Saturday dawned bright and early at 6 that morning. Meghan shut off her alarm and groaned. She was enjoying uninterrupted sleep again and had been happily dreaming away when the alarm went off. Still, she knew that she needed to get going so she would have everything ready when volunteers started showing up around 8.

She got up and dressed in her normal EMS attire, putting on a bright red polo shirt with the State EMS Department logo on the left breast. She packed up her bag with supplies and headed out of the Branstons’ guest bedroom. She headed straight for the kitchen and the coffee pot, to find it was already brewing fresh coffee.

Mitch stepped out of his bedroom, still in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. “Morning, Meghan. Ready for today?”

She sighed. “I’m never ready for these mornings. But I think I managed to pull off a week’s worth of work in one day yesterday. We’ll see.”

Mitch nodded. “I forgot to ask – how do you want me to dress for today? Scrubs, casual, business casual, labcoat…”

Meghan thought for a moment. “Honestly, as long as it’s clean and you’re comfortable, it’s whatever you want to wear, although I’d leave the labcoat at home. There is a chance you might wind up with some stage makeup or fake blood on your clothes, so don’t make them something that you’d be upset about that happening.”

“Sounds like scrubs would be the best option. Okay, I’m going to go change, and I’ll be back for coffee.” Mitch glanced at the pot still sputtering away and headed back to the bedroom.

By the time Mitch re-emerged in scrubs, Meghan had two cups of coffee poured and was sipping hers. “Thanks for making the coffee, Mitch. A vital substance this early in the morning.”

“What all do we need to do before heading to the college?” Mitch asked, sipping his coffee.

“Hmmm. I think the only thing I need to pick up is food. I’ve got the milk and juice here, and we’ll swing by The Donut Shoppe for donuts and coffee – I placed the order yesterday, so those should be ready to go by 7 am. Then it’s on to the college to open up, finish any last-minute set up, and start signing in volunteers. Testing students should arrive around 9, and we’ll get the ball rolling around 9:30-9:45.”

Mitch chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve done this before.”

“For the last three years,” Meghan agreed. “Although I think I’ve called in the calvary to help this time.”

“That’s not always a bad thing,” Mitch stated, raising an eyebrow and giving her a significant look. “By the way, do you have your meds?”

Meghan dug into one of her pants cargo pockets and pulled out two pill bottles, shaking them. “Got them right here. I’ll make sure to take them when I scarf a couple of donuts this morning.” She put them back into the pocket and closed the pocket flap. “Also, my emergency hydrocortisone is in a zippered pouch in my backpack. I’ll be sure to tell Rick and Fred, as well.”

Mitch nodded. “We need to get you a medic alert identification. Do you know what you’d prefer? I’ve seen necklaces, bracelets, and the band-style bracelet.”

Meghan pursed her lips. “I don’t want a bracelet with a heavy pendant attached – it’d get in my way when I work, and I’m afraid the band-style would do the same. I know some patients have worn bracelets as anklets, but I find that rather annoying to search for. I think I’d settle for a necklace. I’ve been eyeballing a star-of-life pendant to wear for every day. Maybe I can get a nice chain, that pendant, and put the medic alert pendant on it as well.”

Mitch smiled. “I’ve seen a lot of nice medic alert jewelry out there. It’s a far cry from the strictly utilitarian steel disks they first made.”

“I’ll look into that next week. Right now, I just want to get through the testing this morning.” Meghan yawned before finishing her coffee. She glanced at the time. “Okay, we need to get going.”

Mitch finished off the last of his coffee while Meghan picked up her backpack and retrieved milk and orange juice from the fridge. They made their way to the car, and Mitch drove them first to pick up the donuts and coffee before heading for the college.

Meghan was glad to see that Fred and Brad had arrived ahead of her and gotten the building unlocked. They came out and helped carry in food, setting up the volunteer area in one of the classrooms. Meghan had come by Friday afternoon, labeling classrooms and setting up equipment for the different skills stations. The small student cafeteria would be where students not testing would wait. Meghan walked down to the EMS classroom and unlocked it and the office. This would be her command center. Fred wandered in and sat down in his chair, watching her as she pulled piles of paperwork out of her backpack. “Think we’re ready?”

“I sure hope so,” Meghan replied, organizing the stacks and placing little table tent signs next to each pile. “By the way, I need to discuss personal business for a moment.”

“Sure thing. What’s up?” Fred leaned forward in his chair and gave her his undivided attention.

“Well, as you know, I now have Addison’s. And while my doc is pretty confident that I shouldn’t have issues on a daily basis, he did encourage me to educate those close to me on what to look out for.”

Fred nodded. “I’ve been doing some research, so I know what to look for.”

Meghan smiled. “Did you see anything about what to do if I’m potentially in crisis?”

“I saw references to giving emergency hydrocortisone, but I couldn’t find any specifics about dosage.”

Meghan reached into her backpack. “You know I usually have my backpack with me, or else my purse. This kit should be in one or the other.” She unzipped it, revealing alcohol prep pads, a couple of syringes, and a vial of sterile water, and one of powdered hydrocortisone. “You’ll have to reconstitute it, but I’m supposed to have the full vial and then get to the ER for treatment.” She zipped the kit closed and stashed it back in her backpack.

“Are you supposed to have a medic alert bracelet?” Fred asked.

“Yes, but I haven’t had time to order one yet. That is on the list of things to do after today,” she replied. “Okay, I need to get some food and take my meds. C’mon.” Meghan and Fred made their way to the volunteer room. She was glad to see that several people had shown up already.

“If I can get everyone’s attention for a moment?” Meghan waited for the chatter to die down. “I know we’re going to have some more people show up here in the next little bit, but I wanted to go ahead and say thank you for coming and donating your time today. I need every volunteer to sign-in on the sign-in sheet on the table, and I also need you to read and sign a waiver form. At around 8:30, Stacy will begin doing the makeup on those who need it. I’ll be handing out assignments momentarily.

“We have a mix of new volunteers and those who have a few rounds of this under your belt. Just so we’re on the same page, let me remind everyone that your role as a patient or as an adjudicator is not to do the work for the tester. These are the skills stations: we need to see the student perform to the best of their ability and judge whether or not they will be competent in the field. Patients are not to speak to the students except as their scenario instructs them. Patients for the trauma or medical skills stations will be told what they can tell the tester; otherwise, all information will come from the adjudicator. Those who are assisting in skills stations: you are not to help the tester except as directed by the tester or adjudicator. Adjudicators, please check out your skills station before testers arrive. If you need anything, let me or Fred know. We will have runners come by periodically to collect grade sheets – please keep all grading confidential. Also, there will be a break around every hour. If you need something, please let us know.”

Meghan glanced at Fred. “Did I forget anything?”

“No, I think you got it covered.”

“Okay. Please help yourself to refreshments. I will be calling in a pizza order around noon for lunch. I’ll have a mix of selections, but if you have a special dietary concern, please let me know. Thank you.”

Her speech done, Meghan made her way over to the boxes of donuts and selected a couple, plus a cup of coffee. She spied Mitch and Rick seated at a table and joined them. “Morning, Rick. Ready to have some fun?” She winked and took a bite out of her donut.

“That I am,” he smiled. “By the way, Mitch filled me in on the emergency hydrocortisone and what to look out for. Where are you keeping your kit?”

She swallowed. “It’s in my backpack in the EMS classroom office. Fred knows exactly where it is.” Rick nodded.

Meghan fished out her medicine bottles and shook out her pills into her hand, washing them down with coffee. “Okay, I’m going to go wash my hands, and I’ll be back to start handing out assignments.”

“I’ll take care of your plate,” Rick offered. She smiled at him and left the room.

Meghan was back in about five minutes. She had a clipboard with her. Standing up on a chair, she again got the room’s attention. “Okay, people, as much as the donuts and conversation are great, we need to start getting ready. I’ve got assignments for most of you. If I don’t have you down on the list, see me afterward and I’ll assign you somewhere. Adjudicators know what they will be testing. Please go find your stations and make sure you’re ready to go.”

People started filing out of the room, chatting with one another as they went, grabbing donuts and drinks to take to their rooms. Soon, Meghan was left with a room of about 20 people. She smiled. “Okay, with the exception of Stacey, Bethany, and Lisa, the rest of you are patients! Once again, let me say how happy I am that you gave up your Saturday morning to be poked, prodded, splinted, boarded, and otherwise worked over by a group of students who want to help others. I’m going to call names and give you your assignments. Once that is done, Stacey will see to any makeup that is needed. Once she’s done with you and says you’re free to go, please make your way to your station. They are marked with signs on each door. For patients going to the trauma and medical scenario stations, your adjudicator will instruct you about the patient you will be playing. I do ask that you save your award-winning performance for later – these tests are timed. We will be in taking photos for documentation purposes at some point, as it said in your release form. No feedback is to be given to the students, as I have said before. Okay. Jake, you’ll be at the Spinal Immobilization – Seated Patient. Thom, you’ll be at the Bleeding Control/Shock Management station. Parker…”

By the time Meghan had finished handing out assignments, Rick was going to the Long Bone Immobilization station, and Mitch was going to one of the two Patient Assessment/Management – Medical stations. Meghan handed her sheet over to Stacey, who started organizing those who needed some makeup and sent the others out to their assigned stations.

Meghan was everywhere the next hour, making sure her volunteer staff were ready to go, getting testers signed in, and in general explaining everything to everyone. It was understandable, then, that she was weary when she sank into her office chair around 10 am. Fred found her a little while later, sitting in her chair and staring into space.

“You okay?” he asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I think my morning is catching up with me.” She ran a hand across her face.

“Let me check your blood pressure,” Fred said, no-nonsense.

“I’m fine,” she protested.

Fred, however, wouldn’t take no for an answer. After telling her to stay put, he went to find Mitch. Mitch and his adjudicator, Brad, had just finished up with a tester and were about to take a break. “Are you free, Mitch?”

“Yeah, we’re about to head for a break. What’s up?”

“Meghan’s pushing herself too hard. She’s looking a little pale and complaining of fatigue. I was going to check her blood pressure, but…” Fred held up his splinted hand.

“I’d better check on her. Thanks for getting me, Fred.” Mitch followed Fred down the hall, Brad following in case they needed an extra hand.

As they went, Fred threw a glance at the doctor. “I think Stacey went a little overboard with the blue makeup, Doc. You look more like a Smurf!”

Mitch chuckled. “Yeah, she did. I saw myself in a mirror. But I guess you can definitely classify me as cyanotic.”

“Definitely,” Fred agreed. He gestured to a doorway. “She’s in here, doc.”

“I’ll bring in the equipment,” Brad volunteered.

Mitch knocked on the open door to the office. “Meghan? How are you feeling?”

Meghan, who had laid her head down on her desk, looked up, saw Mitch and Fred, and sighed. “I think my early morning caught up with me.” She looked at Fred. “Snitch.”

Mitch chuckled. “You can’t be feeling too bad. Let’s check out that blood pressure of yours. Brad?”

Meghan sighed in annoyance, but held out her arm. Brad came into the small office and offered a reassuring smile as he took her vital signs.

“BP’s 106/78, resps 12, and pulse 78.” Brad stood and let Mitch back into the room.

“Thanks, Brad. Well, Meghan, it sounds like you’re doing okay. But I want you to take it easy for a while. Rest. Babysit a desk or something.”

“That was my plan,” Meghan retorted, boring holes at Fred. “Actually, I think I want more coffee and might hit up the snack machine for some chips or something.”

“Sounds like a good idea. I could use some coffee myself.” Meghan looked at Mitch with suspicion, then stood. They headed out of the EMS classroom and down the hall. “I need to get pictures of you and Rick,” Meghan remarked as they walked.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Mitch asked.

“Because you’re a Smurf and he’s got bones sticking out of his leg,” she chuckled.

Mitch laughed. “How come I suspect you assigned these stations on purpose?”

“Hmmm. Maybe because I did?” She winked, chuckling.

They rounded the corner to the volunteer break room. Meghan poured herself some coffee and grabbed another donut before taking a seat. She stared at the donut for a minute. “I’m going to go for some chips. Want something from the vending machine, Mitch?”

He shook his head. Meghan got up and headed down the hall to the cafeteria. Testing students lounged around the various tables and up against walls. They looked expectantly when she entered, before going back to whatever they were doing when it was obvious she wasn’t calling anyone back to a testing station.

Meghan made her way through the students to the vending machine. She studied its contents for a few minutes before ultimately deciding on a bag of cheddar cheese popcorn and a jerky stick. She made her selections, fishing them out of the vending machine, and headed back to the volunteer break room. Sitting back down near Mitch, she popped open the bag of popcorn and offered him some.

“No thanks,” Mitch smiled. He looked at the clock and caught Brad’s eye. Brad nodded, motioning for Mitch to come with him.

“I need to get back at it. Rest. Find something you can do sitting down or play the patient for a while. If you start feeling bad, let us know!”

“I will, I promise, Mitch.” Meghan shooed him towards the door. “Back to work with you!”

He smiled and headed out of the door. The smile Meghan had plastered on her face disappeared, and she sighed as she closed her eyes and let her head hang back.

Rick saw her expression change and was concerned. He approached the table where she sat. “Are you okay, Meghan?”

She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Not you too!”

“Huh?” Rick pulled a chair up to face her.

She shook her head. “Mitch just checked me over. My blood pressure and other vitals are normal and stable. I’m just tired from the early morning.”

Rick nodded, still not completely buying it but willing to let it be. “I have to say that y’all have a very interesting testing format here.” He gestured to the fake bone and blood sticking up through his pants leg, mid-thigh.

Meghan chuckled. “Getting to be rather familiar with the traction splint, are we?”

Rick laughed. “Yes, very up-close and personal!” He got up and poured some coffee before returning to his seat. “Is this how the entire testing goes? A series of skills stations?”

“No, not entirely. Once students pass the skills stations, they have a written exam to take. Once they’ve passed both parts, they’ll be awarded certification.”“I see,” Rick stated, sipping his coffee. “So, what are you doing right now?”

“Resting, per doctor’s orders,” Meghan said. She made a face. “I need to make some rounds, but I’m going to finish my snack first.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rick chuckled. “What are your plans for this evening?”

“I don’t know, unless Mitch decides to place me under house arrest,” she chuckled.

“Maybe I can spring you and take you to dinner,” Rick suggested.

“Sounds nice to me,” Meghan agreed. She finished her popcorn and stretched. “Okay, I need to get moving. I have to make the rounds at least once to each station in person.”

She grabbed a notebook and a pen and headed out the door, Rick following her until he made it back to his station. “I’ll talk with you more when we’re done for the day, Rick. Have fun with that traction splint!” She winked at him and headed down the hall.

Meghan rotated through rooms over the next hour or so, sometimes watching a full skill being performed, sometimes just a few minutes before quietly slipping out of the room. She took pizza orders as she went.

Meghan finally sat back down at her desk around 11:30. Picking up her phone, she placed an order for a dozen pizzas of different kinds and several 2-liter bottles of soda. She was assured that delivery would take place around 12:30, paid, and hung up. She took a moment to lay her head down on her desk… right as Fred stepped into the classroom. He saw her and shook her arm.

“Meghan!”

Her eyes popped open and she started. “What?”

“Are you okay?” He looked concerned.

“As I said before, I’m fine. I’m just tired.” Meghan was a little annoyed. “I just put my head down to rest for a moment.”

Fred raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He looked at the notebook under her arm. “What’s that?”

“What?” Meghan followed his gaze. “Oh! Tally sheet for pizza. I just placed the order. It should be here around 12:30.”

Fred nodded. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

Meghan sighed. “I’m exhausted, but I’m okay. I plan on a nap as soon as I can go home this afternoon. And I know I’m pushing myself a little too hard for having just left the hospital two days ago. But I promise you I can make it the last couple of hours.”

“I just don’t want you going back to the hospital if we can avoid it,” he countered.

“Trust me, I don’t want to go back either. I’ve had enough of hospitals as a patient.” Meghan sighed. “If it’ll make you feel better, you can check my vitals,” she begrudgingly said.

“Nah. I’ll just make you walk with me as I check on the cafeteria. If you go down, I’ll know you’re not telling me the truth.”

Meghan stared at him incredulously. Fred chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re speechless, kiddo. But walk with me while I check on the cafeteria.”

Meghan got to her feet and followed him out of the office and down the hall. “I know you’ve been monitoring the skills station rotations. Where are we on getting everyone through the stations?”

“I think we should be done by the time pizza arrives. Most of the stations should be finishing up within the half-hour. The assessment stations are the slowest, as usual, but we’re getting them through those as quickly as possible.”

“How about retests? Do we have many wanting to retest a station?”

“A handful at most, as far as I know. You should have the stack of station failures coming soon.” Meghan nodded as they stepped into the cafeteria. Students started coming up to Fred, asking about how soon they would have test results, could they retake a station, etc. Fred shot Meghan a look.

Meghan held up her hands for quiet. “Let’s quiet down in here! It sounds like most of you have completed your skills stations. As soon as everyone is done, we’ll notify those who have failed one or more stations. If you have two or fewer stations you’ve failed, you will have an opportunity to take the station over again after you pay for the retest. You also have the option to retake that particular station at another test date. Those who have passed all of the stations will need to schedule their written test with the state EMS department, just as you did for today. Thank you.” Meghan beat a hasty retreat back down the hall.

Meghan rounded the corner to the volunteer break room and headed to the table where Stacey was collecting test sheets as the runners brought them to her. “How many more are we waiting on?”

“I’m waiting on five more from the exam scenarios. Otherwise, we’ve gotten all of them collected from the individual skills stations.”

“How are we looking on failure rates?” Meghan sat down next to Stacey and started flipping through papers.

“So far, so good. We’ve got 7 failures out of 50 testers. Five of those are skills stations, plus one medical and one trauma.” Stacey passed over the score sheets. Meghan looked through the sheets, noting the failure areas.

“I’m going to take these and talk with the stations. I’ll go ahead and cut loose the volunteers that aren’t needed for retests. Pizza should be here soon,” Meghan added.

“Okay. I’ll find you when I get those last grading sheets, especially if we have another failure.” Stacey started putting the stacks of papers in their pre-made folders. All of the paperwork would be sent to the National Registry next week.