November 1982-1983--Recruit School at Fire Station #4 (Haymarket)
1983-1984--Wagon 3 at Station #3Fire and details to Medic 3 at Station #3Rescue
(both Dumfries-Triangle)
1984-1985--Engine 15 at Station #15 (Evergreen)
1985--Medic 15 at Station #15 (Evergreen) with partner Steve Kersse
1985-1986--Wagon 14 at Station #14 (Lake Ridge) (OWLVFD)
1986--Dispatcher at Communications (Manassas)
1987--Senior Dispatcher at Communications (moved to County Complex Ct. and computer-aided dispatch or CAD system)
This was the first firetruck that I ever drove. It had a Detroit Diesel engine and an Allison transmission. Engine 3 (1974 Hahn) was the reserve piece of apparatus. The 3/4 boots to the left, just below the pressurized water extinguisher or "water can" are mine. You can see my fire coat hanging from the side grab bar. Our Mattydales were 250' and 350' 1-1 3/4 hose with Task Force Tips. Our airpacks were MSA with 30 minute steel bottles. The bucket seats in the back were open to the weather. It got cold and wet and everything else sitting there.
This piece of apparatus is now in reserve status with OWLVFD. It is a 1985 E-One Hurricane. This is very similar to the Wagon 14 we used in Lake Ridge in 1985-1986.
"B" Shift (EMS Supervisor was Lt. Carl Lindgren)
January 1988--EMS Recruit School #1 (finished 2nd out of 5) at Fire Station #9 (Walter Reed Drive)
--scored "Exceeds" on annual review
February 1988--Medic 75 at Station #5 (Crystal City) with partner Joe Bryant (this was the beginning of the 5 Medic Unit system with old Medic 74 being replaced by Medic 70 and Medic 72)
--scored "Satisfactory" on trainee review
January 1989--Medic 76 at Station #6 (Falls Church) with partner Greg Craddock
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual review
1990--Roving Medic at various Stations with various partners
--scored "Exceeds" on annual review
1991--Medic 72 at Station #2 (Ballston) with partner Randy Kelly
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual review
1992--Medic 70 at Station #10 (Rosslyn) with partner Mike Reingruber
1992--Medic 79 at Station #9 (Walter Reed Dr.) with partner Greg Craddock
--scored "Exceeds" on annual review
1993-1994--Medic 79 at Station #9 (Walter Reed Dr.) with partner Claude Conde
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual review; served as acting EMS Supervisor once
October 31, 1994--Fire Recruit School #47 (finished 2nd out of 15) at Fire Training Academy (S. Taylor St.)
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual review
1994-1995-Engine 70 at Station #10 (Rosslyn) under Captain Mike Smith
--scored "Exceeds" on annual review
1995-1996-Engine 73 at Station #3 (Cherrydale) under Captain Paul Parrish
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual review
1996--Medic 79 at Station #9 (Walter Reed Dr.) with partner Claude Conde (HazMat Team)
1997--EMS Educational Specialist at Fire Training Academy (S. Taylor St.) under Captains Gray and Moultrie
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual review
"C" Shift (EMS Captain was Ed Hannon and then others)
January 18, 1998--Medic 110 at Station #10 (Rosslyn) with partner Kenny Sawyer
August 2, 1998-November 13, 2002--Engine 108 at Station #8 (Hall's Hill) under Captain Richard Slusher (includes trying Daywork Shift 2 from August 29, 1999 to February 27, 2000, which didn't work out)
--scored "Satisfactory" on four annual reviews; served as acting Fire Captain once
November 13, 2002--2005--Medic 106 at Station #6 (Falls Church City) under EMS Captain David Hehr with partner Kris Aspen (injured January 29, 2003, disabled February 29, 2004, and then was retired on Service-Connected Disability in 2005)
--scored "Satisfactory" on annual reviews
We were invited to the White House for a Christmas tour in 2001. Post September 11th it wasn't easy to get in. But since we were rescuers at the Pentagon, President George W. and Laura Bush made an exception. It would have been nice to see them there, but they were at Camp David that day.
We all piled on a bus meeting at the Training Academy. Everyone brought cameras along. After touring the White House we visited the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse.
"Old Yeller", as I call her, was a good firetruck. Her diesel was a Cummins 6 cylinder. She had an Allison MTB-747 automatic transmission that I liked to downshift, because she was underbraked. Her pump was a front mount Godiva made of ceramic with a Barber-Coleman pressure control device. They are very finicky. You have to treat them just right to get water out of them. You have to understand these babies or you'll learn to hate them. She was originally a partially open/enclosed cab piece, and got refurbished to a fully enclosed cab piece (Cyclone with Vista Roof) in the 90's.
I was the first to pump and drive her on "C" shift! She pumps great! The pump is a 1250 gpm Hale mid-mount that doesn't complain a bit. Getting water out of this one is not a challenge at all. The diesel is a Detroit with a Jake brake, which I keep on "high". She came in in August 2000, while Paul Hollis (our regular "cruise director") was on vacation. I was the back-up driver--lucky me. This silly thing has two "wrap-around" foam tanks--one for class A and one for class B. Can't say we ever use them. We got a red one in 2002 with only one foam tank..
Left to right: FF/EMT Trainee Kris Aspen, Engine Driver FF/EMT Paul "Paulie" Hollis (our "Cruise Director"), FF/Paramedic Mike "Mimi" Konoza, Captain Richard Slusher
August 1983--Second degree burns to face and knees and heat exhaustion from Woodbridge Apartments fire (3 Alarms)--the fire rolled over our heads and got behind us, and we weren't using protective hoods or bunker pants back then (soon afterwards our 3/4 rubber boots were replaced by bunker pants/boots and we were issued hoods--glad I could help cause the change!)
Spring 1984--Neck sprain from ceiling collapse at house fire on Ellipse Drive (my neck has never been the same since--I have arthritis in it now and have to go to the chiropractor on a regular basis)
February 1989--Lower back strain from ambulance wreck (the guy that hit us totaled his car--he had come at us going the wrong way on a "One Way" street...the judge didn't charge him, because the driver was injured, too)
Summer 1989--Lower back re-injured (physical therapy was better this time)
early 1990's--Two sprained ankles from hips/back being out of adjustment and developed nerve damage in my right thigh, which is permanent and irritating--it is hyper-sensitive to touch, so I can't put anything in my right pants pocket-
February 1994--Hernia and upper back strain while pushing patient on stretcher through deep snow during a blizzard
Summer 1998--Lower back re-injured (had to go to "back school" to finally learn how to take care of my "glass" back--no more wallet in my back pockets)
January 29, 2003--Lower back re-injured, but it got better; strained neck (went to months of physical therapy and then "work hardening")--developed "palsy" in my shoulders and could not hardly lift overhead...
February 29, 2004--Victim of malpractice; went into hospital for myelogram (contrast study) of spinal cord to find the cause of my shoulder palsies and was injected with the wrong kind and wrong concentration of dye; seized violently for days and was in critical condition in ICU for a week on a ventilator--was given a 50/50 chance of survival the first night; two weeks later I realized my hips were broken; they already had me trying to walk using a walker, and so my hips were ruined; underwent total bilateral hip replacement surgery on 4/23/04; by September 2004, I was walking most of the time without a cane or walker; retired on service connected disability in 2005, and still have some difficulty lifting overhead
1984--One of my first days in charge of Medic 3 and we ran a trailer fire where a 4 year-old boy was badly burned--we didn't save him, but tried real hard and received Heroism Awards, which made me feel so guilty, because he didn't make it.
1985--14 year-old, red-haired girl with braces was accidentally shot by her younger brother, who found a gun in the house and thought it wasn't loaded (I was assigned to manage her airway and had nightmares about her braces)
1993--Childbirth call in Arna Valley where the mother seized during delivery (Eclampsia) and crushed the babies skull in the process--found the baby face-down in a puddle of blood (tried to save him, but couldn't--not a fun thing)
September 11, 2001--After the Pentagon attack I started grinding my teeth again, so I had to wear my night guard to keep my TMJ under control, but not before cracking a tooth and having to get a crown
1983--One in Prince William County at a townhouse in Williamstown (when I put water on the fire the windows blew-out!)
1999--One in Arlington on the Northside where our nozzle broke and we couldn't get water for awhile (the fire had smoldered down and air was sucking back into the house)--we had to get down on our bellies and hug the floor!
FLASHOVER & CEILING COLLAPSE:
1984 at Ellipse Drive house fire in Dumfries, VA
TERRORIST BOMBING:
September 11, 2001 at the Pentagon--thank goodness the "secondary device" (flight 93) didn't make it to its mark (which I believe was us at the Pentagon)!
None
1994-1997 - Child Safety Task Force (started Child Safety Seat check program)
1996-1999 - Metropolitan Medical Strike Team
1998-2001 - EMS Protocols Committee (received 3 Merit Award Awards for this)
July 8, 1999-2005 - Occupational Safety, Health and Wellness Team
2000-2004 - Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Program
2002-2005 - Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) Program
2002 - "Ride to Remember" cycling team Coach/Captain (rode into Pentagon on September 11th)
2003-2005 - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
1984 - Heroism Award from Dumfries Triangle Volunteer Fire Department and Commendation from Prince William County Board of Supervisors
1993-1994/1995-1998/2002-2003 - Outstanding Performance/multiple Commendations
1995 - Principles of Government Award, which I had earned the right to receive, was unfairly kept from me
1995-1996 - Arlington Jaycee's Young EMT of the Year Award
1996 - Nominee for Governor's Award to the Outstanding Pre-hospital Instructor
1998-2000 - Annual Merit Awards for EMS Protocols and PAD Program
September 1999 - Author of "The Benefits of Public Access Defibrillation", Fire Engineering magazine
2001 - September 11th Pentagon Combat Ribbon
1986 - North Beach Volunteer Fire Department (Calvert County, Maryland)
1993-1996 - Northern Virginia Community College (Annandale, VA), EMT Program, Adjunct Faculty (part-time)
1996-1997 - Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Academy (Fairfax, VA), Adjunct Faculty (part-time)
1996 - CareFlight (Manassas Airport, VA) Flight Paramedic/Instructor (part-time)
1996-1997 - Gorman and Associates (Annandale, VA), Instructor-Trainer (part-time)
1997-2005 - George Washington University (Fairfax, VA), Emergency Health Services Program, Adjunct Faculty (part-time)
Pediatric Advanced Life Support Instructor, American Heart Association
Basic Trauma Life Support Instructor
EMT Instructor (expired), VA State
EMT Evaluator (expired), Northern VA EMS Council
BLS Instructor-Trainer, American Heart Association
BLS Instructor, American Heart Association
Emergency Medical Technician-Ambulance and Basic, National Registry, VA and Maryland
Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic, National Registry, VA, DC, and Maryland
Child Passenger Safety Technician, AAA/NHTSA
First Aid Instructor-Trainer, National Safety Council
Flight Physiology
Firefighter III (Includes Rope I), VA and Maryland
Fire Instructor I, VA
Pump Operator, VA
Aerial Operator, VA
HazMat Awareness and Operations, VA
HazMat Technician, VA
HazMat Instructor, VA
Company Tactical Operations, National Fire Academy
Fire Safety Officer, National Fire Academy
Fire Officer I Course, VA
Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) I, II, and II, VA
Defensive Driving Course I and II, National Safety Council