Steven Velásquez - Granting "Sirenity"

by Steven P. Velasquez March 3, 2014 This past weekend, my daughter's mother gave us a complimentary pair of tickets to a NJ Devil's hockey game. I'm sure I don't need to embarrass myself by offering gruesome details of financially difficult times, we all have them, some worse than others. Anyhow, for a family that tries to make small things count, since small things are often all they've got, Little B and I tried to make the best of it - on a budget. So, instead of the overpriced foods of the arena, we were going to pack stuff from home and have us a Newark-style picnic. We prepared cold cut sandwiches on Portuguese rolls, wrapped them in foil and headed to the Pru (the Prudential Center Arena ). She was bouncing with enthusiasm as she has blossomed into a devout Devil's fan, and she was spending quality time with her favorite father. When we arrived in Newark and found parking. We walked to the Pru at a rapid pace (it was really cold and my head was ch...

by Steven P. Velasquez Feb 13, 2014 Originally outlined (but not finished) in January 2011, I never actually put the finishing touches on this little gem. Today I'm sitting, quietly composing its' final draft, in the Yellow Rose Diner in Keyport, NJ, as we get clobbered with yet another of the endless snowstorms of 2014. I reached back into my archives and thought you might appreciate another of the Medic of La Mancha's not-so heroic tales. A decade has passed since I last heard so many friends and co-workers speak with such granular detail about somewhere they were, something they saw -- or something they endured.   Two 110-story office towers had collapsed in lower Manhattan after being struck by fuel laden jet-liners in a terrorist attack.  Another plane flew directly into the Pentagon and a fourth dove into a field in Shanksville, PA after a valiant struggle between unarmed passengers and the blood-thirsty animals aboard. America, and freedom-loving people eve...

by Steven P. Velasquez January, 16, 2014 We responded for a report of an unconscious person and when we arrived, were updated this would be for a pronouncement of death. Pretty routine event, and with (it would appear) greater frequency during the holiday season. " Meah " we shrugged, " at least this will be an easy chart " and bring us about a half-hour closer to shift change. He laid in bed upright in the cold, dimly lit room. Without getting into grizzly detail, it was a safe assumption his passing was recent by his presentation. Unlike so many other DOA's we respond to, his home was impeccably clean, disturbingly clean even. I poked around looking for anything we could include in our patient care report like his medications etc... A police officer was at my side when we opened his cabinets (sometimes this requires more bravery than one might imagine). The sight in the cabinets now punctuated the pristine apartment we were scouring through. Like...

by Steven P. Velasquez December 30, 2013 Recently, an overnight call in a nursing home provided a much-needed shot in the arm for me. I often write about the issues we face in the pre-hospital world like being underpaid, underrecognized and often undermined (sometimes) by people who perform our type of work for free (volunteers). Sometimes I and other writers highlight the blunders and failed expectations and place an accusatory, blaming beam of light squarely upon them, those pesky volunteers. The irony there is that when one works in EMS in New Jersey, unlike any other career, they most often begin as a volunteer EMT before moving into career departments or becoming paramedics or other allied health professionals. Volunteering is a sort of proving ground, a place to cut one's teeth and learn this trade, before moving into a career position (or continuing a life of dedicated volunteerism). So the discomfort lies in being so frustrated at the very system that produced - YOU. N...

by Steven P. Velasquez December 31, 2011 Over the past few weeks, the EMS community in NJ has once again, endured the pain of having to bury a brother paramedic.  The details of why, how, ages etc… are irrelevant, for they all can be answered with the adjectives “painful,” “tragic,” “too soon,” “saddening” or “unnecessary.”  The reality is that we now have yet another, empty seat at our table.  Every calendar year ends with the Holiday Season, a time for celebration, family and joy.  For us in emergency services, the inverse is often true and can often weigh very heavily upon us.  The daily exposure to tragedy and pain can exact a sometimes deadly toll. Thus I encourage all my brother's and sister's – to take steps to actively become “our brother’s keeper” and let none of “our family” suffer in silence.  To borrow a saying from the Department of Homeland Security , “If you see something, say something.”   Strangely, even when w...

by Steven P. Velasquez October 3, 2013   Dear John - the CVS Jerk-Off,   I visited your establishment today in search of some personal products. I'm wearing conservative, business casual clothing just to set the scene correctly.    Perhaps I was there too long or strolled through an aisle too many. Your not-so-stealthy attempt to follow me with your beady eyes was betrayed by your shark fin-like, bald head that transiently appeared and vanished and appeared again in the aisles beside me as you seemingly sought to catch the brown guy "in the act."   When I got to the check out, you asked if I had a card. I replied (in fluent and articulate English) that I had lost my keys and thus, my card and asked you for a replacement. You confirmed my suspicion and secured your new nickname of John - The CVS Jerkoff when you passed me my new cards, unfolded the application and handed it to me - Spanish side up.   I won't get too dirty here or...

by Steven P. Velasquez Sept. 28, 2013 He sat in seat 11 at the window before the right wing (no pun intended) of the aircraft. The flight attendants smiled and silently illustrated the narrated safety directions. An American Airlines aircraft was parked beside him awaiting their passengers and cargo while the " Gate Gourmet " trucks fed the craft from the ground below. His plane began to taxi passing " Air India ," " Virgin ," and one plane with the NY JETS logo on the runway. He had navigated the roadway beneath the aircraft dozens of times in his mobile intensive care unit, but this time was different, this time he was a passenger and not a paramedic. As the attendant, who remarkably looked like his daughter Nicolette, gestured to the exits, his eyes welled up with tears and he wasn't quite sure why. Nicolette Velasquez teaches a CPR class for the deaf using American Sign Language (ASL)     The plane briskly accelerated and i...