Autobiography Essay Week #6

Luke Granger

Dr. B

Eng. 329

February 14, 2009

Autobiographical Essay Week #6

            This autobiographical piece may lead me into my final writing project. In the fire service, we change discourse gears in a matter of seconds in order to adapt to our environment. We do this both orally and in written text throughout the day. We do this for numerous reason and benefits. I will briefly discuss just one medical aid several rotations ago in order to portray the necessity of being able to change depending on social circumstances.

            Late one night, or maybe it was early one morning, the time isn’t important we were toned out for a stabbing. We stumble out of bed half awake and light heartedly in slight disbelief a “STABBING” occurred in our little old town of Loma Linda. We crack a couple of jokes as we dress for the call and get in the rig as we were told to “stage” until the sheriff officers secured the scene. Enroute, our instinct jolted us. As dispatch inquired as to when we would be on scene. We knew by the tone of her voice and the infrequency of the inquiry that it was from the sheriff officer’s rather than just the dispatcher’s curiosity.  We immediately put our game face on and arrived shortly to find a male face up, blood everywhere with a laceration across his neck from middle to just past the ear. We communicate quickly and to the point, as we are busy with our duty and the circumstances. We gained most of our information from what visual indicators we gathered. Talking only enough to provide care for the man, most anything anyone had to say wasn’t as important as keeping the red stuff in the body and the airway open.

            As we load the man into the ambulance, my partner cues his radio to the hospital and gives the medical staff a heads up as to the patient’s status (alive barely). He provides all the information we were able to gather during our brief time on scene. He talks slightly faster than normal, using medical terms and sounding professional as the airwaves can be monitored by anyone in the public. He gives just enough information to get the severity of the patient’s condition across so that the ER can initiate the trauma team and they will have a bed ready with the Dr.(s) on standby.

            Arriving at the hospital, my partner gives a full report to the receiving facility and paints the picture so that they can visualize the mechanism of injury. We are still serious and unsure of his outcome. Because there is nothing more we can do for the patient, we lighten our hearts as we did the only thing we could and that is to keep him alive long enough to give him a fighting chance at the best trauma center in the South West United States. We begin to discuss the call in slight disbelief and having suffered enough to know a man’s life isn’t a joking matter we maintain a sense of professionalism through our dramatization.

            The next morning we give a play-by-play to the Truck Co. and disbelief and detachment turns our discourse into an astonishing tale with light-hearted teasing. Teasing one another about not wanting to step in the blood or the look on his face when he realized his shirt was covered in goo is necessary bantering after a serious call because it’s a way to relieve the stresses and seriousness of the job. With experience this bantering comes natural and we learn to keep the topic of the jokes on one another, as it is inappropriate to use the citizens as the butt end of the jokes. They don’t call us for our entertainment, but rather for our help, which we should strive to humbly and efficiently serve them.

            In this one call we see several different modes of discourse. We see tired light-hearted encouragement to get “up” for another call in the middle of the night. We see a change to match the serious professionalism and uphold the standards in which we are trained to perform. We see radio etiquette and inter-agency communication in order to serve the public interest. We see familiar teasing as a sense of release when the time is appropriate. This is one minor aspect and small crumb of literary discourse in the fire service arena.