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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1997)
T 14. ~fuesday • October 14, 1997 Qus Lifestyles 'exas A&M paramedics save lives nd build friendships in the process By Stephen Wells Staff writer here is a saying familiar to aviators: “Flying is hours of boredom punctuated by ef moments of stark terror.” *The same could be applied to e life of a paramedic or emer- ncy medical technician (EMT). They wait for hours for bad js to happen so they can step [nd at Texas A&M, they do it e life of a paramedic is one of ng hours spent in a dispatch office, ilunteers work long shifts for 24 >urs a day, often from late afternoon mid morning the next day. The dispatch office becomes imething of a second home for e paramedics. Robert Meltzer, a paramedic rA.P. Beutel Health Center, re embers his days as a dispatcher. _ “I once worked a 96-hour shift l Christmas. That’s four days on spatch,” Meltzer said, de safc Aiejandra Pinto, a dispatcher at mtel, describes how life as a dis- itcher can sometimes become ng and slow. A dispatcher is not allowed to ave the phones for any reason un- ss someone else can relieve them. f, We can’t even go to the re room without someone here to atch the phones for us, you can’t looze button 911 or give it an an- Vering machine,” Pinto said. “You :e the eyes and ears of the EMT id the paramedic on the truck. “You are the first contact the pa tient has, the first help they get.” Although dispatch work is serious business, there are some light moments. “This morning I’m in the mid dle of two pretty serious calls, and some guy from the physical plant calls asking if I’ve seen the keys to his Mule,” Pinto said. In emergencies, the dispatcher is the caller’s first tangible proof help is on its way. “I had another call, a real in tense call, and as a dispatcher you have to stay on the phone until the paramedics arrive on the scene,” Pinto said. “They couldn’t get in [to render aid] until UPD arrived. “So by the time they got in, I had developed one of those phone relationships with the guy, and we didn’t want to hang up.” Often times, dispatch work is very hectic leaving the dispatchers little time to do anything else but work and study. “This morning we had three calls at the same time,” Pinto said. “I had the headphones on, and one phone was ringing, and we were testing the other to see if the ringer worked. “I had this trainee with me and she was like ‘whoa, cool.’” Meltzer said the qualifications for a good dispatcher is more than an ability to answer a phone. “Anybody can be a dispatcher,” Meltzer said. “It takes someone special to be a dispatcher for more than a week and a half.” The time demands of being a DEREK DEMERE/The Battalion Ttaci Buttrill, a Texas A&M EMT and a junior psychology major, hops in the ambulance ready to take on an emergency dispatched from the Health Center. full-time paramedic and a full time student force some compro mises. Living with these compro mises is just another facet of an emergency care specialist’s life. w Seth DeCamp, a paramedic at Beutel, makes plenty of compro mises. “We fill in for each other be tween classes,” DeCamp said. “I’ve had to go to class in my uniform before, which isn’t very cool, but my professors are usually cool about it. “I was on call once while in class because the guy that usually covers for me couldn’t [work] that day. When a call came in, I just left.” Meltzer said the job requires a lot of commitment. “The sacrifices that people make to be down here are enor mous,” Metzer said. “Most of us are here 50 to 60 hours per week and almost all of the medic-1’s (paramedics) have other jobs to help pay the bills. “Also, most of us are students, so the workload just keeps going up.” DeCamp has an especially tight schedule. In addition to being a para medic, he is a resident assistant for Moses Hall. “Being an RA and pulling duty and being a paramedic on duty takes up a lot of time,” DeCamp said. “Basically, I bought a little $5 planner and live by it.” As with dispatching, not all para medic work is panic and high stress. “I totally made a fool out of my self this one day,” DeCamp said. “I was called to this car wreck and this person had two broken fe murs and was all messed up. “I’m doing my work and there’s this person behind me telling me how to do my job, so finally I turn around and tell her to shut up. Turns out she was the head trauma sur geon at Scott and White. Oops.” The time spent in the dispatch room and the constant demands on time have fostered a commu nity relationship among the emer gency care team members. “I met my fiancee through the care team,” Metzer said. “Basically, everybody I’ve met so far, except for some people I’ve met in class, I’ve met through the care team.” Please see Paramedic on Page 4. Most Wanted wastes good acting with trite plot, scenes Most Wanted Starring Keenan Ivory Wayans and JonVoight Directed By David Glenn Hogan Rated R Playing at Hollywood 16 ★★1/2 (out of five) By Travis Irby Staff writer A title like Most Wanted, would indicate lofty goals for any movie which bore it, but Keenan Ivory Wayans’ new action film falls short of its expectations. Wayans, whose past forays include comedic classics like Hollywood Shuffle and I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, decides to play a super-straight action hero inMostWanted. The screenplay, which was scripted and produced by Wayans, seems composed of a number of recent action movie plots. Wayans, sporting a spiffy Mr. Clean look, stars as James Dunn, a decorated soldier who was wrongly jailed for doing the right thing. He is about to be executed, when enigmatic Lt. Col. Casey (JonVoight) gives him a chance at survival. Dunn is offered a spot on Casey’s little assassination squad. Seeing no other way to avoid cer tain death, Dunn joins the group of black-suited boy scouts of doom and is immediately given an assignment. Dunn is assigned to assassi nate a sleazy industrialist. The planned assassination is supposed to occur at a hos pital dedication attended by the first lady. Please see Wanted on Page 4. Keenan Ivory Wayans plays James Dunn, a government assassin accused of killing the first lady, in the new action film, Most Wanted. The Tavern offers a touch of elegance O RONY ANGKRIWAN/The Battalion new restaurant in College Station, offers exotic and unique foods. By Travis Irby Staff writer bnoxious crowds, poor service, lousy food, exorbitant prices — these are the things the owners of the new restaurant, The Tavern are hoping to avoid when it comes to the restaurant game. Since opening three weeks ago, The Tavern has attempted to attract those looking for a change of pace in the local eatery scene. Sri Kamdalam, The Tavern’s owner, said he wants to create a place conducive to conduct ing business. “Owning a software company, I wanted a place to take clients,” Kamdalam said. “That is how the idea for The Tavern came into being.” Kamdalam said he had no experience with a restaurant before The Tavern, so he knew he want ed the best people to help run the operation. “I wanted people who had the best back grounds in the restaurant business,” Kam dalam said. His employees from the operations manager to the wait staff to the chef have all worked at some of the eateries in town. Darren Moore, a waiter at The Tavern and se nior science and technologies major, said The Tavern is one of the classier restuarants in town. “I’ve worked at Rosalie’s and The Texan, both great places, but for overall package this place has them beat,” Moore said. William Ragsdale, executive chef, said he has a reason for cooking at The Tavern. “I’ve cooked at The Texan and I like the qual ity of the food I prepared there,” Ragsdale said. “The Tavern is the first kind of place like that [The Texan] in College Station.” Casey White, operations manager of The Tavern, said he is impressed with the progress of the restaurant. “At this point in the restaurant’s existence, it couldn’t be going better,” White said. “We are still finalizing aspects of the menu, but people are lik ing everything they eat.” A successful restaurant is made up of many parts, but to many people the food is a corner stone. The Tavern prides itself on its high class food. White said the food’s flavor and quality is worth the price. “The prices are reasonable enough to com pare with the nicer eateries in town,” White said. “People can come in and get a nice meal for two for around $20.” Ragsdale said the dedication to quality is one of the reasons he works at the restaurant. “Everything is made fresh, and if there is something I want to get a hold of, the owners will get it,” Ragsdale said. White added the chefs are flexible when it comes to customer satisfaction. “If there is a dish not on the menu, nine times out of ten we can usually get it the next time they come in,” White said. Please see Tavern on Page 4. Class of ’98 pictures are being made for the flitor int' 1 anagingl :ity Edito r 'lews iports Ec’- estyles E: DpimonEc ’hoto Ed® Radio Ef Web Ed® Neb Edit® fice nt is manajuli fStuden! Puttee ms ofes as i e: 845-3313 site: http://® ;doesii(iMW impus. local. W ilassitedadyet: i Reed McDos ewes Fee ffd py ollheSaS iOforlhefaM 5-2611. is puMec! imesteisaMl'' 1 except Uwe® Second dasss SendaddKS-' b Sell, Re' taliof an Do I 0569 Made-For-The Rm# d* jf • 1998 Aggieland at A R Photography Texas Avenue TAMU Campus So is tomorrow. AR CD ro o Orel rt> 1410 Texas Ave. (between Jason’s Deli and Academy) Drop by A R Photography at its new location on Texas Avenue, or call 693-8183 for your appointment
