Dabs has another one...

Moon Over The Bridge

Alright, let's say it was in 1989. I had worked as a firefighter medic for about 5 years then. We had one station that wasn't staffed with fulltimers and a couple of paid guys actually lived at the station. It gave us a response out of that station if they were home at low overtime costs.

Anyway, it is about 2 in the morning. Our station gets called out to the Missouri River at a railroad bridge on a report of multiple victims that had fell off. My and my partner head that way in an ambulance and an engine is coming behind us. We figure that the guys at the unstaffed station will beat us there as the bridge is only 1 mile from them and 6 miles from us. As we get closer, we can hear them calling us. We answered and the one was on his walkie talkie. Seems the kids goofin around had went out on the bridge and climbed down over the side down a pillar ladder to a spot that looked like a flat ledge from the top, but it was angled and had moss growing on it. One of them had got of the ladder and stood on the ledge but fell off of it, prolly a 35 foot fall to a sand bar at the bottom of the pillar. The river was low and luckily there was a sand bar at that pillar. Well...even worse, this was back before everyone had a cell phone, so the other kids ran back and got their car and went to the fire station for help. The two at that station decided they would go and check it out before they called. You guessed it, one of the two had superhuman powers and decided he would climb down on the ledge to talk with the kid on the sand bar, who by the way, had a broken leg was all. When the superhuman firefighter hit the same ledge he fell too, only head first. So, we now have a minor injured kid and a severely injured firefighter.

My unit, the engine and our chief pull up at the same time. We had called water patrol to come in from the boat ramp 1 mile upstream but it would take them 30 minutes or so to get there this time of day. We decided we would put all of the rapelling stuff and medical stuff we could on the stokes basket and away we go. It was darker than the inside of a cow and we had about 1/2 mile to walk out across the bridge till we got to the spot. We get maybe halfway there and it hits...the pang that doubles you. I knew it wasn't going to be a good thing and hoped it would be one of those one time things that the adrenaline would take over and be alright. About 20 yards later I came to the conclusion it wasn't going to be that case.

I looked at my chief, who was walking beside me holding a flashlight, and said, You are going to have to take the stokes basket so I can stop here for a minute. He replied, you are shitting me!!! To which I replied, I am gonna be if you don't take this stokes basket.

Anyway, he wasn't all that happy, but he did it.

I pull my bunker pants down and then my uniform clothes and wedge my ass in between the bridge rails and start lettin her loose on the downstream side. It just kept coming and coming. Now i already said it was darker than the inside of a cow. I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't hear the footsteps coming up on me and all of the sudden a voice right in front of me says, "I sure hope everything is coming out alright". I strain to focus and a black sheriff deputy is walking by me. At that point there was no chit left cause that dude done scared it out of me.

He goes by and the next problem then hits me. I aint got no shitpaper at all. I think about it for a second and there is only one alternative. I have ten fingers and that gives me ten protected finger swipes with my firefighting gloves. I pull the right one out, since I am left handed, and put it on. I start finger sweeping and something else don't seem right but it isn't registering either. About on the fourth finger it hits me. The other thing that doesn't seem right is the noise I am now hearing. About the time it hits me, it comes around the bend in the river bed. A medical helicopter that we had called was flying up the river bed and around the bend they come.

By the time I can finish, the spotlight finds it way up the river bank, to the sand bar and then up the bridge....right to my ass hanging between the railings. About 7 million candlepower lightin up ole one eye. I did keep a radio with me and that is when the helicopter pilot came on and reported they would be making one circle and landing on the sandbar...and then reported seeing a full moon on the bridge.

I got done and made it to the rest about the time the first two were going over the side to rappell down. I had to hold the bellay line as they went down and we ended up running that rope through a washing machine and putting it in the training stock after it got chit stained from my gloves.

The next Christmas everyone pitched in and bought me an additional helmet with a toilet paper dispenser mounted to the back of it.