There are 2 of us in this Twinkie!!

The "Twinkie"....The Rig...The Station...Mobile quarters...The Meat Wagon...The AMB...The Sick bus..."Your ride"...The Short bus... The Unit..."Your Taxi"... No matter what you call it, we call it home for 12-24 hours. Disturbing really, when you really think about it.

Not only is it where we work all shift but it is where we transport patients with less than stellar hygiene; get thrown up on; deliver babies; contain transmittable diseases and rush in organs to save lives of others, but it is also where we eat, sleep and breathe. How does you " office" compare??

Sometimes, this "Twinkie" is manned by two folks who care less for eachother than they do the "frequent flyers" they treat daily. But, for the most part the "filling" this Twinkie contains is pretty great. It consists of two and sometimes, three (when new blood is being trained) of us who take the city on with all it has to throw at us. I have been privledged with great partners, as well as cursed with ones whom have a voice similar to the sound that makes you want to "punch infants" as Dane Cook would say. The latter of these two types of partners can make you feel like you're living in a perpetual Ground hogs day you will never escape. We all feel bad for the poor souls stuck in this pairing.

I am lucky enough to say that now- like RIGHT NOW, right now- my partner is pretty solid. Good guy. Great skills and puts up with me without question...even flies his own ADHD flag on ocassion. THIS- makes me happy. LOL...sometimes I try to imagine what it must be like for those I work with...*shrug* but then something SHINEY catches my attention and well, we know where it goes from there ;-)

Our "office" is more like the worlds smallest studio apartment...a multi-purpose room, equipt even with a bathroom (aka urinal) in a pinch, a bedroom (the stretcher), living room- laptops used for entertainment purposes and laundry facility (uniform shirts dry quick when hung up in the back by the vent). An upside to this Studio is- IT'S MOBILE!! A possibilty for an ever changing environment- just like the field we work in ;-) There are some other things that are kind of unfortunate though that come with an office on wheels:

1) The fact that you can't just close your door to take a break from your customers (we are a giant billboard for "ASK ME, I CAN HELP!)

2) There is no hold button for when you don't feel like talking.

3) Your meals can...and WILL always be interupted

4) People will complain that your "office" is too loud if you leave it running in the winter (please keep in mind that when it is 25 degrees out, our climate control requires the ambulance to have the key in the forward and fully cranked position)

And (5) Since we are mobile, we have the ability to get from one bad call to the next, in an expidited period of time...

So, the next time you find yourself needing us- please keep in mind we will get back in to that very same "Twinkie" after we drop you off...with whatever smells or substances you left behind :-( So, do your best to try and keep them to yourself.