Rescued Hearts (Hero Series) by Gina Austin

world was truly like.
     
    Her perception was that life at the station was pretty laid back until some emergency developed. She quickly realized her perception couldn’t be any further from the truth. Shortly after roll call, Susan and James followed the captain to his office where they could begin with an interview. With James filming, Susan began the interview asking, “Captain Miller, would you please run down what a typical day for a firefighter would look like?” Susan asked.
     
    “A typical day doesn’t exist in the firefighting world, but let’s assume there were no emergencies on a given day, a 24 hour shift with Engine Company 43 would consist of the following,
     
    8am: roll call where everyone receives their assignments for the day.
     
    8:15am: Everyone verifies that every piece of equipment is fully operational including each fire engine while the captain logs personnel, verifies any training or inspection schedules for the day and perform admin duties.
     
    9:30am: Like any other home, a fire station is our 2 nd home and we perform cleaning duties at this time.
     
    10am: Workout time to stay in shape and maintain a level of fitness.
     
    11am: This hour is usually filled for miscellaneous errands, for example, grocery shopping, loading up the fire truck with gas, picking up any medical supplies.
     
    12pm: Lunch.
     
    1pm: Our largest block of time till 5pm, is for any scheduled training events, business inspections or station maintenance. A training event could cover firefighting techniques, dealing with hazardous materials, updating paramedic skills or learning specialized rescue techniques. A fire engine company was responsible for 100 or more business inspections a year.
     
    5pm: Any unfinished business interrupted by an emergency call is handled and completed during this hour as well as preparing dinner.”
     
    However what Susan experienced from visiting the fire house in the late afternoon hours, was if Nick or Alex had a special dinner in mind and the schedule allowed it, they would begin cooking before 5pm.
     
    Captain Miller continued, “6pm: Dinner time. 7pm: Clean the kitchen, dishes, study for any upcoming exams and general downtime.
     
    11pm: Bed time.
     
    7:30am: Anyone leaving their shift takes this time to share any important information about the fire engines, any equipment or any general information pertaining to the station house. When at 8am we have roll call etc., etc. but you’ll soon see that everything I just mentioned isn’t set in stone.
     
    After hearing what a 24 hour shift consisted of both Susan and James were amazed at the level of detail and discipline that goes on in a fire station. It seemed no different as if one were serving in the military. They both discovered a new found respect for firefighters. While still filming the captain, Susan asked, “What would you say are the majority of your calls?”
     
    “Medical assistance makes up about 70 percent of our calls.” The captain replied.
     
    “Are you given any information before leaving the station to respond to an emergency?”
     
    “The code will tell you if it’s a medical, fire, or rescue call, but you never really know what you’ll get on a call until you’re on the scene.”
     
    fire alarm rings .
     
    “Looks like you’re getting some action your first day after all. This one’s a rescue call. Follow me please.” The captain said.
     
     
     

Chapter 20
     
     
    As we approached the accident scene the captain noticed it was a three car collision. Two cars were on the side but one was on the train tracks. Captain Miller grabbed his radio and contacted the emergency dispatch office. “Engine 43 to Dispatch. We have a three vehicle accident with possible entrapment. 1 vehicle is on the train tracks. Notify the train dispatcher to stop all trains on this line.”
     
    “10-4 engine 43. Will advise on confirmation, over.” The emergency dispatch operator said.
     
    “Copy that.” Captain