It is mid-afternoon, on what has turned out to be a gorgeous
Saturday. The temperature is in the mid 70's with a lot of
sunshine. The nice weather always brings people outside. This means
that James and Frank have been busy today, though none of their calls
have been serious. Currently, James and Frank are enjoying a little
break. The two medics are sitting outside of the station, enjoying the
weather.
As usual, their little break is interrupted by station tones.
***BEEP...BEEP...BEEP*** "Medic 12 respond 7823 Lakefront Drive for a
stabbing. Medic 12 respond 7823 Lakefront Driver for a stabbing. Time
out 1541."
"So much for our break. Guess it's time to work," says Frank as the
pair head towards the ambulance.
"Medic 12 responding," advises James on the radio.
The dispatcher responds, "Medic 12 we are getting reports of a stabbing
patient on one of the walking trails. Patient is conscious and
breathing."
After weaving their ambulance through traffic, with lights flashing and
siren blaring, James and Frank arrive at the dispatched location.
"Medic 12 on scene," advises James on the radio.
There is not a patient visible from the roadway. There are a couple of
police cars parked on the roadway, but the officers are not visible
either. The pair does notice a walking trail that goes into the woods.
"Maybe they are down there," says Frank walking towards the trail.
"Wait a minute!" directs James. "This was a stabbing call. Do you
really want to wonder off in the woods not knowing what is going on?"
"Good point. I didn't think about that," replies Frank.
James picks up his portable radio and says, "Medic 12."
"Medic 12?" responds the dispatcher.
"Can you advise where the patient is located and if PD has the scene
secure?" James asks on the radio.
"Stand by Medic 12," responds the dispatcher. About a minute later the
dispatcher comes back on the radio, "Medic 12, PD advises to come down
the walking trail. The scene is secure."
"Medic 12 clear," replies James. Turning to Frank, James says, "Okay,
let's go see what is going on."
After a short walk down the path, James and Frank comes across several
officers surrounding a large mule. There is also another mule sitting
next to the path.
"What's going on?" asks Frank. As he asks this question, Frank notices
blood on the mule's back.
The injured mule replies, "We were walking along this trail, when I was
attacked by a couple of thugs."
"Are you injured other than your back?" asks Frank
"No, I don't think so. They were taking my money and cut me," answered
the mule.
Frank inspects the mule's injury, then says to James, "This looks
superficial, but I think it needs sutures."
James acknowledges with a nod while reaching into the jump bag for
bandaging supplies. James then places a bandage on the mule's
injured back to control the bleeding.
Frank tells the patient, "You need to go to the hospital for stitches.
Would you like us to take you?"
"Yeah, that's fine I guess." answers the mule.
James and Frank assist the patient into the ambulance. Frank climbs in
the back as James goes around to drive.
"Medic 12 transporting non emergency to South Lake Community."
During the six minute transport to the hospital, Frank asks the mule,
"What was going on out there today before you got stabbed?"
The mule hangs his head, "I was being an idiot. I was delivering a
couple of large bags of money for a friend. We decided to cut through
the woods to make it a faster trip and I was drawing way too much
attention to myself."
"What do you mean?" asks Frank.
"I just wanted everyone to notice how much money I was carrying. To see
how important I was. Unfortunately, the wrong type of people noticed,
and you see what happened from there!" answers the mule.
"What was the other mule carrying? I noticed he had several bags also,"
remarks Frank.
Laughing, the mule replies, "Diamonds and gold! But he is quiet, and
did not want to be noticed. I guess it worked. Maybe I should
follow his example."
"Well, at least you weren't hurt worse. Lesson learned I guess," says
Frank.
Medic 12 pulls into the drive of the hospital, and the patient is taken
inside. Frank gives a quick report to the nurse as the patient moves
over to the emergency room bed.
Frank then meets James back at the ambulance.
"Well, that was interesting! Did you know the other mule had bags full
of diamonds?" asks Frank.
"Really!?" asks James.
"Yeah. Our patient was apparently very loud about the fact he was
carrying a lot of money," says Frank.
"Guess having a lot of money can get you in trouble! I would much
rather be happy with what I have." replies James.
"Yeah, me too! We don't have to worry about being rich doing this
though, huh?" says Frank smiling.
"No, but I can say that I have been very happy!" says James.
"You know, so far me too!" says Frank.
Author's Note:
This is a retelling of Aesop's fable "The Two Mules." In the
original story, two mules are carrying loads when they are attacked by
robbers. One mule is carrying money while the other is carrying barley.
Unfortunately, the mule that is carrying the money was very proud of
his load and drew a lot of attention, while the other mule was very
quiet. The donkey carrying the money was attacked by the robbers and
slashed with a sword. In my retelling of this story, I made it where
both mules were carrying loads of money or diamonds. The boisterous
donkey is again attacked, but only receives minor wounds. I used this
story to show that not all calls that EMS responds to are like what is
shown on television. Some calls are actually very routine. This story
also teaches a great life lesson. Sometimes being happy is better than
being rich. It is also a good idea to not draw a lot of attention when
you are loaded with diamonds. Sometimes humility is best. I also tried
to show how Frank has progressed in his
training, yet still has things to learn and think about. One example is
not considering that he was on a reported stabbing call and was about
to
blindly walk into the woods.
Bibliography Information:
Story: The Two Mules
Author: Laura Gibbs
Book: Aesop's Fables. A New Translation
Year Published: 2002
Web Source: Aesop's
Fables
