Old and Crusty

Anyone who's anyone in this game has seen "Bringing Out The Dead," starring Nick cage and directed by Scorsese. The movie is based on the book by Joe Connelly.

I found out when starting my medic class that one of the characters in the book is based on someone who currently works as a Medic at one of the places where we do ambulance rotations. There are lots of stories about this man, who we all know only as Marcus. Most recently, I heard him described as a "curmudgeon." I had spoken to him in the past about non-EMS related things and had thought that this was a fair description of his personality. We just didn't see eye-to-eye on things.

This past weekend I worked my first ever tour with this man, and was delightfully surprised. He was a pleasant enough individual, and true to the movie, some of the qualities portrayed shone through quite clearly. For instance: he drives sllloooowwww. Case in point: On our response to the Unconscious, I'm pretty sure we didn't exceed 7 mph.... with a clear path ahead of us... and our lights and sirens going.........! I just have to say... I understand being cautious,... but why stop at the green lights?

All in all, we only did one job, so I reserve whatever judgment I have on his performance as a Medic and a teacher... though I'm sure of this now: whatever criticisms I may have of him, he will never find out. There's only so much you can disagree about with a person who's been working the streets since 1978.