Two ‘firsts’ in one trip: First time to San Francisco and first time driving an ambulance.
This is an excerpt from my book, ‘The Adventures of an Air Force Medic.” It’s based on my two years as an air force medic in northern California back in the early ’80s.
Lt. Sharon Taylor called down the medical ward hallway, “Sean, Elen wants you. She’s in the ER.”
“OK, on my way,” I replied and headed downstairs to the emergency room.
I walked and wondered, ‘What’s Elen want me for? What’s she doing down there anyway? She hardly ever hangs in the ER; it’s not like her …”
I turned right onto the big wide emergency room hallway and saw Elen standing at the other end near the big external doors. I made my way towards her.
I stopped a few paces away and listened to Elen engage in lively conversation with one of the ER doctors, “Yeah, I got someone coming down now,” then she saw me, “Here he is.”
Elen gave me a compassionate look and spoke in an affected manner. It surprised me; not her usual forceful personality. She asked, “Sean, have you got an ambulance license?”
I told the truth, “Yes.” Here’s the interesting part, I had an ambulance license, but I’d never driven an ambulance before. I attended some short class, took an easy test and ‘boom’ an hour later I had the license. I never thought I’d use it. They told me ‘we want all the med techs to have an ambulance license, just in case.’ I figured ‘just in case’ would never happen. I figured wrong.
Elen continued, “Good. Are you willing to volunteer to drive a patient to Letterman? We need a driver.”
“Sure.” I replied.
Elen dropped her shoulders and took a short step backwards as if hit by a strong gust. Then she spoke, “Sean, you’re kidding me? You’re not going to complain? You ain’t going to make up some excuse why you can’t go? You’re just going to do it; just like that?”
“Yeah, why not?”
Elen defended her surprise, “Because you just got off an eight hour day shift; because, you won’t get back until after ten o’clock tonight; because it’s Friday afternoon and most people have plans for Friday evening; because everyone else we asked said no. Don’t you ever complain? Don’t you ever say No?”
I have to admit, I appreciated Elen’s roundabout compliment, but the bottom line is, why argue? I suppose my thinking went something like this, ‘Elen, my boss, asked me to do it. That’s the same as telling me. So, I could make excuses, argue, carry on, but in the end, I’d be going anyway, so why not cut out all the middle drama and get on with the task?’
It never entered my mind to say no. I didn’t know you could say no.
The emergency room team loaded up the patient into the back of the ambulance. A nurse rode in the back area with the patient and I took my position up front in the driver’s seat.
Before leaving I studied the map. We were off for Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco about one hundred miles south west of Sacramento. I’d be ticking off a couple of ‘firsts’ – first time to San Francisco and first time driving an ambulance.
Mather Air Force Base sits east of Sacramento so my first challenge meant dealing with the Friday afternoon Sacramento traffic and getting onto highway eighty. Once on the highway, I continued heading south west ticking off the towns, Davis – tick, Vacaville – tick, Fairfield – tick, Vallejo – tick, across the Carquinez Bridge into Crocket – tick, Richmond – tick, Berkeley – tick, Oakland – tick, and finally, across the Oakland Bay Bridge into San Francisco. Once highway eighty dumped me into the city, I entered the mayhem of Friday evening San Francisco traffic and then ‘noodled’ my way due west to the other side of the city. During frequent traffic light stops I’d turn on the interior light, study the map and follow the road signs for “The Presidio.” The Presidio became my beacon. Letterman is located on the Presidio which is the big military installation at the San Francisco end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I drove onto the Presidio and saw signs for ‘Letterman Army Medical Center.’ I remember driving on the road parallel to the hospital thinking, ‘Now that’s a hospital!’ The grandiose and imposing structure had the majesty of a battleship dominating the high seas, whereas, in comparison, our eighty bed hospital at Mather had the feel of an outboard motor patrol boat in dry-dock. Letterman – the ‘Ohio Stadium’ of hospitals. Mather – the high school gymnasium size.
We made a successful patient transfer and drop off. And, I drove the ambulance back that evening to its home base at Mather … intact.
Yes, I took my very first trip to San Francisco in an ambulance, not as a patient but as a driver. I entered the city in style, not in a limo, but in another flashy type of vehicle, an ambulance. Thanks to my time as an air force medic, I got a free trip to San Francisco in an ambulance.
Like the article? Then you’ll probably enjoy the ‘Sneak Peek‘ chapter from my upcoming book. It’s the follow-on to my current book, ‘The Adventures of an Air Force Medic.’ Get email updates and the Sneak Peek Chapter by clicking the button below.
Image by Annalise Batista from Pixabay
