Stay n Play or Load n Go
“I’m here to see if I’ll survive Fire Brigade” says Brad as he catches Lucy in the parking lot going into the training building. “Pool on Tuesdays, Bowling on Wednesdays, and this on Thursdays…that’s enough.”
She laughed in agreement as they badged into the building. Setting down her duffle bag and hanging her coat on the back of the chair, she slumps down in the chair with her legs outstretched under the table. She very carefully sipped her coffee which scorched her tongue.
The teacher, Mr. Cook, was in his 50’s, broad chest, lean muscles. He always wore cowboy boots and had a chuckle for every comment. He even chuckled when he heard them whine as they suffered during the strenuous live fire drills. Of course, he was never one to just stand back and watch. He usually got bunkered down and right into the line of action for the duration of all the drill teams sometimes without a break all day.
The morning started off as usual with a daily safety topic and the Plan of the Day briefing. Then Mr. Cook broke off the classroom into groups. 1st Responders practiced taking vital signs on other students, doing CPR and using the defibrillator on the mannequin, and finally getting a neck brace on a victim and strapping him to a gurney.
Mr. Cook is as good as it gets. Sweet, kind. Never spoke badly of anyone. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough for Lucy who was trying her best not to fall asleep in her chair. Mr. Cook continued the class with more briefings about in-depth response to fires and the passing criteria for the upcoming drill. Lucy, try as she might, could not keep her eyes from rolling. Shifting weight, taking off her sweatshirt, being fidgety, none of these things helped. So she spoke up, to try to stay awake. She interjected whenever her thoughts allowed it. She did it for her benefit not for others. But no one noticed. No one minded. At least to her it seemed no one snickered or got tired of it.
You can feel the anticipation in the group when they broke up for lunch. Waiting for the tone out and page announcement stating the drill has begun. Brad looked at his watch over and over. Lucy, still fidgeted and fought to stay awake but with more of a nervousness.
***to be continued***