Giving Thanks

By Michael N. Ciampo

History always has a sense of repeating itself and, unfortunately, those to whom we respond to help, serve, and protect often come up on the short end of the stick. The night before Thanksgiving, I always have an eerie feeling in my gut when working the night tour because of the kids home from college who are out partying, socializing, and having mini-reunions. Luckily, many times the tour is quiet and nothing unusual occurs, but then there are those memorable events that will forever be etched into your mind on an occasion that should be for family and giving thanks.

It was about 0430 hours, a notorious time for tragic accidents because of the bars closing at 0400 hours. We responded to a motor vehicle accident with people pinned on a stretch of highway notorious for bad accidents. During the response, the dispatcher gave us additional information of people pinned in a car that hit a tree. While responding, the chauffeur and the officer were discussing the highway’s curves and blind spots so that the rig didn’t come around a bend and add to the accident scene. Remember, responding to the scene on the highway doesn’t give you the right to have the “pedal to the metal”; anticipate that the accident could have occurred at a bad spot in the roadway. In addition, fire apparatus don’t stop as quickly as regular vehicles because of size and weight, so be prepared when you can’t see the roadway in front of you!