Steven Velásquez - Granting "Sirenity"

Dec. 15, 2019 Several years ago, we sat across a table from each other. She, a young paramedic (and nursing student) of a different generation, was trying to figure out whether I should live or die. Re-emerging into the field of EMS after venturing off into corporate America and the world of IT (information technology) for several years, I had renewed my paramedic credentials and was meeting my new colleagues at Holy Name Hospital MICU . Like feral dogs displaying dominance, Meg and the rest of the staff surrounded me, sniffed and checked under my tail. They vetted and questioned to see who I know, did my audio match my video; " should we allow him to live or die ?"  Newly minted NAEMT AMLS Instructors (Advanced Medical Life Support) at UMDNJ Thank you Tracey Loscar I know, tough crowd right? Not really. They didn't behave any differently than all the other co-workers in all the other places my career had taken me to over the years. Perhaps a little more exclu...

Your patient is one of the dozens your system will encounter this week who's had an adverse reaction to an opiate ingestion. The patient is revived by law enforcement prior to your arrival with intranasal administration of Naloxone ® (Narcan) , the popular opiate antagonist cited in every news feed in the U.S. The rest of the call is a ground ball, an all too familiar, routine transfer to the local hospital where your patient is likely a frequent consumer of health services. Transferring Care     When your team arrives, there are several ambulances in the ER bays dropping off, picking up, doing the business of their trade. You roll your stretcher inside with your now awake, and visibly annoyed, patient (annoyed because you ruined his high), get him registered, and attempt to give the triage nurse your patient report. A neighboring volunteer EMS agency is also giving report on their patient (completely unrelated incidents) when their "leader" happens to overhear your...

Steven P. Velasquez, NREMTP    A tired paramedic completed his night shift and greeted the beautiful summer morning with a smile -- and strong coffee. His unit was close to the home of his seven year-old daughter who lives with her mommy. He called the mother to see if they were busy. If not, perhaps he could spend the day with his munchkin. She agreed and they chose a venue somewhere between their locations, a diner with a retro 50's theme and customers to match. The place was busy, jammed, filled with what looked like a casting call for Ron Howards' 1985 movie " Cocoon ." Walking through the door, a delicate ear could hear a gentle and homogenous hum, an alliance of sound, a mix of atherosclerosis and Elvis filling the air (and apparently rendering the tired paramedic invisible).     Tired as he was, and eager to read the book under his left arm, he moved to the rear of the diner and aimed his large body...

MIC 3 Give Me the Air! (pronounced as mick) by Steven P. Velasquez November 11, 2012 "MIC 3 Urgent!! Give me the air!!"  (A paramedic's voice panting and confused, only able to process the name of one of the two intersecting streets they're on)   "I'm on Central and... (long pause)  I'm just east of 1st Street....  (another pause)  MIC 3 I'm on Central Ave...." (radio silence) Dispatcher - "Units clear the air! MIC 3, your location!?  Are you injured!?"  (The sound of a microphone keying up, but only labored breathing is heard).   Dispatcher - "MIC 3 repeat your last!!" This is the kind of radio transmission that no one in public safety wants to hear.  A unit, clearly in distress and disoriented is calling for help but can't clear their thoughts enough to articulate a clear message.  Their vehicle has been struck by another, at a...

by Steven P. Velasquez June 20, 2012 Grumble, grumble, f'in', frigga, frassa, stupid privacy Nazi's!!!!!  Why can't we photograph what we see in the hospital?  Sue this you idiots!  This privacy crap and hysteria about photographing in certain places deserves a counter suit!  I'm suing these nuts for robbing us (the people - as in "We the People") of our God-given (that's right I said it!) right to humor!  Humor is good medicine and I believe certain people are put on this Earth to provide a healthy dose of humor -- for the rest! Some will provide humor as their choice of career (Billy Crystal).  Some will provide social commentary (Jackie Mason).  Some will act (Robin Williams).  Some will pretend they have what it takes to be president (see current occupant)(snort).  And some... some will just be themselves and bring laughter to us all by their very, and often pathetic, existence.  Some people, due to their lack of sophistication...

by Steven P. Velasquez May 29, 2012 I love this job. Where else does a person punch in and get briefed by their boss, manager, supervisor or in my case, chief -- that there's danger in the air and that we may be sent right into it? A shooting the other night turned into a homicide and our intel says to be ready for expected retaliation, particularly between this street and that ave., so watch your six. Dangerous sounding right? I ag ree. But having lived the corporate life with all of its' consistencies, I choose the uncertainty, the disorder, the calamities inherent. My job is never boring. I call my co-workers and esteemed colleagues brothers -- and sisters; and now that I'm getting older, many of them are like my sons and daughters too. My job provides perspective .  I don't just watch the seasons change, I live them, I experience them. I don't just read about the weather, nor watch it on T.V., I'm enveloped in it.  My job puts me in the midst of t...