FB friends (part 7)

I am going to start this one off with...Amber Mac. I met Amber through my good friend Kimmy. Amber and Kimmy worked in the x-ray department together and Amber would see me talking to Kimmy. After Kimmy left I would still go by x-ray and if Amber was there I would stop and talk to her. Amber is an amazing young lady with 2 super cute kiddos who are the love of her life. I follow Amber on FB and see all the things that she does with her kids and I know that they are living the dream. I know that Amber is very active in her church, she is a dancer and super happy to be around. Amber, I miss seeing ya!

Now for a really cool young lady, Amy LeFleur. I have known Amy for many many years, I first met her when she came to do a ride-along for EMT school. As I remember, it was for a major event downtown. As luck would have it, we didn't have too many calls that day so we got to talk a lot. Amy has done several things in her life and she was looking for that one thing to settle into. EMS didn't turn out to be a great fit and she moved on. I can tell you that Amy loves her family, she really loves her kids. She spends all kinds of time with them and they are what drives her to do what she does. I see all of the pictures that she posts, all the places that she goes with her kids, and how she talks about them. If you were to see Amy you would never believe that she is old enough to have a child who is about to get married. Amy is a talented photographer as well. I can tell you over the years Amy had had me laughing over some of the things she said. Amy is one of a kind, she has a beautiful smile and a laugh like no other and I miss seeing her. Congrats to you and your family young lady and keep the pics coming. 

Mr. Andy Mongo. Andy is a character, he is an amazing nurse and he loves to make people laugh. Nobody calls Andy by his first name and when I hear people call him Mongo I always think of the guy in Blazing Saddles. To bad this Mongo is only half that guy's size, but he does have the bigger-than-life attitude. When my son Joey was sick, we had to take him to the ER it was Mongo who took care of him. Joey and Mongo hit it off from the get-go. Mongo gave Joey crap and Joey gave it right back and they just laughed at each other whenever Mongo came in. Mongo and I always played the circle game, he would try to get me from behind the desk and I would try on my way in the door. When I had an injury to my fingers, one xray I made a circle and I sent it to him. I laughed about that for a good while. Mongo is a super smart nurse, he is always there to help people and he has a passion for helping people. Mongo I don't see you to often anymore and I miss you, my friend. 

Angie Kinzer and I were colleagues at Medstar years ago. She was a medic on one of the 14-hour trucks and we were always in competition to jump the bad calls faster. I swore that Angie was cheating. see her husband was an officer downtown and I thought he was tipping her off. Angie is a little on the short size but she totally makes up for it in her knowledge and attitude. She takes no crap from nobody, she will not be pushed around in any way. A couple of my favorite memories are...Angie called us to a scene that we were on for a diabetic. She asked me to help get an IV on the patient. I was straddling that patient as I do all the time and when I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time the patient hit me right in the side of the head. We all kind of laughed about it, but Angie laughed a little harder than anyone else. The next is the time Angie was called for someone that was cut while trying to go over some razor wire. That person found out why you shouldn't try to do that. The patient was cut in the upper bicep and bleeding like a stuck pig. I came on scene and rode in with Angie to the ER basically acting as a tourniquet. That was the longest ride of my life. I learned several things on that call and still use that knowledge today. Sadly. Angie is no longer a medic and that is a great loss to the EMS field and a great loss to her community. Angie was a great medic, a great teacher, an amazing wife, mom, and grandmother. I miss my friend Angie and one of these days were going to get together and have all kinds of laughs. 

This next dude is a one-of-a-kind. I worked with Bruce Garrett in Germany, he was a lead man with the contractor company I worked for. Bruce was a loud and funny guy but he knew how to get things done. The guys on the floor would call him "Big Dummy", we picked on him but he picked right back. My favorite memory of Bruce was when we were in Aviano Italy, we were sent there to assist the Army Chinook unit there. Bruce took care of us, he made sure we had everything that we needed to get the job done. He also made sure we had what we needed to be happy. Bruce would go out and get steaks for us all once every couple of weeks, he's also set up everything for a BBQ when we would get off work on Saturday. We'd go to the campground on post, he'd grill the steaks and we have a few beers to blow off steam. Occasionally when we would go out for dinner in Italy Bruce would try to talk to the Italians in Spanish, he'd say "It's almost the same". We would just laugh at him and apologize to the people he was talking to. Bruce is a big guy, he has a big voice, a big attitude, and a big heart for those around him. I miss my friend Bruce and I hope he is doing well. 

Rachel Buhl is one of the sweetest nurses that I have ever worked with. She was a nurse at Memorial Hospital many years ago and she has moved on to bigger and better things. After talking with Rachel I found out that her husband was a pilot in the unit that I was working for at the airfield in Savannah. I had seen him in passing but had never flown with him. I have always said that there is nothing more beautiful that when a woman is pregnant. When Rachel was pregnant with her first I would always say hi to them and tell Rachel how she was glowing. One night I brought in a sleeping intoxicated male to the ER, Rachel was the nurse who was going to be caring for that patient. When we moved the patient from the stretcher to the ER bed the patient stirred but didn't really wake up. I stayed in the room to give Rachel the report on the patient and then walked out of the room. When I was leaving she was putting the blood pressure cuff on and she hit the button to get the reading. I had made it 3 steps out of the door and in that time the patient woke up, jumped off the bed, and grabbed Rachel. I turned around, saw what was going on, yelled for security, and was on that patient like white on rice. I pinned the guy to the wall and told Rachel to leave the room. Security came in and we got the patient back in the bed and they stayed with him. I found Rachel to make sure that she was ok. She told me she was ok, she was just scared, and "I won't be taking care of him anymore". We both kind of laughed and went on our way. Rachel is the proud mom of three kids now and unless I'm mistaken her husband is still a pilot for the military. Rachel you are missed here and I am so glad to be able to see your family grow through the years through FB. 

Last and not least is Will Ulrich. Will and I worked together at Hunter, he also gave me an avenue to get my EMT certification. Will was an EMT for a while and then got out of it, he told me where he got his cert and that got me thinking after my divorce. Will and I would go to lunch from time to time and Will had this habit of taking scotch tape and rolling it between his fingers. There were little pieces of tape all over the front of his car and I thought that was pretty funny. As luck would have it, the day that I found out that I passed my EMT test I was with Will. I was helping him move some things in his apartment when my phone rang. It was my instructor, he asked me how I was doing and I told him it depends on how this conversation goes. My instructor laughed and told me, "I told you that you did fine and that you passed... and I was right". He went on to tell me that I had one of the highest scores in the class. That was that and back to helping Will. He was happy for me and told me that now is when the hard work starts. Will was right, EMS learning starts the day you get on a truck and never stops. I miss my buddy Will, I hope that he is doing well. Keep rolling that tape Will.