Maryam Abbas
EMS QZ76930

The station I visited was located in Burtonsville, called Burtonsville Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. At this station, I got the opportunity to observe and experience the responsibilities of the people working here. The EMS workers seemed to have a big influence over the emergency outcome from what I observed. The EMS workers were pretty much controlling all the emergency scenes, which is why the outcomes at the end are what they turn out to be. For example, there was a section in the station where all the calls and dispatch information was received called the Watch Office. Here, one of the volunteers also gave me the opportunity to see an example of a dispatch print out. When I first saw it, I was confused about what the information on it meant exactly. The volunteer then kindly explained what each and every piece of information on the page meant. Observing the Watch Office made me realize that technology has made everything so much easier for emergencies. As calls are received in the offices, the numbers and locations are tracked down. One of the volunteers told me that they don’t need to do much interrogation now, as everything is automatically tracked down and brought into their system, which then allows the dispatch to print everything out.

Another thing I observed was that all of the people working at the station were very coordinated and cooperative. They were very organized and all the calls that they were receiving were transferred down to the appropriate units that needed to help them out. This showed that they were all well trained and ready to do their job as soon as an incident occurred, meaning there wouldn’t be any delays at all if an emergency situation was to take place. After taking a look at the station from the inside, the volunteer gave me a tour of the parking garage of the ambulances and fire trucks. This was my first experience where I got to see an ambulance from the inside as I hadn’t ever been in one before. I saw all of the equipment that was required to see in this task, and it was interesting how everything had its own place where it was stacked up in the ambulance. I found the Radio for Medical Control fascinating, as technology seems to help and make everything so much easier. Overall, I really enjoyed the station visit, and the fact that I was able to see everything for the first time inside and ambulance, learn about the workers, the office environment, and the workers occupations, made everything a lot more fun.