Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by BigJohn, East Texas on May 21, 2008:

Randy, you and your cohorts in the emergency services are my heroes! I thank you and your brethren across the country for the service y'all provide.

BTW, was the duck tape across the "driver's" mouth put there to prevent him from screaming as he was so rudely pushed over the edge?

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I made sure to include a close-up of that, as well as the bus model being "Volunteer". Just because we're doing serious business doesn't mean we don't have some fun sometimes too! Especially [cough] when I'm around. -rc

Posted by Stewart, Melbourne, Australia on May 21, 2008:

Randy, as a fellow emergency worker (I volunteer with the State Emergency Service here in Victoria) I can appreciate how vital these preparedness exercises can be, and it looks like you guys handled it extremely well. Keep up the good work!

Posted by Ed., McHenry, Illinois on May 21, 2008:

Having some familiarity with that area, I've got to ask: will you be pushing a snowplow over the side, to practice for the (hopefully, never-occurring) next accident at the Riverside Slide?

(By the way, did you know that C.W. McCall lives in Ouray?)

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Snow is too cushy to bother with -- we only worry about ice!

C.W. McCall's real name is Bill Fries Jr.; "CW" is radio lingo for Morse Code, and McCall is homage to a radio callsign. McCall, who became famous with his hit Convoy, was Ouray's mayor from 1986 to 1992. He didn't seek a third term. He'll be 80 this year. -rc

Posted by Eric "Elf" Kellogg (Huntsville, Al) on May 24, 2008:

Interesting. I'm also EMT and Mountain Rescue trained (yes I'm in the Tennessee Valley, but I lived and worked in the Santa Cruz Mountains and "play" in the Sierras) and I thought the exercise was a completely excellent idea. It's so good, in fact, that I'm forwarding this to some mates around Tahoe, in Santa Cruz (Boulder Creek, CA actually) and here in this Valley. Frankly, I could use a little more practice anyway (my rope work is particularly atrocious these days).

Thanks for adding that to the This Is True mailing this week.

Oh, as a side note, I have family in Ouray. I see from the video why they love it so much there.

Posted by Ben, Washington on May 24, 2008:

Bless you guys.

EMTs I respect more than almost everyone. Emergency workers in general. I don't know a one who would be happy if their job wasn't needed at all.

Posted by Eric, Athens AL on May 25, 2008:

Man, you guys are brutal to your bus drivers out there! First you duct tape their hands to the steering wheel, then cover their mouths so they can't scream? ;)

(And then finally you push them off a cliff!)

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It gets worse: we never even paid that guy! -rc

Posted by Meiran, Northern Virginia on May 25, 2008:

I just got certified in the basics of the Incident Command System, which it looked like you guys might be using for this. It made me think of the exercises we just did to familiarize ourselves with it (I'm not in emergency services, I work in office support for public safety so I also have to be prepared for support functions) though we didn't do quite as much work on ours.

Looks like the kind of thing that is kind of fun when you know it isn't real.

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Yep, just so. ICS is part of the National Incident Management System, which is one of the better programs adopted by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency). It provides for a common structure among all agencies so they can work together more easily, communicate using the same concepts and ideas, and fits local responders seamlessly into state and federal teams so that their time is spent more on actually helping in a disaster, and less on figuring out how to work together. -rc

Posted by Bob - Tucson on May 25, 2008:

As we are celebrating EMS Appreciation at the hospital where I work, I figured I would pass it on to you for your volunteer work with the local EMS!!

Way To Go!!

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EMS Appreciation Week this year was May 18-24 -- our exercise was on its first day.

Posted by Bruce - Gainesville, FL on May 27, 2008:

I remember as a kid getting my hands of a compilation of National Lampoon's "True Facts" columns. They had a couple of pages devoted to headlines about bus plunges. Apparently, buses have always plunged. Never a careen or dive or even a prosaic drive; they always plunge.

Posted by Mike - Manassas, VA on May 27, 2008:

Thank you for posting this video on your site (via you-tube) and mentioning it in your email. I started back up with EMS and Fire a few years ago, and have been following your mentions of your EMS experiences in your emails. We are participating in an aircraft Mass Casualty Incident in early June, and this posting has me looking forward to our upcoming training. I'll be sending a link to this page to my training officers as an idea for future training.

Its good to see your posts as a volunteer. In this area, volunteerism is dwindling. Keep up the good work.

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Yeah, it's always hard to find good volunteers. Yet emergency services is so satisfying, and the band of brothers & sisters is a close one. Highly recommended. -rc