Made It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...so I made it!! I graduated from my fire academy and am now officially a paramedic/firefighter. It was a long 3.5 months, but it has come to an end. It was a very interesting process for me, to say the least. The fire service is based on paramilitaristic type of structure in order to function effectively and efficiently in times of crisis and emergencies. This is very important and effective, but there are less desirable side effects to this situation. The academy is part of a test of one's personality and ability to adapt to a very different environment. I was very careful to capitalized on my ability to adapt to a very different environment. Especially with my background and where I come from, I did find it challenging at times. Graduation was good because it brought the academy to an end, but thankfully that ceremony only needs to be done once. Some of you may wonder why I would put myself through such a process. For one, everything changes once I go "online" (meaning start actually working in the field out of a firehouse). The academy is a place to learn a lot, but it is also a big long test. As with many tests, there are issues with the way it is run and its effectiveness, but like many tests, it basically tests your ability to adapt to that test, and inevitably, the strongest tend to come out on top, and ultimately that's what happened. Out of over a 1000 applicants, 14 were selected for this academy and 13 ultimately graduated. We work for one of the best fire departments in the nation. It is very progressive with its vision and practices, well funded and sets the standard high. We have some of the best medical, fire and emergency equipment available in the world, and this department is actually rated as the fittest fire department in the nation. I have to admit as to my hesitation about the people that I was going to have in my academy, but ultimately, I ended up with a really cool group of guys, and we did have a lot fun. Now that I am online, and actually running 911 calls, the people I work with are just as awesome, and this is an awesome job, even when I have to get up at 3am to run some guy with abdominal pain to the hospital. Not to mention my schedule now is great! I still have a lot of work ahead of me as one of the "new guys" online, and going through what is set up as a three year apprenticeship, but it's all a lot more fun from now on!!
-Brendan
P.S. Here are some more academy pics and a video of one of our "entanglement" drills.