Brad's (now retired!) Firefighter/Paramedic...and Other Misc Info..

Experimenting with the new blogger...looks good so far but a few things I need to figure out...like adding a hit counter for instance. Also, it doesn't seem to display correctly on Firefox 2.0.

Just go to this link for a humorous take on the fire chief (or lack there of) situation in Crown Point, IN James - Post-Tribune (Northwest Indiana) And to Cpfire.com for the editorial from the ex-chief....er...the newest ex-chief , I guess.....

As of this morning our chief quit after 3 months on the job....why you ask? The mayor did not give "permission" to put this sign out in front of our Crown Point Fire Rescue station. This is the 3rd Chief in 2 years that was either demoted or quit because of disagreements with the mayor. We have a problem....I don't normally editorialize on things that happen at work...well maybe a little...but this needs to stop. We have a great group of guys on the fire and police department that will do anything for the public...as would any FD or PD... these are not the places to micro manage. Ok...I'm done....you can google Crown Point, In news and read more if you're interested. The outcome due to this sign is a ridiculous indicator on what is going on behind the scenes in Crown Point politics. I'm done....

My wife is now traveling 4 days a week for a company called McKesson. She's always wanted to do consulting in the nursing field and this was a perfect fit....Maybe I'll blog more now!!!!!! She'll be going to Atlanta this time and then we go to Atlanta in July for a business seminar!!! She said she didn't mind traveling!!. ....and 1 last plug for the business....we now have a system to save important data on the Internet which is then mirrored to a second undisclosed location....comment for more info...

...So we have a federal grant for the fire department that we've been working on and had a few things to get for our department (of the approved things that were listed). The Mayor decided he could use the $26,000 and use it to put 2 fences around our water towers. I guess this was on the list under homeland security....Oh well....primary in 1 year. He also informed us that we have to start watering the flowers on the sqare again this year...I'm glad we've been trained in water usage and tactics......LOL powered by performancing firefox

We got back from New Mexico a few weeks ago. It was great!! Not only was the area beautiful but the learning and mentoring that went on was even better. Mark and Jill (my support team for the business) was great and we learned a lot. Also we found out that coming June 1st we'll have a product called Medic Vault, a web based medical info system where a card that is carried with you has all the medical information the hospital needs. With that, a data vault system with 256 bit encryption will be offered...where you can upload sensitive or important data to a secure site that gets mirrored to an undisclosed site and then have access to it from anywhere. I'll report more as I find out more. Let me know if there is any interest. Our fire department softball games got rained out last week...more to come this week (I'm the pitcher!!!!)

One more experiment....sorry I'm using you, the readers, as Guinea pigs....I' activated some tag with my posts.... powered by performancing firefox

I just added an extension called Perfomancing in Firefox  which lets you blog from anywhere....so this is my first entry using it....let me know what you think....oh you probably won't notice anything...duh...oh well...I'l let you know!!!

Yep...I'm on the fire department softball team...pitcher. Thought it would give me a little exercise and some fun. Also my stepdaughter graduates from ISU in 2 weeks and her open house is in 4.....so I'll be trying to get a patio walkway put in and maybe a fence by the open house. I should have the time but not sure about the skill...oh well...I guess the Internet can help me get started!! Then New Mexico with our support team next week....I'll fill you in on all the activities as time allows. Of course, getting DVR for Dish Network hasn't helped with time...I'm a recording fool and an efficient couch potato at times!!!!!

(another attention-grabbing title...) I thought I'd drop by since I've been lazy about updating. Nothing really new...the only recent memorable call we had was a patient that we were called for as having an allergic reaction. Now this could be anything from a little rash to a person not breathing. On our arrival the patient is sitting in a chair with his tongue sticking staight out and a large knot on his neck that looks like a tight muscle. He can barely talk but all vital are good. These symptoms are typical of someone having an adverse reaction to compazine or thorazine but family swears he does not take any of those meds. Later found out he was on Haldol which will also give these kind of symptoms....Any way, his back started to spasm in the truck so I tried to massage the knot out, which seemed to help. Later we took another patient in and went to check on him and he looked great (An injection of Cogentin counteracts these symptoms). He was so bad originally that my partne...

Om Wednesday I'll be upgrading my Treo 600 to a treo 650...I'll let you know about it. I wanted to wait for the rumored 700p but since it's a rumor so far, I don't want to wait 1-6 months or however long it will be....I'm into instant gratification a bit I guess.....

Yes, I'm stiill around for all my fans (????...I have fans???) that have missed my antics. A lot of things have gone on but I'll just give you recent highlights. February 14th was my 50th birthday so my wife and I went to spend the night in Indianapolis. There we ended up meeting a wonderful couple that we really connected with and eventually went back to their home and talked until 5AM! ...Before that we even shut down a bar which I haven't done since....well I don't think I ever did that!!!! We had so many interests and similarities, it was just amazing .We felt like we were on a real long first date with someone we want to spend a lot of time with in the future. So to most of you, this is a pretty boring post but to a lot of you, you probably can relate... Let me know of your similar situations where this happened to you......

Will be getting off in the morning after 9 call so far today...4 in the last 30 minutes!! But... MerryChristmas to everyone and thanks for stopping by my Blog!!!

I kinda like snow... I like working in it at the fire department and like being home while it blizzards...yes I'm weird...but I still like it. Supposed to snow about an inch tonight. And a Christmas party at 1 of the doc's homes Friday where I don't have to work the next day...WooHoo!!! ...and not too early to plan for my half-century mark in February..(the 14th, by the way). I'm hoping for something real special...any ideas????

Well our mayor may want to screw with our shifts because we've talked to the council on some of the things the mayor has been doing...eg the council didn't realize that we are budgeted for an extra man per shift but the mayor told our chief not to schedule them any more. Lots of other things too but the mayor called our chief and said that we are not allowed to talk to the council. Ok, I usually don't spout off too much about this kind of stuff but was it wearing on me for a while. On another note, Tim, our Washington support team was here this last weekend and we had a great time...and hopefully learned a few things to advance us....OUT OF MY POLITICAL RELATED JOB!!!!! Did I yell?

Half way through the shift again and nothing new..Had a shift off and that was nice. Another shift off coming up Friday...This is when our support team from Washington will be out. This is always a good time and we try getting as many new and existing business owners in front of him as we can. Not too many other business will give you this kind of support...for free....!!!

Getting ready to eat breakfast at The Country Chalet in Mt Pleasant, MI, the B&B we're at. Nice to get away. For more info, go to www.countrychalet.com ... I guess my phone has a send limit...I finished the post at home...

So my vacation starts...and I'm sore....I'm building visqueen windows for my gazebo (with hot tub inside) to block the wind in the winter. I used to just wrap the whole thing but decided to make these reusable windows. I'm sore because I did a lot of bending and screwing in awkward positions (knock it off you perverts!!!). Anyway...if I get a chance, I'll take a picture of it with cam phone or regular camera and let those that are interested take a look...

On the last Tuesday of the month we check dates and quantities of all our drugs and supplies. It's a necessary evil but a real pain. Up-to-date drugs are exchanged with nearly expired drugs, if any, and then replaced. All along while trying to run calls and throwing the truck back together so you can find everything during a call. On the other hand, it's time for a vacation!!! I usually take of 3 shifts around our anniversary (10/30) (12 years) in case we go anywhere. This year we're going to Mt. Pleasant, MI to meet up with a friend coming from Colorado to visit her parents. We'll stay at a B&B there for a couple of days. ......and I'll try to phone or laptop blog from there......no really!!!! Business-wise, we had our weekly conference call for the business last night which was as good as it always is. We're trying a free conferencing service that you only have to pay for a long distance call. Since most of us have free long distance through MCI or our cel...

Just started playing with the Rent-My-Blog feature of Blogexplosion and my very first renter is..... Haunted House Dressings by Jeremy C. Shipp!!.. Thanks Jeremy and may your traffic and readership both climb!!!