Bio:
My name is Katie. I am a 20 year old EMT-B and a medic student from the midwest. I have worked for a combination 911/transport ambulance service for almost 2 years now. I swam competitively at a combination of the club, high school, and NCAA levels for 10 years and just recently quit because I decided to pursue a career in paramedicine.


1. What is your current title & some of your previous experience?
I am currently and EMT-B and have not quite 2 years of experience with 2 different mixed 911/transport services. The service change came because of a company buyout.

2. What is your favorite part of working for your department?
I really love my work family. The first company that I worked for was a small mom-and-pop type of company, and so we all became very close. Since all of the employees were absorbed with the buyout, we are all still very close. I have found that after bad runs, I can always go to my work family for comfort and advice. We are there for each other no matter what.

3. How do you define success?
I define success in my field as being happy with what job you are doing, making your patients happy, and caring for the community. None of us are in this job to get rich, so for most of us, success doesn't have a monetary value.

4. What have you learned over your lifetime that you'd like to share with the younger generation?
Hard work will get you a long way. I know that I am one of the youngsters in the world of EMS, and I have seen firsthand the difference between the people who work hard, and the ones who don't. I feel like so many in my generation feel that the world owes them something for simply existing. The world owes us nothing. The only way to be successful in life is to pursue the career you dream of, and work your butt off to achieve your goals. I have discovered that the people who expect to be handed everything will achieve nothing.

5. What is your favorite hobby?
I still remain fairly active with swimming, however I no longer compete. I also knit a lot. I suppose some people would call me an old soul.

6. Who has had the greatest influence on you?
My grandmother definitely had the greatest influence on me. We were very close while I was growing up, and she taught me pretty much everything I know about working hard and being successful in life. Unfortunately, she passed away almost a year ago from Alzheimer's Disease.

7. What will be your legacy? Is the world better because of you/your work/your influence?
I hope that I can make a difference in somebody's life, whether it be somebody I'm close to, or a complete stranger. I hope that should I be lucky enough to have children someday, I can teach them the importance of hard work and selflessness. I really do hope that my work has or someday will make the world a better place.

8. What's the funniest work story/ event you remember?
Lord, there are so many to pick from. One of my favorites would have to be the little old lady my female partner and I went on for a fall. We walked in and her brother and sister were there. They explained to us that she had been down for a while, and they did not have the physical strength to get her off the floor. We walked into her line of sight and she said something to the effect of "Well, I was hoping if you HAD to call 911 they would send me some hot young firefighters! I guess you two will do." I responded with "Well, if you really want me to, I can get them to come out to pick you up." She turned beet red and declined. Refused treatment and transport and all was well once we got her moved back to her armchair.

9. Is there anything I haven't asked about that you would care to comment on?
I don't believe so.

10. What is your favorite dinner & what do you drink with it?
I would have to say chicken wings and onion rings. With a soda.

The ear piercing screech of the firefighter locator beacon coupled with the screaming engine trying to pump the water & hysterical yells of the family & neighbors was a bit overwhelming at the moment. How I wish I could shut off this cacophony... my head was starting to hurt. My right side began to feel very wet... I look over and the snake coils of the water hoses were leaking badly, spraying cold water onto my side. The fountain of water coming out was almost refreshing on this hot, humid, muggy night. Just seconds earlier two firefighters tumbled down a flight a stairs trying to carry a 250+lb man.
 
"You alright man?!" I scream at him, trying to battle through the chaos of the noise. "Yea!! Just check him out, damn it!" He yells back at me. As he tears his mask off, he looks visibly shaken... I would be too if I just somersaulted down a Victorian flight of stairs carrying guy on top of me. I turn my attention down at my knees where the patient that was tossed at me lay. The porch where we were was way too small for everything that it contained. Me, my partner, two firefighters, hoses, bags, a variety of fire equipment I can't even begin to name... and now a body... alive or not was for me to decide.

Moments earlier, I was peacefully munching on my mini-chocolate donuts downing it with a quart of milk... a gas station dinner of champions baby! at 1am on this busy night.... when our peaceful "dinner" gets interrupted by dispatch to a possible house fire "smoke coming from the 3rd story window." The area we were going to is well known for some impressive house fires... the houses are old... all made of wood... and they love to burn. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring... egh whatever... season non-specific, they burned nonetheless. Knowing all of this, there were normally two outcomes... this was either nothing & we were going to be back in service in 10min or we were going to be there for rest of the night. "I hope it's burning man." My partner exclaims. "We EOT in 4 hours, and this would last us through the night!"

EMS is a weird kind of profession... in it other people's misery can occasionally make our life easier... sucks, but that is the way it is. My partner was right. The house was going to burn regardless of whether I wanted for it to burn or not. That decision was already made for us. People are going to get shot... whether I want them to or not. They are going to die... despite even some of my best efforts... that's just the way it is. For us to say, "I hope it's burning man" doesn't mean that we HOPE for houses to catch on fire... it just means that WHEN they catch on fire, that WE be the ones there for it. This is an interesting concept that no one outside of EMS rarely gets.

We get on scene just behind the fire department. Amazing. 1am. When it is a house fire, they beat us there in droves... when it is a "chest pain" call, I'll have the patient half way packaged before they show up. As we stage a block away from the scene, the fire command advises us that this is a working incident with one upstairs bedroom on fire. "Egh I don't see flames... they gonna have that thing out before we even get out of the truck. I'm not getting out." My partner exclaims. I went in the back to set the stretcher up just in case. I throw in: immobilization, monitor, jump bag, suction... drugs? Nah... I'll come back for them if need be. What else do I need? Blankets... nah... it's too hot out. I jump back in the front, and as soon as I do so, fire command advises that they have possibly two to three casualties in the upstairs bedroom and outside behind the house. "Well @#$@#$!" My partner exclaims again. I call for a 2nd truck as we now have a possible "confirmed" patient/s... the city is holding calls so my call is 3rd in line. Typical night indeed.

We get out & drag our heavily packed stretcher across the cobblestones to the front of the house... spectators have gathered far & wide... some look at us with awe... some with disdain for having awoken them at this time of night... others with pure boredom, I guess expecting to see flames or other sorts of excitement. Just as we get up to the porch, two firefighters tumble out of the front door having lost their footing on the stairs...

And now in front of me was a man... a body of a man... lying prone across the coils of the fire hoses... in front of the entire neighborhood. It was so loud... I could barely hear myself think. I begin to turn the patient over with my partner's assistance when the man's pant legs
slide off under my hands... and with his pants came his skin... all of his thigh & leg skin. He was a bigger man... and the fat underneath clearly reached the boiling point... I have never known fat could & would boil out of a human being... but it did... I hope never again to see it... my instinct already told me the verdict... but my brain has not quite caught up. I immediately open his airway & see a charred tongue & throat... pulseless... apneic... the decision became split second... and final. "He is a DOA!" I yell to the firefighter that brought him out... he is standing right next to me, but yelling was all that I could do to get him to hear me. "Are you @#$%ing serious!!!" He yells back. I wave my arms side to side indicating DOA. "NO!!! WTF man... you @#$@#ing work him man!!! WTFFF... NO!" He and the other firefighter angrily shove past me down the stairs off the outside porch ... in front of the entire neighborhood.

It was done. There was nothing more I could have done. I was the only paramedic on scene. I had the possibility of 2 more patients, and
no additional assist units within the foreseeable future. The man was dead. He boiled inside out. I made my decision. A split second decision. The toughest decision... a decision to officially call it what it was and to do it without hesitation, in front of the firefighters that "saved" this man from the burning building... in front of his family... in front of the neighborhood... all in the midst of a chaotic scene. Right decision? Wrong decision? Who cares... the end result is the same. I had two more patients to worry about, and this one became an afterthought... at that moment.

We in EMS are occasionally faced with split second decisions... and we make some of them without hesitation... because when we hesitate at the WRONG moment, people die... when we hesitate at the RIGHT moment, people live. But when is the RIGHT vs the WRONG moment? Who the hell knows... Like a police officer that has someone at gun point, and makes a split second decision to either pull or not to pull the trigger... I held in my hand the power of working the patient or not... work it, and my other more viable patients may die... not work it, and the patient... may have had a chance.... I guess in the end it really is all about chances... about statistics. At this point, all I really needed now were just two blankets... one to cover the body... the other to cover myself, as I was getting cold from getting soaked by the fire hose... but I didn't bring the blankets, I didn't think I would need them... plus I have other patients to worry about... I'll see them wet, and cold... it's not a problem... done it before... will do it again.............

Mitchell Stern, Paramedic

It was September 11th, the day after my sister's birthday. I had been retired since March of 2001, ending a 24 year career in EMS, and I had just opened a restaurant named Uncle Mitche's Kitchen in Travis, Staten Island. As I had been doing since August, I opened the store at 5 AM, and my crew came in at six.

It was a beautiful fall morning, and the drive from one side of Staten Island to the other was fabulous. I got in, started up the grill, and turned on the coffee. And my regulars started to come in. At about 08:50 my wife called the store and told me to put the television on. We all stood in silence as we watched the smoke and flames come out of the tower. The radio was on 10:10 WINS and they stated the fire and police requested all retirees and available
personnel to report to the closest firehouse for mobilization. I told my waitress to hold the fort and I flew home not stopping for any lights, stop signs or any other traffic.

My wife had already pulled my uniform and equipment belt out of the attic when I got home. I donned the uniform and turned on my portable radio which I kept from retirement with blessing from the FDNY Communications Commissioner. I turned to SOD PD and heard the craziness that was on the air. I proceeded to drive to Manhattan. I was on the Gowanus Expressway when my brother-in-law called my cell. "Are you crazy," he said.

 "You don't understand," I responded. "You never worked with these people. This is what's in my heart and soul. I have to go there."

 I understood where he was coming from. I was retired from EMS, I had already fulfilled my obligation, completed my tour, but I knew in my heart it was something I had to do. I hung up the phone and sped down the expressway, through the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Tunnel, and out the other side. I parked right across the street from an area set up for construction personnel and responded to the North tower where they had the unified Command post.

I confronted the chief. "Take care of the treatment sector on West Street," he ordered.

So I proceeded to West Street, and it was about that time that the second plane struck the North Tower. I found an ambulance and was directing the triage and priority treatment of the injured that were streaming to the ambulances. I performed these duties for what seemed eternity. Time just seemed to stop. It was bizarre. One of the EMT's ask me to enter the ambulance and assist with a female burn victim. I jumped in and started working. We heard a low rumble, and then smoke and dirt began to fill the ambulance. The EMT said, "The tower is collapsing!" I had thought we were far enough away and that the tower would tilt back where the plane had struck, but it didn't. It was like
watching a slow motion 8 mm film. The ambulance started being struck with debris. I was sitting in the captain's chair attempting to secure an airway when suddenly the roof began to crush down on us. My helmet took most of the force, but I would find out later that my neck endured some compaction. We had to get low, so I lay down with the EMT on the bench seat. Several minutes passed, then we heard movement outside the truck. Someone was working on the door. And a moment later a firefighter was able to crowbar the door open enough to got us out. 

We ran to the American Express building. It was 9:59 AM. I didn't feel hurt, and I was breathing okay, so I went began to help with search and rescue on the pile. After many hours I went home. 
 
When I got home my uniform was covered in white and gray material. My nose felt like I had been doing concrete work. My wife said my speech was slurred, and she suggested that I see Dr. Tambour. So I went to see him. He sent me to what was then St. Vincent's and they discovered several compressions of my cervical spine and a linear fracture. I was admitted and went to surgery. I came out with rods in my posterior cervical spine and wearing a halo. I was discharged around September 30th.
 

Disposable Heroes was picked up for optioning rights by Snap Independent Features LLC. of Hollywood, CA. Its script was taken from the book Disposable Heroes by Dan Heidt which was published in the year 2000.

Dan Heidt is a man that helped changed the protocol of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), fights his way of being a drug dealer to graduating medic school with honors and finally earning a name for himself on the crime ridden as well as poverty stricken streets of Harlem.

His first night on the job, Dan is trained by "The Godfather of EMS," Tom Giorgi. Tom, with a sink or swim attitude to his training, has Dan working late into the night. Figuring throw the new jacks right into the fire. No sense babysitting them only to find out they can’t cut it.

The story then flashes back to Dan as a younger man running down the street away from the police, carrying a bag of guns for a budding organized crime syndicate. He is caught and forced to reevaluate his life. Dan Heidt decides against his wife's wishes and becomes a Harlem Medic to give back to the community that he once took for granted in his criminal past.

Dan exceeds expectations, both by avoiding prison and by graduating school with honors to become a Harlem Medic. With the new hours he is forced to work, he barely finds time to see his daughters.

Back to present time, Dan is working late on his second night and meets Howard, the bureaucratic, overweight lieutenant that believes that the system and the rules are more important than saving lives. Dan works night after night for years until he becomes one of the top medics in Harlem. He is soon respected for fighting Howard and doing whatever it takes to save lives; While Howard consistently tries to break him into following the rules blindly. Dan fights Howard at every turn and, eventually, in the battle of politics and the street, brings it
home.

Everything in Dan's life becomes the job, and slowly he realizes that the man he was is lost on the streets of Harlem and on the desk of Howard. Disposable Heroes is a story of EMS that takes you onto the streets of Harlem with gritty imagery, and hard-hitting, real life look into what the saviors of EMS see every day.

1. When did you decide to write your book?
I decided to write my book after being in Harlem for about 4 ½ years. I was actually up to chapter 12 when I left the service. I even knew how it was going to end. But history has a way of changing things doesn’t it? I loved being a Harlem medic and people needed to know exactly what we live with and go through in order to serve them. When I told people I worked in Harlem that was usually enough. To cause them to think, when I told them some of the stories I could tell they didn’t believe me. In my opinion the general public is vastly uneducated as to what a paramedic in an overnight urban setting is constantly bombared with. Writing was my way of purging myself from what became repetitive concentrated misery. And re-enforceing the good things we accomplish.

2. How long did it take?
The book actually took 13 months to write. Writing is an outlet for me. So I do everything on pen and paper first. Burning out two pens in one night writing into the sunrise I would describe that as a good night writing. I would then bring it to the computer for fine tuning. Guess that was simple enough. I would like to mention I took 11 months off during the writing of this book. When I pick the pen back up it was as if it was still warm in my hand. To this day no one has been able to tell me correctly when I stopped writing for 11 months. I believe that is smooth.

3. Did you ever hit 'writers block'?
Writer’s block is an impossiblity for me. There is always something I can write about. The biproduct of working as a Harlem medic left me in a state that I call functionally insane. Sanity is a one trick pony. After all, all you get from it is straight rational thinking. I just don’t think circular . I think spherical and I don’t even have to be in the center of that sphere. I can think in pictures and then paint those pictures with words. I think outside the box and everything is possible for me. I’m only limited by my imagination which is quite vast in my opinion. I don’t just write EMS books I write about everything and anything. I even have three unpublished short stories for children. This was part of a writing course I took. I was given a picture and told to create a story from it. I am incorporating these stories into my hobby book.Titled “Enter the White.” 255 pages into this and I can finish it tomorrow or I can take it all the way to 900+ pages. It has been previewed as a modern Alice in Wonderland.

4. Did you expect it to become a movie?
This is such a great question. Because, the core of my co-workers that was in on this with me right from day 1 thought this is great stuff Dan. And many of them went to great length for me to get their stories into Disposable Heroes. Others I had to promise I would get their stories into No Back Up. The reality is I had so much material Disposable Heroes could have went to 600 pages. And I could have had 3 other partners that were edited. So as for a movie absolutely yes we had a lot of laughs over this. Arguing who would play who in a movie. Orginially I was Kiefer Sutherland playing my role. Morgan Freeman or Samuel L Jackson would have been Sy. In our dream cast there were endless possibilites. You may see one of my partners who goes by Brooklyn Medic on facebook. Constantly breaking my chops, he will just put in the comments box out of nowhere Lou Diamond Philips. That’s our inside joke.

I would also like to add to this my partner Bobby said to me recently I keep picturing you sitting on a rig in the projects. Freezing on a winter morning waiting for the sun to come up. And asking yourself where the hell is job leading too? At this point I come up and tell you publishers as well as movie production companies are going to be scrambling for you. Only for you to tell me get the hell out of here whacko.

I told Bob he was wrong in that regard. We (me and my partners) knew we had some great material here. And we were gonna take the high road all the way till the end. So yes call it a dream still in the works. But I did expect my book to hit the big screen someday. And the
ultimate dream is an NYPD Blue version of Harlem EMS. You know Sunday nights on NBC. Dream big, make a big reality. That seems to make sense doesn’t it?

5. Is there any 'secrets' that you can divulge? Like who is doing the soundtrack? Or anything else?
What I can tell you is that the soundtrack will be composed by Alan Roy Scott. Mr. Scot has a highly impressive resume. I would like to list just the tip of the iceberg on some of Mr. Scott’s accomplishments. And this could easily take up the whole page. Some of Mr. Scott’s musical partners include, but are not limited to Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bolton, Desmond Child, the Go-Go’s. Faith Evans, Delbert McClinton, R.E.M, Andy Summers (from the Police), Bonnie Raitt, The Scoprions and even Burt Bacharach as well as Luther Vandross. Celine Dion, Ray Charles, Rick Springfield, Pat Benatar, Patti LaBelle, The Neville Brothers, Peter Frampton, Styx and this is not even half of all the names I could run off.

Mr. Scott has enjoyed over 20 years of success of writing songs for major artist, films and television programs. Some of this his blockbuster films include, Top Gun, Coming to Amercia, The First Wives Club and FAME the tv show. He has even done the soundtrack for As the World Turns. We look forward to adding Disposable Heroes to this quite magnificant resume.

I would like to add my personal suggestion. The song called “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. There was a movie that took that music then Chuck D put an original rap over it. To me this was total genius. And that is the type of creative originality I am looking for in regards to a movie that is set in Harlem.

6. Who is the company that is producing it? How would you describe that relationship?
The company is Snap Independent Features, they are a small production company based out of Los Angeles. The main people in the company are Samuel Morris and Shawn Bittar. I wish that I could talk to them more often, for example they are currently working on a project in Florida and due to that I don't get information as fast as I would like. But I'm confident in our relationship and look forward to having a long and productive working relationship with Snap Independent Features.

At times this is difficult for me because Hollywood is much different than the instant action world that most EMS workers live in. Hollywood is much more deliberate and the average movie from conceptualtization until the time you see it. Averages 4 years so in this regard I am actually being fast tracked.

7. Is there anything I haven't asked, that you would like to add?
Snap is currently in production in Florida, they started principal photography on August 15th teaming with Short Bus productions on a horror/comedy entitled "The Lighthouse" They hope to have it completed by November for AFM.(American Film Market) They wrote the screenplay as well with the owner of Short Bus Productions.

We wish them success on this as it can only help as we move onto production of Disposable Heroes.

The following is a synopsis of how I chose EMS as a form of redemption. From a criminal past. The change in the protocol that is referenced below is when 16 Victor volunteered for a 5th floor difficulty breathing. The patient in said job was in full blown Pulmonary Edema who cardiac arrested right into my arms.

Dr. Trowers had taught me central lines and this is what I did for this patient. The result was a patient who was clearly flat lined to a living viable patient upon arrival in the Emergency Room. Imagine that I volunteered for a job I was closer too. Not a trauma or a shooting or anything glorious. Not a baby job, just you’re run of the mill dif breather. All the way up on the 5th floor. Of course there was no elevator and this patient was close to 300 lbs.

That central line that I put in led to the change in protocol where you can now go intraosseous on adult cardiac arrest. That would be by drilling a small hole below the knee cap and establishing a way of delivering the needed medications. To save someone’s life this is a last resort when an endo tracheal tube becomes ineffective and full. As well as when there is no viable intravenous access. The central line is considered a very invasive surgical procedure.

If you miss you will collapse the patient’s lung. I had limited options at that time. I made a decision I saved a life and then I bought a big time suspension for that. Between getting arrested and that central line there is much to be told. EMS is a forever changing canvas painted daily. The same old same old is never the same old same old. And I really had to live this in order to write it.

Many of us took pictures and we would share them with the ER doctors. Who would use these in slide show lectures for future paramedics and students. As well as CME (Continuing Medical Education Credits).

Some I used in my book. Even in black and white they can be very graphic. And a couple even include myself working. My book is the cumlination of getting that white patch that once you sew it on and the ink finally dries. Becomes a part of you for life. Getting through paramedic school was the hardest thing I ever did in my life. And never and I do STRESS and mean NEVER. Have I ever wanted anything more than that white and orange NYC EMS Paramedic patch. The book was supposed to end with me working at the world series with Jason. In 2000 it was the best Yankees vs The Mets. But I think I mentioned something about history changing my plans. I will also mention that being this book was published in 2000 my 9/11 story is told in No Back Up. Published in 2004 I leave Sy as a cliff hanger is Disposable Heroes by design. Because I already know I’m going to do No Back Up which is his story.

Taking it back to the old school. My third book will soon be completed and it absolutely positively will be my last EMS book. People who follow your blogs already know about Harlem Knights. The story of Tom Giorgi and the happy ending his book will have. After
Congresswoman Nita Lowey presented my first partner with the Silver Star. 46 years after his Vietnam battle. That took place on the same hill as Mel Gibson’s “We Were Soldiers.”

I look forward in the coming years to showing my true diversity with Enter the White. As well as other projects I already have outlined. But after Tom, what better man could I possibly write about?

Causes I support my A number one favorite cause. Is Safe Haven for Newborns. A national organization that is not an in your face pro-life site. Rather it is a viable option to abortion for women who find themselves unable or unwilling to care for the baby they are carrying. My connection to this organization is Caren Peet. Who I refer to as an angel on earth. She finds good loving homes for neglecticed, abandoned and abused babies. I could think of no higher cause than this.

My second daughter Danielle suffers from Autism so Autism awareness is a no brainer for me. I also believ real men wear pink and some of my family members have succumbed to breast cancer. I have walked for the cure more than once.

I am truly an animal lover and in the past have done volunteer work. At local animal shelters and I live by this saying. “I don’t trust people that the animals don’t like.”

Finally I am fanatically patriotic I actually have a flag that flew over our Embassy in Iraq on my birthday January 8th. As well as my 9/11 flag. Anything that supports our troops as well as Veterans past and present has my fullest support.

One of my proudest accomplishments is that 16 Victor became a teaching rig. And I had the greatest of respect for some of the military Special Forces students. That we preceptored when they did their clinical rotations in Harlem. This would include the Navy Seals, as well as other branch serviceman such as Green Berets but I got to admit. I have a certain affection for the Seals. That’s just master of the obvious stuff. This one was really fun I hope the readers enjoy it.
Dan-0 3908 NYC EMS/FDNY 18Y1/16V1 Harlem Family

http://1ghettomedic.com