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Firefighter/Paramedic

January 28, 2012 by
firefighter2

Because of the nature of his job, Firefighter/Paramedic maintains anonymity for himself as well as his department. He also maintains the privacy of his patients by not revealing their personal information and by changing minor details of the calls he goes on.

I knew him briefly when I lived in California, before he took up his chosen profession. He’s a 34-year-old who is married and has three young children. Not surprisingly, he serves as his ward’s emergency preparedness coordinator.

Welcome Firefighter/Paramedic to the MDB blog.

Filed Under: General, MDBer, New to MDB

One Year Old, Not Breathing

January 28, 2012 by
paramedic2

“Engine 51, Medic 143, you’re responding for a 1 year old unconsciousness and not breathing. PD is also en route.”

Thus begins the latest post by a new blogger to MDB, a firefighter/paramedic working in California.

The blog is a fascinating account of the life of a firefighter/paramedic, from rolling in the middle of the night on calls where an elderly woman is spending her last moments of mortality to lighter fare where the subjects get what’s coming to them.

The experiences, even the big ones, are typically recounted in a very matter of fact way, from the unresolved end of the 1-year-old’s episode to this resolution about the elderly woman:

“We followed the ACLS protocol without success. The patient went from a ventricular PEA into asystole. After 30 minutes resuscitation efforts were terminated.

“90 minutes after the tones went I found myself back in bed, slowly drifting back to sleep….but not before turning off my alarm.”

Because of the nature of his job, he maintains anonymity for himself as well as his department. He also maintains the privacy of his patients by not revealing their personal information and by changing minor details of the calls he goes on.  I knew him briefly when I lived in California, before he took up his chosen profession. He’s a 34-year-old who is married and has three young children. Not surprisingly, he serves as his ward’s emergency preparedness coordinator.

Welcome Firefighter/Paramedic to the MDB blog.

Filed Under: Featured, General, New to MDB Tagged With:

Erik Orton

January 20, 2012 by
Erik Orton

Erik Orton began writing and producing theater while a student at BYU, where he graduated in 1998 with a degree in Arts and Media Music, with a minor in playwriting. He was raised primarily in Germany and the suburbs of Washington D.C.  In addition to producing and directing a number of plays, Erik has also written a number of works, including the musical Berlin.

His blog, simply called Erik Orton, covers a variety of his musings, all written with a certain style that suggests he could do this writing thing for a living.

Erik and his wife, Emily, live in New York City.

Filed Under: MDBer, Media, Music, Stage, Writers Tagged With:

How did the Chicken Cross the Ocean?

January 16, 2012 by
chickenocean

For many of us, a big, scary thing would be writing and producing a musical. For Erik Orton, a writer/director/producer in New York City, it takes a little something more.

Erik’s big, scary thing is sailing around the world with his family. Not on an ocean liner. In a sailboat.

He admits that it is a daunting challenge. And when faced with such a daunting challenge, Erik and his family are breaking it down into what they like to call “chicken steps.”

“Here’s how we’re starting out: our children need passports for this undertaking. Getting passports is less scary than sharks. So…getting passports is what we call a chicken step. Next scary thing: how in the world are we going to pay for such a ludicrous undertaking? We don’t know exactly, but why should that stop us?  What we do know is that we have a lot of stuff around in our apartment that we don’t use or really need…certainly not on a boat. (That’s my wife’s idea.  She’s just dragging me along.) What if we sold all that stuff and put it toward passports? Small stuff, but it’s a start. That’s a chicken step. Starting to get the idea?”

Erik was raised primarily in Germany and the suburbs of Washington D.C.  He graduated from BYU in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Music and a minor in Playwrighting. He began writing and producing theatre while a student. In addition to producing and directing a number of plays, Erik has also written a number of works, including the musical Berlin. Erik and his wife, Emily, live in New York City.

MDB would like to welcome Erik Orton to the blog. Be sure to read Erik’s post, Chicken Steps.

Filed Under: Featured, Stage, Writers Tagged With: ,

Hand Holding on Holding Hands

January 4, 2012 by
holdinghands

For those of us way on the other end of the tied knot, it can be easy to forget the delicate nuances involved in timing and initiating that first hand-hold in a new relationship. These are high stakes here. Blow the timing or technique here could doom an otherwise promising relationship.

The ranks of Mormon dadhood might experience some growth, thanks to a recent posting, “Holding Hands,” in The RMTC (The Returned Missionary Training Center). The post not only helps the recently returned missionary recognize the timing cues, it offers a technique, which derives its name from that masterpiece Kung Fu Panda, for how to float that hand-holding trial balloon.

“The Wushi Finger, (aka the pinky brush) is used to determine whether someone is interested in holding your hand. It requires you to ever so slightly brush your hand against your dates hand. It needs to be fluid — no ferreting around in pursuit of your date’s hand. The point of the Wushi Finger is to allow your date a chance to politely decline by moving her hand away in a subtle manner.”

Read the full article here.

 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Relationships