Firefighters make great medics. Too many of us have been attacked, shot, shot at, stabbed, punched, kicked, abused, and disrespected by the public we serve. Yet, besides the occasional patient with an altered level consciousness lashing out at those sent to help, attacks on fire and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel are relatively rare. […]

It is a dreadful time for all of us, our seniors especially so. Covid has seperated us, taken from us essential needs like touch and closeness. But no crummy disease will ever take away the humanity that exists within all of us. During an emergency at a nursing home things may not be perfect. Sometimes […]

He was small, but looked tall, dressed in a flowing robe, standing by the pay phone, a bottle of wine cleverly covered with a brown paper bag in one hand, a box of Chicken McNuggets in the other. “Who are you, and, and why did you call me?” I grumbled. “I am sthe spirit of […]

We are wired for danger. Human beings were not designed to live in temperature controlled enviornments, artificial light keeping us awake when we should be sleeping and never fearing for our lives. For our bodies to function as designed we need to feel extremes. Our DNA craves the molecular activity that our emotions create. Hormones […]

We are stuck in our homes this Christmas Season, no hustle, no bustle, no big parties, no department store Santas, not much of a Christmas Spirit in the air. But while we are inside looking out there is a world of people outside, who wish they were inside, looking out for those of us who […]

Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire December 3, 1999 I’m certain that until the very last seconds they thought he would pull it off. I do not think they were thinking about anything but the job in front of them, they were simply doing what their training allowed them to do. The nearly impossible. […]

Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot. But the Covid, who lived just out of sight, did not! The Covid hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. He infected the Whos at random, and for no good reason. It could be that the virus was simply mean, and had nothing to fear. It could […]

A quiet Thanksgiving…by Michael Morse November 25, 2020/Michael Morse by Michael Morse, contributing writer It’s not as if I didn’t have 364 days this year to get everything I need for the Thanksgiving Feast, but here it is, 3:30 on the day before and I’m compiling a list. Wine, beer, gravy, cranberry sauce, figs (yes […]

I’ve been thinking about suicide a lot lately.* The pandemic, the election, loss of income, destruction of dreams, lonliness and despair have blanketed our consciousness all year, and now we are told the worst is upon us. People are suffering. People are losing hope. People are just hanging on. People need other people, yet we […]

By Michael Morse “Rescue 1 and Engine 13, respond to 8276 Roosevelt Street for a possible DOA.” The definite “dead on arrival” was considering the repercussions of not dragging his old, grungy, completely unmotivated self out of the bunk and responding to the call. This was the 30th emergency medical services run in 33 hours. […]