
just remember like the fog ofbeing in the car and the guy was
(22:25):
like you shot off my penis.
Megan (22:29):
He didn't say penis but use your explicities right.
Jimmy (22:33):
Make sure you put the E on this one.
Yes and um, we were like allright man.
Well, sometimes like clothesand stuff like that are evidence
, so we can't just cut off theclothes.
So I had to like cut off thelike, very carefully cut off his
shorts on the sides and andhe's like man.
(22:55):
He shot off my baby and he'susing all these different slang
words for his penis andeverything in the world for me.
You don't have to laugh.
Yeah, the guy I was with itjust goes, this is ridiculous
and just starts laughing histail off, oh no.
And then the paramedics gotthere and it was these two
(23:19):
female paramedics.
Um, they never were togetherand it was like if the stars
aligned you saw both of them atthe same time, kind of a thing,
that night the stars aligned andthey pulled up and they were
like it's okay, dear.
We're going to take care of you.
And the guy goes you shot offmy Alabama trouser snake.
(23:45):
I was like what the hell?
What are you talking about,dude?
And they're like all right,well, we have to look.
And he's like you can't showPetey the one-eyed wheelie
pirate in front of everybody.
We got to go in the back of theambulance.
So, team, this man was easily350 pounds Taller than me, you
(24:15):
me over 6'3".
So he was like legit 6'6",almost 400 pounds, Just a large
human.
So he gave it back in theambulance After he cut off his
jean shorts and we had to cutoff his underwear To this day,
the smallest tighty-whities I'veever seen in my life underwear
(24:36):
to this day, the smallest tidywhities I've ever seen in my
life.
And, um, the ladies are likeshut the door.
And I was like do you wantanybody to ride with you?
They're like no, we're good,she's like you're gonna behave
right and the guy's like I'llbehave, I promise you know.
And uh, yeah, so like they hadto like look and do all the
stuff, it was crazy.
And then the guy I was withgoes dude, you need to go home,
(24:57):
this is nuts.
And I was like maybe I've onlygot like four more hours.
What's the worst that couldhappen?
Megan (25:03):
no, you didn't say that.
Jimmy (25:08):
Two alarm apartment fire Ended up burning three
apartments Just chaos.
Megan (25:19):
Oh, my God, you needed to go home.
Jimmy (25:23):
I did so.
The next day I go and I get onthe strike team and I'm like I'm
so glad I'm over that.
Juju, I got back to my homeroom Hell room, it's all good.
Oh no, wake up, go to the fire,crazy fire.
We do the longest progressivehose light I've ever done in my
(25:46):
life.
We wake up the next morning andit's 9-11.
Megan (25:55):
So what I'm hearing is that 9-11 was your fault.
It's the curse man, it's thecurse.
Oh my god, that's crazy.
Jimmy (26:05):
Yeah.
It was pretty wild huh.
Megan (26:10):
Man, I thought I was bad juju for my ride-along.
Jimmy (26:13):
There's so much juju out there, the ride alongs and stuff
like that, so it's either feastor famine.
You're either going to just gocrazy and there's I can't tell
you how many times we had afirefighter or somebody show up
at the firehouse to do like anEMT or something like that, to
ride along, and we didn't doanything except for wash the
(26:36):
fire engine and cook chili andsit in our recliner because
that's what people think we doanyways might as well prove them
right right.
Thanks for joining us today inour life and safety podcast.
Stay safe and peace.
What's happening.
It's Jimmy with your girl, megswith another life and safety
podcast, hello, and today we'regoing to talk about the ride
along curse.
So you're like what is that?
It's a thing you get the mostworst, crazy, busiest day when
(00:29):
you are a ride-along or you havea ride-along with you, or you
absolutely have the most boringdown.
Megan (00:37):
Don't do anything day and there is no in-between.
Jimmy (00:40):
There's no in-between, it's a thing between.
There's no in between, it's athing.
And so what a ride along is islots of times people will want
to just see how it is and get onan ambulance or a police car or
a fire engine and just ridealong and just spend the day, a
shift, with that entity and tosee what's going on and kind of
(01:06):
see how the other half live.
If you will, there's also anEMT school.
You have to have a ride alongpart of the curriculum, but you
have to do it, I think.
I think I live up to one shift,right, correct?
Yeah, it's one shift.
Now, and I'm asking Meganbecause she's went through EMT
school closest, or?
(01:27):
most recently thank you, betterwords, um.
So I've been on both sides ofthis coin multiple times.
So I'll tell one of my earliest, back when I was still in high
school, when I went to EMTschool.
I had to do my ride-along forEMT school and I went to the
(01:54):
local ambulance house.
I remember I grew up in a smalltown and there was two
ambulances was two ambulancesand one kind of midtown to one
part of the town and then onefarther up the street for the
other side of the town.
And, um, they got there and wedidn't do anything.
(02:20):
Oh no, you sat there and theywere like, did you you bring
your EMT book?
And I go, yeah, and they said,okay, start rereading the first
five chapters.
And I was like what and Iactually rode with um, one of my
EMT instructors because Ithought I would be able to get
like some more hands-on and likejust get more training were
(02:43):
like, yeah, just be the firstfive, we'll see what happens.
And she came to our small townfrom like la city and so she was
like super, like just seasonedthe new, lots of stuff.
And I was like, okay, and thenwhat?
(03:05):
And then she's like we're gonnawait for a call and I'm like,
okay, and then what?
and she's like we're gonna waitfor a call.
So I'm like, oh this is prettyboring so she like, do you want
to train on anything?
And I was like, after like thefirst three hours and I was like
(03:28):
yeah, let's train on.
You know this apparatus and Iwas like, okay, and it was the
hardest apparatus, arguablybecause there's just lots of
steps and lots of straps and Idon't remember what it's called.
I don't think they use themanymore, but it was a green,
(03:53):
fairly flexible backboard,basically that went around your
head and around your torso andactually you're sitting down oh,
yeah, yeah, yeah, the uh, oh,what's it called?
Megan (04:04):
what's it called?
I want to call it the kid.
Jimmy (04:05):
Yes, that is, we still train on that nice so we had to
do the kid and I don't know why,but I was like freaking out, I
couldn't do it.
I think it was because I was infront of my instructor and like
her paramedic partner and I wasjust like I don't know, I just
wasn't doing a good job, likeI'm choking and and she's like
you got to figure this out,hurry up.
(04:26):
And I was like, ah, and it kindof bothered me.
And then we started putting itaway and we got a call out and
it was my buddy's grandma.
Wow, that's rough, unconscious,unresponsive, not breathing
grandma, that's rough.
Unconscious unresponsive notbreathing and my instructor took
(04:51):
the family out.
And that's when, if you've beenin our classes before, I've
told the story about the firsttime I ever did CPR.
That was that?
And went back to the stationand I was like what the F just
happened?
That was crazy.
And they're like, yeah, oneminute you're not doing anything
(05:13):
and then you get on it andyou're just like crazy and I was
like, wow, you can't always belike this.
And they were like nah, notreally.
We either run two or threecalls a day or we don't do
anything.
And I was like, okay, andthey're like we'll probably get
another one.
So it was a 12-hour shift andthat was the only call I got, so
(05:34):
guess what?
I left.
They ran all night.
So it was like super crazy.
So like, that's just like oneexample.
Megan (05:44):
And I know you've had a couple ride-ons right yeah, I um
, because I was a squad leaderfor my, for the squad at my
class um, they allowed squadleaders the opportunity to do a
ride-along on a 911 rig.
Normally the ride-alongs theydid with Royal Ambulance was who
(06:07):
we mostly worked with, and theydo IFT or inter-facility
transport, my words, which isjust bringing patients who have
graduated out of hospital andtaking them to a skilled nursing
facility or bringing them backhome or transferring from one
hospital to another Usuallynothing particularly life-saving
(06:28):
, typically the patients arepretty stable and you're just
sort of transporting them.
But so I got to work a 911shift, which is the you know the
prized shift where you get todo some, hopefully some actual
life-saving things.
And I had the crazy shift, thenonstop we worked.
(06:50):
I got there at like I think,probably 8 pm and like 10
minutes into our call we got theor 10 minutes into the shift we
got the call that there was apatient who was a pedestrian who
was hit by a bus and was inpretty bad shape, and so it was
(07:13):
like, right off the bat, we'restarting strong, got a lot to do
and the patient, unfortunately,was with his dog at the time
when the dog did not make it.
The patient, unfortunately, waswith his dog at the time when
the dog did not make it and thisdog was obviously really well
cared for, much more cared forthan the human.
And I think the hardest partabout that call fair warning it
(07:35):
gets rough, but the hardest partabout that call for me was that
the patient, like every youknow, 30 seconds to a minute
would ask me, hey, where's mydog?
What happened to my dog?
And I'd have to remind him.
Oh well, do you remember what Itold you?
Your dog died.
Your dog didn't make it and hekept asking.
(07:56):
I had to keep reminding himbecause we had to check his
mental acuity and figure out,you know, make sure that he
could remember things that justhappened.
We were pretty sure that he hada massive head injury because
one of his pupils was adifferent size than the other
and also with the, you know,resetting memory every 30
seconds to a minute was not agood sign, but he was up and
talking and was in pain but waspretty high functioning, for you
(08:21):
know, somebody who was just hitby a bus.
And then I was really freakedout because this was my first
time working on a real human andit was like this crazy.
You know you don't expect yourfirst patient to be.
You know a pedestrian who washit by a bus and I freaked out.
Jimmy (08:37):
I was like ah.
Megan (08:38):
I don't know what's happening.
I don't even remember where tostart.
Yeah, it was not my finestmoment.
Jimmy (08:44):
Um, how much did they let you like talk to the patient
really?
Megan (08:47):
They actually let me do a lot.
It was I was really lucky Um,my, the paramedic who was on the
rig that I worked on wasfriends with my EMT school
teacher and so uh, which is howI got to do the ride along, um,
and so he was warned that I wascoming and like knew of me and
that I was one of Jerry's kids,and so he let me do a lot.
(09:10):
I got to do a lot of thesecondary exams, so like
checking the head for BCAP, bcapwhat Wow?
Oh my God.
Dcap, yeah, dcap.
Pdls oh wow.
Acronyms Ac my God, dcap, yeah,dcap.
Ptls oh wow.
Jimmy (09:25):
Acronyms.
Acronyms.
Megan (09:28):
But I got to, like you know, do it.
But I just forgot everything.
And I was like, ah, eyes, okay,pupils, not equal round and
responsive to like, oh my God,leg, leg injury, does he have a
pedal pulse?
And I was like like jumping allover the body, which is not
what you're supposed to do.
And then eventually we droppedthe patient off and then the
paramedic was like so how do you, how do you think that went?
(09:51):
I was like not great.
And he said, yeah, that was notgood.
Let's, let's talk it through.
What are you supposed to do?
And I was like, now that Iwasn't in the adrenaline fueled,
like what is going on?
I was like, oh well, you know,you start with the head and then
you move down and then you goin order and this is, and I like
recited the procedure.
And he was like, yeah, whydidn't you do that?
I was like I don't know.
(10:14):
And then Blood and shit bro yeah, right, but so my brain just
completely left me on that firstpatient, um.
But, like I said, he was up andtalking.
And then, uh, we actually had apatient later that night and
brought it to the same hospitaland they're like, hey, were you
guys the one who brought in thepedestrian?
We're like, yeah, and he waslike he crashed almost
(10:36):
immediately after Um, like hewas in the, he was in the CT
machine and like his heartstopped and they started doing
CPR on him and running codes.
And it was crazy, like how hewas.
He seemed perfectly fine.
Like I was like, wow, this guygot away unscathed from a bus
accident and then he did not.
I don't know if he lived ordied.
(10:56):
I like to think that they, youknow, you know, brought him back
, but I don't know.
Jimmy (11:01):
Yeah.
Megan (11:01):
But it was so crazy to be like, yeah, one moment he was
up and talking and you knowfunctioning, and then the next
he was having someone do CPR onhim.
It's crazy.
Jimmy (11:11):
Yeah.
Megan (11:14):
And then the next call out.
We had like maybe 10, 15minutes to do our paperwork.
And then we got another call tothe jail for a suspected
overdose in the jail.
So I got to go inside the jailand, like you know, see the
patient and help get him out.
(11:34):
And that one I was moreprepared.
I was like, okay, I'm ready,I'm going to remember how to do
the procedure.
I don't want to, you know, letmy teachers down, right, but
that one was a crazy one,because they're like what the
cellmate was like uh, I don'tknow really what happened.
Like he he might have takensomething, but I don't know.
But then he was shaking and nowhe's on the floor and now he's
(11:56):
not breathing right and hesounds weird and I can't wake
him up and I don't really knowwhat happened.
We're like okay, um, and becausethis, you know, this one I took
more of a backseat from and Ijust sort of watched and didn't
do too too much on, because youknow we had the sheriff's
officers there, you know,escorting the patient and you
(12:20):
know it was just, it was a, itwas a charged situation, but I
did get to give Narcan to thepatient and it did not help.
So we know that it wasn't anopioid overdose, or at least not
only an opioid overdose, and we, you know, I got to put the NRM
, the non-rebreather mask, onhim so he was still breathing on
his own but he wasn't gettingenough oxygen.
(12:41):
So we put oxygen on him um, andthen, other than that, I just
kind of watched while theytransported him um and they gave
me the option to not sit in theback because they're like, well
, it's a full house back here.
We got um, we had the, myparamedic um from the unit I was
on, and then we had one of thefirefighters come along, and
then we had one of the sheriffsum to come to come along to be
(13:04):
in custody of him.
I was like you can sit back hereif you want, but you got to sit
in the jump seat and you got to, you know.
And so I was like, are youkidding?
Of course I'm going back there.
Of course I don't want to missout on this opportunity.
Yeah, um, but it was.
Those are the fullest house inthe back of a rig that I
experienced.
Yeah, as far as I'm aware, Idon't know what happened.
(13:29):
I mean, he was still not awakeby the time we dropped him off.
Jimmy (13:32):
Wow, we had another friend, no, in the know, in the
know, in the know-know, and wewere doing a way to ride along
and we ended up with threestudents on the ambulance.
So there's five people in theambulance.
(13:53):
Oh my gosh.
And it was really messed upbecause the two of the
ambulances they're supposed totake, the two other kids I'll
say it that way Saw them andleft were like no, not today.
And we ended up with somepretty crazy calls.
(14:16):
We ended up with a transferfrom a helicopter to the
children's hospital for arguably, probably one of the worst top
three worst calls I ever saw.
We're not going to talk aboutthat.
And we got directly after thatcall call.
We had a person and on theground it was a really hot like
(14:44):
fall day.
Yeah, I had to go in the fallbecause I wasn't working on the
fire engine, I was already outof the season, so late fall, and
it was like barely hot that dayfor some reason, and the ground
was hot and the guy waswrestled by the police and held
(15:05):
down.
So he had burns on the back ofhis arms, ow, and he was violent
, and so they were like, yeah,we got it, and the paramedic I
was with was like, yeah, we hada police officer ride with us,
so I was driving the ambulance,the paramedic was in the back
(15:27):
and three students and a policeofficer and the guy.
We pulled over to a stoplightand he guy decided to get froggy
and he jumped on the policeofficer.
So the police officer, theparamedic and the boy so it was
a boy and two girl, um, and theboy, the paramedic and the cat
(15:53):
and the police officer jumped onthe guy to restrain him.
And then one of the girlsapparently knew like some kung
fu grip thing and like put theguy's arm in like some twisted
thing and like tied him up, likeliterally, like kind of like
(16:13):
you saw restraints on the guy,and so we got him back to the
hospital and he was, um, he hada mental issue and he was just
off his meds and apparently heliked to fight when he was off
his meds that's rough, it wasrough, and so that was pretty
(16:34):
wild.
So in that same era we hadanother I don't know so long ago
I can't remember if it was thesame ride-along or not, but
there was a car hit by a train.
Different ride-along, because Ijust remember the hair color of
the guy I was with.
(16:55):
He was blonde and then the onewas brunette and then the two
ladies had black hair.
So the blonde boy on this otherride-along in the same time
frame I think they were in thesame class even this person
passed out driving across thetrain tracks and then got hit by
the train.
Person passed out drivingacross the train tracks and then
(17:20):
got hit by the train and umpretty dramatic situation.
Yeah, we got there and theparent, the firefighters were
doing, uh, cpr on the person.
And we got there, paramedicdropped a intubation tube and
we're doing our thing, and thekid hid, he went and got back in
(17:40):
the ambulance and it was justlike dude, you're the jinx,
we're getting crazy calls, justbe ready.
And the first, out of the gatean hour in train accident.
And then I think the paramedicI worked with she always would
say you can break the curse ifyou buy us lunch or you buy us
(18:03):
ice cream in the afternoon.
And lots of times the studentsdidn't have the money or they
just weren't prepared for it.
And.
And then that kid, though,ended up having money and for
some reason he bought us icecream, and then it worked Nice,
nothing happened the rest of theday, and I was like well, this
(18:26):
is actually kind of boring,let's get something happening,
so that I mean blessing or curse, right, and then one more ride
along story.
That well, it wasn't really aride along story, it was.
I was an extra hand, um, I'dgotten on duty and all of my
(18:52):
both the fire engines in myfirehouse were on strike teams,
so they actually left the countyto go to big fires and they're
rounding up all of thestragglers, if you will, it's a
then just kind of dispersingthem on other places.
So I got picked up and I gottaken out to Marysville and I
(19:13):
got to work on what they calledtheir squad, which was basically
a pickup truck with somemedical stuff in it, yeah, and
not sketchy at all.
So we were there and they hadthe fire engine and they
actually had a ladder truck.
And I got there and they werelike, oh, you're not from here.
(19:34):
And I'm like, yeah, I'm, you'renot from here.
And I'm like, yeah, I'm not arattle hugger like that.
They're like, oh no, anytimeanybody ever does overtime
shifts here or anytime we have acurse, I'm like well it's not
overtime, it's regular time.
It's my first day on shift andthey were like yep, we're done
for.
And I'm like well, let's makespaghetti for lunch and I'll buy
(19:57):
ice cream.
Like let's not have jinx.
I was like I've already been inthis game for a long time Like
let's not jinx us Like nope,that's how we roll here, and
they're like.
I was like oh man, we're talkingabout it, yeah, so I got there
right around lunchtime, so I wasable to make spaghetti, and
(20:17):
it's always a jinx for spaghettion fires either for lunch, you
either get like a really big,crazy fire and you end up
throwing up your spaghetti orgood.
Megan (20:26):
So then why would you ever make?
Jimmy (20:29):
it because you're or you're good, and so I was trying
to counteract, like the badjuju being there for overtime
with bad juju or good juju withspaghetti, right, you got to
play the superstitions on eachother and it went against us.
Ah, let's see this gnarly DUIrollover accident where the guy
(20:56):
was ejected out of the car.
We had to do a low-angle roperescue to get him off of the
ground kind of a thing out ofthe area.
And then they were like yeah,you can go home, now I have to
spend the night.
I'm going to the big fire.
I was going to just switch outwith a firefighter the next day
(21:19):
and they're like, oh man, thatwas gnarly.
So that night we went tostabbing and two gunshots
Stunning, yeah, and one of thegunshots it was a large man
beating up on a smaller man, andthe smaller man took out his
gun and it happened to be asmall caliber 22.
(21:41):
And shot the larger man in thebutt.
Huh, and it went through hisbutt and it exited right next to
his manhood.
I'll say it that way Ow Lots ofvessels.
It that way Ow Lots of vessels,lots of blood there.
Megan (21:58):
Lots of blood there.
Super sketch.
And the guy was like and, mindyou, this is like our third gun.
Jimmy (22:05):
You know, whatever many gunshots, it was Second gunshots
.
Whatever it was, it was nuts.
At like 3.30 in the morning weliterally woke up and like I
don't remember driving there, Idon't remember driving back, I
just remember like the fog ofbeing in the car and the guy was
(22:25):
like you shot off my penis.
Megan (22:29):
He didn't say penis but use your explicities right.
Jimmy (22:33):
Make sure you put the E on this one.
Yes and um, we were like allright man.
Well, sometimes like clothesand stuff like that are evidence
, so we can't just cut off theclothes.
So I had to like cut off thelike, very carefully cut off his
shorts on the sides and andhe's like man.
(22:55):
He shot off my baby and he'susing all these different slang
words for his penis andeverything in the world for me.
You don't have to laugh.
Yeah, the guy I was with itjust goes, this is ridiculous
and just starts laughing histail off, oh no.
And then the paramedics gotthere and it was these two
(23:19):
female paramedics.
Um, they never were togetherand it was like if the stars
aligned you saw both of them atthe same time, kind of a thing,
that night the stars aligned andthey pulled up and they were
like it's okay, dear.
We're going to take care of you.
And the guy goes you shot offmy Alabama trouser snake.
(23:45):
I was like what the hell?
What are you talking about,dude?
And they're like all right,well, we have to look.
And he's like you can't showPetey the one-eyed wheelie
pirate in front of everybody.
We got to go in the back of theambulance.
So, team, this man was easily350 pounds Taller than me, you
(24:15):
me over 6'3".
So he was like legit 6'6",almost 400 pounds, Just a large
human.
So he gave it back in theambulance After he cut off his
jean shorts and we had to cutoff his underwear To this day,
the smallest tighty-whities I'veever seen in my life underwear
(24:36):
to this day, the smallest tidywhities I've ever seen in my
life.
And, um, the ladies are likeshut the door.
And I was like do you wantanybody to ride with you?
They're like no, we're good,she's like you're gonna behave
right and the guy's like I'llbehave, I promise you know.
And uh, yeah, so like they hadto like look and do all the
stuff, it was crazy.
And then the guy I was withgoes dude, you need to go home,
(24:57):
this is nuts.
And I was like maybe I've onlygot like four more hours.
What's the worst that couldhappen?
Megan (25:03):
no, you didn't say that.
Jimmy (25:08):
Two alarm apartment fire Ended up burning three
apartments Just chaos.
Megan (25:19):
Oh, my God, you needed to go home.
Jimmy (25:23):
I did so.
The next day I go and I get onthe strike team and I'm like I'm
so glad I'm over that.
Juju, I got back to my homeroom Hell room, it's all good.
Oh no, wake up, go to the fire,crazy fire.
We do the longest progressivehose light I've ever done in my
(25:46):
life.
We wake up the next morning andit's 9-11.
Megan (25:55):
So what I'm hearing is that 9-11 was your fault.
It's the curse man, it's thecurse.
Oh my god, that's crazy.
Jimmy (26:05):
Yeah.
It was pretty wild huh.
Megan (26:10):
Man, I thought I was bad juju for my ride-along.
Jimmy (26:13):
There's so much juju out there, the ride alongs and stuff
like that, so it's either feastor famine.
You're either going to just gocrazy and there's I can't tell
you how many times we had afirefighter or somebody show up
at the firehouse to do like anEMT or something like that, to
ride along, and we didn't doanything except for wash the
(26:36):
fire engine and cook chili andsit in our recliner because
that's what people think we doanyways might as well prove them
right right.
Thanks for joining us today inour life and safety podcast.
Stay safe and peace.
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