The First Post of September 2007

The first day of September was a long one, and it was good. I had been roped into going to the Boonton Fireman's Parade (which is a state-wide parade, not like the smaller local ones we normally have in Parsippany). I needed to have a second EMT to go with me - for a judging thing like this, both EMTs must have their cards and be fully certified. The rig has to be cleaned from nose to dock and stocked perfectly, no expired items or dirt or anything. (The firemen, when they judge the rigs, white-glove them!)

It turns out that James Clark, whom I have ridden with and like a lot, was available to go, so we showed up in the morning to work on the rigs as well. (Oh, stop - I don't like him that way, he's just a really fun, happy, great person. He put in four hours of time, I put in two. Katie Morgan, who is (I think) a First Responder) did the bulk of the work - she cleaned 66-4 and 66-3 almost all this past week. Still, there was something strange going on, because she wouldn't go to the parade and I thought she would have been with District 5 going crazy with their rigs (they won something or more than one something, judging by the way they went screaming past the house last night).

Well, James and I went and we were fortunate - they had EMTs doing the judging. They looked through everything. Expirations, equipment, general condition of the ambulance, our certifications, the whole nine yards. They were very throughout and very friendly, and told us the different things that they had observed as judges (without naming names). A lot of judged rigs came up with expired things; a few came up filthy - shiver - can you imagine? The one thing any ambulance should be, inside and out, is clean! Completely immaculate. You are transporting sick people or people with open wounds - the one thing any ambulance should be is clean.

When we went to start it, 66-4 did nothing. I pushed in the battery button, turned the key all the way - and nothing! No numbers, nothing. Uh-oh, that can't be good. Well, we got out and asked the judges if we were done being judged because the rig wouldn't start. Bob and Dennis came to submit their bus, 66-3, for judging and gave us a jump. The gods were with us, though. A belt had broken and that was why it wouldn't hold a charge. (It affected the alternator - automotive knowledge is not my forte, you know.) We managed to get it back to the squadhouse by 1045 to get the belt problem fixed and back into the line of march.

We managed just enough time to get to the Boonton Kiwanis Squad House to grab a bite to eat, and then had to run to find our place in the line of march. We did, and then James and I each went different ways to go visit different squads and see the different trucks and rigs there.

I couldn't find Car 65 in the mess of vehicles - they were lined up all over the place - but I did meet Montville's squad and then found Car 69 and Districts 4 & 5, whom we work with. That was a lot of fun, catching with people I don't see often but know from fire calls or drills or the odd event (concert and fire standbys, that kind of thing. I had about an hour to kill, so I covered a lot of ground and was right back at the rig at 1330, the time the parade was to start.

I have no doubt that it did, but there were so many rigs there that we did not start rolling until 1345. It is by the grace of the gods and James driving with the rig in nuetral revving the engine madly at every oppoturnity that we made it through the whole thing - the battery power, because of the alternator, was practically non-existent. Once we put on all the lights, that gage that showed amperage dropped like a stone - and we hardly had any to start with. But we made it all the way through Boonton and to the high school there.

James and I changed out of our dress whites and into normal squad shirts the moment we were at the high school. It wasn't brutally hot out and it definitely was not humid, but it was hot enough - especially without running the A/C, which would have used too much of the power - so it was a relief to be out of the long-sleeved shirts. (For whatever reason, both James and I had dress whites for jus the winter months and not summer. I guess I should ask Danny about that.)

Luis joined us there for the carnival, which was your standard noisey outdoor affair with a lot of greasy, fried foods that make the American population what it is today (mostly fat) and rides and loud music and louder announcers for the plethora of 50/50s that one can lose in (ha, ha). We partook of the food (dreadful), one ride (fun) and then mostly we really wanted to leave. But I stayed even though James first and eventually Luis bailed out on me.

Parsippany's Rockaway Neck First Aid Squad won two awards: Best Ambulance in Line of March (second place - 66-4) and Best Ambulance In Service (first place - 66-3). Don't look at me - I only put in two hours and drove 66-4 to the judging and back. Katie did all of the hard work on this.

All in all, a great day!