Driving a MTA bus sometimes I forget words… words like compassion, tenderness, and caring. Today, however, the meanings of those words were reminded to me.
It was a busy, bullshit day in the SFV.. my bus full of a certain degenerate clientele and 5 minutes late to boot. I was 20 minutes into a 2 hour run and I knew this day wasn’t going to get any better. Just then it got worse. A German Shepard dotted out onto the road, right in front of a car. The driver tried to swerve but he couldn’t avoid the poor animal.
In that moment I selfishly let out a sigh…. not for the animal but for my schedule… my bus was going to be really late…. but in an instant my humanity was restored by two heroes, who are used to saving the day.
A nearby LAFD paramedic unit next to me sprang into action. Lighting up its red lights and swirling the siren, it cut across traffic to the furry victim. The two paramedics sprang from their vehicle and started to give basic care to the dog. They calmed it down they did a visual inspection, they worked to immobilize it so it wouldn’t do further damage to itself. In short, they treated this dog as they would any patient. They worked as hard as they could, trying to transpose their knowledge of human first aid onto a canine and I was in awe. after a few minutes a vet and 3 techs from a nearby Animal hospital ran down the street with a dog stretcher. The paramedics help secure and transfer the canine for medical care.
Except for the type of patient, I suppose this is all in a day’s work for them. Just another rescue. For me however, it was a reminder of the importance of keeping a little bit of understanding, a little bit of empathy, a little bit of humanity in our minds. And by doing that those firemen not only saved the dog, but rescued me from my lousy disposition.
Tags: blog, blogging, Bus drivers, Buses, crazy stories, culture, ethnography, farebox, Hidden LA, LAFD, Los Angeles, Metro, MTA, San Fernando Valley, stories, transit
I’m glad that those paramedics took the time to save that poor german shepard. That’s a beautiful story. Sometimes we all need to hear a good story for a change. Every life matters to somebody. My German Shepard is very sick right now. I wish I had lots of money to give him the care he truly needs. God bless those kind paramedics for caring for that doggy.