Ponyville Volunteer Ambulance

by PTR-RainbowDash

Revival

CHAPTER 2

“Alright, lift on three… one… two… three”

The two unicorns’ horns glow and spread towards the backboard, enveloping it in the same glow in a coordinated effort to lift the backboard. 10 seconds later the backboard flops down on the stretcher, the fire unicorn assisting Butterscotch with strapping in the patient; behind them, the fire ponies watch, and behind them, the police watch, and behind them, the public watches.

The driver side door of the ambulance opens up and Starshine hops in, immediately closing the door and buckling in. She twists around in her seat and watches the loading of the stretcher though the driver compartment door, her face moist with sweat, part of her mind watching what is happening in front of her, the other parts planning out the route to the hospital and running through scenarios in her head. The stretcher locks in with a loud click, Butterscotch and a fire stallion hopping in the back before the other fire fighters close the doors. Butterscotch hops into the command seat and hits the interior lights and oxygen pressure. With her magic she yanks the BVM oxygen tube off of the portable tank and sticks it on the on-board oxygen system, dialing open the regulator to 15 liters per minute and switching off the portable tank. As the fire stallion makes a move to continue chest compressions, the AED starts to speak again.
“Analyzing heart rhythm, please clear the patient.”

Starshine, having been lost in thought, takes this as her cue to get on the radio. “Ponyville, three seven five nine.”

“Three seven five nine”

“Analyzing heart rhythm. No shock advised. Continue CPR”

“Three seven five nine, going red to Canterlot with one patient, BLS.”
Starshine places the mic back in its holder and flicks off the scene lighting.

“Red to Canterlot, one patient, BLS, got it”

She takes a look in the back again “Lemme know when you’re ready”

Butterscotch has the BVM in her hooves, compressing it twice before the stallion starts chest compressions again. She looks back at Starshine, her eyes showing a hint of terror as she replies “Go!”

Starshine’s eyes widen a little, taken aback by the rookie’s condition but quickly regaining her composure and looking back towards the front. With a glow of her wings, the ambulance is put into drive and the siren flicks on with a wail. Outside, some of the onlookers jump at the sudden noise, the street ahead clearing and giving a wide path for the ambulance to follow as it surges forward.

“Alright, we’re on the road… half the battle is over…” Starshine thinks to herself, trying to relax and just drive. Red light splashes across the road and on the buildings as the ambulance speeds by. Though the ambulance district had been in operation for a month, ambulances were still a spectacle. Some residents chose to pause there evening and watch the ambulance pass; others just took once glance and went on… others seemed to ignore it completely…

Starshine slams her hoof down on the Buell horn and hits the brakes hard, almost hitting the pickup truck that had decided to pull out into the street without looking. Starshine swore under her breath as the ambulance passed the truck that had frantically pulled over to the side, colliding with an empty cart and a table or two. With another sigh, she picks up the radio mic and speaks into it.

“EMS, three seven five nine”

“Three seven five nine, go ahead.”

“EMS, three seven five nine reporting MVA across from the library, vehicle versus cart, unable to check on driver, critical patient on board”

“Okay, will tone out for another ambulance”

A few seconds go by before the Ponyville Ambulance tones play over the radio. “Ponyville Ambulance, priority 3 EMS call for the MVA, vehicle versus cart, across from the library. Once again that’s Ponyville Ambulance for the MVA, across from the library.”

“Ponyville acknowledges the call, three seven seven nine is responding.”

Starshine was honestly surprised to hear that Ponyville had another ambulance staffed and ready. With so few available personnel, she thought the other crews would be taking a break, but then again… hot calls tend to draw in crews.

The ambulance took a left at the next intersection, and then a right, crossing the Ponyville border and on its way to Canterlot. Starshine switches off the siren, an attempt to preserve the serenity of the night. Outside the ambulance, trees begin to show their autumn colors as the summer comes to a close. The flowers are all on their last legs, their stems soon to yellow and wilt. All things must come to an end; but maybe not tonight.

“How’s it going back there? Have you checked for a pulse yet?” Starshine yells towards the back.

“Uhh… hold on…” Butterscotch motions for the stallion to stop CPR while she checks for vital signs. She presses a hoof right below the jaw line of the patient, using her magic to amplify sensory input in that extremity. “No…nothing…” she thinks to herself, sadness starting to creep into her mind. She moves her hoof around a little in an effort to ensure she is actually pressing against the carotid artery. “N-no… still noth-… wait.. yes… there is something there” Sadness being pushed away by excitement and hope as she replies to Starshine with “Yes, I’ve got a pulse! It’s weak though…”

A glimmer of hope! “Continue track breathing with high flow oxygen, push epinephrine, start treating the burns, and keep a close watch on his vitals”

“Epinephrine…? Pretty sure that’s not part of the protocols.”

“ALS protocols, just do it, there should be an epi-pen in the jump bag.”

Butterscotch hesitates… Starshine may be a paramedic but it would illegal for Butterscotch to use it. She swallows nervously then reaches for the jump bag and pulls out an epi-pen. She pulls safety off the end and mutters “Well… here it goes!” with that she grabs the epi-pen in her mouth and rams it in against the patient’s flank, holding it in place for 10 seconds before pulling it out and dropping it on the ground. “Sure hope this works…”

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Starshine picks up the mic and dials 340 on the mic’s keypad “Canterlot Med, this is Ponyville Ambulance”

“Go ahead, Ponyville” replies the stallion on the other end.

Starshine takes a deep breath before replying with “Canterlot Med, Ponyville Ambulance is 10 minutes out with one priority patient, BLS. Patient was in cardiac arrest but now has a pulse. Electrical burns are present on the chest area from electrical wires. Do you require anything further?”

“Negative, patient has been assigned trauma bed four, see you in 10”

Starshine sets the mic back in the holder with a click. Before her, the majestic city of Canterlot looms into sight. She hits the manual button on the siren a few times to alert the gate guards as the ambulance slows to a stop before it. Royal guards frantically rush to open the gates. Starshine presses down on the accelerator once the way is clear, switching on the siren to hyper and pressing the Buell horn a few times before turning left onto the main road.

About 10 minutes later and the siren is switched off. Starshine slaps it in reverse and backs the ambulance into the EMS Emergency Department entrance. She puts it in park then hops out and runs around to the back, opening up the twin doors of the ambulance. “All ready back there?”

The two ponies nod. Starshine grabs the stretcher with her magic, hits the release mechanism with her hoof and drags the stretcher out, the wheels hitting the ground with a bang. The three ponies and the stretcher make their way into the ED, the sliding glass doors softly closing behind them, isolating them from the sounds of the diesel engine.

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Starshine’s hoof was on the door to the EMS room, anticipation building in her head, biting her lip as she thinks to herself “Oh I hope they haven’t run out… they better not have run out” She pushes down on the handle and the door slowly rotates forward… Starshine’s eyes widen with excitement as she sees what she’s been hoping for… a full pot of coffee!

“YES!” she practically screams as she sprints forward and grabs the pot, pouring herself a cup of the bitter but potent liquid and takes a big gulp of it before spitting it back out and placing the cup on the table, and slowly walking backwards in horror…

“No… no! It can’t be! It’s… it’s… decaf!” her pupils narrowing to a pinpoint as she grabs at her face with her hoof, curling up into a ball on the floor. “Of all the worst possible things that could happ-… wait…” she uncurls a little and sniffs the air “I sense a disturbance in the cupboard!” and in an instant she’s on her feet and opening up the cupboard. In the back, behind a few boxes of granola bars and crackers… an unopened bag of caffeinated coffee! “Success!” She grabs the bag with her magic and tears off the top and looks inside with a huge smile on her face, only to have that smile fade away… again. “It’s not pre-ground… and there isn’t a grinder in sight! … Oh screw it!” she dips her muzzle into the bag and grabs almost a mouthful of coffee beans and starts crunching away, flopping onto her back and closing her eyes in bliss at the taste of real coffee. “Oh thank Celestia… I thought I was gonna go crazy there for a moment”

“Although I appreciate the thanks, my loyal subject, it is in fact Princess Luna’s idea.”

Starshine’s eyelids pop open, pupils constricted in horror as she slowly looks upwards to find Celestia looking down at her, her ever present smile on her face, wings spread far to her sides. “P-princess Celestia!” she gulps down the remaining coffee beans in her mouth and rolls over into a deep bow. “I d-didn’t notice you come in!”

“You may relax, my faithful subject, I am merely here to see how my new ambulances are fairing.”

“Y-your ambulances!?” replies Starshine, still bowing and deep in shock from the unexpected visit.

“Why yes! It was my decision to have Ponyville set up as one of the test sites for our new infrastructure. It is my understanding that Ponyville has experienced quite a lot of… excitement ever since my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, moved to the town. But that is old news, I am more interested in what is happening now. How have things been at Ponyville Ambulance? Are you able to handle the call volume?”

Starshine slowly stood up, trying to take in all the things that the princess said. “Well Princess, err, ma’am, Ponyville Ambulance has several new medics, however they’re not yet ready to operate on their own just yet. Those of us with prior experience are starting to run out of energy. Furthermore, we do not have any real access to advanced life support. Just now we had a cardiac arrest patient and we had to drive all the way here to Canterlot with only a basic life support crew.”

“Hmm… your name is Starshine, is it not?”

“Yes ma’am”

“And you are a paramedic, correct?”

“Err, yes ma’am”

“Well… I think it’s about time that Ponyville receives an upgrade, wouldn’t you say?”

“Err, ma’am?”

“I would like you, Starshine, to make the necessary changes for Ponyville to be able to provide advanced care. Money is not an issue… after all, this is the safety of my subjects we are talking about. Will you accept this promotion?”

“P-promotion!?”

“Why yes! It is my understanding that only the director of operations could make the purchases and necessary changes to make Ponyville Ambulance an advanced life support agency. And since I, Princess Celestia, am your current director of operations, I do believe it is my right to choose a successor. So how about it? Will you take this assignment?”

Starshine lowers her head in thought for a few moments before raising her head with a smile on her face “It would be an honor, ma’am.”

“Excellent! I’m sure you’ll make a fine director. Unfortunately, I must get going, Royal duty calls! If you need to contact me, head to the library. My student should be able to help you. Best of luck!” And with that the Princess turned tail and walked out, head held high and hair flowing in the non-existent breeze, but before her tail cleared the doorway, she turned her head back, a hint of menace in her expression “And by the way, my name is Princess Celestia, not ma’am.” At the end of that statement, her horn glowed and with a flash of light, where there was once a princess was now just air. All composure that Starshine had managed to conjure up was shattered by that last comment and the Princess’s masked glare. “Well… that could have gone better” was the first thought to pop into her head as her mind recovered from its mild stupor. “But hey! I’m the director of freakin’ operations now! Woohoo!” and with that last thought, Starshine pranced out the door to return to her ambulance.

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Butterscotch let out a sigh of relief, fatigue, and sadness as she left the ED’s trauma bay. Not only had that been her toughest call yet, but the ED doctor had drilled her for information for what seemed like hours. Part of her was annoyed at Starshine for not helping with answering questions. Heck, she wasn’t even in the room for most of the questions and it was the responsibility of the trainers to be there for the trainees! Sure, Starshine does a lot for the agency, but that doesn’t mean she could just abandon her inexperienced partner… does it?

Butterscotch shook her head as she made her way to ambulance parking. As the automatic doors slid open she was greeted with a blast of rumbling bass and music. “What in the world…?” She made her way around the side of the Ponyville ambulance, hers being the only white ambulance in the lot, the rest being Canterlot Ambulances with their ‘Royal Red’ liveries. She hopped and placed her front hooves against the passenger door, looking inside to find Starshine lounging in the driver’s seat with her eyes closed and back hooves up on the dashboard. Anger flared up in Butterscotch’s core… there was her partner, lounging away while she worked her flanks off inside. She hopped down then yanked the door open and hopped back up, glaring at Starshine. “What in the hay are you doing!? Starshine just grinned an ego-tastic grin and gently kicked the volume knob with her back right hoof, shutting off the audio system.

“What’s up, B-Scotch?”

“What in the hay are you doing, Starshine!? Where were you when I was answering all the doctor’s questions!?”

At this outburst, Starshine looked legitimately surprised. Realization slowly dawned on her face with a splash of guilt. “Oh, my bad… I went to go get coffee… I was going to be right back, honest! But Princess Celestia came out of nowhere and all of the sudden I’m the director of operations!”

Now it was Butterscotch’s turn to look surprised, the anger fading out of her system to be replaced with curiosity. “Princess Celestia!? Here!? And what about the director of operations!?”

“My reaction exactly! But yeah, she was here! And what’s more, she promoted me to director of operations at Ponyville Ambulance!”

“Dir…dir…director..? You!?”

“Yep! Apparently, I’m, destined for great things!” Starshine said with a suave but mildly arrogant grin, putting emphasis on the “I’m”

“And what about the paperwork?” replied Butterscotch, one eyebrow raised, doing her best to ignore the grin and any violent desires to remove said grin.

“The what now?” Starshine had gone back to lounging in her seat with her eyes closed.

“The paperwork. Director of ops is a desk job after all.” Butterscotch said flatly

Starshine’s right eyelid burst open, pupil constricted and her ears flat against her head.

“No… no! That can’t be true!” she exclaims, grabbing onto the steering wheel, both eyes wide open. A few seconds pause and then she has her head out the window and looks up to the sky, left hoof shaking in a threatening manner as she yells with all the power she can put in her voice “Curse you, Celestia!”

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Meanwhile, in the royal court…

Princess Luna was looking quite bored, sitting next to a chalkboard with lots of tick marks on it. Her right ear suddenly twitched, eyes widening mildly.

“Aha!” Exclaimed Celestia, having heard the yell as well, a look of excitement on her face. “That’s another point for me!”

Luna just rolled her eyes and put another tick on the board. “Whatever you say, sis.”

“What am I up to now?” Said Celestia, leaning forward in her throne with a look of almost child-like amusement.

Luna, slowly counted up the tick marks, pointing to each group as she counted. “Uhmm… forty-five”

“Yes!” Celestia raised a hoof high in the air, look of accomplishment on her face. “New record!”

Luna just face-hoofed and shook her head, looking back up at her sister before replying “I still do not see the amusement in causing misfortune to others.”

Celestia looked down at her sister with an affectionate smile on her face “Oh, Luna. If you would just try it for once, maybe you would understand!”

Luna went back to examining her hoof in utter boredom. “If you say so.”

Comments

Need I say more?

[wafflish]

I love the way this story is turning out. Can't wait for more!
Haha oh that Trollestia

[Eclipse]

Now that's more like it!
Excellent story so far mate. Hoping for more!
Trollestia no longer cares about Twilight I knew this day would come.
Everypony, To the vaults!
[REFERENCE]

[PTR-RainbowDash]

17737

Oh... there will be more... bwahahaha!

Hehe, well anyways, thank you very much for your input!

[ErrantIndy]

Let's start with the bad news. I was a bit disappointed that the world of the story brings in so much human tech. You're a very good writer, and I had hoped for more of a magic tech blend. There's so much opportunity for finding Equestrian solutions or reasoning to EMS situations. For example, why have a deisel-powered ground ambulance when you have already flying pegasi-pulled chariots? Ponies already have medievac capability. What makes sense or exists in our world has no guarantee that ponies would develop the same thing.

But besides that VERY minor point, I love the story. You're a great writer, and I'm really looking forward to more chapters. You've got good humor (who doesn't love some innocent Trollestia?), excellent knowledge of the subject, a good foundation for characters, and I'm interested in seeing how you shape your world.

Keep up the good work!

~Errant

[PTR-RainbowDash]

17931

Thank you very much for the feedback!
I suppose I could have added more magic into the whole ordeal but part of the objective of the story was to share my passion of emergency medical services, as it is, with others. Regardless, I may design and write up an EMS system for Equestria without so much human technology because of your comment. I actually thought about it last night and I can still see the need for some more advanced technology either way (even magic has its limits after all. And while healing a broken bone (or at least stabilizing it) or creating an airway would be possible to do with magic, I personally wouldn't want to devote part of my magically ability to just constantly monitoring vitals.)

Honestly I'm also surprised at the lack of negative feedback in general. I expected someone to comment with something like "A pegasus that can do magic!? wtf is this." at some point. (That will be explained in the future, by the way ^.~)

But anyways, thank you for your feedback. If you have any stories I'll be sure to check them out ^^

[Bryceeden]

Not bad so far, I agree on the earlier point that less human tech would be good. Also epi 1:1 in an epi pen is not the same as IV epi 1:10 used in cardiac arrest(minor point, but I'd hate to see this turn into the next "Trauma")

[PTR-RainbowDash]

18184

hehe, Trauma. But no, I know they're different, it was meant to show how Starshine may bend rules or even break them... or something like that.. honestly I'm just about to head to bed. Just wanted to reply before I forgot.

Thanks for reading!