Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in rayvaillancourt's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
4:51 pm	Maternal Control In EMS, there are doctors available for EMT's and paramedics to call (usually by radio) for advice when the course of action is unclear in a particular case. The doctor and the process are called "Medical Control" If only there was such a thing for crying babies-- Maternal Control, as it were. I didn't want to call the doctor, because I was fairly certain he wasn't having a medical problem. Andrew screamed for over an hour while Megan was at work. It was as if he were being skinned alive. I went through everything I knew-- he wouldn't eat; his diaper was clean; no fever; no sign of injury; not too hot or too cold; I gave him simethicone in case it was gas; I felt his gums-- no bumps or tenderness; I tried every position and activity that usually soothes him. The course of action was unclear. So i called Maternal Control-- Megan's mother. She suggested a little sugar water. I thought, "This kid is freaking out. Sugar water? yeah, whatever. can't hurt." It worked within seconds. He was smiling and giggling with tears still visible on his cheeks. I gave him a toy and he played contentedly. I still don't know what his deal was. But I know who to call. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
8:41 am	last day and first water I worked my first day as acting lieutenant this week. The senior man on my crew has 28 years on. He likes to bust chops, especially of the medics on the job. Some people take his jabs personally, but I talk back to him. That's why he likes me. I worked an overtime shift on his group last Saturday, my last day as a firefighter. he said then, "I'll have to put in for a transfer. They want to put a medic in charge of me!" I said, "I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't hear what you said. Did you say something about having an acting lieutenant in charge of you?" "Tell me this, Ray. What were you first, a medic or a firefighter?" "Tell me this, Mike. What were you first, a firefighter or an obnoxious little man with a Napoleon complex?" "You got me there, Ray." He likes me because I don't take his crap. We laughed together about the fact that the Captain and the Deputy Chief both took him aside and told him not to torture me on my first day as acting lieutenant. We had a great time on our first tour together, and we even considered complaining about each other to the Captain the next morning just to play into the expectations. Then we thought better of it. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Monday, September 14th, 2009
9:56 am	CASH Bible In America, we love to customize everything. Even Bibles are available in myriad versions designed for the needs of specific demographic groups. Thank God for that, because it would be a shame if someone stopped reading the Bible just because something in it challenged their world view.   Here’s an excerpt from a new Bible translation, the Corporate America Standard Hardcover:    Exodus 20:1-17   1 Then God delivered all these commandments: 2 "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought your factories out of the land of America to find slave labor elsewhere. 3 You shall not have other gods besides the Free Market and me. 4 You shall carve corporate icons for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth. 5 You shall not bow down before them or worship them, but make your employees and customers do so. 6 I bestow money down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and promote brand loyalty. 7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain, at least in public. That’s bad PR. 8 "Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. 9 Six days you may force labor and make people do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter; but if the Free Market wants the business open 7 days, use part-timers so you don’t have to pay overtime or benefits. 11 In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he made sure people saw him in church and he did some good networking there. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 "Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a good inheritance in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. 13 "You shall not kill if you can avoid it, but if the Free Market decides that killing is the more cost-effective option, make sure you have plausible deniability. 14 "You shall not get caught committing adultery. That’s bad PR. 15 "You shall not steal. Keep this in mind, though: if your lawyers and accountants can find a loophole, then it’s not really stealing. 16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor until you have shredded the paper trail. 17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. Build a bigger one. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him. Make him covet yours." (Comment on this)
Monday, April 13th, 2009
8:56 pm	I Gave Up Lent for Easter. I gave up Lent for Easter.   That was my status today on Facebook.  I meant it as humor, but it has been challenging me on a deeper level.   I frequently give stuff up for Lent. I usually come up with an excuse not to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but I try to remember to abstain from meat on Fridays. I reflect on sin and redemption, and look forward to Easter. All told, I’m no SuperCatholic, but I at least observe some form of Lenten sacrifice.   I don’t think I’m an atypical Catholic when I observe the 40 days of Lent and neglect the 50 days of Easter. Lent, in a sense, is easier. It’s about following guidelines and rules. Someone tells us what to do, and it’s nothing unreasonable. No meat, no problem. In fact, for health and environmental reasons, I’ve cut way back on my meat consumption anyway.   But what do I do for Easter? I go to Mass, then I pig out. Done. It’s over by the middle of the afternoon, and I go back to ordinary time.   Now I wonder: what should I do with these 50 days? If Lenten observance is about sacrifice and penance, then how do I live out the life-giving victory of Easter? What does Easter really mean? To what does it call me? I will be spending this Easter season reflecting on these questions.   So, my one-liner has come true: this year, I am giving up Lent for Easter. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 23rd, 2009
5:03 pm	Here's Your Sign We responded for an "unconscious person" in the high-rise projects. We found a 26-year old woman in the bathroom, soaking wet and shivering. The family had found her "unconscious" in her bed during the night. We asked if she was shaking while she was unconscious, trying to determine if she might have had a seizure. "Yes, she was swinging her arms and kicking," said a male family member. Just her arms and legs were moving? "And she was yelling." Yelling? "She kept yelling, 'No!'" And this was while she was unconscious? "Yes" On the bed? "This was while we were taking her into the bathroom to put her in the cold water. My mother told me to put her in cold water to revive her." How did you know she was unconscious? "Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving." In bed, at night? "Yes." The woman's story-- "I was asleep and they dragged me into the water!" No medical history and no medical complaints. Apparently, these people had never seen a sleeping person before. But their treatment for that condition was very effective. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
1:38 pm	Ego Strip As I shopped for yesterday's firehouse dinner, I saw two women looking at me. One was young and the other more "experienced." Maybe a grandmother and granddaughter. The younger one said, "Fire department, huh? Do you know any cute firefighters?" I just looked at her. Grandma looked at her too, pointed at me, and said, "What about him? He's cute!" The younger woman rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, sure." (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
9:36 am	Moses the Great It is easy to think about the great Bible heroes like Moses and think, “I’m not like that. I’m just a regular person. I’m not the kind of religious person that God could use.” Moses was so great, so powerful, so faithful, so talented, so holy. That’s why God chose him to do great things. Right? Not so much. Moses was abandoned by his parents as an infant.1 He was the product of inbreeding, 2 which may explain the horrible speech impediment that required him to have his brother speak to Pharaoh for him. 3 Moses was a bad Jew who didn’t even bother to circumcise his own son. That violated the covenant Abraham had made with God, 4 and God almost killed Moses for that, but his wife (his foreign wife—for shame!) saved his butt. 5 It gets worse. ( Read more... )   (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
8:51 am	Leadoff Single (Alarm Fire) I was a little too bundled up when I rode in to the firehouse this morning, so I arrived sweaty and took a shower. Fresh as a daisy, I put my gear on Engine 4 and made a cup of coffee that I never drank. At 7:21 box 61 was struck for a chimney fire on Nichols Place. As the second due engine, we would come in the opposite direction from the first due engine and lay a line from a hydrant. As we responded, we heard the deputy call off and confirm a chimney fire. The first companies in reported fire in the walls. The deputy called fire alarm, "Command to fire alarm: Notify responding companies that this is the last house on the dead end and they'll have to hump it in." "Fire alarm to all companies responding to Box 61: This is the last house on the dead end and you'll have to...." Silence. The fire alarm operator couldn't bring himself to repeat the word "hump" on the radio. After a five count: "...bring it in." Nichols Place is a narrow, L-shaped dead end, and the fire trucks couldn't get down it. We would have to park out on Roberts Rd. and drag hundreds of feet of hose down the street. As we approached Roberts Rd, Engine 8, the third due engine, got to the intersection the same time we did. Such is the experience of Acting Lieutenant Eddie Friel: he waved them on, and they went ahead of us. That was a brilliant tactical maneuver because it made Engine 8 have to catch a hydrant and empty their hose bed instead of us. The fire itself was not very interesting. We got there too fast. If it would have had another ten minutes, it could have been something.... Engine 8 had a ton of hose to make up though. Before you judge us, we did help them. Now I'm sweaty again, But it's a good sweaty. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
1:56 pm	What happens when you really don't care what people think I rode my bicycle in to work today, and I got detailed to another firehouse that was short a man. I donned all my fire gear, including the fire helmet, and hopped back on my bicycle for the three mile ride to Engine 6 on River St. I cherished the looks on the guys' faces as I rode out of the station in my gear. A few folks on the way got a chuckle out of it as well, including myself. As a cyclist who was decked out in the full spandex regalia passed me on a fancy road bike, he said, "That's not an approved bicycle helmet, but that's f-ing cool!" As I arrived at Engine 6, Paul Neal was looking out the window. His brow furrowed as I pulled up. "What the hell is that?" "A bicycle, Paul." Paul's mind was working so furiously as he tried to process the situation that all he could muster was a drawn out, "Yeah." I love doing that to people. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
11:19 am	men men men men I got a letter from MGH (Man's Greatest Hospital) looking for participants in an endocrine study. It involves taking a medicine that lowers testosterone levels for two weeks at a time. Yeah, like I'm SO macho to begin with....Imagine if I had less testosterone! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
8:27 pm	Peace We have left over from a bygone era the box alarm system. Those red FIRE boxes you see on the street have numbers. Before there were telephones, the boxes used to transmit the box number on an electrical circuit to each fire station, causing bells to ring out the box number. The firefighters would know which boxes were theirs, and would respond. "Box 7 is Porter Square. that's us." If more help were needed, the officer in charge would transmit the box again-- a second alarm. The next closest companies, hearing box 7 come in again, would then respond. Each successive "alarm" for each box is planned out ahead of time, up to the tenth alarm. We go to East Cambridge on a second alarm there. We go to Kendall Square area on the third. In fact, I can tell you that Cambridge Engine 4 will cover Burlington if they have a ten alarm fire. Now, the boxes ring in the dispatch center (still called "fire alarm.") The fire alarm operator then dispatches the appropriate companies before causing the bells to strike out the box number in each station. The responses are still based on the boxes. If you call 911 and say your house is on fire, the fire alarm operator will determine the closest street box number and transmit or "strike" it. The announcement will sound like, "Striking box 581 for number 250 Huron Avenue for a report of fire in the building." The bells are still here, and they still ring out the box numbers in every station, but it is a redundancy because the fire alarm operator tones out the correct apparatus and announces the location of each reponse in the affected stations before the bells go off. Thus, most of us ignore the bells. If there is a box alarm in the middle of the night, the bells go off in our station. We know that the bells don't pertain to us because they are not accompanied by the tones going off, the lights coming on, and the fire alarm operator announcing the run. So they're just a loud interruption of sleep. It could be worse. I was at the East Cambridge station a few weeks ago. All the lights come on in that station every time a box comes in anywhere in the city. Since the 911 center moved last week, they have been having problems with some of the communications systems. The fire alarm operator just called to say that there is a glitch and there will be no bells tonight. The tones, lights, and PA system still work, so we will not miss a run, but we won't be awakened by bells striking out other companies' boxes in the middle of the night. So I told the fire alarm operator that I am nominating him for a no bell peace prize. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
1:39 pm	The MBTA is like a box of chocolates Due to road conditions New year's morning, I took the train to work rather than the bicycle. The T was supposed to be running on a Sunday schedule. I waited forever for a train in Downtown Crossing. I don't know if the motorman was hung over or just meek, but the train crawled along and kept stopping randomly in the tunnels. I wanted to hit the passenger intercom and yell, "Hey buddy! I can attest that there's no other trains ahead of you for miles!" By the time I got to Porter Square, I didn't have time to run the thirteen stories worth of stairs. I ran up the escalator instead, and just barely got to the firehouse on time. I got to stay on Engine 4 because both Squad 4 members were in. Shortly thereafter, engine 4 and Squad 4 got a call for the Porter Square station, lower level, for a woman who fell down the stairs. Good, I thought. I can run the stairs back up when we're done. The 27-year-old woman (patient #1) slipped and fell in the stairs and had back pain, so we had to immobilize her on a spine board. The elevator in the station wasn't working, so we prepared to carry this woman up the escalator. As we were about to go, another woman fell down the same stairs. Squad 4 told Fire Alarm to generate a second incident and left us and the ambulance crew to go check Patient #2 out. We carried patient #1 up the escalator. When we got near the top, Paramedic Jay Starczyski told us that one of the regular drunks was "guarding" the stretcher for them. "I hope he's not lying down on it,' he said. He wasn't, but another drunk, stumbling around with a walker, (soon to be patient #3) bumped into us. We loaded Patient #1 into the ambulance as Squad 4 notified Fire Alarm that Patient #2 refused treatment. As they ascended out of the station, walker guy (Patient #3) stumbled in front of them and told him that he had just had a seizure. They called Fire Alarm and generated a third incident. Patient #1 and Patient #3 shared an ambulance ride. I have done two-fers at Porter Square before (we go to the "unconscious" drunk's side and find out that the call was for a different "unconscious" drunk), but this was my first threefer. I love my job. Even if I didn't get to run the stairs. (Comment on this)
Monday, December 22nd, 2008
8:59 am	Mostly Dead Yesterday, as we were out shoveling hydrants, we got a call for an unresponsive woman two blocks away. When we walked into the bathroom, the 70ish woman was unconscious on the toilet, ghastly pale, and had no radial (wrist) pulse, which indicates very low blood pressure. She was a few minutes from death. Her daughter was holding her up. I was on the engine, with no paramedic equipment. But we were able to do something that fixed this mostly dead woman within a minute. She pinked up, woke up, and had a normal blood pressure. What was this simple yet definitive treatment? We laid her on the floor. Sometimes, when a person bears down hard, such as when having a BM, they stimulate the Vagus Nerve that causes their heart rate to drop. Here's the quick progression: 1. heart rate drops, so 2. blood pressure drops, so 3. oxygen level in the brain drops, so 4. level of consciousness drops, so 5. person drops Most often, they fall over, their brain gets its blood and oxygen, and they are awake and fine when we arrive. If they stay upright, their blood pressure is inadequate to fight gravity and get blood and oxygen to the brain. This simple, transient drop in heart rate can become fatal in such a case. By holding this woman up, her daughter nearly killed her. She failed to comprehend the gravity of the situation. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 21st, 2008
9:53 pm	Santa Suit: The Untold Story I have gotten a lot of mileage from photos I took in the coat room at the firehouse. I didn't know whose locker this was. Today I found out that the Santa suit is a practical joke on FF Bob Crooker, who is..... well,..... jolly. His crewmates had suggested that he could make a few extra bucks as a mall Santa. Then  the suit appeared in his gear locker. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
7:59 pm	(Comment on this)
Sunday, December 14th, 2008
1:17 am	They should all be this easy I am the acting lieutenant on Squad 4 tonight with the brilliant and hilarious Probationary Firefighter John Magee. Just after midnight, we were dispatched to a "pregnant woman who just gave birth." John and I contemplated on the way how a woman who just gave birth could still be pregnant. Twins, maybe.Such was not the case. Just a semantic faux pas. This 37 year old woman was 39 weeks pregnant with her second child. She was having contractions about 6 minutes apart, and her midwife told her to call back when the contractions were less than five minutes apart or when she broke her water. Immediately thereafter, as the woman walked down a flight of stairs, there was surprise birthday party in her stretchy pants from which her husband extricated a beautiful, healthy baby girl. When we arrived, there was nothing to do but double check that everyone was ok and cut the cord.  Holding that gorgeous neonate made me all the more jubilant at the idea of holding my own baby in June. Thanks be to God. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
5:07 pm	Bible Answers The EPA ruled  on Tuesday that coal mining companies can strip the tops off of mountains and throw the debris into rivers and streams in the valleys. This wanton destruction of the earth upset me. But then I looked at this weekend's first reading. I realized that President Bush IS following scripture. Isaiah 40:4 states: "Every valley shall be raised up,        every mountain and hill made low." Taking this one line out of context, I can understand how one can take this as a divine mandate for strip-mining. If that's the case, then there's more: Perhaps God is also against reusing and recycling things, because he says, "Behold, I make all things new" in Revelation 21:5. And Jesus mandates economic oppression when he orders: "The poor you will always have with you" in Matthew 26. Hey wait: an eye for an eye.... I have come not to bring peace but the sword.... If I take random Bible verses out of context and ignore major themes like "love one another" and that silly social justice stuff, I can prove that the Bible is actually very Republican. Maybe I'm saved now. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 24th, 2008
2:01 pm	Mindless Drivel I am so glad to be done with the lieutenant exam. The material for the exam was from ten books and Chapter 148 of the Massachusetts General Laws. The books did not agree on facts and definitions. for instance, if asked the density of water, I would have to select 62.4 pounds per cubic foot if the question referred to the Building Construction book and 62.5 pounds per cubic foot if it came from the Pumping Apparatus Driver/Operator book. Even within books, there were contradictions. In the First Responder book, the normal respiratory rate for an infant was 25-30 on one page and 25-50 on another. That was a test question in the past. I don't know what the "official" correct answer was. There are many more examples. The Engine Company Operations book had contradictory information on the very same page. The worst book was the "Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer" text. How can I describe it? 1. Give a group of 1000 8th graders each a random page from a book in the "business/management" section of Barnes and Noble. 2. A week later,  ask each of them to write down everything they remember from those pages, in no particular order. 3. Ask the eighth graders to add their own management and interpersonal relationship advice at the end. 4. Take those reports and type them into a Word file, one after the other, without editing them. If you followed these instructions exactly, the result would be very similar to the Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer book. A couple gems from the Company Officer book: "Encourage the Heart-- The supervisor encourages the hearts of the employees while keeping the pain in his own heart." [Picture macho firefighters reading this--- I drew a heart and a smiley face in the margin next to this inanity and showed it to my Lieutenant. I told him he had to encourage my heart because the book says so. I can't publish his reply.] "Generalizations are in themselves false." [Including this one?] And then the laws. Check out this link. I triple dog dare you. It's only 8 paragraphs, but I bet you can't make it through. If you do, keep in mind that any sentence therein, including the random dates mentioned, is fair game for a question: www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/148-13.htm (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
7:47 pm	may the top mini rich slut lose her house The lieutenant's exam is Saturday, and anything in any of the 8 books is fair game, including random examples. One book has a chapter on forms of government, and it lists examples of cities that have a City council/mayor form of government. this information has no real meaning or practical application, but it could be a question: "All of the following are cities that have a city council and mayor except..." So I wrote several mnemonics for useless information, such as, "May the top mini rich slut lose her house." May-(Mayor) Top(Topeka) Mini(Minneapolis) Rich(Richmond) Slut(Tulsa) Lose(Los Angeles) House(Houston) You wanna know some cities that have city managers? No? Me neither. But I do know: "Man, there's a Kan of phony rock salt and sand in my cinnamon salad" This is how I have squandered the last month of my life. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 10th, 2008
11:55 am	British email spam   I thought of tinuviellen  and valancy_s  when I saw this.... ( British Email Spam ) In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.) Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy). Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.  A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: ----------------------- 1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.'  Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters,  and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.'  Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels.  (look up 'vocabulary'). ------------------------ 2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf.  The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of  '-ize.' ------------------- 3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. ----------------- 4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists.  The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent.  Guns should only be used for shooting grouse.  If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist,then you're not ready to shoot grouse. ---------------------- 5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler.  Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public. ---------------------- 6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect.  At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.   Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour. -------------------- 7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon.  Get used to it. ------------------- 8. You will learn to make real chips.  Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps.  Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar. ------------------- 9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all.  Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of  known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager.  South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer.  They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them.  American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion. --------------------- 10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys.  Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters.  Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed  with a cheese grater. --------------------- 11. You will cease playing American football.  There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer.  Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).  --------------------- 12. Further, you will stop playing baseball.  It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America.  Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.  You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries. -------------------- 13. You must tell us who killed JFK.  It's been driving us mad. ----------------- 14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776). --------------- 15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream)  when in season. God Save the Queen! PS:  Only share this with friends who have a good sense of humour (NOT humor)!</div></div> (8 Comments |Comment on this)