Reggie

An interesting side bar

 

Reggie

 

 

 

            "How's the family holding up?" Reggie asked. 

            "Very well. It looks like her husband is back in control of himself and the rest of the family is following his lead."  

            "Good", Laura said. "I'd love to meet her husband once we finish with our business here."

            "Well, speaking of business, I think you'll find all of our protocols in order. We've had each item reviewed by our Medical Director and they are all up to date, the latest and most aggressive protocols in the Southwest Region."

           "I can see that.”  It was obvious to Kevin she was impressed by the progress they had made on the protocols she had in front of her. "Actually", she said slowly as she continued to look over the papers, "these protocols are much more aggressive than I expected. I think we're in business here, big brother. Now let’s sell this deal to the oil execs."

            “We’re the ones selling this idea? I thought our suits were doing this.”

            “Relax” Kevin said. “This is their idea, remember Reggie?   They wanted to meet the people actually doing the work for them before they take it to the next level. You won’t have to say a word.”

           They entered the side dining room to meet with the oil reps. Medical care on offshore oil rigs was a major concern for the oil companies ever since the last hurricanes hit the gulf and caused some significant injuries. Injuries without medical treatment available or medical evacuation available had resulted in some pretty significant lawsuits. Losses were into the millions from under the table settlements alone. 

            “You can see from the level of care we can provide, and from the strategic placement of our medical helicopters, plus your own corporate helicopters, we can cut the possibility of these losses for your companies and meet the terms of your next union contract.” Laura concluded.

            “Mr. Wright”, one of the execs began. “Do you agree with this contract as proposed?”

            “I see it as a winning arrangement for both sides. Neither Life-Star not Life Flight could handle all your needs individually, but in this cooperative agreement, we will provide primary medical support to all the offshore rigs in our area and Life Flight will provide primary medical support to all rigs in the rest of the area. With our protocols set up in this manner, there will be no difference in the level of care provided to any offshore rig at any time.”

            “And advance evacuation?” he continued. “How do you see that being handled?”

            “As you may or may not know, Life Star Medical has taken delivery of units 649 and 650 from Sikorski. Both of these S76 have a 12 passenger capacity and can cruise at over 170 MPH knots. We have a loaded range of over 400 miles and can fly in any weather. We can get everyone off Shell 1 in two trips and do it in less than 4 hours.”

            “Ms Wright”, another exec began. “Life Flight still flies BK-117 and ec 145’s? How do these compare to the S76’s of Life Star?”

            “We also fly S76’s. While Life Star and Life Flight have two different missions in medical helicopters, we have about the same speed and range they support. We also have one S76 available in Corpus and it can come in when and where it is needed. Our payloads are somewhat lower than the S76’s, but we are short term medical transport where Life Star provides longer medical flights.”

            “I see this as a hands down” the first exec said. “We’ll get the lawyers to finalize these documents and get the owners and managers to sign on. Does anyone on this board have any objections?” None were raised, some questions asked about interim agreements, but the deal was done.      

            "Good", Reggie said quickly. "Now let's eat."

            “You did it brother. We might have given them all the facts in the world, but it was your cool evaluation of the proposal and delivery of our capabilities that sold them on this deal.”

            "Well I'm glad you approve. I've looked forward to the day we could work together for many months."

          "We could have been working together much sooner,” Laura protested, "but you had to stay with your ground ambulances. I don't understand it, but I have to respect your decision."

"You have to do it once, and then you'll understand."

"I did my ambulance rotations", Laura protested. "If you recall, you were my field instructor."

            "That was when you were a student", Kevin started.

            "Guys!” Reggie interrupted. He had been in this situation between Kevin and Laura before and the argument was always the same.

            "Truce", Laura offered.

            "Agreed", Kevin smiled. They shook hands across the table and went to the cafeteria service line to get their food. 

            They made some small talk over lunch and the talk turned to Kevin's home situation again. It was a direction Laura always tried to shift Kevin's conversation into and one he naturally resisted.

            "I know that everything is not going as well as you say. Helen’s never been the best wife or mother in the world.”

            "It's not as bad as you think, either ", Kevin protested.

            Once again, Reggie tried to step in and separate the two feuding parties. He could not keep his ground this time as Laura had the upper hand and would not let Kevin off the hook.

            "Listen, I know what you are trying to do and I really appreciate it. I mean I really do appreciate your concern, but this is my life and I have to deal with it the best I can."

            "Okay but I just want to help my brother out a little. You know I've never really liked her. Why on earth you let Travis hook you up with her, I’ll never know. I still have chills about that psycho, Becca. How could you have trusted him?"

            "A point you've made many times. “Besides that, you were there the night we went to that dance. It was just a chance meeting.”

            “Travis was behind the whole thing. Girls talk in the bathrooms about things like this you know. They never paid me much attention, since I was just the little sister and I heard her and Jolie talking about how Travis had made sure you would be there. Do you think Helen wore that slinky little black dress by chance? Travis told her you were a leg and eyes guy.”

            “Man, I have not thought of Travis in quite a while, and now he has come up twice in three days. I know you never liked him or his choices, but you really go out of your way to let Helen know you don’t like her.”

            "That was a point made very clear at last years’ Christmas party if I remember my facts straight", Reggie said. "You really made her take notice you were on her case."

            "Well, the shoe fit when I called her hand. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been offended."

            "That's enough, okay?"

His sister was very persistent and he knew she was right about most of the things she had said in the past about his wife. He just wasn't ready to admit that the problem existed and preferred to live with her without the benefit of her love and affection. It was really better for the girls. Besides, they fell in love once; they could fall in love again.

            "Well", she said, "you know I'm right and you'll be ready to talk about it sooner or later. Just don't wait too long this time, okay?"

            "You'll be the second one I'll talk to", Kevin promised.

            The rest of their conversation was strictly shop talk and war stories. Reggie was impressed at the stories these two veterans had to tell. He was trying to keep up with the conversation, but found himself falling rapidly out of the picture.

            "How on earth did the two of you end up in the same area again?" he asked.

            "I'll take that one", Laura said. "I was still in nursing school at Georgia when Kevin left Georgia State to take the Paramedic Program in Tennessee. Our parents had moved around a lot because Dad was a career Military Doctor, but we had both settled in Georgia for a while. Dad was assigned to Walter Reed and we were pretty far away from him and his influence by then.”

            "Tell him what happened after you got out of Nursing School", Kevin interrupted. 

            "I’m getting around to that. Okay, I graduated from Nursing School and tried to find work, without Daddy’s help and with no big brother to watch after me. I found plenty of jobs, but they were mostly in convalescent or rehabilitation care. I was bored and tried to find something else, anything else. I almost gave up on nursing because the good jobs were just not opening up for me."

            "You worked in a nursing home?" Reggie asked.

            "For way too long", she added. "Kevin finished his Paramedic training and moved straight out here and into his job at Houston Fire Department. He and Dad had a falling out over his decision to become a paramedic instead of a doctor, so he moved as far as he could before he stopped here."

            "Actually, I ran out of gas just north of Houston and had to stop here. Dad still says I ran away from home", Kevin laughed.

            "How did you end up out here, though?" Reggie asked again.

            "That was Kevin's doing. He was working with Life Flight as a dispatcher when several jobs became available. He called me up and talked me into coming down here to apply."

            "I was also teaching in the Paramedic program at Community College. Laura decided she liked the idea of becoming a Flight Nurse and I put her through the Texas Paramedic program for nurses, the bridge course with only the advanced skills. She blew through the class and ended up riding all of her clinical hours with me."

            "You got her into Life Flight without three years of critical care experience?” Reggie asked.

            "Not only that but she bumped a couple ex-military nurses who had letters of recommendation from our father."

            "One of them wouldn’t be working ER at HT?” Reggie said.

             "The same", Kevin confessed. "I don’t think she has forgotten about that. Dr. Pepe’s letter was all Laura needed and she was in like Flint."

            "How many years ago was that?" Reggie wanted to know.

            "Let's see", Kevin thought. "I was in my fourth year HFD, so it had to have been at least nine years ago."

            "More like ten, Kevin. Are you getting senile a little early?”

            "Maybe it was ten. I forget things so easily these days.”

            "We worked together on a few Life Flight missions. But a few years ago, Kevin's partner, Greg, left HFD and dropped out of sight. Kevin left HFD a few months later and took a job at Circle K as midnight cashier."

            "She drug me out of there pretty quick. She found me the job at Mainland EMS and after I worked there for about nine months before I started working here at Life-Star. Laura tried to get me to work with her at Life Flight, but you know that story."

            "I tried to get him off the ambulance because he was so burned out after all those years working in Houston. Life Flight is less hectic and he needed the change, or so I thought."

            "Maybe I understand how this works now. The two of you have been trying to help each other out in your careers all along."

            "Well", Kevin said slowly, "we've tried to get each other to do what we thought was best."  

            "It hasn't always been so complicated, though.”

            "At least the two of you are on speaking terms again. That's a lot better than things were a few months ago."

            "True", they both said at once.

            "We change", Kevin said to Laura. "Maybe one day I will give up working the streets and fly with you, but it has to be on my terms."

            "Accepted", Laura replied.

            "Yeah, I can see it now” Reggie drawled. “Life Flight will start flying tactical medic missions with Kevin here at the helm.”

            “I see it more as a retirement job, Reggie. You’ll probably be training Tactical Medics by then!”

            “You see? As hard as he pushes me, I should have my Paramedic license in record time.”

            "You wouldn't believe how hard Reggie has worked to get this mutual aid agreement set up between us", Kevin said. "I'll bet he hasn't been home in over two weeks."

            "Three", Reggie corrected. "It was worth every minute of it to see this deal work out. I think it’s a good thing for everyone involved."

            As Reggie finished speaking, Kevin's pager went off and interrupted any further thoughts that might have been in the back of their minds.

            "It's the base. Mind if I use your phone?"

            "Sure", Laura said as she handed the cellular phone across the table. "Wonder what they want?"

            "We'll know soon enough. They paged from the personal line, so it’s not a flight.”

            Kevin called the base and was surprised at the message he received.

            "There's a news crew on the way to the station. Marion wants us back ASAP."

            "Oh well", Reggie drawled. "I guess we had better fly back."

            "They've sent our bird to pick us up. It should be on the pad by the time we get down there. We have to get moving."

            "Well guys, I hate to see you eat and run like this. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Mom and Dad want us to come over for dinner Sunday. Can you and Helen make it or can you at least bring the girls?"

            "I'll do my best", Kevin promised. "See ya, Sis."

            Laura hugged her brother as he left and gave Reggie a gentle squeeze as they got up to leave.

            "Thanks for your help", she told him and gave him a kiss as he left.

            Reggie's face reddened deeply as she kissed him. He had to admit that he really cared about Laura, but he would only admit that to himself. He was really clumsy when it came to dealing with the opposite sex. Reggie and Kevin were both pretty quiet as they flew back to base. Kevin actually dreaded meeting the media because he knew that they would ask some very dumb questions about the earlier accident and he would have to word his answers so simply that he would look like a complete idiot during the interview.

            There was a time when he welcomed the media at the scene, but he had changed his minds a few years back when a cameraman got into his way at a major incident in downtown Houston. The entire confrontation was aired on the late news and had cost Kevin and Greg a few hours of explanations to the various assistant chiefs and finally the mayor herself.

            Kevin's mind began to wander again as he dismissed the idea of facing the media again. He slipped back to a night many years ago, the night he first encountered the Emergency Medical Services in action. It was an event that had changed the entire course of his life. As the course of events that night Kevin could almost feel that he was there all over again. He was working the closing shift at a fast food restaurant and was busy cleaning the grill when the lights flickered on and off.

            The assistant manager asked Kevin to check the outside panel box. Squirrels had been known to take up residence in there from time to time and they occasionally chewed through a wire and fried themselves, but cut the power while doing so. Kevin went to the box, but did not see anything out of order. He heard someone yelling for help and looked out toward the street. A small car had slammed into a power pole and smoke was rising from the engine compartment. Kevin ran back inside and had one of the waitresses call for help. He grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran back to the wrecked car.

            He checked for fire under the hood, and seeing none, he went to look at the driver. She was slumped over the wheel with blood covering most of her face. The windshield was shattered and it was obvious that she had hit the dash and steering wheel very hard. Kevin heard the yell for help again and saw a young man running across the parking lot toward him. He was screaming for help as he ran up to Kevin.

            "Man, get an ambulance here quick!"

            "We've called for one already. They should be here any minute.”

            "We've got to do something!” he yelled. "Help me get her out of there."

            "I think we better leave her where she is until the ambulance gets here", Kevin protested. "We could hurt her more than she already is by trying to move her."

            "You've got to help her, man!” he yelled. "She'll die if we don't do something."

            Kevin looked more closely at the woman in the car and realized he did not really know whether he should help to move her or not. He had heard from his father that it was generally better to leave a person in the position in which they were found rather than run the risk of moving them and aggravating their injuries.

            The injured woman began to vomit, an action, which prompted Kevin's stomach to turn sour on him. He could hear the sirens in the background as the police, fire and ambulance units approached. He felt himself reeling from the confusion and the smell of vomit and blood. How it happened, Kevin could not remember, but he found himself being carried away from the car by the waitress and the assistant manager.

            "Kevin? You don't look so good."

            "I don't feel so good", Kevin confessed.

            "Let Donna drive you home. Your car will be okay here for the night."

            "How's the girl in the car?” he asked.

            "They're still working to get her out of it", Donna said.

            "I've got to stay and watch", he protested.

            "Are you sure?” Donna asked. "We just had to carry you away from there. You almost passed out."

            "I'm sure. I've got to see this."

            Kevin got up from the floor and forced himself to watch the rescue efforts as the ambulance and fire personnel worked together to free the woman from the car. Even though he had a very weak stomach, Kevin forced himself to watch the entire scene. Donna stood beside him and they supported each other as the woman was removed from the vehicle. Kevin had to fight to hold his stomach as he saw the multiple lacerations on the woman's face.

            "Give us a hand over here!” one of the paramedics yelled in Kevin's direction. Without a second thought, Kevin went over to help.      "Hold this and squeeze", he ordered. 

            Kevin obeyed and took the bag of IV fluid and began to squeeze the bag as directed. As he did so, he realized that his nausea had almost left him. Kevin realized that as he took an active part in helping care for the patient, he could over look his own feelings and concentrate on the job at hand. He watched intently as a second IV line was established and a pressure garment was placed over the woman's legs and abdomen. He helped the paramedics load her into the ambulance and watched until they drove off into the fog. That vision had stayed with him for years.

            "You in there?" Reggie drawled.

            "Yeah, what's up?"

            "You were really off into another world. You sure you're okay?”

            "I'm fine, I was just thinking about something."

            "Well, we'll be at the base in about five minutes. Better get your TV face on."

            "I really hate this, you know.”

            "I know it. Just give’em a good show and make us all proud.”

            "I'll survive it", Kevin said as the helicopter touched down. "If it starts looking bad, get me off the hook with a flight, fake call or nuclear disaster, okay?"

            "I'll do my best", Reggie promised.

            Kevin and Reggie exited the helicopter and ran across the parking lot to meet the news crew that had set up in front of the Life Star EMS logo. A young Hispanic reporter came over to Kevin and wanted to ask some preliminary questions.

            "Mr. Wright", she began, "I don't understand the emergency medical services very well, so I want to go over some of the questions I had planned to ask you before we actually go on camera. I think it would help me to do this interview more professionally."

            "That's a good idea", Kevin agreed. “You can start by calling me Kevin. What questions can I answer for you?”

            "Let's start with the different ranks or whatever you call them. What are the different patches for? Some of them have no almost red on them at all, your partner’s has a red state on it and your patch is almost all red. The one that says Tactical Medic is really different as well."

            "Well, we have four levels of training recognized by the Department of Health, the Patient Care Attendant, the EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic. The amount of red on the patch dictates the higher levels of training, the more red, the higher level of certification."

            “And what about the Tactical Medic?” she asked. “That sounds almost military.”

            “It is in a way. It’s actually a SWAT based medical program. We take our top medics and put them through the police academy, then through SWAT training. We go on missions with various agencies to provide medical support and also police support.”

            "Could you tell me a little about your experience as a Paramedic?"

            "I spent about 15 years with Houston Fire Department EMS and the past few years have been with smaller, private ambulance companies."

            The reporter continued her questions for a few more minutes, asking some questions, which Kevin explained, were off limits due to patient confidentiality.

            As they went on camera for the interview, Kevin was almost ashamed of himself his feelings about news crews. This reporter had gone out of her way to make everything look positive. They focused on the accident from that morning, closing with Kevin giving a strong admonition for all viewers to wear seat and shoulder harnesses when they were in their vehicles. Kevin felt very good about the interview and thought some good might accidentally come from it somewhere down the road. If even one person listened to his advice, the time was worth the effort.

            Now that the interview over, Kevin went to his office to finish the paper work for Joyce's transfer. He knew she could use the increase in pay and all of her certifications were definitely in order. If anything, she might appear to be over-qualified for the position. He knew he had made the right decision and he could justify everything concerning Joyce’s qualifications. He knew she would be fair in dealing with the other medics she would now supervise and she would really help keep the stock room straight. That was an area Kevin’s shift really needed assistance in and Joyce was a perfect fit.