Meghan knocked on the Fire classroom door at 10 am the following morning. Brad ushered her in, holding the door open as her arms were full.

“Meghan! Good timing – I just sent the class on a 10-minute break. What have you got there?”

She piled stuff onto the top of his desk. “Lesson plans, and show-and-tell.”

He chuckled. “Sounds like a true educator, Meghan. I invite you to chat and field questions, and you bring a formalized lesson plan. Do you have a PowerPoint to go with it?” he joked, halfway seriously.

She shook her head, smiling. “I thought about it, but decided a piece of paper with notes would suffice.”

She brought the lectern close to the edge of the desk, and arranged the turnout coat and blue helmet she had brought so they lay how she wanted them.

Brad leaned over for a better look at the helmet and whistled. “Was this the helmet you wore when you got burned?”

Meghan nodded. “I went to the station and retrieved the helmet and coat I wore at the scene. I thought they would be good reminders to bring home a point or two.”

Brad and Meghan chitchatted a while longer while students slowly made their way back to the classroom. Some wanted to see what Meghan had brought, and were shooed away to their seats. Others wanted to ask Meghan questions, and were also told that they would have opportunities later. Once everyone was back and settled, Brad introduced Meghan and gave her the floor.

“Good morning! Once again, my name is Meghan McCoy. I am a paramedic for the district, and also teach the EMT classes here at the college. Brad has asked me to come speak with you about what happened at a fire scene a couple weeks ago, and how it affected me. But first, I want to ask you some questions.”

She picked up a firefighter helmet. “Can anyone tell me what this is?”

Hands raised, and she called on someone. “It’s a helmet.”

“Good. What is it made of, and what is it supposed to do?”

“Um, leather or composite materials. It’s supposed to protect your head from falling debris.”

“Right.” This time she picked up a turnout coat. “Okay, someone else. What is this, what is it made of, and what is its purpose?” She looked around, and called on a different student.

“That’s a turnout coat. Usually made of Nomex cloth. It’s supposed to keep the fire off of you.”

“Yes, it’s supposed to keep the fire off of you. It’s also got a moisture barrier to keep out chemicals and such. Some coats are rated to reflect up to 500 degrees of heat. What about this?” she asked, holding up a hood.

Another student answered. “It’s a Nomex hood, ma’am. It is supposed to help protect the head and neck that would be otherwise exposed from around the helmet and the coat collar.”

Meghan smiled. “Exactly! And can someone tell me about boots?”

“Uh, they’re rubber, and, uh, protect your feet!” Yet another student answered.

“Yep. So, I want you to think for a moment about why all of this personal protective gear is important. Also think about why your SCBA is important.” She gave them a moment, then continued. “I’m going to tell you about what happened at the fire scene, and do a bit of show and tell. And then we’ll see about some questions.” Students nodded, and Meghan continued.

“Two weeks ago, my partner, Jerry, and I were dispatched to do a fire standby. You’ll find that a lot of structure fires wind up with an ambulance staged nearby, in case of injuries and smoke inhalation. For us EMS personnel, it’s basically sitting around and watching y’all work to put out the fire. We may give someone a little oxygen or bandage cuts; it’s generally a ‘boring’ assignment on our part.

“This particular structure fire was a two-story house with a small front yard, and small back yard. At the back of the house was a gas grill on a patio, and less than 200 yards from the house was a propane tank. When we got there, we checked in with the Incident Commander, and learned that the house was unoccupied, this was a 2-alarm fire, and 16 firefighters were currently working the scene. We went back to our ambulance to watch the scene.

“We carry limited fire protective equipment on the ambulances, and we wear it on a fire scene: a turnout coat, and a helmet.” Meghan indicated the gear she had placed on the desk, and the cadets in the back stood up to glimpse the coat and bright blue helmet there. “I make mention of this, because it plays an integral part in the story.

“As we relaxed and watched, we heard a loud explosion. I saw someone rolling around in the backyard, coming to a stop near the propane tank. Also landing near the propane tank was burning debris, which was starting to catch the grass on fire.

“The firefighter wasn’t moving. I ran to assist, grabbed the collar of his turnout coat, and started dragging him away from the propane tank. Now, remember, I said the back yard was really small. The only way to get out of harm’s way was to go close to the house that was on fire. And here’s where things went downhill.

“I heard men inside the house – we were close to one of the windows – yelling that the ceiling was about to flash. I didn’t have SCBA on, nor did the firefighter I was helping. I laid down quickly over his head as best as I could, to shield his face. The building flashed, and burning embers rained down on both of us. The next thing I remember is searing pain, being doused with water, and fireman-carried to the ambulance.”

Students gasped as she relayed what had happened. Murmurs started buzzing as people started sidebar conversations. Meghan held her hands up and quieted the room back down. “Now, I want you to remember what we just discussed about protective equipment. The firefighter I was helping sustained a broken leg from the explosion of the gas grill. He was otherwise unharmed, thanks to all of the protective gear he was wearing.” She turned to her gear and picked it up.

She held up her coat. “As you can see, there are a few micro burns to this coat, but it is still in good, usable condition. It protected not only the firefighter’s face, but also my back and butt.” She laid the coat down and picked up the helmet. “From the front it looks fine, right?” Students nodded. She turned the helmet around and showed the back, where the plastic had melted and twisted.

“It doesn’t look so good from the back though, does it?” She heard murmuring as the students looked at the helmet. “This helmet is made from thermoplastics. It does not have the protection level that your helmets have. It more closely resembles a construction site hard hat.” She handed it to a student on the first row and motioned for them to pass it around.

“While this hat protected my head from falling debris, it didn’t protect me from burning embers. I sustained second-degree burns to the back of my neck, my long ponytail burned, and a ponytail holder in my hair melted to the point it had to be cut out.” Meghan sighed. “Another thing that wasn’t protected by gear was my legs. Blue cotton uniform pants also like to catch fire, and the whole back of my left calf was burned. I have second- and third-degree burns, and required a small skin graft to heal the third-degree area.”

“The final area that was affected by the fire was my lungs. I ate a lot of smoke in a short period of time. I was intubated for about 4 days, and will be on oxygen for a month or so.” She gestured to the oxygen concentrator.

“I share all of this with you to say that the nature of the work you’re going into can be deadly. Your equipment, your clothing, may be what stands in between you and serious injury. Don’t be flippant about that, or think that something is optional.” She glanced at Brad. “Also don’t think that your gear makes you invincible. I’ve seen burned bunker gear, treated smoke inhalation caused from cracked or improperly donned facemasks, and cut through bunker gear with my trauma shears to treat penetrating injuries. Just like your axes and your hooligan tools, your gear is another tool to help keep you safe on the fire line.”

Meghan paused for a moment. “Okay, question and answer time. But first… next Tuesday you are going to be joining my EMT class for the morning as we go over the Burns chapter. We are going to be discussing burns: what they are, how they are classified, and how they are treated. Whether or not you decide to be cross-trained in EMS or not, you will come across burns at some time in your career. It’s good info for you to know.”

The floor opened for questions, and Meghan answered as many as she could. Finally, Brad wrapped it up after about 15 minutes. “Okay, guys. Let’s thank Meghan for coming and sharing with us today.” She received a round of applause. “Take a 10-minute break. We’ll be doing reflection essays when you get back.” Chairs scooted and the room filled with chatter as students stood up and headed out the door. One student handed Meghan’s helmet back to her. “Thanks again.”

Brad sighed. “You never cease to amaze me, Meghan.”

She stilled in rounding up her stuff. “Oh? How so?”

“Your tenacity. Your bravery.”

“My stupidity,” she countered. “It took courage to do what I did, but it was also stupid. And I got hurt because of it. But I did what needed to be done and helped a fellow first responder. I don’t need a pedestal, Brad – it’s easy to fall from those, and then you’re left muddied and with a broken leg.”

“Still… thanks for coming and talking with the class. And thanks for offering to include them in your lecture next week.” He held the door open for her, walked her to her classroom, and opened the door. Meghan gestured him into the office for a moment. She dropped her armload of stuff on the stretcher in the office and sat.

“You’re welcome. It’ll be beneficial for them. I also wanted to give you a heads-up: I intend to show my burn scars on my leg during the class.”

“Wow. That’s brave in and of itself. How are they healing up?” Brad glanced at the clock, then sat down in Fred’s desk chair.

Fred opened the door and scowled. “How is what healing up?”

“The burns on my leg,” Meghan explained. “They are doing well. I’m still supposed to do a dressing change daily for the time being, but I don’t have to put the cream on it anymore. Just dry dressings. And I’ll do that in class.”

Brad nodded. “Good. I’m glad you’re healing well. Now to get your lungs to stop getting cranky so you can get off the oxygen…”

Fred agreed. “Yeah. She starts talking, and I want to clear MY throat!” Everyone laughed, and Brad, looking at the clock again, excused himself to get back to his students.

Meghan slumped in her chair and sighed. “That’s over, thankfully!”

Fred nodded knowingly. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy. But this kind of attention will eventually die down. Say – what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I’ve got a hair appointment at 3, and then Rick is taking me for a nice dinner this evening. Why? What’s up?”

“We’re discussing wound management in the medic class today. Wanna see if we have the stuff to dress your leg? You could do show-and-tell. This group already knows what went down.”

Meghan hemmed for a moment. “If we’ve got the stuff, sure. But you or I get to do the actual dressing change. I am intending to wear a skirt, and don’t want to have to re-wrap it at home so it looks presentable,” she chuckled.

“They won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole,” Fred promised. “Wanna go to lunch with me? I’ll steer clear of the Mexican.”

“Sure. Asian sounds good – I’m having Italian tonight. Or a good burger.” Meghan stood, and followed Fred into the classroom. Most of the students had come back from break, so he joined them while Meghan went into the supply closet and started rummaging.

Meghan stood outside the beauty salon a couple minutes before 3, nervous. She opened the door, listening to it chime, and walked in. Janine looked up, recognized her, and waved her to a chair as she stood washing another customer’s hair. “Hi Meghan! It will be just a few more minutes. Have a seat and think about how you want to have your hair look.”

Meghan settled in one of the chairs in the foyer and rifled through the magazines before picking up an old copy of a cooking magazine. She was working her way through it when Janine’s other customer left, and Janine came to get her. “Okay, Meghan, come on back!”

Janine got Meghan settled in the chair, put a cape around her, and looked at her in the mirror. “So, how are you doing?”

“Pretty well,” Meghan replied. “Burns are healing up nicely, so it’s just the vocal cords and my lungs that need to get better. How’s Roger doing?”

Janine smiled. “He’s doing well. Complaining about using crutches, that his leg itches, and he can’t do anything he wants.” They laughed.

“So…” Janine started, running her fingers and experienced gaze through Meghan’s hair. “Have you thought about what you’d like your hair to look like?”

“I really don’t know,” Meghan confessed. “I’ve not had my hair cut in over three years, save for trim jobs to take care of split ends.”

“Have you ever worn it short?”

“Yeah, I used to have a pixie cut. But the last time I had it cut that short, the barber student got the angles wrong, and a cowlick in the back stood straight up! The school fixed it, but the only way to go was shorter. I had spiked hair for like a month afterward!” Meghan laughed. “The guys in the ER used to tease my partner, asking if his driving was why my hair was the way it was!” Janine laughed with her.

“Well, then! No perms or coloring or other chemical processes on your hair?”

“Nope, except whatever may have gotten on it at the fire scene.”

“Hmm. I’ll need to go a bit shorter in the back to even it up and finish removing any singed ends. I think I could shape this as a kind of bob-meets-long pixie cut. Easy to manage, just need a bit of mousse in the mornings. Sound good?”

“I can’t quite envision it, but I’ll trust you will make it look good. Let’s go for it!” Meghan nodded decisively.

Janine stood Meghan up and brought her over to the hair wash sink. “Hmm. Let me grab a towel to pad this for you…” Janine grabbed a couple of hand towels, folded them over each other, and lined the U-shaped curve of the sink to provide padding for Meghan’s healing neck. “Try this and see it that is more comfortable…”

It worked well. Janine also used cooler water to wash Meghan’s hair so as to not irritate the skin on her neck. Soon, she was done and had Meghan settled back in the chair. As Janine cut and styled Meghan’s hair, the ladies chatted about work, about school, and about Meghan’s date that night.

With one final snip, Janine added some products to Meghan’s hair, blew it dry, and gave it a final spray of hairspray. “Okay! What do you think?” She handed Meghan a mirror and spun her so that she could use it to look at the back of her head.

Meghan didn’t speak for a moment. “It’s so short,” she said, softly. “I hadn’t realized just how short it had been burned off in the back. It looks good, don’t get me wrong. It’s just kinda a shock.”

Janine nodded. “I didn’t take off much at all in the back, maybe a quarter inch or so. As it grows out, come back and we’ll either keep it like this, or I’ll help you morph it back towards growing it out so it doesn’t look funky.”

Meghan thanked her. Janine refused to accept payment or even a tip. She gave Meghan a hug. “My husband and I are grateful for what you did for us at the fire scene. This is how we give back. Now, go enjoy your date tonight!”