Fire academy was, for me, an experience I will never forget. Not only did I learn a lot about fire fighting, I learned a lot about myself.

Winter of 2005 and I’m staying in the dorms at the fire academy. After finishing volunteer academy I decided it was time to pursue firefighting as a career. I decided to stay in the dorms mostly because of the distance I would have to commute, but also for the experience.

After about six months as a volunteer, we had our live-fire training. This was the big day we all looked forward to. This was the day we put on our bunker gear for real and walked into a building on fire.

Welcome to my new blog, tales from the ED. I am a paramedic working in one of the busiest emergency departments in the US. I would like to share stories from life in the ED as well as memories from the fire department and the ambulance. All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.