Hello Friends!
It is a few days after my ride along with the Myrtle Beach Fire Department Station #1. I would like to start with a Thank You to the whole department for having me & a big Thank You to Mike & Bohack who I spent the day with.
I started my day with a big welcome from the crew. Everyone was gathered around for a meeting to announce the Firefighter Of The Month. Which was pretty cool to see everyone get excited for their coworker but more so friend get the announcement. The crew did their regular scheduled day – washing/prepping the trucks & workouts. I spent my time getting footage of their trucks & department. It was the largest department (Number of crew + location size) I have been to. Two fire trucks & one ambulance (Medic 61) was on site that day. Which covers the area of Myrtle Beach we all think of – The Strip. The huge ferris wheel next to the slingshot & the Ripley’s Believe It or Not on the corner that we all remember from our family vacations growing up. With the area that gets more than 10 million visitors a year, there’s going to be some department calls. This department gets more than 7,000 calls a year – averaging around 20 a day.
I spent the morning into lunch on Medic 61 and saw 4 of those calls. Ranging in citizen concerns, low blood sugar to a work injury. Each call we arrived moments after being dispatched. I was sitting in the captains chair. If you have never seen the inside of the ambulance- its the head chair viewing down the stretcher. A very important seat located near the head of the patient. I sat there getting my gloves on for each call & watching the cars come back into the road after pulling off to let us by. I can’t share details about each call but the guys were quick. Stretcher pulled and inside for each call with the needed supplies available. Both explaining the current process being applied during each situation.
The calls I witnessed were not life threatening. The ones that are deserve extreme respect. Minutes in a ambulance are actually hours. Each second during a call is extremely crucial. I learned there is a lot of people involved within one single 911 call. From the patient to the EMS, Firefighters, Nurses & Doctors – to the average person pulling off quick enough as a ambulance sirens by. Each link in this chain is extremely crucial and seconds are serious. I appreciate Myrtle Beach Station #1 for allowing me to join the crew for the day and learn about your daily life. I also appreciate anyone in this industry, you guys are heroes.
