Stonewall Jackson Volunteer Rescue Squad

Ambulance door
Originally uploaded by pvjaffe.

Tuesday night crew Rocks !

"A simple call" Tuesday night duty / 02-01-05

A call comes over the radio
"seizures"
We get in the unit and respond lights and sirens
We arrive on scene
Walk through a door into a very messy apartment
The smoke detector is beeping
A teen is sitting at a table to my left
A child / girl is sitting on the floor straight ahead
A large woman is sitting on a box to my right
I see movement down the hallway
I am aware of how trashed this apartment is
The adult to my right looks disinterested
I realize I'm staring at her because her breasts are huge
The smoke detector is still beeping
I am aware that the teen to my left is not concerned about the girl
The child on the floor does not look sick
They want us to take her to the hospital
I can just see into the kitchen where plates and pans are piled up
The mother is not the guardian
I wonder what the rest of the kitchen looks like
The grandmother is the guardian
The grandmother is not here we have to call her
There are things all over the floor
My eyes follow the trash all the way down a hallway
I see movement again and wonder
Who is taking care of all these children
The grandmother will meet us at the hospital
The mother says very little the whole time
I want to ask her why she is not the guardian
I don't ask, I really want to but I don't
I don't comprehend this intricate yet simple family
we arrive at the hospital and I wish them well.

We get another call.