Stripped

Worked in the city today. They gave me the same old car they always give me. It is the oldest car in the fleet. I get it because it has more leg room than the new cars, but it is noisy and often in need of repair.

When I come in at the start of the week the scenario is not uncommon: Get a mechanic to jump the car, rebuild the ambulance -- it always gets stripped by other crews -- then finally get on the road.

Today, we got the ambulance jumped, then I had to find a monitor, then find monitor batteries, then find a glucometer, and rebuild the IV shelf. Took us an hour to get ready.

Then they sent us on a BLS wait and return. Then another one. All we did was BLS.