The Big Game!!!!

Well ladies and gentlemen this is it, the week that most Massillon football fans dream of for 51 weeks a year. Some look forward to this week more then Christmas. Some schedule their entire lives and schedules around this one day. They can't tell you what day their anniversary or birthday will fall on from year to year, but bet your bottom dollar that they can rattle the dates off for the next 10 years. It's time for the Massillon - McKinley game. The original rivalry, the most storied game in high school football. If you fancy yourself a high school football fan then you need to attend this game at least once in your life. The roar of the crowd, the sound of dueling bands from opposite ends of the stadium, the yelling of cheerleaders trying to drown the other squad out, and of course the smashing of pads as the players take frustrations out on each other. Records are thrown out the window on this day and this day only there is only one game, and to the winner goes the spoils the coveted victory bell.

 

Which gives said winner a years worth of bragging rights. And you can believe that every year those rights are used to the fullest potential. And just as exciting as the game itself is the week leading up to the game.Public appearances by the football team all week, free lunches for the boys everyday of the week as they go from club to club to hear there members  words of encouragement. And lets not forget the organization that gave me my place in this rivalry the Massillon Tiger Swing Band. They to have a busy week of public appearances. And this whole week culminates on the Friday before the game. Elementary school pep rallies, luncheons, and the storied parade around downtown. The one day where the band gets the privilege to enter whatever building or business they want while marching through the downtown area. From there it is on to the high school where they have the biggest pep rally of the season. Then that evening they have a giant parade, of the real parade variety, where I do believe the entire community comes out to either participate or spectate. Which winds it way to the bonfire where the usual chants of T-I-G   E-R-S can be heard. The football players give speeches, the band pumps up the crowd, and the head coach gives his word that tomorrow the Tigers will emerge with the W and the bell. Editors Note: It has been eight years since I last participated so events are subject to change. I think the only other key player in this shindig that is busier might be Obie the Tiger. 

 

Now I tell you all of this to elaborate on another situation that would have ruined the entire game day experience. Some politicians decided that they would reach the masses in the Stark County area by throwing a political rally right next to the stadium. This rally would feature someone sure to bring the crowds former President Bill Clinton.

He would be there to rally support for U.S. Representative John Boccieri and Governor Ted Strickland. And not to be out done the Republicans were also going to hold a rally for Jim Renacci, a candidate forvthe 16th district seat. Joining him was going to be U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner. You can see the original announcement here at the Massillon Independents website. Luckily there are higher ups in the city government that had their heads on straight and put their feet down and said "Oh no you don't!". I can only imagine the security and parking nightmare that would ensue around the area of the stadium. The democrats can not even claim discrimination because the Mayor of Massillon Frank Cicchinelli is a democrat himself. It is the only wise thing to do. This day isn't about politics, its about the players, the coaches, the band members, and the cheerleaders, participating in a game that they will remember for the rest of their lives. A game that they will tell their children, and grandchildren about. I can tell you from experience that they might now remember what they learned in math class 8 years ago, but they will be able to tell you everything that happened during the Massillon - McKinley game. Here is the rest of the story from the Independents Website. I think extending the offer to Mr. Clinton to do the coin toss is a wonderful idea, something those kids will remember for the rest of their lives, but that should be the end of his visit to Tiger Town. There is a time for politics, and a time for football. And those two times should never intertwine EVER!!!! Go Tigers!

It smells like roses...

  

It's been a few days since my last post, and I have had a little trouble coming up with a post but low and behold the dry spell is over. Sitting here on shift in the Ville I have realized something that really burns me up, in fact it pushes me to the point of overly annoyed. I am talking about those amongst us in the field that think they know everything, have seen it all, and can do anything you put in front of them. And to help them reaffirm this fact they walk around spouting useless facts, and telling stories that are meant to put us into a position of shock and awe. But normally all you can achieve is a blank stare from those around you.

 

After spouting their stories they then feel the need to complain, about trips, about driving, and about the company. I am sorry being new to this company there is no right to complain. In fact you need to thank your lucky stars that you are employed. How many people out there don't have a job? EMS jobs are hard to come by and this place has blessed you by giving you the opportunity to prove yourself, and you want to go and trash it. I have been here for three years and while there are things that I don't like and yes I have been known to complain about it, I have earned that right. 

And last but not by a long shot the least, they feel the need to tell me how to do my job. I want this to be clear I may at one time have felt the need to throw around that I am medic and I am the man, but that was when I had just got the card and thought I ruled the world. But nowadays I just lay low, and believe me I hate to do this, but as a Basic EMT especially one fresh out of school you have no right to tell me how to do my job. Now if you have questions or suggestions present them in a way that doesn't feel threatening and at a point in time that is convenient for me to answer. Not when I am knee deep in pt care. Even better when the ink dries on your card maybe we can have a chat. And if you have a problem with the way I operate things then guess what deal with it. In the words of a fellow medic here, "This isn't a democracy, it is poker and I have the high card, I win." This is by no means directed at one individual, I hear stories about it all the time. It happens everywhere. And it is not just an EMS problem it happens everywhere. If you are reading this and saying to yourself "He must be talking about me." It's time for you to step back and re-evaluate your work ethic. In fact I have some words of  wisdom for you, sit down, silence yourself, and open your auditory listening devices. You have been handed a golden opportunity to be surrounded by people that have years of experience and would love to pass on the wisdom and perils of the job. And you can only ruin it by acting and thinking you are a one person show!

Cabulance Service Inc.

Ahh once again the Cabulance was out on the road. Female pt. with abdominal pain. Sounds like an actual call, the only problem is she was a pt. at the ER two days ago for the same thing. At which point she was told that she should follow up with her primary physician. Today she called his office and found out she couldn't get an appointment until the 5th of November. Ok I can overlook that, but they proceeded to tell her if the pain came back she should head to the ER and be evaluated. Wouldn't you know it. Suddenly her pain came back. 10/10 pain showing no real distress. She was able to walk out to the road and meet us, and then hop up into the ambulance to the cot and have a seat. Without a tear shed

Now I don't have a problem with doing these calls if they are legit. Although today it really didn't bother me Now had it been 2 AM then I might not have been so chipper. The saddest part about all this is the fact that we as EMS workers see it everyday and night. People who hold a gold card (Medicare) decide that they need to go to the hospital because they stubbed their toe on the coffee table. So they call 911 and say they need an ambulance. All hours of the day, all types of weather. We head out and pick these people up. Putting valuable ambulances out of service for those that really do have medical emergencies. Now don't get me wrong, I know there are those that have Medicare cards that actually need it. And that leave us alone and only call when they actually need an ambulance. Especially with all of the hard working Americans that are laid off that actually need to use it, but there are those that taint the system to ruin it for them. And unfortunately the ones that taint the system, that call for an ambulance all the time, make those that work in the system very prejudicial. I think that those that are "frequent flyers" or abusers of the system should have to take a quiz. And wouldn't you know it I already have a few questions in mind for this test:

1. If you are walking through your living room and the end table jumps out in front of you causing you to stub your toe do you:

    A. Call an Ambulance
    B. Call a taxi
    C. Put some ice on it and wait to see what happens

2. If you are carrying a grill at 3 AM at it slips out of your hands and you strain your back do you

     A. Call an ambulance and beg for some pain meds
     B. Call a cab and go to the ER and beg for some pain meds
     C. Put some ice on it and wait to see what happens

3. If you start feeling severe chest pain and you can't catch your breath do you

    A. Call an ambulance
    B. Call a cab
    C. Put some ice on it and see what happens

What do you think, if you have any ideas about how to make the test better leave a comment.

Buckeye forever!

Well now that Ohio State lost go ahead all of you Buckeye haters rub it in. But I for one am not one of those fans that makes excuses as to why they lost. Do you want to know why they lost its simple they were totally out played. They played horrible tonight. They deserved the loss. When you play like you are back home on Friday night against a Division 1 Big Ten team then you get what you have coming. Does this mean that I am going to jump off the band wagon and be done with them.... Nope! I will be in front of my TV again next week at noon to watch them play Purdue. My only hope is that they stop reminisce on their little experience at Camp Randall Stadium, figure out where they went wrong, and fix it. I am just glad that the school up north lost too, at least their fans can't run their mouths. No matter what number is in front of the Buckeyes in the rankings I will always root for the scarlet and gray!

Sweetest Day

Well gentlemen it's that time of year again. It's the second romantic holiday of the year, that's right it's Sweetest Day. So what did you do for your wife or girlfriend? Want to know what  I did, I gave her a very romantic phone call... only after hearing it was Sweetest Day from the radio DJ this morning on my way to work. And that call consisted of Hey hunny Happy Sweetest Day! I know, Casanova style. Yeah I totally forgot about it sue me. It's kind of hard to remember a holiday when it doesn't have a set date. In fact it's official day is the third Saturday of October. I will be quite honest, I probably wouldn't remember to vote if it wasn't for all those political ads polluting my television every year starting in September. Now Valentine's Day that's an easy one February 14th. And it is that day every year no matter what day it falls on. So as I was driving down the highway heading to work I got to thinking, what exactly is Sweetest Day and how did it come to be a holiday? Well after probing my sources (aka a google search) I was able to come up with an answer. So here is the shortened version.


It seems Sweetest Day, which is only really celebrated in the Great Lakes Region of America, began in 1921. It appears that about 12 confectioners in Cleveland wanted to make the Sweetest Day in the Year by handing out  20,000 boxes of candy to those less fortunate. And it just sort of snowballed and contorted from there. Fast forward to modern times, 2010, and it is mainly a holiday now for men to show their affection to their wives by giving them the usual flowers, cards, and candy. But men here is the interesting part of it, women are supposed to give their men bacon, or another meat product. I got this information from Wikipedia so muchos gracias for that. I don't know about you, but I for one just feel it is a Hallmark holiday any  more. So, on the chance of making the wife mad, I won't be getting her anything. Honestly I love my wife, I really do, I tell her that everyday. I let her know all the time how special she is to me, and how lucky I am to have her in my life. Why do I  need to have a holiday to say it when it is said everyday? Honestly people if we want to celebrate this day the way it was intended then maybe we should take sometime out and go find someone who has fallen on hard times and let them know we care by giving them a gift. I am not saying give them candy, but maybe give them groceries, or an anonymous donation.In this economy we all know someone who is in this situation. And if you can't afford that maybe an open ear and a cup of coffee. Let them know you care. Let them know you're their for them. And maybe, just maybe, you might make their day, by letting them know they have a friend. And don't we all need some of those, you can never have too many!

Arson... what a shame.

On Wednesday night the local area had a spree of suspicious fires that broke out in an 8 mile radius of one another, and were all within a few hours of each other as well. There were four total all but one caused significant structural damage. Including one business Garver's Flea Market in Strasburg which was a total loss.The other businesses were in Brewster one was an old grocery store, and the other an old pizza shop, both of which have been closed for a little over a year. The fourth one that really gets my stomach churning was a church in Beach City.



                                                                                                                                    


This video is from the fire in Strasburg. The aerial on the right in the begining is the ladder truck from our fire department. Unfortunately I was working in Steubenville on this night.


 

 This is the fire in Brewster at the grocery store. After the Fire Marshal's office came in and investigated of course they declared them arson. Here is the timeline of how the night unfolded:
               10-13-10 2309 hrs. Fire reported at Garver's Flea Market in Strasburg
               10-14-10 0040 hrs  Fire reported at First Lutheran Church in Beach City
               10-14-10 0053 hrs  Fire reported at the former Jer's Pizza in Brewster
               10-14-10 0100 hrs  Fire reported at former JB's convenience store in Brewtser

 Now judging by the timeline in my opinion this individual or individuals that started these fires had to have hung out near the Strasburg fire just waiting, and watching grinning from ear to ear watching their work. And once they realized that almost the entire Tuscarawas County fire service and part of Stark Counties departments were all on hand, they went to work wreaking havoc and testing our resources. But I hope much to their dismay we disappointed them. See one thing the fire service is great at is pulling together when the going gets tough, And I hope they saw how well we can function in situations like this. The greatest part about this service is we are brothers and sisters. Not just in our individual departments, but in the fire service as a collective unit. And when the cry for help comes out we will be there and we will prevail.

 I hope this person or persons involved can have some feelings of remorse, but I know that as usual they probably have no guilty feelings. None about destroying the lively hood of not only the people who own the flea market, but all those individual vendors who had stands set up in the building. According to reports I have heard, there were numerous collectible items inside including historical artifacts, and pictures from the buildings history. Which they will never be able to replace. Also the building was on the historical registry for buildings. That building which was so selfishly destroyed was a piece of history for the village of Strasburg. Then to move down the road and attempt to burn down a church, that shows your morals in this life are way out of balance. I don't care what your religious views are, you don't set a church on fire. A church is not just about a Sunday service, its about family. It's a place where people go no matter what their walk of life to become one family in God. A church is not just a building it is the house of the Lord. I don't care if you agree with that or not in my beliefs that is exactly what it is. And to attempt to burn it down just shows you have no respect for religion.

 If anybody has any information I urge you to please contact the Fire Marshal's office at 1-800-589-2728


Links to newspaper stories:
New Philadelphia Times Reporter
Massillon Independent
Canton Repository

Who Am I?

I guess my first blog post should be a little more about myself. My name is Jacob and I am 26. I hail from Sugarcreek, Oh. Which if any of you don't know where it is just ask your grandparents, it is right in the heart of amish country. Which means tourism is a big deal around here. Sugarcreeks claim to fame is the annual Swiss Festival (as is shown on the sign above) Its a four day shindig which honors the areas Swiss heritage. It has all kinds of great activities from the swiss cheese eating contest, to the swiss cheese auction, and the swiss cheese judging for the local cheesehouses. Notice we have a whole swiss cheese thing going on here.


I work two full time jobs both of which are on ambulances as a paramedic. One is in Steubenville, Oh, and the other is here in Sugarcreek. And if that isn't enough I am also a volunteer firefighter. I am married to a very beautiful, lovely, and very understanding wife. I say understanding because she has to put up with my being gone alot of the time due to work. I work 24 on 48 off at Steubenville, and usually a 24 hour shift at the second job during my 48 hours off. Then the volunteer firefighter gig gets thrown in when I am off from the other two. So our time together is a very rare and precious thing. I actually feel sorry for her because she has to deal with the pager going off usually when she is trying to sleep. Together we are raising two wonderful boys 8 and 6 who just like their mother are very understanding. I know it has to be hard for them that Daddy isn't around very much, I know it is hard on me. But I try to be there as much as I can when time allows. And I know that eventually all my hard work will pay off when I get the coveted position of full time firefighter somewhere, and I can drop down to working just one job. But until that day I am just going to have to work hard, lose sleep, and drink lots of coffee.