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November 14, 2006
Western Pennsylvania Hospital 4800 Friendship Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Dear Western Penn. Hospital,
Seven years ago, I lost my legs in a tragic accident. I used to believe that a safe falling from a 20-story building was cartoon material and nothing more. But on August 16, 1999, I learned that even in reality, safes do fall on people.
I woke up unconscious twenty minutes later with a paramedic at my feet. He was saying something about amputation, but I figured he was just discussing the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy to a fellow paramedic. It didn’t occur to me that I would lose my legs – that is, until I woke up after the surgery, half the man I used to be. I was screaming in terror, partly because I had no lower limbs, but mainly because I had run out of chocolate pudding and the nurse was nowhere in sight.
The paramedic who took me to the hospital was able to save me – but not my legs. I am thankful for being able to live, but I am nonetheless disappointed in the paramedic’s work. That is why, soon after my release, I decided to become a paramedic myself. The amputation could not stop me from fulfilling this dream! I would save people from imminent death, even better than the paramedic before me! I would become: Salvation on Wheels!
Some call me by that name. Others say I’m “The Rolling Paramedic.” Many call me “Kevin,” due to the fact that Kevin is my first name. But no matter which moniker I go by, the service is always the same. I took a vow to devote my life to saving people, particularly those caught in safe-related leg injuries! I am always on call, 24-7, when people are in danger. I may be in a wheelchair, but I have learned to navigate and maneuver with precision! In the past year I have taken to the skies in Rogue Savior Mark III, my sky-ambulance helicopter. When the pager goes off, I hop in, quickly strapping my foldable wheelchair to the side, and I rush people to the hospital with style!
Recently, I found myself flying a patient to your hospital. I couldn’t help but notice there was not a handicap helipad on your roof. I was forced to land on the regular helipad, which is fairly close to the door but not close enough. The patient I was transporting was hit by a piano while walking down the street, and he was in critical condition. I told him the doctors might amputate both his arms, but he just said something about the show E.R. He lives, but with no arms – and I truly believe that, were I able to land only 15 feet closer to the door, those precious seconds would allow him the use of his arms today.
I implore you, both as a helicopter pilot and a paramedic, please install a handicap helipad on your roof. If not for me, do it for the sake of your patients. If a comically large object hit you on the head, wouldn’t you want to get to the hospital as quickly as possible? One, two, three seconds – it may not sound like much, but to a dying man, it is the thin line between death and living to eat your chocolate pudding.
Sincerely,
Kevin Dickinson Paramedic |
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