Akash Patel

12/9/14
UWRT 1102
Dr. Blair
Literacy Narrative
It is four oclock, in the morning. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I hear my pager go off,
Robinson Fire, Robinson Rescue, and Medic 5 respond to a 10-50 PI with overturned
vehicle between the block of 1234 -1300 Plaza Rd Ext. I rose out of bed and put on the
first pair of pants I can find. I call Medic and tell them Im enroute and will be
responding POV. Dispatch tells us over the radio that there will be multiple patients and
the police were in enroute. We only had a few units in enroute to the scene. I knew this
would be bad, so I called Medic to send a second and third page and requested addition
manpower, the rescue truck and the engine.
Over the past fours years, I have been running calls with a few fire departments.
Many of the calls were medical emergencies and other calls would be structure fires,
MVAs, and, yes, the typical, my cat is stuck in the tree. My secondary discourse was
becoming a firefighter and an emergency medical technician (EMT). I went through a lot
of training and difficult times to learn this secondary discourse.
I joined the fire service and EMS, because I was once saved by a firefighter.
When I joined, I had no background on firefighting. My first challenge was to learn the
entire lingo. There were 10-codes I had to remember. A great example is 10-50 PI. 10-50
is the 10-code for motor vehicle accident. PI is added to the end telling first responders
that there is personal injury involved. Other examples of 10-codes would be 10-4

meaning affirmative, 10-22 means cancel further response. Besides the codes, I had to
terminology that would be used on the field. When responding to a fire, there are four
divisions of the house (A, B, C, D). Whichever side the first truck arrives is called
Division A. There was a lot of medical terminology I had to memorize. I had learn what
BP, BPM, and what myocardial infraction meant. BP is abbreviated for blood pressure.
BPM can stand for two things, beats per minute or breaths per minute. I had to know how
to read prescription bottles. We were taught to first find the patients name than find the
expiration date and last the name and dosage of the medication.
The attire I had to wear was in a uniform matter. We had duty shirts and pants,
Class A and Class B uniforms. We had to have turnout gear, which consisted of a jacket,
pants, boots, gloves, a nomex hood, and a helmet. Class A uniforms were wore for
special events, such as funerals. Class B uniforms were wore when we have public
relation events and for meetings. Wearing my Class B uniform was a difficult task for
me. Many people would not expect me, as an Indian, to be a firefighter/EMT. I would get
looks and whispers that I shouldnt be involved with the fire service and EMS. I kept a
positive mindset and attitude and proved that I could be a firefighter/EMT.
To become an EMT, I had to take a six-month course in two months. I had to take
a quiz everyday and an exam every Friday. In order to do well, I had read every night.
My whole summer was devoted to this course. I would ask fellow firefighters to help me
with understanding my homework and readings. When we practiced for the practical
exam, I had a hard time getting use to talking in front of people. It took me awhile to
overcome this obstacle.

One day, I was studying for my final exam at the fire department. I was frustrated
with the chapter on childbirth. Our instructor had not cover the chapter in depth as they
should have. My captain noticed I was struggling and asked if he could help me. I
hesitated for a minute but than decided why not. He taught me the chapter as if it was a
scenario. We would go through the steps of childbirth and explain each step in depth
covering all the terminology.
Learning my secondary discourse was a great experience. From learning 10-codes
to taking an EMT course, there were many obstacles and training I had to go through to
become a firefighter and an emergency medical technician. I had to ask for help from
people that were masters of being a firefighter and EMT. From this experience, I learn
that one can learn a secondary discourse but it will be difficult to master the discourse.