Dry-Chem Drop

It was period in my life where I was having a hard time holding down a part-time job. It seemed like evertime I got a new job, I’d get orders causing me to abandon the position.

However, one such job I lost, had nothing to do with the Marine Corps. Rather it had to do with miscommunication.

To keep my part-time job as a certified nursing assistant at the Crescent City Convalescent Hospital, I had to complete a nursing class. I tried to challenge the course but was refused the chance.

I attended class durning the day and worked the overnight shift.

One early morning I entered a room where a patient was calling for help. In the far corner at the base of a wall-heater was a fire.

I moved the patient out of the room and closed the door behind us, then returned to the room with a fire extinguisher.

Out in the hallway, the area filled with smoke. At that point, my Charge Nurse, Mike Ramel ordered us to started moving patients outside.

Soon the Crescent City Fire Department arrived. They said the fire extinguisher’s dry-chemical was what had filled the hallway and not smoke.

But by this time, I was already at Seaside Hospital, being admitted to ICU for smoke inhalation. I was there for two days.

Following my release I returned to class where I was promptly told I had been dropped because I was a no-show. Failing the class left the hospital with no other recourse but to fire me.

Besides I think they were happy to be done with me. I cost the hospital nearly $3,000 to have the facility cleaned after I used the fire extinguisher.