The Only Easy DAY Was Yesterday !

Interests !

This page outlines my interests at this time;
I have many.

Emergency
Medical
Technician (EMT I/D)

background

I am asked quite often why would anyone want to take care of medical rescue calls. Probably a good question, I believe you have to be a certain type of person to get up at all hours of the night, in any type of weather, to go to accident scenes or someone’s home to attempt to help people in a wide variety of emergencies. Not to mention the large amount of training to go through to get your license as well as the large amount of training to keep it current. Most generally being on a volunteer service you receive little or no compensation for your efforts and you risk your health and safety in the process. There is also a high incidence of burn out in this profession, as well as depression and divorce. But someone has to do it. It must be that little boost of adrenaline you get when the pager goes off, and the many tales and stories you now have to tell that generally starts out with “ So there I was” It started from an interest in firefighting/rescue work, then I enrolled in a First Responder class sponsored by Georgetown, Illinois Fire Department and I was hooked ( it must have been the excellent instructor). I finally found something that I could make a difference in the community doing, since I am getting a little to old to crawl into burning buildings. I then learned that there was a shortage of Emergency Medical Techs in the area and one thing led to another. I currently hold a EMT Intermediate license and run medical calls for Oakwood Emergency Rescue Service. I have an on-going goal to attain Paramedic level, but the license system as it exists, keeps me from pursuing this.

Fire Fighting/Rescue

background

I have always had a desire to be a Firefighter or Police Officer from an early age but never really had enough time to pursue those ambitions. I was always either working a couple of jobs or going to school to get better trained to get a better job. I was then to old to pursue a career as a paid firefighter and not aggressive enoughto be a Police Officer. When I finally realized that those desires could have been a excellent opportunity it was too late. What did some one say about hindsight being 20-20? In any case I volunteered as a firefighter for Kickapoo Fire Protection District and immediately enjoyed working in the Fire/Rescue Services. Many good friendships were made with other Firefighters/EMT’s in other departments during group training and meetings. The people in our area should be very proud of the professional and volunteer emergency workers who give constant and relentless dedication to helping others. Many residents do not know what these individuals do to help their communities.

Search and Rescue

background

Another desire since I was in my early twenties was to start a Search and Rescue team in the Central Illinois/Indiana area. Many people said that no one gets lost in Central Illinois; you can walk a mile in any direction and find civilization. Well to a certain extent this is true, but there are many cases when people need found due to: medical illness, accidents, lost children, Alzheimer patients, etc. not to mention evidence search. There is a definite need for trained search teams in urbanized areas. It is true you will not participate in searches as often as if you were in the mountains of the western United States but it is possible to participate in a dozen searches on average in a year’s time. Since I was involved with the Emergency Management Agency (called ESDA then) at the time I found that the Director of EMA, Ed Miller also had a desire for starting a Search and Rescue team. The pieces just kind of fell together when the Illinois Emergency Management Agency offered training in this area for SAR. Vermilion County Search and Rescue (VCSAR) team was founded and has grown to a solid well trained group of individuals who I am very proud of, and would consider them as good a team as any in the United States. Many hours of training and live searches have taken place since the team was established and I am honored in serving as the current VCSAR Coordinator. VCSAR's intent is not to replace or remove the search function or authority from law enforcement. Its sole intent is to assist law enforcement with trained individuals in searches that law enforcement determines that we may be of assistance. If you have a lost or missing person situation, Call your local law enforcement agency first.

Wilderness Survival

background

Music for Survival where native ways meet the technology of today.

Lightweight Backpacking

Future Entry

Computers/Technology

background

I have been working with computers too long, ever since the 1970’s and in computer years that a long time. I have seen a lot of changes in those years. For example I have seen 16 K upgrade (that’s 16 x 1024 bytes not meg) of memory cost almost $1,000 dollars. A 5 meg harddrive for $5,000. I’ve seen small programs fill lockers full of punch cards. I have drawn flowcharts until wee hours of the morning. Have you ever programmed a computer with toggle switches? If we change as rapidly as we have from then till now, in the future, it is almost unimaginable what we will see.

Computers/Internet

In the near future I am hoping that web development will be more like working with a desktop publisher. It is very close now, but there are still some inconsistencies with the process, as I know it. There still are to many separate programs to purchase to get the job done as far as I am concerned. Some of the applications out today are in fact outstanding as far as what you can create in a short amount of time. Applications such as Flash 5.0, Swish, Adobe group, give you total creative control with web development. The problem that arises is the bandwidth that is required to view and use these sites. Application developers and Network/Internet engineers are well aware that the wave of the future on the Internet will be more images, video, and sound all digital all real time must be cheaper, must be faster. The future will also bring Total Sensory Interfaces in virtual reality.

Art/Drawing/Sketching

Future Entry

This page always under CONSTRUCTION !

This document maintained by {fisher_ted22@hotmail.com}.
Material Copyright © 2001 Ted Fisher
Last Update March 30, 2001