What makes a HERO?

Comic book heroes have superpowers and are invincible. REAL heroes are mortals who seem to have an inner strength to run towards danger to help strangers even while others run away.

We’ve heard and seen the stories of heroism that came from 9/11, or hurricanes, earthquakes and other catastrophes. Right now, in 2020, our country, our world, is going through a frightening pandemic and yet there are people with remarkable dedication and bravery to be there when people need them.

Our First Responders and Health Care Workers have continually put themselves in the line of danger on the Front Line dealing with an unknown disease — we may have a name for this virus, but every day we seem to find something different in how it reacts, the damage it causes and the lives it takes. And it takes bravery for our “Essential Workers” to show up every day and help the rest of us keep some semblance of normalcy in our lives. No one is a fool, no one thinks they are invincible.

I am a very proud mother and mother-in-law of FOUR FRONTLINE individuals – EMS, Fire Department, and Hospital staff. I am very proud of my offspring and their other halves, and it is scary as hell because I worry about them every single day. But I am PROUD of their commitment to make our world better, to care for strangers, to provide comfort. I don’t know if I could be so brave.

I know that my four are not the only ones out there, saving us, and being there for us. I know that personally because our kids are not the only ones in our family to be on the FrontLine as well as many friends who are out there responding to wherever they are called.

My husband and I are sitting at home, practicing #SocialDistancing, wearing masks WHEN we do have to go out, and doing or giving where we can and I almost feel guilty for keeping ourselves safe when our children and so many other heroes are out there. I say “almost’ because every person who keeps himself healthy does not put more strain on an already strained healthcare system.

What I have been trying to do is let each of our heroes know how much I appreciate them and acknowledge how vital each one is. When we have to do our necessary grocery shopping, or make phone calls to keep our daily lives moving, my husband and I always try to thank each person we encounter and let them know we appreciate their being there.

I have devoted several spots on one of my blogs to highlighting Healthcare workers — EMTs, Paramedics, Hospital workers and their support systems – I would love it if you would take a look and share your thanks as well. If appreciation helps at all, let’s appreciate.

Thank you.

The HEROES2020 series

#EMSSTRONG, EMS Week 2020, 5/20

Men & Women of RMC/RPS  5/17

 Gayle Metzger, 5/15 Darrell Jennings, 5/13

 Moms of Essential Workers. 5/10

 Jesse Goldsmith,5/8

 Dave Stone RIP, 5/6

video: Never Alone, 5/3

 Micky Huber, 5/1

 Jared Panko, 4/24

Send me your #COVID19Warrior story for inclusion
in the HEROES 2020 series.
Send info on 1st Responders & Healthcare Workers who are on the Front-Lines during this COVID19 crisis. Submit a brief blurb about the individual (see some of the examples above) and a digital pic.
This is a great opportunity for EMS, FD, PD and hospital personnel managers to show their appreciation for a Job Well Done!
If you are submitting as a private individual
(friend or family member) please make sure you have that
individual’s permission to post their info.
Send your submission to ChelleCordero@gmail.com,
please put HEROES2020 in the subject line.
I will post as many as I can.
Thank you to all of our Front-Line workers!

I’m Insulted…

Like many of us, I haven’t gotten to actually SEE and be with any of my kids for about two months now. We have two that we’ve raised and two that have joined our family and I miss each one of them. Yes we’ve spoken on the phone and actually had a few video chats but I miss being able to hug them. The holidays were a letdown, we usually make a point of having a Passover Seder together, but it didn’t happen this year. Yes, I know that has been the case for most parents of grown children. And I feel weepy and miss them so much.

And what really, really bothers me most is I know how many other people they see every single day… You see all four of them are first responders. Two of them are working “in-house” positions along with others, and two of them are riding in ambulances and treating innumerable patients all day long — sometimes their hours are so long that they are too exhausted to answer their phones or return text messages. I am so damn proud of each of them, they are heroes.

I am not insulted because my kids don’t have the time to see me, or that they can’t because of social distancing. I am insulted by the fact that so many people just assume that there will be a response each time they call 911 and they seem to forget the sacrifices that each responder makes often for very little pay. I am insulted by the fact that all these highly trained individuals, of which my children are a part of, are forgotten when the crisis is over. Heck some of them aren’t even considered to be ESSENTIAL even though they are risking their own lives with every single patient and every single time tones go out.

For now everyone is referring to our FRONTLINE during this Coronavirus crisis and thanking them with thoughtful meals and cards, blue ribbons on trees, and cheers. What is going to happen when this crisis is over? Will our first responders be forgotten again? Will most of today’s heroes have to continue working multiple jobs to pay their bills? I’ve seen it happen before and I worry that it will happen again.

It’s time to recognize our TRUE heroes, the ones who respond to cries for help, the ones who save our lives even when it puts them at risk. Make a list NOW of them people you are able to depend upon for all of the important stuff — all the people who come when you dial 911, all the people who restock the grocery store shelves, all the people who maintain the roads so that trucks can get through with supplies, all the nurses and doctors in the ER and ICU, our military and National Guard, the people who man the food shelters… these are the people we need to value, we need to thank, and we need to remember.

I never could stand the sight of blood

Most of us would look at that statement and say “Okay, big deal.” But it really is kind of ironic, I spent almost 30-years riding a rig as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and I saw blood more than a few times, LOL. I treated and transported trauma and acute illness, I even delivered babies! When I was busy with a patient the blood didn’t seem to bother me, but if I was just an onlooker for some reason — YIKES!

I stopped riding a few years ago, 911 response is much easier on a younger person, but I do miss it. Now I sit on the sidelines, my son and his wife are both EMTs, my daughter was a Paramedic for many years, my husband is also “retired” from EMS, and I write about it as both a journalist and as a romantic dreamer.

When I first wrote Final Sin it was a dual purpose. Years earlier there was a horrible murder (it was in all of the papers) and a major part of the crime scene was less than a mile where I live and it gave me the heebie-jeebies and I wanted to exorcise that feeling. The gruesome opening scene of the book was inspired by this true-crime, and then the similarity ends. Of course, knowing me, I wrote about a burgeoning romance between a paramedic who responds to the carnage and the Deputy Sherriff who is investigating the murder.

I had fun writing some of the unusual and sometimes humorous events in the book and YES, these things really have happened. There was the night my husband responded to a call for a heart attack victim and there was a lady who only wanted her car battery jumpstarted with the defibrillator! Of course that scene made it into the book.

Jake (sheriff) and Julie (paramedic) do get together, well no spoiler there, it DOES have an HEA ending. Along the path though there is a lot of tension and danger. I say this with all of the love I can muster on the keyboard, I hope it keeps you awake at night. (It did me while I was writing it because there were some “things” I needed to research in order to make it sound realistic.

Deputy Sheriff Commander Jake Carson has his hands full... investigation of a brutal multiple homicide, a troubled son and a vindictive ex-wife. He meets young, free-spirited paramedic Julie Jennings. When Julie becomes the subject of an obsession, it puts both of them in danger...

Final Sin evolved into Hyphema. Matt was Julie’s ambulance partner and we follow his after Final Sin life —he has a wife and son and they move to a small town in North Carolina. Oh by the way, you can find Hyphema as a stand alone book or with Final Sin as part of the EMS Novels Bundle Pack.

In Touch of Love’s short story “the Dead Guy in the Park” I was actually just being a bit whimsical. I wanted to fit some intrigue and romance into just a few pages. Oh, the apparent suicide was based on another real-life incident where, guess what, I responded. They do say that truth is stranger than fiction.

Today ends the official National EMS Week celebration but I still want to pay homage to all of the highly skilled men and women out there who answer the call for help 24X7!

To purchase Final Sin:

KINDLE

AMAZON PRINT

NOOK 

B&N PRINT

APPLE

SCRIBD

SMASHWORDS

AUDIOBOOK

Touch of Love... is Here!

 

~~ All Ebook Editions ~~

Touch of Love

Short Story Collection

 by Chelle Cordero

An Empty House: You never know what tomorrow will bring. This is a personal essay about coping with and moving on with the “New Normal”.  The Lost Love: Rejected for her Mexican heritage by the teen-age boy she had a crush on, Lindsay put it behind her. So how come, when they wind up at the same college years later, Lindsay can’t get over her anger at the humiliation? And will Brad ever forgive himself for his callous behavior? The Dead Guy in the Park: An almost end-of-shift call leads a paramedic and her partner to a dead guy in the park. All she has to do is pronounce him so that the coroner can come get the body. What could possibly go wrong? *includes a bonus Spanish edition El Difunto del Parque translated by Marianna Carranza Rekindled: Cynthia and Daniel were college sweethearts torn apart by tragedy. A lifetime later they bump into each other again — Is this their second chance at love?  A Date with Mistletoe: Sometimes you find that it’s the “Unanswered Prayers” that are the best things to ever happen. When confronted by the man of yesterday alongside the man who means the world to her, there is no doubt in Rachel’s mind that she has the best.  He is My Brother…: Who can help save the life of a beloved family member? Prayers, hopes and a personal plea for help. Always, One More Time: Disowned by her parents because of an interracial love affair, Callie Sanders is left alone to raise her son after his father, Jimmy Bernerd, dies fighting in a war on the other side of the world. Desperate to give her son a family she goes to the Bernerd household — what she finds is a second chance at love, acceptance, and family.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zlwVoBgwCk

Touch of Love Sneak Peek Video

 

Touch of Love

Short Story Collection

 by Chelle Cordero

 

Grab your copy today!

Kindle

Apple

Nook

Kobo

Playster

Inktera

Scribd

Also Available through

!Indigo, Bucher.de, Angus & Robertson, WHSmith, Thalia, Tolino, Streetlib, 3M, Baker and Taylor, Follet, Overdrive, Gardners, Chegg, Google Play, and more!  

Author Chelle Cordero

Chelle Cordero writes stories of Passion and Suspense. Vanilla Heart Publishing has published eleven Cordero novels: Bartlett’s Rule; His Lucky Charm; Within the Law; Courage of the Heart; Final Sin; Hostage Heart; A Chaunce of Riches; Common Bond, Tangled Hearts; Hyphema; and Karma Visited. She is currently working on her next novel and promises another action packed adventure and heartwarming love story. Chelle has been writing both fiction and non-fiction for the bulk of her adult life and has been with Vanilla Heart Publishing since early 2008. Her books have earned many plaudits which includes: Bartlett’s Rule was named one of Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s Top Ten Reads for 2009; Final Sin was an Honorable Mention in the Fiction Category of the 2010 NY Book Festival and a 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee.; Hyphema won the Dec 9, 2011 Friday Book Cover Vote on the Shades of Love website; A Chaunce of Riches was Winner of D. Renee Bagby’s readers’ choice for The Best Overall First Chapter, April 2010; and Hostage Heart, Final Sin and A Chaunce of Riches had top ten finishes in the 2009 Preditors’ and Readers’ poll. Chelle was also featured in “50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading” published by The Author’s Show in 2010. Chelle Cordero maintains an author’s blog at http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/, and a promotional blog at http://ccepotourri.wordpress.com/. Her website http://ChelleCordero.com offers information on all of her books and her appearances. Bloggers and the media are welcome to visit Chelle’s media room at http://chellecordero.com/media/ with downloadable photos and other information. Be sure to LIKE Chelle’s FaceBook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorChelleCordero and follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ChelleCordero. You can email Chelle at ChelleCordero(at)gmail.com. Chelle lives in the northeast with her husband, Mark, and family. They have two adult offspring. Jenni and Marc (& Trish); they also live with three mischievous and spoiled pussycats, one of whom has taken up permanent residence on Chelle’s desk. Chelle is a full-time freelance journalist for multiple publications; her articles appear regularly throughout North America and she writes a monthly column on NYS Emergency Medical Services issues as a (former) NYS Emergency Medical Technician (First Responder News).
   

Vanilla Heart Publishing

Ebooks And Audiobooks and Paperbacks, Oh My!

WEBSITE   https://www.VanillaHeartPublishing.com

FACEBOOK #TEAMVHP

 VHP BOOK TOURS

TWITTER @VanillaHeart

 

Thank You to Our EMS First Responders ~ #MondayBlog

It’s National EMS Week May 15 to May 21, 2016, time to show our appreciation for so many who come to our aid when we need them. President Obama just signed this year’s proclamation saying, “Every day across our Nation, women and men sacrifice precious time with their loved ones, working long and hard to provide emergency medical services (EMS) to people they have never met before.”

We often take for granted that EMS responders, police and firefighters will come for us when we call 911 without fully understanding everything these selfless individuals do every day for strangers and neighbors alike. First of all, the Emergency Medical System includes more than the ambulance; it begins with dispatchers who answer the 911 calls and direct instructions to the appropriate agencies, all emergency responders (including firefighters and police) are part of the system, ambulance crews consisting of medical professionals of EMTs and Paramedics, the hospital receiving staff of nurses and doctors, and also EMS educators and government oversight agencies. We should appreciate all of them.

Let’s talk about the ambulance crews. There are more than 21,000 licensed local EMS agencies in the United States more than half of which provide Basic Life Support services (EMT Basic); the rest operate at EMT-Intermediate and Paramedic level services. Approximately 40% of the EMS agencies in the US are fire-department based. One-third of the states rely heavily on Volunteer EMS agencies. The people who respond on the ambulance are highly skilled and trained individuals who provide vital pre-hospital life-saving skills and often transportation to hospitals and other medical facilities. The ability of a community to survive and recover during and after a disaster depends heavily on the strength of its first responders. While many agencies help to provide in-service training and updates, much of the initial extensive training is taken on the individual’s own time and expense.

EMTs are taught to take and assess vital signs and do patient assessments. EMTs are trained to handle cardiac and respiratory arrest, heart attacks, seizures, diabetic emergencies, respiratory problems and other medical emergencies including traumatic injuries and many sudden illnesses. Paramedics can perform all of the skills performed by an EMT, plus advanced airway management such as endotracheal intubation, electrocardiographs (ECGs), insertion of intravenous lines, administration of numerous emergency medications, and assessment of ECG tracings and defibrillation. Individual states differ as to whether EMTs and Paramedics are state certified or licensed and there is a National standard of minimum qualifications.

When the patient of family member is in pain and scared, it is not always easy to see the responders as vulnerable human beings who can get injured or sick as well. Responders will come out at all hours and in all weather conditions; many times when the public is advised to stay off of roadways, there are still ambulances and other emergency vehicles heading to scenes where help is needed. Our health providers come into contact with many communicable diseases and need to take precautions to protect their own health as well as the health of their families. There are also cases where a seemingly innocuous health emergency is also combined with a potential for violence. 

Between road hazards, violent encounters, falls, communicable diseases, and emotional stresses, there is a growing number of disabilities and even LODDs (Line of Duty Death) among both paid and volunteer EMS providers. With more than 20-thousand injuries and illnesses reported yearly (CDC 2013), more than half of these are attributed to EMS responders under 35 years of age. It’s not a job done for the money as the American average for the EMS provider salary begins below $20,000 with a minority as high as $50,000; EMS providers usually begin their careers after deciding to help people and make a difference, they care for their patients and push themselves to act even sometimes when it compromises their own health and well-being.

So let’s take this week, and actually all year round, to say thank you to EMS providers who show up at your door, to roadways and more so that they can help perfect strangers, save lives and improve the quality of our lives.

~~~~~~~~

Would you like a chance to win a free book?

Comment below ON THIS BLOG and you will be entered for a chance to win a FREE ebook copy of Hyphema, one of my two EMS themed stories.

Just comment - if you log in "Anonymously" (without the use of a social network site) pleas be sure to leave your name in your comment.

I'll be announcing the winner next Sunday, May 22!

Matt Garratti, a paramedic from New York, moves his wife and son to North Carolina to work at his dream job as a flight medic. Pakistani born Sudah, his wife, receives frosty stares and insensitive comments from their new neighbors. Before long, Matt wonders if he is pursuing his dream or bringing his family into a nightmare from which they may never wake.

SmashWords

Amazon (Print)

Amazon (Kindle)

AudioBook

Barnes&Noble (Print & NOOK)

The story behind Final Sin ~ #MondayBlogs

EMS STRONG

#EMSWeek2015 ~ May 17-23

In early 1985 a young man was brutally murdered at a location fairly near my home, it left our local townspeople shaken to the core. Newspaper article after newspaper article exposed sordid fact after sordid fact' the murder was written about in books, I even knew the first police officer to arrive on the scene. It was uncomfortably local..

Back in those years I spent the summers working as a day camp health supervisor utilizing my EMT certification and taking extra training to satisfy the local Board of Health/ During the summers I drove past this unassuming crime scene every day - the location of the building where the body was found was well off of the road but the numbered mailbox was prominent... and I actually shuddered when I passed it knowing the horror that had taken place.

While the opening scene in Final Sin has no connection to this nightmarish event,  I did picture this section off the winding road as "the scene of the crime" and in my imagination I was able to see the dark and foreboding smokehouse and fill it with terror once again as a fictional (this time) crime scene.Authors and artists often "steal" things they've seen and manipulate scenes into stories; it makes it very real to us and hopefully to our readers as well.

By the time I sat down to write my first EMS Suspense Thriller I had been riding as a NYS EMT (volunteer) for many years, my husband and both kids also rode. Many of our friends were First Responders, EMTs, Paramedics, CFRs, FD, PD and more. There was never a shortage of stories and certainly never a shortage of radios going off in an emergency.

Final Sin is fiction, so is the spin-off sequel Hyphema... but you just might feel as if it's real because most fiction, somewhere and somehow, IS based in reality. I hope that when you read these books you might just feel a little bit uneasy because then I've done my job and made it as real to you as it was to me... (insert evil laugh here)

Deputy Sheriff Commander Jake Carson has his hands full with the investigation of a brutal multiple homicide, a troubled son and a vindictive ex-wife when he meets young, free-spirited paramedic Julie Jennings. He is immediately drawn to her and finds himself unexpectedly falling in love. Julie finds herself just as drawn to him. When Julie becomes the subject of an obsession, it puts both of their lives in extreme danger… Romance…danger…adventure…suspense…another great Chelle Cordero novel sure to grab readers from many genre!

To purchase:

Amazon.com (print)

Amazon.com (Kindle)

.pdf E-Book (Payloadz)

multiple ebook formats (Smashwords)

Kobo

Apple iTunes

Follow me on Twitter @ChelleCordero for lost of chances to win FREE books this week

Unsung Heroes in Public Safety - #MondayBlogs

I rode as an Emergency Medical Technician for nearly 30 years and responded to various calls for medical help — while enroute to the location we tried to prepare for what waited for us on scene. Of course since most, IF ANY (lol), of us are not soothsayers, we had to rely on the dispatch information we received from the 911 operator.

Sometimes the results were hilarious like the time we were sent to a "bleeding aneurysm" [an abnormal widening or ballooning of a portion of an artery due to weakness in the wall of the blood vessel.]; depending on the site and severity, this can be a life-threatening situation. Without going into gross details, the medic summed the nature of the call up while he wrote up his report, "First time I ever rode in on a diaper rash!"

Once in a while the dispatch info was, well, rather understated. There was the night we were sent to a woman complaining of a stomach ache, by the time we arrived at the hospital I had delivered an eight-and-a-half pound baby boy.

Most times the dispatch info was pretty close if not exact and included more than just the nature of the call such as road closures, hazardous conditions, directions, and the occasional need for a police presence. 911 operators have the heavy task of answering the phone and literally deciphering information from frantic, stressed, sometimes crying callers whose own message may be horribly skewed and far from reality.

I remember as a child in the Bronx, well before the inception of 911, when emergency phone calls were answered by your local police precinct, there was no caller ID, and the day a rebellious squirrel crawled through our third floor kitchen window. My mom, terrified of the "giant rodent" (her description) was shrieking as she made the phone call for help. While I don't remember the exact words anymore, I remember her message included something about an evil squirrel, a kitchen sink, and protecting her children... and then she hung up, gathered my sister and me and ran to a neighbor's apartment to wait for the police to rescue us. She never gave her name or our address! A second phone call from the neighbor's apartment did finally bring the much needed rescue.

In the mid to late 60s, based on recommendations from President Johnson's Task Force on Law Enforcement and Justice, development was started on installing a simple emergency number throughout the U.S. Eventually 911 became Enhanced-911 and today's calls are answered by highly trained, patient and quick thinking Emergency Dispatchers. Incoming calls are displayed on computer screens and most landline (wired phone systems) calls display return phone numbers and locations. Even if a caller is unable to speak, assistance can be dispatched. Knowing the nature of the call helps the operator to determine which, or how many, emergency services need to be sent (fire, police or EMS). Plans are being worked on to make cell phone calls as identifiable.

911 Emergency Dispatchers need great communication skills, knowledge and understanding of emergency situations, as well as the ability to calm frantic callers and get pertinent information from them. Their minimum education is a High School diploma AND intensive emergency training and/or certification depending on the local state requirements. EMDs (Emergency Medical Dispatch) are also trained to coach people through emergency life-saving procedures Basic First Aid until responding crews are on scene. There is a lot of stress being the beginning link in our emergency response system.

Many of us have heard the stories of heroic 911-dispatchers who have gone above and beyond their required scope of duties. On September 11, 2001, Illinois call center supervisor Lisa Jefferson spoke with Todd Beamer on the ill-fated Flight 93. She offered him comfort, encouragement, took messages for his family, and even said the Lord's Prayer with him. Her actions helped record the events of the day and brought comfort to a grieving family. Police dispatchers have also been known to save police officers; one Milwaukee operator realized that a police officer hadn't checked back in after clearing a call scene and she alerted other units, they found him having a medical emergency of his own. 

The following Public Service Announcement aired during the 2015 SuperBowl, its message was to combat domestic violence and sexual abuse. The call was based on an actual 911 call. The 911 operator was able to correctly decipher the caller's cryptic call for help and send the help that was needed; this is a terrific example of the listening skills, and quick thinking that makes the 911 emergency operator such an invaluable component of our emergency response system.

Let's send out a big Thank You to our 911 Emergency Dispatchers and let them know we appreciate all that they do.

#TBT My love affair with EMS

I write about Emergency Medical Services

I wrote two EMS-based Novels, Final Sin and Hyphema

using many of my own experiences in Emergency Medical Services

 as an EMT for nearly 30 years

Nowadays I'm retired from riding the ambulance myself but both of my

offspring are career EMS so I still have an active interest in the profession.

I also wrote a self-help guide (FREE) called Until the Ambulance Arrives

Both Final Sin & Hyphema received accolades from EMS World

I'm also a freelance journalist, in addition to writing my novels,
and I've written a lot of articles about

Emergency Medical Services for magazines and newspapers

so I just thought I would share some of my other EMS writing with you...

In 2008 I wrote an article called In The Danger Zone for EMS Responder

 In March 1896, a fire destroyed the fire company headquarters in Ridley Park just outside of Philadelphia. At that time, the $300 insurance payment was sufficient to replace equipment lost in the blaze. The building, which also housed the town hall, was valued at and insured for $2,000. Maps, plans and stationery were lost in the fire. The (read more)

I've also been a columnist with

1st Responder News since 2006 writing about NYS EMS Issues

Our 1st Responders are on the line every day 

for our safety and well-being

despite the dangers that may be lurking for them.

They are on the front lines on our home front;
when we are in crisis we call and they come
and in times of disaster 1st responders are often
crucial to the recovery of a community.

Thank you all.

Thanks for taking this little trip down memory lane with me!

A Teaser from Final Sin

There wasn't anyone there who didn't look like they weren't ready to heave. Julie felt sorry for the vollies, the members of the local volunteer ambulance corps. At least she and Matt were being paid to be there. Then again, no amount of money was worth witnessing the carnage that was lying there before them.

Matt had done the unwelcome task and already pronounced one of the girls dead. It was obvious death, obvious to anyone. Trying her best not to step into the pool of blood or disturb anything else vital to the crime scene investigation that would follow, she finished preparing the one girl who was still alive for transport.

A young man in his late twenties or early thirties, Julie wasn't sure without reading the patient care report, had been burnt when his shirt had caught fire. He was sitting huddled and guarding his severely burnt arm as Matt treated him. He looked scared and in shock at the events around him and wouldn't look at any of the police officers who had responded. Julie assumed that it was his need to deny the trauma.

A broad shouldered officer came through the door and took command of the scene. He seemed hardened to the butchery, almost as if he had seen too many gruesome scenes just like this one. Dressed in a dark blue baseball jacket, open collar knit shirt and khaki pants, he donned a pair of latex gloves he had carried in his pocket and began an almost detached visual inspection of the room. The springy snap of the elastic gloves stretching to fit his large hands was in sharp contrast to his motionless stance. Other officers at the scene deferred to his judgment and took instructions from him as he calmly took in the entire scene. He was concerned with the best way to collect the pertinent evidence to tell the story of what had happened.

As Julie and one of the ambulance crew members moved the surviving girl to the gurney, she risked a quick look at the tall officer’s dark eyes and noted that there was a thinly disguised veil of dismay. He had intrigued her with his stony expression and seeming aloofness to the horrors, and his complete focus on the collection of relevant clues.  Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, it was a comfort to Julie that the cop was not completely indifferent to this horror or detached from the human cost.

For Matt and Julie, their tour of duty had started out like many others. There had been a call to a minor motor vehicle accident, another for chest pains and one more for a cancer patient who needed to go to the hospital for treatment. Many of the upstate New York communities had contracted with Paramedic services to complement the existing ambulance corps and provide emergency medical response. Whether paid or unpaid, the certified corps always responded with Emergency Medical Technicians who were capable of handling most emergencies. When the Paramedics were dispatched as well, IV drugs and additional hands could often help make critical differences when necessary.

This call had gone out over the radio for a burn victim, so none of the responding police, fire fighters, volunteer ambulance crew nor paramedics were prepared for what they found when they reached this isolated tool shed. From the outside, the grayed wood had seemed serene enough, and the one small window had been caked over with dirt. She didn't think that she would have given the shed a second glance under normal circumstances. But this was far from normal. No one had anticipated the horror scene inside.

Final Sin

Final Sin is the first of my two EMS mystery stories.

I've been a NYS Emergency Medical Technician since 1987 and a volunteer with Stony Point Ambulance Corps ~ my whole family works and volunteers in emergency medical services. While Final Sin, and it's sequel Hyphema, are works of fiction, many of the EMS perspectives are very real.

Being an EMS volunteer has been a completely enriching experience and has given me a wonderful opportunity to be a vital asset to my community which depends on volunteer emergency services. All of these years of being an EMT has also given me great insight into the beauty and fragility of human life.

I hope you will share some of my experiences - please read my books Final Sin and Hyphema. And why not consider volunteering in your own community and helping your neighbors in their times of need?

Taking an ambulance ride & Final Sin

Have you ever been a patient in an ambulance? How did it make you feel? Did you wonder about the people who were caring for you, what their training was, how much they cared about your well being? I'd love to hear your comments below.

I have the memory of being a patient twice in the past, once after a relatively minor car accident and once for a severe asthma attack. The asthma attack was especially scary because the treatment en-route was vital, it was definitely more than just a transport.

I also have the terrific perspective of being one of those trained individuals giving care to patients on the way to hospital. I’ve been a volunteer EMT with my local ambulance corps since 1986. Sometimes the care provided is simple compassion and transport… sometimes we work hard to save a life. I’ve delivered babies - and I’ve done CPR trying to restart a heart. Both successful CPR and holding a newborn in your arms can give you a really heady feeling.

My entire family is in emergency services, both volunteer and career. That’s why, when I wanted to write a mystery suspense, it seemed natural to make my characters emergency service professionals. Going by my own experiences, where else do you get to see so much of life?

I encourage each of you to consider volunteering with your local ambulance squad; the rewards of being able to do something to help, to give some people the only chance they may have, and to know that you have provided (at the minimum) comfort and reassurance is never-ending. There are many ways to be a vital part of your community, give your ambulance corps a chance – it is definitely worth it.

About Final Sin:

Deputy Sheriff Commander Jake Carson has his hands full...

investigation of a brutal multiple homicide, a troubled son and a

vindictive ex-wife. He meets young, free-spirited paramedic Julie

Jennings. When Julie becomes the subject of an obsession, it puts both

of them in danger...

Download a FREE Final Sin “discussion starter package” complete with free bookmarks – it’s perfect for a book club or library discussion group.

for multiple e-book formats http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2354

from Amazon (print) http://bit.ly/GEgv6

This is me...

It was a rainy day in April 1945 when my parents got married. A few years later, my sister was born; four-plus more years and several attempts later, my parents conceded that they weren’t destined to have another child. So, they blew the money they had saved for a new baby on a new (used) car and a vacation in the Catskills. That’s where I began…

I was raised in apartment 2D in the Bronx – our move to apartment 2G (in the same building) when I was eleven was a monumental change in my life as my parents moved off the sofabed in the livingroom into a bedroom of their own. My sister and I helped paint our new livingroom with one-inch wide paintbrushes – nothing was impossible.

Growing up was always an adventure for me, especially with an imagination as active as mine was. I remember three strangers to our neighborhood that mysteriously disappeared into the basement of the building next door on an almost daily basis. One day, a daring friend and I crept down after them to observe what they were doing. They had clips and wires coming out of the building’s telephone junction box! Convinced that we had discovered some huge international espionage plot, we were giddy with excitement. When they turned in our direction, we ran, frightened for our very lives. That was the last time we ever saw them.

As if I needed any encouragement into the world of make-believe, I studied Theatre Arts and Drama at the High School of Art and Design, Fordham University and the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. After some humble, probably annoying, pleading, I managed a nondescript and all too short walk-on in the movie “Plaza Suite” starring Walter Matthau and Maureen Stapleton (How many degrees to Kevin Bacon?). I appeared (very far off) off-off Broadway and did a summer stint as a lighting technician at the Lake Placid Center for Performing Arts. I also worked my way through college as an undercover retail fraud investigator.

My parents believed in mandatory community service although the choice of what we did was up to us. My sister was a Candy Striper at the local hospital, I joined the New York City Auxiliary Police at our local precinct – my dad was the Auxiliary Police Captain. That’s where I met my husband, at least REALLY met him. We had gone to the same high school (he studied photography) but my only vague memory of him was when he, in the guise of a by-the-book hall monitor, tried to prevent me from going to the backstage area to work on an upcoming play. True, it was between class periods and I didn’t have a hall pass, but the theatre students were used to making their own rules. Anyway, back to the Auxiliary Police… I thought he was an egomaniac snob, he didn’t care for me much either.

We kept getting assigned together as patrol partners and even though we built a terrific reputation as partners and seemed to communicate almost telepathically, I complained to our superiors. The Patrol Sergeant, the Lieutenant and the Captain (MY dad) kept pointing the finger at each other for the decision making process that kept throwing us together. A year and a half later, we had our first date; two weeks after that, we were engaged. He kidnapped me and refused to bring me home until I said yes, I figured I’d ask my father to beat him up. But when I told my parents that Mark had proposed, my dad clasped his hands together and said “Thank God!”

We settled in the suburbs less than an hour northwest of the city and began our family. Shortly after the birth of our daughter, I pursued a free-lance writing career and worked out of a home office. As a teen-ager I had written a few articles for a weekly Bronx newspaper and had since dabbled in poetry and pieces of prose just for the fun of it. After our son joined the picture, I managed to convince a few more rags to print my articles. This was about the time I had a weekly column as “Bonzo, the Ape” and shared profound thoughts on life. Since then, I’ve written more commonly as myself, sometimes conducting interviews (and trust me, you wouldn’t believe the things people sometimes tell you about themselves!), covering Grand Opening events, researching new trends and fashions, writing advertorials and business profiles, and just about anything else that will sell. I also spent a few summers teaching Creative Writing to kids in a local program.

Both my husband and I joined our local ambulance corps as volunteers and went on to become New York State Emergency Medical Technicians. I’ve helped to deliver babies, did CPR during codes, pulled people out of car wrecks, splinted broken bones, monitored the vitals of drug overdoses, stopped bleeding, and held patients’ hands enroute to the hospital. Both of our kids have followed us into the E.M.S. community and, often, dinner conversation at our table is not for the weak of stomach. Many of our friends are also involved with the local emergency services, medical and fire, and it isn’t unusual to have a festive holiday party empty out as soon as a pager goes off. The stories we swap are never boring.

My daughter and my son have justified every gray hair I’ve gotten. They’ve kept me on my toes, made me laugh, made me shake my head and cry, shared their dreams with me, allowed me to boast about them, and have each become a vital part of my inner circle of close friends. I've done the gamut of class mother, Girl Scout leader, Cub Scout mom, school parents’ association, and advisor in various youth groups. My favorite age has always been whatever age they were at the time. I love it when we hang out together or they invite me to go someplace with them and their friends. Both of our "kids" are terrific adults and I love following their various adventures.

I’ve always played a favorite game I call “What if?” whenever I see something unexpected, do something new, or hear about some adventure. I mentally place fictional characters into the setting and then I ask myself what if THIS happens, or THAT? By staying involved in my community, active with my family, reading avidly and even surfing on the Internet, I get a lot of fuel for my overactive imagination.

That means a lot of stories – please, join me

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chellecordero Who is looking at my blog? (hello world!)

United States Russia Germany Netherlands United Kingdom Canada Ukraine India France South Korea