Fat Cat's version of "Emergency!"

The last two days have literally been a whirlwind of activity for the Fat Cat Crew. Back in January we filmed the graduation ceremony for the Hutchinson Community College Paramedic Program. With our backgrounds in EMS, and myself being a graduate of Hutch Community College Paramedic Program in '93, we knew many people there and had a good time visiting with friends. We were also asked back then if this August we could film this years class "Field Operations" Day. We were so thrilled to combine two of our loves and jobs, EMS and Videography! Being a student at Field Operations many years ago myself, I knew what to expect- organized chaos, but fun and an incredible learning experience for the students! This is a two-day intensive exercise involving multiple paramedic classes and emergency response agencies working together to create very realistic scenarios for students to learn how to run an EMS call. There were approximately 46 students from 3 area programs and EMS agencies from all over the state assisitng.

Yesterday, the students were dispatched to 88 calls in nearly a 12 hour shift at various locations around the South Campus of the College. They learned to manage a scene and care for one or two patients. Today they were immersed in what we EMS folk call MCI's (Mass Casualty Incidents) that have multiple patients on a single scene to be treated.

Both Barry and I were able to capture the students going to the calls in the ambulance, giving patient care at scenes and transporting them to a simulated ER. Simulated calls included falls, overdoses, heart attacks, subjects not breathing, allergic reactions, assaults, seizures and more. Even a house fire complete with smoke bellowing from the doors and windows- thanks to DJ Cain, whom we have worked with before at the DJ convention earlier this year who is also a Paramedic himself, who provided a very cool smoke machine!

The MCI included a motor vehicle crash and plane crash simulation! The areas two medical helicopters were also involved and came to the scene to airlift out critical patients and allow the students to learn to load a patient while the rotor blades are turning (we call it a "hot load"). One of the highlights of my day filming was due to the hospitality of the Life Team Flight Crew allowing me to get aerial shots of the MCI scenes in flight! Thanks to my friends Greg, Brenda and Mike and also the pilot Ed for a great experience and some cool footage! This was no big deal to Barry as he used to be a flight medic for years, but I'd never flown in a helicopter before! All that practice hand held shooting really came in handy!

If time allows we will post a tiny bit of footage from the day at a later date, but for right now it's back to the wedding edits!

Hey guys, "FIELD OPS ROCKS!"