145: mini superhero at the extrication training

We did a mock car wreck today so the EMT students could practice extrication with the firemen. When I told my kids where I was going, of course Lex wanted to be involved, so he put on his Mr. Incredible outfit and got in the car.

Shattered windows, piles of bloody & broken looking people, firemen with giant power tools ripping apart metal. . . this isn't generally where you'd think a preschooler would feel at home. When we do this sort of training it bothers many adults, but, like most things about life, Lex was unphased. He was quite excited about being able to throw rocks at the car to smash windows and dent metal as we tried to make it look a little more beat up and realistic for our crash scenario. He watched as we created broken bones and gashes on the patients for the exercise and then covered them in fake blood. Before the firemen started cutting things up he climbed on top to of the car check things out.  (And in the picture above was checking in on the patients from a hole in the back windshield, with his empty syringe in hand in case anyone needed any imaginary shots.). I redirected him to watch over one of our other patients not in the car when we started working and he did a pretty good job of not interfering.

He did, however, come over at one point (when I was in the backseat helping one of the students with a patient) to deliver a flower that he'd picked for me.

Then he went back to surveying progress from the perimeter. One of his little friends came by on a bike ride with his parents and after they watched what was going on for awhile Lex brought him over to show him the ambulance.

I suppose these are the sort of Saturday play dates you have when your mom, grandparents, and aunts and uncles are all EMTs.