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Police
and
Paramedics
and
Paramedics
| Copyright © 2006 - 2012 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
I like to watch cop movies made in the 1940’s and 50’s. In many of those movies
there comes a point when a wounded or injured person is placed in an ambulance
for a trip to the hospital. It's always a pretty simple process where the victim is
put on a stretcher and pushed into the back of a station wagon or van with little
more than the odd bandage in the way of emergency medical treatment.
The 1970’s would be a decade of change in reality as well as movie scripts. When
I became a Baltimore City police officer in 1971, my first assignment was walking
a foot post on E. North Avenue. I quickly located the Firehouse at North Avenue
and Bond Street where Engine 19 and Ambo #3 were assigned. Over the next
twenty years I’d see a lot of the firefighters and paramedics from that house.
During the 70’s and 80’s, Engine 19 and Ambo #3 frequently held the title of
being the busiest Engine and Ambulance in the entire city.
When you become a police officer, you’re going to learn that a special relationship
exists between police officers and paramedics. You’ll be sitting in your car writing
a report when a call comes over your radio to “assist the medics” at location so
and so. You’ll drop whatever you’re doing and you’ll speed to that location just as
you would if a fellow police officer were calling for help. Such calls won’t be that
frequent for firefighters. After all, people don’t tend to mess that much with a
bunch of guys armed with axes and long poles with steel hooks on the ends.
However, paramedics are a different story. Paramedics frequently find
themselves in hostile situations and environments armed only with their
goodwill.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I called for paramedics to assist
victims of shootings, stabbings, beatings and every other form of emergency
medical need. I vividly remember when the expertise of paramedics was coming
of age when the back of that ambulance became a mini emergency room where
the paramedics fed telemetry to the hospital emergency room and a doctor in the
ER would direct treatment to stabilize the patient for transport. Ironically, this
incredible advancement in emergency medical treatment caused a lot of problems
in the form of irate onlookers demanding that the ambulance speed off to the
hospital. I remember arresting a few of those idiots who just couldn’t get it
through their heads that the paramedics were ensuring that the patient would
reach the emergency room alive.
During your time in the police academy, you’ll receive training in basic lifesaving
techniques. Depending upon your level of interest, you’ll have opportunities to
acquire advanced levels of training. During my twenty years as a patrol officer, I
was assigned to Baltimore City’s Eastern District which was only 2 ½ square miles
in size. Ambo #3 was stationed in the center of the district, and Johns Hopkins
Hospital set just one block beyond the district’s southern boundary, so about the
only emergency medical care I needed to worry about providing was applying
pressure to control bleeding; clearing an airway or encountering a woman in
childbirth. To say that I was spoiled would be an understatement. I even lucked
out on the childbirth thing when I witnessed an automobile accident at an
intersection. When I got to the vehicles, I encountered a woman about to give
birth. Her husband was rushing her to the hospital when he learned that blowing
his horn had no effect on traffic control devices. Fortunately for both the woman
and me, the accident occurred on that southern boundary I mentioned. I only had
to transport that lady one block to the hospital. I got her there with at least a full
minute to spare before things started happening.
Here’s the most important thing for you to remember. They’ll be many times
when, while on patrol, you’ll observe an ambulance setting in front of a location
with its emergency lights activated. Get into the habit of stopping and checking
on the welfare of those paramedics. One thing that paramedics and police officers
have in common is that they continually respond to calls which on the
surface…we shall say, appear to be routine. But, like police officers, paramedics
frequently walk into situations which will be anything but routine. Unlike police
officers, paramedics do not possess the power of arrest or the same means to
resist force with force. Your consideration and presence will always be
appreciated.
there comes a point when a wounded or injured person is placed in an ambulance
for a trip to the hospital. It's always a pretty simple process where the victim is
put on a stretcher and pushed into the back of a station wagon or van with little
more than the odd bandage in the way of emergency medical treatment.
The 1970’s would be a decade of change in reality as well as movie scripts. When
I became a Baltimore City police officer in 1971, my first assignment was walking
a foot post on E. North Avenue. I quickly located the Firehouse at North Avenue
and Bond Street where Engine 19 and Ambo #3 were assigned. Over the next
twenty years I’d see a lot of the firefighters and paramedics from that house.
During the 70’s and 80’s, Engine 19 and Ambo #3 frequently held the title of
being the busiest Engine and Ambulance in the entire city.
When you become a police officer, you’re going to learn that a special relationship
exists between police officers and paramedics. You’ll be sitting in your car writing
a report when a call comes over your radio to “assist the medics” at location so
and so. You’ll drop whatever you’re doing and you’ll speed to that location just as
you would if a fellow police officer were calling for help. Such calls won’t be that
frequent for firefighters. After all, people don’t tend to mess that much with a
bunch of guys armed with axes and long poles with steel hooks on the ends.
However, paramedics are a different story. Paramedics frequently find
themselves in hostile situations and environments armed only with their
goodwill.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I called for paramedics to assist
victims of shootings, stabbings, beatings and every other form of emergency
medical need. I vividly remember when the expertise of paramedics was coming
of age when the back of that ambulance became a mini emergency room where
the paramedics fed telemetry to the hospital emergency room and a doctor in the
ER would direct treatment to stabilize the patient for transport. Ironically, this
incredible advancement in emergency medical treatment caused a lot of problems
in the form of irate onlookers demanding that the ambulance speed off to the
hospital. I remember arresting a few of those idiots who just couldn’t get it
through their heads that the paramedics were ensuring that the patient would
reach the emergency room alive.
During your time in the police academy, you’ll receive training in basic lifesaving
techniques. Depending upon your level of interest, you’ll have opportunities to
acquire advanced levels of training. During my twenty years as a patrol officer, I
was assigned to Baltimore City’s Eastern District which was only 2 ½ square miles
in size. Ambo #3 was stationed in the center of the district, and Johns Hopkins
Hospital set just one block beyond the district’s southern boundary, so about the
only emergency medical care I needed to worry about providing was applying
pressure to control bleeding; clearing an airway or encountering a woman in
childbirth. To say that I was spoiled would be an understatement. I even lucked
out on the childbirth thing when I witnessed an automobile accident at an
intersection. When I got to the vehicles, I encountered a woman about to give
birth. Her husband was rushing her to the hospital when he learned that blowing
his horn had no effect on traffic control devices. Fortunately for both the woman
and me, the accident occurred on that southern boundary I mentioned. I only had
to transport that lady one block to the hospital. I got her there with at least a full
minute to spare before things started happening.
Here’s the most important thing for you to remember. They’ll be many times
when, while on patrol, you’ll observe an ambulance setting in front of a location
with its emergency lights activated. Get into the habit of stopping and checking
on the welfare of those paramedics. One thing that paramedics and police officers
have in common is that they continually respond to calls which on the
surface…we shall say, appear to be routine. But, like police officers, paramedics
frequently walk into situations which will be anything but routine. Unlike police
officers, paramedics do not possess the power of arrest or the same means to
resist force with force. Your consideration and presence will always be
appreciated.
| My Favorite Paramedics |
During my long police career, I was very fortunate to have never sustained an injury serious enough to require
the assistance of paramedics. That all changed in the early morning hours of November 27, 2009. By the time
I was flat on my back and sweating like a race horse, I finally came to the realization that I was suffering a
heart attack. There are some gaps in my memory of that morning, but I vividly remember the sense of calm
that came over me when those paramedics walked through the door. The medics, Chris Strippel and Tonya
Bare, quickly diagnosed the heart attack and began life saving measures. Additional firefighters responded to
assist the medics, and I remember concentrating on being a good patient as I made my body as rigid as possible
when they lifted me onto the stretcher. Of course, nobody’s perfect. Once inside the ambulance, I remember
Paramedic Chris Strippel saying to me, “I’m going to give you four aspirin” as he held the tablets in his hand
in front of my face. I replied, “I can’t swallow those without water.” I’m sure in his mind Strippel said to
himself, “You chew them, dummy.” Of course, he didn't say that. His response was a simple, “Just chew
them.”
If you have read the introduction to my book, you know that I’m a big believer in fate. Well…fate was again
on my side that morning – the paramedics were stationed only three blocks from my home, and they were in
house. I was rushed to a top heart hospital only six miles away where a top rate surgical team headed by Dr.
Michael Pressel, my third hero of the day, was quickly assembled. Dr. Pressel would subsequently describe to
me just how sick I was that morning. Despite complications during surgery and a two day stay in intensive
care, I came through the ordeal with an excellent prognosis. It’s no overstatement when I say that a President
of the United States could not have received timelier nor better quality care than I received. There’s no
question in my mind that my survival was only made possible by the rapid response, dedication, and expertise
of those fantastic paramedics.
the assistance of paramedics. That all changed in the early morning hours of November 27, 2009. By the time
I was flat on my back and sweating like a race horse, I finally came to the realization that I was suffering a
heart attack. There are some gaps in my memory of that morning, but I vividly remember the sense of calm
that came over me when those paramedics walked through the door. The medics, Chris Strippel and Tonya
Bare, quickly diagnosed the heart attack and began life saving measures. Additional firefighters responded to
assist the medics, and I remember concentrating on being a good patient as I made my body as rigid as possible
when they lifted me onto the stretcher. Of course, nobody’s perfect. Once inside the ambulance, I remember
Paramedic Chris Strippel saying to me, “I’m going to give you four aspirin” as he held the tablets in his hand
in front of my face. I replied, “I can’t swallow those without water.” I’m sure in his mind Strippel said to
himself, “You chew them, dummy.” Of course, he didn't say that. His response was a simple, “Just chew
them.”
If you have read the introduction to my book, you know that I’m a big believer in fate. Well…fate was again
on my side that morning – the paramedics were stationed only three blocks from my home, and they were in
house. I was rushed to a top heart hospital only six miles away where a top rate surgical team headed by Dr.
Michael Pressel, my third hero of the day, was quickly assembled. Dr. Pressel would subsequently describe to
me just how sick I was that morning. Despite complications during surgery and a two day stay in intensive
care, I came through the ordeal with an excellent prognosis. It’s no overstatement when I say that a President
of the United States could not have received timelier nor better quality care than I received. There’s no
question in my mind that my survival was only made possible by the rapid response, dedication, and expertise
of those fantastic paramedics.
| Paramedic Tonya Bare |
Emergency Medical Services Division
The Fire Department's Emergency Medical Services
Division responds to emergency calls involving
injury or illness. More than 70 percent of calls
received by the Fire Department are medical calls.
Medic units (often called ambulances) are housed in
fire stations alongside fire apparatus, and all career
and many volunteer personnel are trained in both
EMS and fire suppression. The Department operates
31 career advanced life support medic units; the
Baltimore County Volunteer Firemen's Association
operates 17 medic units.
Division responds to emergency calls involving
injury or illness. More than 70 percent of calls
received by the Fire Department are medical calls.
Medic units (often called ambulances) are housed in
fire stations alongside fire apparatus, and all career
and many volunteer personnel are trained in both
EMS and fire suppression. The Department operates
31 career advanced life support medic units; the
Baltimore County Volunteer Firemen's Association
operates 17 medic units.
All career fire apparatus are equipped with automatic external defibrillators, used to treat sudden cardiac arrest victims.
Eight EMS district officers supervise daily EMS operations.
Eight EMS district officers supervise daily EMS operations.
"...a special relationship exists between police
officers and paramedics."
officers and paramedics."
| ~ Barry M. Baker |
| Paramedic Chris Strippel |
Baltimore City Fire Department - Operations personnel work out of 40 neighborhood fire stations. These
stations house about 100 firefighting, emergency medical and special operations companies. These units include
36 engine companies, 19 ladder companies, 22 first-line medic units, 4 critical alert medic units, 4 rescue
squads and a heavy rescue as well as specialty units such as hazmat trucks, collapse rescue vehicles, mobile
command vehicles and various fire boats.
stations house about 100 firefighting, emergency medical and special operations companies. These units include
36 engine companies, 19 ladder companies, 22 first-line medic units, 4 critical alert medic units, 4 rescue
squads and a heavy rescue as well as specialty units such as hazmat trucks, collapse rescue vehicles, mobile
command vehicles and various fire boats.
Maryland State Police Trooper/Flight Paramedic - The single most difficult part of becoming a Trooper /
Medic is becoming a Maryland State Trooper. As you have seen on this website, you will be required to undergo
the same training as every other Trooper. This includes the residential State Police Academy. Once you graduate
from the Academy and complete Field Training, you will be assigned to a Barrack. You may then submit a request
to transfer into the Aviation Command. The Command maintains an eligibility list that is based on your experience
and qualifications, as well as the results of a skills assessment and interview.
Medic is becoming a Maryland State Trooper. As you have seen on this website, you will be required to undergo
the same training as every other Trooper. This includes the residential State Police Academy. Once you graduate
from the Academy and complete Field Training, you will be assigned to a Barrack. You may then submit a request
to transfer into the Aviation Command. The Command maintains an eligibility list that is based on your experience
and qualifications, as well as the results of a skills assessment and interview.