Ambulance Driver

Our service provides the EMS coverage for the Minnesota Twins. Major League Baseball requires paramedics and an ambulance to be on site an hour before the game and remain until both teams release us from service after the contest. As I remember, this requirement came on the heels of the death of umpire John McSherry, working behind the plate, on Opening Day 1996.

Generally speaking, we are there to provide service, if needed, for the players, umpires and other on-field personnel. Service for fans is provided by First-Aid teams scattered around the stadium. We also assign one paramedic to standby in the First Aid room to  assist those teams as well.

The Twins have a  new ballpark, Target Field, and I can’t add anything to the superlatives that have all ready been written about this place – except to say that it is the nicest sports venue I’ve ever been in.

The move from the Metro Dome to the new facility has involved an awful lot of planning. But, as Robert Burns famously said,  “The best laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang afta-gley.”

The fans have to learn the best route to the ballpark, and where to park. The ballplayers have to learn “the hop” on infield grounders and the carom off the wall. Manager Ron Gardenhire has to figure out where to stand in the dugout. The concessionaires have a lot to think about, as do the ticket-takers. Police, security and the general operation people have to shoe-horn the old procedures into the new operational reality. In other words, a lot of people are running around and scratching their heads.

Most agree that it will take the entire season to get every thing figured out.

How does the new facility effect the Paramedics? Well, there are not a lot of jobs that put a guy in a situation where some body’s life could be on the line (in a worse-case scenario) and you are called to perform in front of 40,000 people, network cameras and You Tube.

To put it mildly, we have a lot of issues to think through.

I worked the first two exhibition games where the Twins played the Cardinals. We have been posted in the camera well adjacent to the Twins’ dugout. The first thing we noticed was that, once we entered the hallway leading to the camera well from the Clubhouse, the door locked behind us. This isn’t good – our equipment is on the other side. That problem was solved by getting us a key fob that opened every secure door in the stadium.This is good for the medics, but gives Twins security something else to think about.

This camera well was built for, well, those who produce video and those who are credentialed photographers. The hallway is also used by the grounds crew, a group of about 10 guys who run out about every 3 innings to tend to the field. Sports reporters are also in and out of there, as they also are trying to figure out the best way to cover the game.

Consequently, I frequently found myself moving around, saying “excuse me,” a lot and trying to keep my ugly mug off the big screen in center field (I failed in this regard). In other words, we are the least important guys in that area…until…

Something Bad Happens.

It is then that the situation changes and all focus is on the victim and the people who come to their aid.

That’s when my obsequiousness ends and command of the situation passes to me and my partner. It is the expectation that we will perform tasks and give orders and that all will run smoothly. Command and control of emergency medical scenes is what I do for a living. I’ll be the first to tell you that “we ain’t there yet” if an emergency would happen on the field.

But we are getting close. We have had nothing but the best relations with the Minnesota Twins. This is a first class operation that is doing its utmost to make sure that things go well in the case of a medical emergency.

Things will get ironed out. Its just going to take a little while.

Tomorrow and Saturday the Twins come to town to host Albert Pujols and the St Louis Cardinals in the last two exhibition games of spring training.

They will also christen the newest ball park in Major League Baseball, Target Field.

I’m working both these games as a medic. While I missed our tours of the facility, Those who went told me it’s a terrific stadium.

There are undoubtedly going to be some operational “bugs”  to be worked out over the course of the season Our concern will be the logistics of how the field medics interact with the Twins medical team. Preliminary plans have been made, but things always seem to change as we all put our heads together and attempt to determine the best way to perform our various duties.

There will be some initial confusion but it all will work itself out – but I do hear that I had better bring the raincoat Friday night.

Wonder when the Twins last had a rain-out for a home game?

For the first time, we will also have a medic with the First Aid team that responds to calls in the stands. This will probably be less of a hassle due to the fact that this same team of volunteers are a carry-over from the MetroDome and have been busy practicing patient extrication from the stands for several weeks now. Historically, they have really done a nice job.

Additionally, I will also be working the TimberWolves game Saturday night and I would be remiss if I did not say that the Wolves and Target Center handle their public safety responsibilities better than any other organization I have been associated with.

As a native born Hoosier I was very pleased to watch Butler’s win over Kansas State yesterday. It was not an upset.

Butler entered the ranks of top-notch college programs years ago due to its performance against teams from the major conferences. Having Butler on your non-conference schedule has generally  proven to be a losing proposition.

Butler also has the honor of playing in what I consider to be the finest basketball arena in the world. Hinkle Fieldhouse was built in 1928 and its large size helped transform basketball in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. It is the oldest of the major college basketball fieldhouses and still the largest at a private institution.

In my youth I was a frequent visitor. I saw Pete Maravich play there and saw Adolph Rupp and Hank Ida coach there. Last summer, my youngest son and I walked in the door. It was my first visit in over 30 years. While some renovations had been made, it was the same old place.

Very quiet Sunday. The department handled a total of 56 runs in my 12 hour shift. Ambulance Driver was assigned 3, but 2 were cancelled prior to our arrival. So, to make a short  story even shorter:

1) An elderly gentleman fell in his apartment resulting in some vague pain in pelvis area. No obvious fracture.

Since it was obvious that today was going to be very slow, at 1030am I jotted down the runs my department was responding to at that moment:

1) A person who slipped and fell in a church parking lot.

2) A baby vomiting and coughing

3) Chest pain in a person with  a history of a heart attack

4) Child who had a seizure

5) An elderly patient who fell in the home

6) A pregnant woman with vaginal bleeding after trauma the night before.

That will do it. We will see if tomorrow is any busier.

Mitch Berg at Shot in the Dark had a terrific post yesterday about a story on National Public Radio. It tells what happens when you provide a high value service for little or no cost.

Kinda like how Medicaid is and how ObamaCare would be.

I urge you to follow the link Mitch provides to the NPR story (where you can read the transcript or listen to the playback) and then read his thoughts.

It was September 10^th 1989, the Houston Oilers were in town to play the Minnesota Vikings for the season opener. Don Criqui and Ahmad Rashad were in the booth calling the game for NBC. Future Hall of Famers Warren Moon, Bruce Matthews, Randall McDaniel and Gary Zimmerman were on the field. Jerry Burns was the Vikings coach and his counterpart, Jerry Glanville, was across the way.

The Ambulance Driver was there.

As I remember, the Oilers were favored and during the preceding week Glanville had been shooting off his mouth in the papers which resulted in a rather fired-up Vikings team.

Ambulance Driver was in his normal spot, standing just outside the 35 yard line where the trainers could signal us onto the field in case of a serious injury to a player or official. I’ve never received that signal but have taken injured players from the locker room to the hospital. This game was injury free from our perspective, however, and standing on the 35 yard line is a heck of a place to watch a professional football game. It also gave me the perfect vantage point for what was almost the first case of premeditated murder in the history of the National Football League.

As stated, the Vikes were fired up from the get-go and things only got hotter on our side of the field due to the continuous commentary by the original trash-talker, Chris Dishman, the Oilers strong safety. Dishman was a second year player out of Purdue and ended up having a long, serviceable, though not stellar career. The kid really had a mouth on him and he seemed to think that insulting opposing players shouldn’t be taken personally.

Well, the Vikings did take it personally, but none more so than Joey Browner.

Browner was the Vikings strong safety, and a big one. He was tall and built like a linebacker. Known as one of the surest tacklers in the NFL, Joey Browner was a rare 4 time All-American at USC, a first round draft choice, named to 6 Pro-Bowls and a member of the NFL’s All-Decade team.

Browner always sat in the same spot – at the end of the bench just over my right shoulder. He’d take his helmet off, put his elbows on his knees and would sit there just looking mean. Nobody sat near him.

At one point, early in the game, Dishman was directly down the line from me and was laughing and carrying on about something. Suddenly I was shouldered aside by Joey Browner with steam coming out of his ears.

“Dishman,” he hollered “CHRIS DISHMAN.”

Dishman heard his name and looked over our way.

“If you don’t shut the (bleep) up, I’m gonna come out there and kick your ass!”

Well, Dishman obviously couldn’t hear what was being said as he cupped his hand to his ear and started to walk over to see what kind of advice the famous Joey Browner had to impart to him..

What followed was a loud, profane, prolonged and very specific description of how Browner was going to kill him right there in front of 60,000 people and a national television audience if he heard one more word from him. It was a Bob Knight-like performance.

And the Ambulance Driver believed him – as did Chris Dishman.

During Browner’s diatribe Dishman seemed to melt as he meekly nodded his head. I wasn’t close enough to see but I bet tears came to his eyes. He may even have peed his pants, I know I almost did.

“I think he heard you that time.” I observed.

Joey Browner glared at me and said, “He’d better!” and with one last shake of his fist, Browner resumed his seat on the bench.

Needless to say, the trash talking was over.

The Vikings defeated the Oilers 38-7.

Last Monday WWE Raw was in town and Ambulance Driver was on hand in case one of the performers actually got hurt. I’ve never worked a wrestling match before but thought it would be an interesting experience.

I wasn’t disappointed.

We arrived two hours ahead of time and met with the troupe’s physician and trainer. Their instructions were simple enough. If a certain signal was given, we were to come out with our stretcher and equipment. It was the same sort of procedure that we use at Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and Gophers.

We were also asked a question that we were prepared for, “Would you guys like to be part of the show?” We politely declined although both myself and my partner for the night are experienced actors (he said with tongue firmly planted in his cheek) having appeared in the comedy series, Let’s Bowl.

We were then able to watch the rehearsal which basically was to teach the guess star, Mike Tyson, what his role was to be. Shortly, after they were done, Tyson exited the arena and walked right past us. Tyson looked me right in the eye and said, “Sir, how are you doing tonight?”

That’s right,  Iron Mike Tyson called me “sir.”

The other thing that struck me is that he is at least 2 inches shorter than me and I stand 5’ 11”. The years haven’t been particularly kind to him either. My partner noted, “He looks like us.” It wasn’t meant to be a compliment.

As the show started, we took our places behind the stage that was set up and put in our ear plugs. There were quite a few pyrotechnics that were periodically shot off within 30 feet of our position. A red light was positioned so all the crew in the vicinity would be warned prior to detonation – and detonation is the correct word. The explosions were loud.

There was a large projection screen where we could watch the action and still keep an eye on the ring-side physician.

We figured there were about 12,000 in attendance. They were loud, enthusiastic and surprisingly (at least to me) sober.

The performers were very athletic. I really am surprised that they rarely get seriously hurt during the show given all the awkward falls they appear to take. Apparently they have this stuff down to a science.

Even though I never watch shows like this, I was vaguely aware that there is a story line that is carried week to week. What I didn’t know is just how invested the crowd was in this soap opera. WWE is certainly giving these people what they want – entertainment. Things like this really are a big production and this outfit has it down pat – they are organized.

After 6 hours, and soon after the show was over, we were released by the staff. It was an interesting experience and one I’d do again.

Today marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day. While many of us think of it as a vacation day from work, a day out of school or a day of free parking in downtown Minneapolis, Mitch Berg of Shot in the Dark reminds us what this great man was really about. King’s ministry of equality and freedom left him subject to personal danger. Despite that, he was always on the front lines – unafraid and unbowed.

On April 3rd, 1968, Dr King was in Memphis to help rally black sanitation workers who were striking for equal standing with their white counterparts. That afternoon he gave his final speech. The next day he was gone.

So sit down here and take 20 minutes to hear one of history’s greatest Americans speak for the final time. Better yet, grab your kids and have them listen with you.

60,000 purple clad and lubricated Viking fans filed into the Metrodome late this morning wanting to believe that their beloved warriors could pull off a victory against the hated Cowboys. You could tell, though,  by their collective posture that they were putting on an act.

Afterall, we had lost 3 out of our last 5 regular season games after that marvelous 10-1 start and even the whupping we gave the New York Football Giants in the finale came against a team who had quit weeks before. No, it was fun while it lasted but maybe we can get Favre back for one more year and REALLY make a run at the Super Bowl.

Three hours later a very happy and stumbling crowd exited the Dome content in the realization that their undying faith had been rewarded with a decisive defeat of the hapless Cowboys and their thumb-sucking quarterback, Tony Romo.

The Euphoria will last until about Thursday and then the Collective Feeling of Impending Doom will once again descend upon Viking Land.

Since Gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton’s revelation late last month in the Star-Tribune that he is a recovering alcoholic and has been suffering from mild depression all of his adult life, local media have struggled on how to properly report the issue – or whether to report it at all.

David Brauer of MinnPost had thoughts that were introspective and gleaned from painful experience:

….depression is the struggle of my life, from the insomnia and obsessiveness that has me up at 4 a.m. chewing over this topic, to bouts of withdrawing from my family and the physical world. Trust me, if I were running for governor, I’d regard my depression and the resulting stress-triggered struggles as something the public should know.

Others, such as Minnesota Public Radio’s Bob Collins, seem to think we should be careful:

It’s a slippery slope that the most influential news organization in Minnesota has decided to take us down, particularly when an alternative is a thorough examination of vision and ideas of candidates.

MPR has covered this story fairly extensively and in a seemingly even-handed manner. Kerri Miller’s Mid Morning show on 1/13/10 was particularly good.

There are, however, quite a few unanswered questions in my mind.

1. Mark Dayton’s mental illness has been known to me for 10 years. It is one of the poorest kept secrets in Minnesota politics. I refuse to believe that a significant number of Twin City journalists did not know of it. Why the current self-flagellation when it seems the media had already made a judgment on the issue’s  newsworthiness?
2. Dayton is the source of the disclosure and news reports state repeatedly that he will not be more specific about the circumstances of his illness. Many have praised his honesty in this admission but questions remain. How do we know what his diagnosis is? Verifying that he suffers only from “mild depression” would go a long way in putting the issue to rest.
3. Substance abuse and mental illness often go hand in hand due to the patient’s attempts to “self medicate.” When Dayton’s alcohol consumption ended up with an admission to a treatment program, had he been compliant with his medicine regimen? A simple question would be, “Has your history included periods where you were non-compliant with your medications?”
4. Another question that has been asked, but bears repeating, is whether or not Dayton’s mental illness has affected his job performance. Indications have been that the execution of his office as US Senator left something to be desired.

Mark Dayton’s illness does not make him a bad fellow and doesn’t necessarily disqualify him for public office. However, that is a question for an informed public to decide. The journalists in this town have quite a lot of follow-up to do before his fitness for duty can be determined.