Fire Updates

Unless you've been under a rock lately, you probably are keenly aware of the fires going on here in Northern CA. Here are some interesting statistics:

- The region's wildfires burned almost 250 square miles despite the efforts of more than 12,000 firefighters. (50 MILES X 50 MILES... imagine that... that is the size of most of L.A.)

- Fire crews from 41 states have arrived to help California firefighters battle hundreds of blazes that are darkening skies over the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay area.

- A Chinook helicopter with five Washington National Guardsmen has left Fort Lewis to help fight the wildfires. The aircraft headed to Sacramento on Friday. (That is a BIG helicopter!)

- The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said five fire departments in the area have sent 107 firefighters and officers, along with 20 engines, to help fight the fires.

- The smoke is everywhere. Visibility is currently less than one mile. Everyone is coughing. Those of us with asthma are doing our best not to become patients right now (Especially those of us in EMS). Current readings are PM 177 (177 parts per million parts of normal air - Thats alot of junk everyone!)

- The Governor has asked President Bush to declare many counties here in Northern CA disaster areas, allowing him to obtain extra much needed resources. That MAY include DMATs, folk! In the minimum, it means money, manpower, and machinery.

... Makes we want to huff oxygen... (Not really)

Job Security

In yet another example of how people keep EMS hopping with work, I provide you with this:

Man Emerges From Storm Drain, Hit By Car
Police: 3 Decided To Climb Into Underground Tunnels

POSTED: 1:08 pm PDT June 24, 2008
UPDATED: 1:52 pm PDT June 24, 2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento man was badly injured after he surfaced from a city storm drain and was struck by a car.

Sacramento police said the 26-year-old man, his 19-year-old girlfriend and his 24-year-old brother had been drinking early Tuesday and decided to climb into the underground tunnels.

Lt. Mike Bray said the brothers apparently had explored the storm drains as youngsters and wanted to relive the experience.

The three walked about 200 yards in the drain and then tried to surface. When the older brother was lifting a manhole cover in the middle of a street, his head was struck by a passing car.

He suffered a skull fracture and was taken to the University of California, Davis Medical Center, where he was in critical condition.

The motorist, who got a flat tire, called police. The younger brother and girlfriend were arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public.
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I keep thinking back to this t-shirt graphic I saw (That I want!):

Yep.

George Carlin (1937-2008)

One of the most incredible comedians of our time, George Carlin, passed away yesterday from heart failure. Clips of his humor can be found on Youtube.com and other sites, in that rare event you have never heard or seen his work.

Rory and I loved to go to his shows. We actually met him many years ago at Comdex, when he was walking the convention floor and was trying to learn about some of the computers being showcased there. We walked and chatted for a few hours, with Rory and I showing him different models of computers from different companies, and providing a comparion/contrast on them. I think he ended up buying a Compaq computer, if I remember correctly. What was really interesting was the number of people who flat out did not recognize him at all.

His monologue titled, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", is quite entertaining, and later helped to define decency laws in the US (Seriously!). Check it out:

Fuel Prices and Its Fallout

Everyone is aware of the absolutely wonderful gas prices today. Diesel is up there as well (Actually, considerably higher than gasoline). The fallout from that is obvious, as well as not so obvious. On the obvious side, we are becoming more careful about how we are using our vehicles: Combining trips, cancelling trips and vacations to stay close to home, using alternative modes of transportation, and even riding with friends and "co-shopping". It means that overall fuel consumption is decreasing. More on this in a moment.

On the not-so-obvious side is the financial fallout in other ways. Grocery prices are increasing (some is fairly evident, others more subtle), truckers are beginning to refuse to haul since they aren't making enough to even cover their fuel costs, and one that is noticed by the EMS community: It is costing us A LOT MORE to move our diesel ambulances. In April alone, for 2 ambulances (yeah, two), we paid out over $1,000 in diesel costs to cover events we were scheduled for. A year ago, it would have been half that. Scary? Your local EMS providers, especially the municipal fire departments, are struggling to find the money to pay for this fuel. Who will pay? You! Your taxes will have to increase to pay for the greed of others. Or you will pay directly by getting a bill for the ambulance trip you may take. Those who use these services as glorified taxicabs (Those on public assistance tend to abuse the system more than others, but this is by no means limited to them) will end up pushing the bill off onto you, again through increased taxation.

Now, back to the decreased fuel consumption. Our roads are supposed to be maintained in part by the taxes we pay on gasoline and diesel fuel for road use (Farmers don't pay it, by the way). Less fuel consumption results in less taxes collected. This results in less money for the roads (or other programs if the money is siphoned over to it from the funding). Crappier roads will be the result. Fun, huh? And another interesting side note: With less fuel consumption, allowing for the laws of demand and consumption, shouldn't the price of gas be dropping, not increasing? Are the gas companies playing the market, and manufacturing less to keep the demand high? Or are they just being overtly greedy and not lowering prices when there is less demand? Food (er, fuel) for thought...