The Life of a Medic

What do medics see on a day-to-day basis? We speak with Paramedic Caroline Stokes and EMT Tyler Mooney to answer that question.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

If we don't get him under control, he's gonna hurt someone else. Um, an individual who'd been in the bathtub for several days before somebody found her. You know, those kind of things people shouldn't see. Um, but those are the things you're gonna see.

SPEAKER_04 0:11

We had a suicide one time where a guy um shot himself in his vehicle.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

When we go, and there's a lot of substance abuse disorders right now. Along goes with mental health crisis, I'm a big advocate for them. They don't think that that affects us in any way. And it does.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Yeah, like it's not gonna happen to me, it's not gonna happen to me until it does.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

And I just put my hand on her. I put my hand on her head and I said, I'm sorry, I tried.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Tennessee Rebook! Turn it up from the hill to the Tennessee Reboot!

SPEAKER_04 0:47

Welcome back to Tennessee Road Call. I am tickled to death to have two of the best medics in Coffee County with us today, Miss Caroline Stokes and you, sir. Tyler Mooney. Tyler Mooney. And you told me the thing first, and then I'm like, holy cow, we're I'm gonna have to I work with you a lot. Um but it's you don't actually get to sit down whenever we're working and say, hey, you know, how's your mom and now? But everything that happens. Before we get too far into it, let for those who lived under a rock in Coffee County, tell us who Caroline Stokes is.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

I'm Caroline Stokes. I've been a paramedic here in Coffee County for 16 years. I love my job. And this is my best friend Tyler Mooney.

SPEAKER_04 1:31

You have to you have to love your job to do it because I want to tell everybody that you were on shift last night. How long? Was it 24, 48?

SPEAKER_01 1:40

I said a 48.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Okay, she's just coming off a 48-hour shift and saying, hey, let's do the show today. What sleep? I don't need that.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

I was hanging out with your peeps last night.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

Yeah, well, that's what I understand. You're always hanging out with us, which we love because you're one of the best, if not the best. Aww. And we'll get more.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

We'll get more in that in a little bit. Tell us a little about yourself, sir. Yes, sir. I'm Tyler Mooney. I've been with Coffee County going on about four years now, and been doing EMT for almost 20, I think. I started really young. Where'd you start at? I started at first cost, so I did a lot of dialysis, a lot of hospital discharges. Uh wound up 911 later, which is kind of backwards, I think, for most people in EMS, and learned a lot from this lady. So she picked up the Slack and I just follow her lead. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Well, that's not true. Tyler keeps me straight.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

Well, we've got we've got a lot we want to cover today in in a short amount of time, but in the meantime, we'll go ahead and get started on what the pretty much a purpose is of the broadcast today, and it's for people who are wanting to or are thinking about getting into this field. And at one time, when it I thought I was going to be a medic at one time, and then I realized really quick that I didn't want to shove those things down people's throats. I actually went to EMT school whenever I was young, and it was that point right there that I realized this was not for me. Well, I mean, it was good. You don't want to spend too much money and all like that, yeah, or all this time doing something that you know is not going to work out. So I'm cool with it. But my my respect for people who can do this is extremely high. So explain to us real quick is there a shortage right now in the in medics?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

We are extremely short at this time, and um uh coffee county's been short since the pandemic. I think that's what did it was the pandemic. And it was it was a tough time. It was a tough time. Statewide shortage, statewide shortage. It's a rough job. And um, I don't know if you know this. We're not considered essential to employees, like the police or the fire. EMS is not essential.

SPEAKER_04 3:59

Time out. What do you mean you're not considered essential?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

The federal government does not consider EMS essential.

SPEAKER_04 4:05

Well, how okay. If the anybody from the federal government is watching and listening, we need some notes here. Holy cow, why I don't understand why y'all wouldn't be right up there.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

I mean with y'all on fire, we're not. Um although I think times have changed in the 20 years I've been doing this, and I've been doing a lot of non-normal. I started in Franklin County, I spent several years there, I went to Giles County, and now I've been in coffee. Um, I think times have changed, healthcare's changed, we have a broken system. We have a sincerely broken system, we have a mental health crisis, we have the ERs uses urgent care and primary care for and then it taxes us for people like with real not and I do think everything's a real emergency. I think when they call me, they really need me. And they need Tyler. Tyler's such a good guy, he's like the calm in all chaos care lines.

SPEAKER_04 5:01

I think I can tell. I balance each other very well. Yeah, like I said, I've only worked with you a handful of times, but I'm starting to get that vibe that you are the calm in the storm.

SPEAKER_03 5:12

I tr I try to be. You know, that was one that's driven to you in school. You know, if if I'm panicking in a scene or anything else, then the patient's gonna start panicking, and then we're gonna start spiraling and bad things are gonna happen real quick. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Well, we when Tyler was asked to be my partner. They asked him, did he know about Caroline?

SPEAKER_04 5:31

Of course I did.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

So I wear jet fuel for perfume, is what they told him.

SPEAKER_04 5:36

Well, I can already tell. Like I said, you're coming off a 48-hour shift and decide let's do a talk show today. Um, so for we'll we'll hit into some other stuff that you mentioned in a minute, but like we said, there was a shortage you said statewide and coffee county. So if anybody is like got this urge to want to be in this, this is a great time to start coming on because we need you. Badly. If you have yeah, but but unfortunately, it's not a job for everybody.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

I'll agree.

SPEAKER_04 6:05

Yeah. So what uh tell us now back in the day, whenever I went through, which was about 1932, oh there was like an EMT basic and then an advanced and then a paramedic. Is it still like that?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Well, yes. We start out with an EMTB, then you go to I'm a paramedic. Um we have critical care paramedics and flight medics. We you can take it as far as you want.

SPEAKER_04 6:33

All right. And so you know, you're a paramedic. I am the advanced EMT. Okay, yes, sir. So can you walk me through what uh the difference is between like an EMT basic and the next level and the next one? Sure.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

Starting with basic, usually it's the kind of medications we can give. It's the big distinction, you know, basics when you curse come out, you're basically, as has been told to me, it's oxygen and hugs pretty much. And don't discount that. No, no, no, that's a big important part of it. Um, you can check vital signs and and those kind of things. And with me, um, I can start IVs, I can give certain medications, uh, so I can be more of a benefit in the back of the truck. But also time, like I said, I I follow the boss lady. She's she she knows what's going on. If I have a question, she is she's right there.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Well, she that now this but being a paramedic, you can pretty much do everything in the I how I explain it to people is we do everything but surgery and sutures in the back of the ambulance. We and we do it with just us.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Like in your cardiac arrest, we do all the first-line cardiac drugs, we innovate them. We can start IOs, which you're which uh none of my officers like when we pull out the I.O. drill, which is a drill that drills into the bone to give it from.

SPEAKER_04 7:50

I'll make sure everybody leaves you alone on the outside of the ambulance whenever you break that thing. Miss Caroline, listen, one of the best ladies in the world, but when she breaks out a drill, okay, the police are running anyway. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

We um are able to give anti nauseans, um, pain medications, we splint, we do all the things. We have to make um quick, right, life-changing decisions. Like if we when you're in cardiac arrest, we have to get you to the ER. We have to make decisions on if you're a flight, if you meet flight criteria. And we're blessed here in Coffee County because in Manchester we have Area VAC 44 and in Telehome we have Life Light too. So we are very blessed to be able to offer these kind of things to the residents here.

SPEAKER_04 8:32

Yeah, but y'all are non, what was it? Um non-essential. Non-essential.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 8:38

Yeah. If you're having a cardiac arrest, just just hang on.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

You can call the fire department or blow police.

SPEAKER_04 8:44

Yeah, because police are gonna help you with that cardiac arrest. Oh man. I'm still just kind of just throw blown away by that statement. But anyway, but they certainly needed you during the COVID, though.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

Um, it's a rough time. Yeah, it was a rough time, and it was a it was a different time. I would never want to do that. I'm on the end of my journey, and this job has been my favorite. I there's nothing more that I want to do than to come here and take care of people and be the best I can and show them that not everybody that's in emergency situation is mean or ugly. I tell everybody I'm the meanest medic in Coffee County, and Tyler always says, No, she's not. I am. She's not. I am I mean to Tyler.

SPEAKER_04 9:26

But it but again, to be able to watch y'all work, to watch y'all do, uh, is very is this just blows me away because of what I see y'all do on the scene. And I'm gonna try to give people a picture of that because you know they they don't have an opportunity to see it as much as I do, and I want them to really grasp what y'all do. And and again, what they're gonna be doing if they decide they want to get into this one day. Before uh if if they decide, okay, I'm deciding right now I want to be a medic, what is the best way to go ahead and get into it?

SPEAKER_01 10:00

You're gonna start, yes.

SPEAKER_04 10:02

You're gonna start in school, unfortunately. Nobody likes to go to school, I get it. But uh like like uh school, like what kind of school?

SPEAKER_03 10:09

You go you started I went to Vall State, uh there's one all around MTSU does one, um Columbia State does one. Okay, there's schools around you start I think basic is an is a semester, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Um and then advanced I think's two, but it's it's quick. Like, you know, you you're drinking through a fire hose to go through school.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Yeah, he's right, because you get you have school, you have clinicals, and advanced now they do so much more than when I was in EMT IB school. Uh paramedic is a year-long program, it's the most intense year of your life. And my suggestion to you is before you start that paramedic journey, learn how to be the best EMT you can be.

SPEAKER_04 10:48

And I could imagine that whenever you're in school, regardless if it's basic or paramedic, your life is that school. Yes, you have to really have to do a lot of of book learning.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Yes, and you gotta do a lot of it on your own. Like you gotta really have that initiative to to read that book and study by yourself. And how long is a semester? Is it three months, I think.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

And it's it's quick. I mean, they're that's what I'm saying. You gotta learn how to do this stuff in a three in a three-month andrew. So is there like a degree program that you can get or is it more certif certificate?

SPEAKER_01 11:20

We're certain we're we're on certificate and they have a degree now.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

They do have a degree. I'm a certificate as well. Yeah. Well, no, well that I mean yes, uh, but they do have a degree.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Uh I think we have a lot of continuing education. We have to have so much every two years for to in order to ensure that we have a state license and you gotta it's a lot of work.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

It's a constant. You know, you that's a big thing I would tell everybody is you gotta keep your your tools sharp. You know, you can't you can definitely cut try to coast through this, but you're gonna wind up you know not giving the care you need to give. So you need to make sure you stay on track. Y'all gotta be on your bed.

SPEAKER_04 11:53

Yes, you can't afford to have a bad day. Absolutely. You have a bad day, somebody's gonna hurt get hurt.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

That's my favorite saying is that we don't deal in cardboard box, we deal in life.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

Right. Yeah. I mean, I again hats off to you. Now, what about like you y'all obviously 48 hours y'all sleep and sitting in the place? Are y'all able to sleep?

SPEAKER_03 12:16

We're we're very b uh I don't know, I can't speak for any other services, but we are very blessed where we work. Um Coffee County, you we have a certain duty to do every day. Uh so there's a station duty each day of the week. After you knock your duty for that day out, you're free to pretty much do what you want as long as there's not a call. You know, there's nobody hovering over your shoulder or or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 12:38

But on the days that you have nothing but back to back to back to back. You go, you go, you go, you go, you run, you run, you run. I mean, how how is it like? I mean, again, I know this is probably pretty basic for y'all, but I just really want to paint this picture. What's it like at two o'clock in the morning while y'all are just getting that good, sound sleep and that pager goes off.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

You go quick.

SPEAKER_04 12:59

I mean, you you have to get the cobwebs out, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 13:01

I mean, you gotta move quick, you gotta shake your head. And um I would say that's really the lady sitting to my right. The relationship you have with your partner really comes into play. Two or three o'clock in the morning when I could look at her and say, I I don't know what's going on, she'll pick up my slack, and vice versa. You've gotta you've gotta work together.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

And also we go out to the far depths of all of Coffee County, and sometimes it's all I have is Tyler, and all he has is me, and it's three o'clock in the morning, and the sheriff's department or Telehoma PD or Manchester PD is really busy, and y you gotta be on your toes and you gotta have each other's back because Well, I mean it's it I would imagine just as dangerous.

SPEAKER_04 13:43

Because, you know, uh uh of what you deal with as well. We don't I don't think people even understand that aspect of it because you don't know what you're getting into, just like any law enforcement or fire or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

And when you get tired and you don't catch in the beginning, it's gonna cost you in the end. And I've been assaulted. I've been assaulted, and it was recently in Telehoma, it was like your last vacation. He went on vacation and left. Last October. And but I think if I had paid more attention, it would have been different. And she was upset, and that's okay, and people get upset.

SPEAKER_04 14:20

It's never okay to assault your medic. I I I appreciate you being upset. I appreciate you having probably one of the worst moments you're having. Don't put your hands on our medics.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

I can agree with that. And and that's maybe I'm in the in the small minority, but I try to give people a pretty long leeway for that reason. Right. You know, they're calling and usually what they feel like is the worst day of their life. Right. And it may be probably to me. Yeah. So I'm trying to be calm and and understand that and give them a little bit of leeway, but absolutely there's a point where you gotta be like, all right, that's enough.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Um the for the forgiveness comes like there's a lot of like with diabetics when their blood sugar plummets or raises astronomically high, when their lack of oxygen to the brain, there's just all kinds of things, traumatic events, car wrecks. You've been on multiple with me, many, many, many.

SPEAKER_04 15:13

We've been on multiple car wrecks, been on multiple diabetic issues. That's one thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

CPRs, you've been on a lot of those with me.

SPEAKER_04 15:19

That's one thing I've actually had to learn uh how to deal with when it comes to diabetics. And because when I first got into law enforcement, the people say, okay, their blood sugar's low. And I'm like, okay, their blood sugar is low. What do they need us for? And we get there and they are fighting superhuman strength. Yeah. And these people are just as calm, the nicest people ever meet in the world, would never hurt a fly. But whenever they get that imbalance, I guess is the proper word, um, there it's fight or flight, and a lot of them is is fight. Yes, sir. And so I I I've got a I've got a few t-shirts on that one myself.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

This is true.

SPEAKER_04 15:59

I mean, because I rem I remember this is a long time ago. I don't remember if it was y'all, but probably you, because I just about every call I go to, there's Miss Caroline. But um, this guy, he was the nicest. I mean, I I think he was probably one of the nicest guys in the world, but he was having such a bad diabetic episode. I had to jump in the bed with him just to try to get him held back.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Bless me and you. Well, I don't doubt it.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

I always say she don't go home. There's a there's a high probability you come on 911 and Coffee County, Carolina's gonna show up on your scene.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

That's not true.

SPEAKER_04 16:31

But yeah, I actually had to jump in there just to try to get him under control. Now, you know, we we're trying we don't hurt anybody or anything like that. We just have to, if we don't get him under control, he's gonna hurt someone else or himself. We need to get medicine, and I think that you had to you had to help me to make sure that we could get the IV paint and then give him the medicine that he once it was done, of course, he wakes up and is like, hey, hey, you know what what's going on? How is everybody? I'm like, don't you talk to me?

unknown 16:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 17:00

Until I realize it's like I hug him.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

I do. I'm a hugger, I do. And I Tyler's Tyler is too. The little old ladies love Tyler. They just they do, he's the little charmer.

SPEAKER_04 17:12

I I I can I can see that.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

I mean I can absolutely ladies are easy. You just tell them, you know, they look 22 or 23, and they'll pretty much follow you just about anywhere at that point.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

So as as a medic, you always gotta be watching your back. You gotta you gotta be taking care of the patient, and you always gotta be uh making sure that y'all are going to be safe because people, even in crisis, the nicest people in the world can get hyper, can let stuff happen.

SPEAKER_03 17:38

So I mean Absolutely. And that's I'll take a sidebar to shout out both you know, Telehoma PD, Manchester PD, Telehoma Fire, Manchester Fire. We couldn't do what we do without you guys. 100% for that reason.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Well, trust me, the sentiment is is there for us too and all the other police and fire agencies. We wouldn't want to do it without y'all, no matter what anybody tells us.

SPEAKER_03 18:03

It's a truly, and I, you know, very proud of where I work for that reason. You know, if you could if there's any sounding of a bad dispatch, you get everybody in this county. Just rest assured that you're gonna get everybody. Yeah, and we're gonna work together.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

And that's a good thing because we don't, you know, I whenever I'm in, and I I don't want to make this about me, okay? But I mean, I know as a police officer, you know, I get out there and I'm like, well, I really don't want to bother them, but I don't know if I need a medic here or not. And and a lot of times I'll just go ahead and side with getting a medic because I have never, ever had a medic tell me, it's like, why are you calling me out for this? They don't have a I don't know. Nobody should. Nobody should.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

They should never say that to you.

SPEAKER_04 18:44

Well, I mean, to me, if if if if I'm if I'm sitting there making a judgment call and I'm saying, well, I'm gonna feel better if I bring a medic out here, and then a medic comes out here and says, you know, I would under to me, I would understand why y'all would say, Rocky, what's going through your mind? We don't we're not needed out here.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

But you don't know that, and that you feel better if we come out and we talk to them, and if they don't want to go with us, and you feel better that we've, you know, because we're gonna get the baseline on them and do all that, but we couldn't do this job without the the Tullahoma fire police, Manchester Fire Police, Coffee County Um Sheriff's Department, the rescue squad comes to help us.

SPEAKER_04 19:20

And speaking of the rescue squad, man, what a building. This is nice.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

They they have done so good. It was devastating when that fire came through for them. And we work with Neil Simmons, who is the what is is he the captain? Captain Chief. I don't know the verb. Um shout out to Neil, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

He definitely took a very tragic thing and made it into a positive. This is a nice building.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

We have one of the best rescue squads in in the state.

SPEAKER_04 19:50

And I'm I'm going to be having a program with whether Neil wants to or not. We're going to uh we're going to be having Neil on the program. I know I I think I put an invitation out for him through you, and he says, Well, I might I'll send if I can't do it, I'll send somebody. Neil, you're up. It's not going to happen.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

JJ his wife's out there. We'll get him.

SPEAKER_04 20:10

Well, yeah, if you ever want to get the man to do something, get the wife. That's absolutely that's how we're going to do it.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Tyler will tell you that.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:18

Absolutely. No doubt about that.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Next, you're talking about what we have to do, but the best part of it is that we drive a moving bomb on wheels, and they don't teach you that in school.

SPEAKER_04 20:30

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 20:31

No.

SPEAKER_04 20:31

What do you what is that?

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Um, the driving part of the ambulance. Because I'm telling you, uh, Caroline does not drive. I just go forward. I won't back up. Tyler will tell you says that is I mean, that's a they should teach that more in school.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

Like there should be a driving portion of this, because as I mean, you can turn on the news just about I mean, there was one recently through the intersection. Franklin counterlipped it and rolled an ambulance. Broken and fractured knife. Yeah, that's what's kind of what she's mean, and and it's hard. You know, it's it's you've really got to be on your P's and Q's because you've My Dad was a driver's instructor, and he told me a very long time ago, when you're driving, look at the people, anticip what's the dumbest thing they could do. Think they're gonna do it, and then adjust accordingly. Well, that's what I've always kind of how you have to drive.

SPEAKER_04 21:16

Well, that's what I've always told my kids. My daughter would tell me that uh you don't have to worry about me. I'm gonna be a good driver. I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about the other person. Absolutely. And of course, when you're going through intersections and things of that nature, when people are not paying attention, even though you've got lights and sirens and you're doing everything you can to be as safe as you can, people are not gonna pay attention. So that's another thing we want to stress. If you see, you know, they don't see us.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

And I promise you that you're not seeing us.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

And we try, like I said, coming to an intersection, especially, uh the bigger ones, you know, we come to a stop, we're change our cadence on the siren, we're air horning. Just the best case scenario is either pull to the right or just stay where you are, and I will adjust around you. Don't try to Fake with me, just be still.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna take every precaution you can, but your goal is to get past this point because you've got something where you've got to get to. And everybody's been there to where they've had a loved one that needs that ambulance. And so be patient, chill out, and just let the ambulance have their way. If you miss the red light, I'm sorry, you're gonna add three minutes to your day. And and we're going and yeah, so yeah, so be be just be patient, let these people get through to get to where they're going. So any anyways, I um another thing I want to touch on, again, uh focusing on um the educational part where people are actually trying to recruit some people, the some good-minded people, who some good moral people who want to do this job. Again, not for everybody. Um can you kind of tell us what we're going to be what they're going to be facing? Because I don't think that is really thought about because it can't possibly happen here, right?

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Correct. That's always somebody's assumption, right? Like it's not gonna happen to me, it's not gonna happen to me until it does.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

Right. So what can you prepare uh them seeing uh whenever you're on the road? And again, this is as basic as it gets.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

Like you gotta be prepared to see everything. And everything. I mean, recently we had I mean, just last shift we had one that's probably stick with you for a good while. Yeah. Um, an individual had been in the bathtub for several days before somebody found her. You know, those kind of things people shouldn't see. Um, but those are the things you're gonna see. You have to be mentally prepared. Um, you know, sometimes we'll make the joke she's my trauma-bonded bestie. Um, but it's the truth.

SPEAKER_04 23:44

You've got to have you gotta have somebody because you can't now no, I I'm not gonna try to pry on your personal business, but what does your wife do?

SPEAKER_03 23:50

My wife is an ultrasound technician.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

Okay, so she's got a little bit more, yes, sir. But but not a lot of medics have spouses that are in it, and you cannot go back and talk to them about this because they're not gonna understand.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

No, and I will tell you, like, I'm very blessed. My wife already has a place in heaven as far as I'm concerned. That woman is a walking saint. Um, she is an incredible support system for me. I could not do this job without her. If I'm at work, she's holding the house down, yeah, the babies. She's running the kids around. If I need something, she's there. If I have a bad night, she'll listen. She'll I mean, I'm very, very blessed.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Tell Rocky why you started to do this job. Tell them about your grandpa.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Well, I'll try not to get too emotional.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Um He just lost his grandpa.

SPEAKER_03 24:35

Oh no. He died about two weeks ago. Um, but he was an MT forever in Atlanta. Um, so it's kind of been a family thing for me. Um, I started doing something else. I started doing radiology when I first got into college. Quickly realized I'm not smart enough for that.

SPEAKER_04 24:52

Okay, we're gonna call Bull Butter on that.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

But go ahead and we're uh talking with him uh for a long period of time, uh really realized that that's you know, I still wanted to help people. You know, that was I think that's everybody's initial drive, is they want to help people. And then I got to follow in his footsteps a little bit, and he was always great. I could call him if I had a bad day. Um you know, he was really good to me.

SPEAKER_04 25:20

He did it. It's a beautiful thing because I I don't know how it works, but I hate I have to believe that something out there, he's he's still with you. Absolutely. Um I don't know how it works. I'm not gonna pretend to know how it works, but um I know he I know he's there, I know you got and I know you feel him out there. And I know you've made him proud. I hope so. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

I just we have seen things that just people are here and healthy. I don't ever feel like I feel like it's a higher power that works through me because I don't get to make the choice because sometimes I get mad people that the man upstairs or whoever you believe in. Sometimes I get a little mad with him, but it it's okay because he has a higher plan, and I I I really do have a strong belief in God. Well, absolutely. Well, we I do.

SPEAKER_04 26:11

We're doing we're doing some real talk here. Okay because you know you you you talk, you know, if you talk to someone outside of here, they may say, Well, you shouldn't say you're mad at God. But but you're we're talking real stuff here, real talk, real, I mean, things that go on that you will never unsee.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

No, no, no, no, and that's and she's right. I mean, that's kind of part of it as well. You know, I'm also um a profound, you know, big believer in in Jesus Christ, and it's you get to see him work, and that's kind of the benefit of this job.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Oh, yeah, it means we're just the we're just the instrument because sometimes what you think is gonna be great, it's not. And sometimes when you roll up and you see the most of distraction, this person it it has a great positive outcome. And I was just a little cog in that wheel. And I'm uh you put a lot of faith in it. I we we we have we train all the time, we take classes, we do all the things we can. We're blessed to be surrounded by uh our B Shift on at Coffee County, and we have a lot of great employees. B Shift is a really tight-knit shift. We're blessed from dispatch all the way through everything. Everybody in this county seems to work together, and we're blessed.

SPEAKER_04 27:28

And it's a great little tight-knit thing that we got going on here. I have to 1,000 percent agree with you because again, you you see the stuff. Let me let me let me bring up a quick thing. We that and I don't even know you might even know the the medic that we're talking about. Um this was a few years ago, and this is why I talk about knowing what you can do and can't do. If you can't handle it, that doesn't mean that you're a wimp. It doesn't mean that you're a baby. It's just there's some things you you just don't you're you just don't need to be doing. So I want to put this out there. Uh, we had a suicide one time where a guy uh shot himself in his vehicle, and there was a brand new medic that had come out, and she had just she either just graduated, she went through the college route. Yes, sir. She had she was either just about to graduate or had just graduated. And when we were all gathered up around there, and we were just, you know, again, police, fire, EMS, talking, not irreverently or disrespectfully, but just doing the job, not showing the emotion, not showing, I guess what some people would say is like, you know, uh light words or or special words that are said on a destiny stuff. We're doing a job. And I remember the look on this lady's face, and she was so overwhelmed. And I and I went over, it was enough for me to go talk to her, and I asked her, I said, uh, you know, are you okay? And she and the only she said was, I can't believe he did this on a Sunday. And I knew at that moment she's gonna need something. And unfortunately, as soon as they got him to the hospital, she grabbed her stuff and left that day and got out and got out. But and but but the problem is, is I'm what I'm I'm worried about, I don't even know her name. I'm worried about her because okay, she's she left, but that's always gonna be with her. And it messed with her. This is the stuff that you're going to see and deal with.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

It takes a piece of you. You know, it's you as much as you try to, you know, put a mask on and and all those things, uh, it don't matter. You know, you're gonna have a piece of you left with each and every one of those calls that you go on.

SPEAKER_04 29:50

You're gonna have deaths, you're going to have untimely deaths, you're gonna have deaths of infants. Yes. Absolutely. You're going to have all of this stuff, and whenever you look at this, you're gonna be like, somebody ought to do something. You are that somebody.

SPEAKER_03 30:04

And that's a different feeling. When you walk into a room and everybody's, you know, panicking, then everybody stops, kind of looks at you like, okay, you need to fix this. Like that's a different I agree.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Yeah, I I have a we ran a Star of Life. I did back in 2007, um, 2013, I think it was. Um Darren Monroe, uh the partner that I had at the time, she's now she runs Vanderbilt. She was a baby paramedic at the time. We got a little seven-year-old girl. Um, she was in full cardiac arrest um way out in the county. And um we got her back with the help of the sheriff's department and all kinds of things. Area back 44 came in, and um, I still keep up with her. And it was a very positive thing. And those are things that you hold on to. And I think that we put the bad things in um a box sometimes. And I I'm blessed. I have Thomas, my better half. I call him my better half. Tyler, he makes Tyler laugh because he's just like matter-of-fact. He's like, Here, you got this, you're tough, you can get through it. But he's been there. I've got seen my granddaughter, she's 18, and she's in college, and I'm super proud of her. So I think your family life, because some days you go home and you have good friends like Tyler and I have Kay, and I have a whole bunch of people at the county that make sure that you start answering that phone. Yeah. They're not gonna let you lie there and do it.

SPEAKER_03 31:30

No, they'll get you out of the house. And that like we were talking to earlier, I think I think I could pick up the phone and call call Rocky. You know, that's the thing about Coffee County. It doesn't matter who I call, somebody's gonna answer, and they will either they can help you or they'll gonna get you somebody who can't. Always. And that's incredible to have. Always, always.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Uh I think we've all cried on scene. I know you've seen me cry multiple times. Well, Tyler and I've cried together a couple times. Sometimes we yell at each other or something.

SPEAKER_04 31:55

A lot a lot of things, you know, you you you you can it's it's as bad as it is to say it's another day at the office, but then there's some things that just kind of, I don't know, hit differently. Oh, agree. And and I know there was one we had a wreck, um, a motorcycle crash. As a matter of fact, it was near the Taco Bell in Tellahoma, where a uh motorcycle had crashed into the side of a car. When Tullahoma got there, we f we we saw the the motorcycle guy, and unfortunately he was deceased at the scene. And we was tending to him. And then all of a sudden, somebody comes up and says, Hey, there's another car that's involved. We didn't know it. The car had been knocked all the way down in front of the hobby lobby.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Oh, dear.

SPEAKER_04 32:35

Yeah, yeah, and that was like several feet away, and the car was so smashed up that I went into I had to like fumble myself just in in different ways. Of course, I probably wait a little less then, but I had to fumble myself through this messed up Coke can of a car to try to hold this C spine of this lady, and I'm just talking her through it, talking her through it. Hey, we're gonna get there, we're gonna get there. And I had to be cut out with her.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Uh, it's not fun, isn't it? Thank gosh for telling him Manchester fire.

SPEAKER_04 33:08

I'm holding this this young lady's C-spine, and I'm and we're both getting cut out at this point because there's no way I'm going back through here, and and I'm just saying, hang on, hang on, hang on. And it has bothered me for years that um as much as I'm saying, hang on, we're gonna get you out of here, we're gonna get you out of here, she was pronounced deceased at the hospital. And there was something about that. I don't know if it was just because of the time I had with her at first and just trying to hold on to her or or what, but I remember going into her hospital room after it was all said and done, and I just put my hand on her, I put my hand on her head and I said, I'm sorry, I tried.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

It's and that's I mean, that's that's real, you know. I mean, that that's the stuff that we carry around every day. So when people say it's just another day at the office, I really want people to understand that you know that that person's family on the day of the office, they don't have to go back to work. You know what I mean? Like they're they got time to process that. We have about five minutes.

SPEAKER_04 34:02

You know, we drop them off, we gotta clear, we're we're to the next call. You've got you've got to soak it up and go on to the next one. Absolutely. So for those of y'all who are one again admit, we need you, we we encourage you, but just understand what you're getting into, and understand that there's gonna be things that you're gonna see that you will never get to unsee.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Be the be even if it's for the last few moments, be the be kind, try kindness out, and uh you're gonna give them pieces of your heart. I know that sounds crazy, but you do. And um I wish the whole public would just stop asking us what's the worst thing we've ever seen. That would be my that's my hope and biggest dream.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

Well, to his point, it's it's the ones like like you're talking about, that you were talking to before, and then there's just nothing else you can do.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

They went to sleep last night, and he woke up and has to call me the next morning, and there's nothing I can do. That's to me, that's heartbreaking. That's worse, but I don't want to talk about the rest.

SPEAKER_04 35:14

Well, and I don't think anybody out there means anything by it. I don't think they're trying to bring up you're trying to do anything. It's just it it is very, very interesting. And and I think people are trying to actually wrap their head around it and get a grasp of okay, what is in my what what's in my backyard? You know, what goes on here? And so you are a local medic team. What do y'all deal with? Because I want to know what's in my backyard, and I think that's probably the mentality, not realizing that they're about ready to bring up something to where you're it's gonna ruin your day, just because you're gonna have to revisit that again. And and I know it happens to military, because I mean I I was when as a youngin', I was didn't know, you know, my didn't know myself from Adam's house cat back then. And uh, you know, I'd go up to the mil I'd go up to military people and I would ask them, hey, g can you talk to me about some of this stuff? And that was very disrespectful. I found out later because they don't want to talk about it either.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

You know, us, police fire. You know, it's hard to go back and revisit, you know, like she said, you're giving pieces of your heart away. And it's hard to kind of go back and talk about those things, but it's absolutely important. Mental health is is I can get on the soapbox.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Yes, we could. That we mental health is very important. Take care of yourself, your well-being, your mentally, physically, emotionally, have a good support system. It just you gotta have the heart for it. I think that you really just gotta have the heart for it.

SPEAKER_03 36:46

And I know that with this has been a lot of negative, but I promise you, I promise you, the positives still outweigh that. As mad as those bads are, is it's like her talking about that seven-year-old chat, she's living a full life. Like it's those little people. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 37:04

Thank you for adding thank you for adding that because I guess this has been kind of a gloom and doom. It's like, hey, you want to be in a medic, here's a reason why not to. Take one. But no. Yeah, right. Uh, but but no, but you you are right. The reason why you are still here after everything you've seen and everything and everything you've seen, because you love it. You love to help people in their darkest times. And it is something I guess that you'll never be able to do without. Even whenever you retire, you're probably gonna have to have still have some type of a piece. I don't see you retiring.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

I am no, I don't, I didn't I don't believe it. Pretty old and pretty mean.

SPEAKER_04 37:39

She's gonna ride out with me now. She's stuck. But thank, but thank you so much because I I'm sure I would have caught it as I'm editing this. It's like, I'm not giving anybody any reason to join us. But I just wanted I want people to be prepared. Yes, you know what they're about to do.

SPEAKER_03 37:53

But there is a lot of positives.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

I'm telling you, I've got lifelong friendships. This Tyler is like, this is I I sing to him all the time. I like my girl's a little bit older because I'm like his best friend. He's mine. I can pick up the phone. Um, we have made lifelong friendships as family. We'll take care of each other. There's pot there's lots of good things that we've done. We've said there's been lots of lives that have been changed because Tyler and I have touched on that's the ones you gotta take.

SPEAKER_03 38:19

The small wins throughout the day is is is where you gotta hang your hat on.

SPEAKER_04 38:24

On a on a personal note, you know, working with it, we we ourselves are not um exempt from our own issues. And and it it just made me feel so much better when I've had to call an ambulance a few times at my house for my mother-in-law, who unfortunately has since passed, and I get to see those familiar faces, and I know she's well taken care of. And I saw Miss Caroline and Miss Jamie um on one of on one of those things, and when you see it and you're and you kind of just go down in your nerves a little bit because it's like, okay, she is in the best hands right now, and it's uh peace. So, you know, we unfortunately, you know, as a police officer, I've had to I've had to deal with some uh medics and firefighters who have issues and had to deal with that, and so we all have our own personal struggles. Nobody's immune. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

And that's what people think the when you go and there's a lot of substance abuse disorders right now, a lot goes with mental health crisis, I'm a big advocate for them. They don't think that that affects us in any way, and it does. It has affected me personally, and we all get it, and um I don't our families we've gone through stuff, and it's just you know what? We know we gotcha, we gotcha, and I'll take good care of you. So will Tyler.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

And I think touch on it like how you're feeling the peace, that's kind of what we want. You know, I've always said um, whenever I run a call leaving you or seeing you, I treat you how I will. If I see you as my grandmother or my mother, uh, I treat you exactly how I treat them. If I ever lose that, it's the day I'm gonna die. Me too. I'm not gonna I'm gonna treat you with empathy and respect.

SPEAKER_04 40:12

And if I lose that, then guys, we're gonna we're gonna have to do a part two one day. We're gonna we're gonna have to come back and revisit because we can go on and on and on. And I'd love to hit the mental health aspect because, like you said, it is such a crisis right now that's going on with what's going on with that.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Um you guys deal with the substance abuse, and and I find it it's it's heartbreaking. And they think everybody's gonna be mean. Um, we're not gonna be mean. I'm gonna help you. I wanna we, you know.

SPEAKER_04 40:41

We yeah, and I I don't like that stigmatism at all because they I've had more than one person tell me, Well, you're just gonna look at me as a junkie anyway. We do not see junkies. No, we don't see them. We see a person, we see somebody's son, we see somebody's husband, somebody's daddy, somebody's dad. It's a medical issue.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

It is a medical issue, yes. And and that is how we treat you. Yeah, like I said, if we respect that's how you're gonna get treated.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

What's the first thing we don't care? That's what we say. We don't care. We just need to know how much you're right.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

Yeah, a lot of times as a police officer, uh, I will, whenever they start asking, hey, do you take it? Because it's a it's a medical question. You have to know, do you take any illicit drugs? I will normally step out at that moment because a lot of times they don't want to tell that in front of me. And I tell them flat out, I said, I don't care what you've done. We're just trying to get you some help right now. And I'll and if you if you feel better, I will step out here and you can go down the list with the medics. And I promise you this, they ain't gonna tell me.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 41:40

They are not gonna tell me if you go into the hospital and get a blood test uh or you have to get a urine test to see what you know what medications you're on, they are not gonna tell the police. Okay, so you you can be open.

SPEAKER_01 41:54

HIPAA.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Well, not only HIPAA, we don't need HIPAA, it's none of my business. Okay, we're we we we want you to get the help you need, we want you to be honest and open with the doctors, and I'm gonna tell you right now, I don't care what it is. You do what you need to do, and it's none of my business over here.

SPEAKER_01 42:15

That's exactly right. And most of the time when you're with me on scenes like that, it's because there's a crisis, yeah, and they're gonna need intervention, and you guys are usually there be by five minutes before me.

SPEAKER_04 42:27

So yeah, sometimes. Guys, thank you so much. This is this has been awesome. Um, we've been we went over time a little bit, and I don't care. Uh I don't care, I know we don't care. Uh we need a part two, so anytime. So be so be thinking about uh coming back and doing this again with us. Uh guys, this is as real as it gets. Absolutely real as it gets. Thank you all for joining me today with you. We appreciate you. We love you, Rob. We love you. Thank y'all.