When Dr. Maire Connolly learned about the tsunami on Dec. 26, she was torn: should she leave her family in Ireland to return to the World Health Organization in Geneva, where she leads the team that responds to health problems after natural disasters? Or should she stay with her parents, whom she rarely sees because of her work?

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Though much less dramatic, I faced a similar dilemma yesterday. I spent the afternoon with my family(and the 4 other people in the afternoon matinee), seeing Meet the Fockers (Quick review: Some parts laugh out loud funny, but I still think I like the first one better.) After that, we all went out to a nice dinner. (Read: Since I wasn't paying, I ate a lot. )

This is where the dilemma came in: go back home with the family, to "sit" or serve the community on my regularly scheduled EMS shift… Being the addict that I am, of course I chose the EMS shift, as it would be the last one prior to leaving for Grenada.

Luckily only two calls:

• 3-car MVA: A woman rear-ended another car at a stop-light, which ended up hitting the back of another car. Even though there was extensive rear-end damage (and compartment intrusion) to the second vehicle, both women from the first two vehicles had minor pains, and no discernable injuries, so they both RMA'd. The driver who caused the accident also complained of no injuries. The only problem was that she was very drunk (Breathalyzer 0.150 with no breath - so much higher than that), not being able to remember much of anything, and she said that she "passed out." Now a NY State Police Trooper was in the lane right next to hers when the accident happened, (convienient, huh? ), and said she did no such thing. Well she got taken to the hospital precautionarily, mostly against her will, but due to her altered mentation, she didn't have much of a choice… She was actually a relatively well-known member of the community, so I guess it's better than going straight to jail…
• At 3AM, a 76-yo gentleman called 911 because he experienced "chills" and "sneezed 7 times in a row." WTF? His wife was in the hospital, and actually got admitted with a simple bronchitis, since he refused to take her home, since he "couldn't sleep at night." Our guesses: 1) He wanted a free taxi ride to visit his wife or 2) he was coming down with a cold, and wanted a free taxi ride to the hospital.

Well, off to finally finish packing… I leave the house tomorrow at 6AM to catch my flights back down to Grenada…