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.
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1998
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