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"End Of The Call" With Chris Cooper · Dispatched & Dysfunctional

• Chris Stockton: yeah. All right. Welcome back to Dispatch is Dysfunctional. If you're new here, this isn't a just about protocols, skills, or running the perfect call. This show about what the job does to you after the tunnels drop, after the trust cleaned, after everyone assumes you're just fine. But today's episode's a little bit different. Not because of the topic, but because of the person. This isn't a guest, this is someone I work with, someone I trust, and honestly someone I didn't even really know that long ago. We met didn't know each other at all. And within what? 10 minutes? 15 minutes. You know, they look at us like, the fuck are these two idiots? But whatever. And that's the funny thing about this job. You don't always connect with people, but when you do. Chris Cooper: Yeah? Yeah. see that. Chris Stockton: It's instant because you already understand something most people never will. And today we're talking about that part of the job, the part that don't leave. So I'm not going to do the formal intro this time. No resume, no credentials. You already know how this works. Who are you inside the job, Chris? Chris Cooper: Inside the job, I'm down to business. I need to take care of my patients, take care of, if I get a tone drop for a house fire, I've got to protect my people. When I was a lieutenant, I've told my guys and my girls several times, look, when those tones drop, y'all need to be on top of your game because people you know the our community and the people we serve pay our pay our salary and they expect us to produce a really good product for them and if you don't fucking do your job you're gonna piss me off and if I get huh Chris Stockton: special offer. I piss you off every day, it's okay. Chris Cooper: I don't matter. You don't matter. I'm not a supervisor anymore. I left that shit behind when I moved from Birmingham. But, you know, again, inside the job, I try to portray myself as a professional. Now, you know as well as I do, you you see how I am at work. You know, I relieve you every day that we have to change. You see me when we are just chilling. You've also saw me when we've had to get down to the nitty and the gritty. We've rowed together to the hospital with a guy beating our ass. that was a very fun day. Yes, I'm going to say that was a fun day. I was ready to fight some more. Chris Stockton: Yes. Yes. That was a fun day. Chris Cooper: I love to fight when I have to, if I ain't got to, I'm not going to. Chris Stockton: I'll just break your fucking hip, it's okay. Chris Cooper: Yeah, true statement. True statement. But I, you know, I just want to do what's right and what's best for the people we serve. Now, you know, yes, where we work at now in the industrial side, it's different night and day than being a municipal firefighter and paramedic. Because they're being in municipal and also being in charge of those fucking monkeys, I had to portray myself as a very, what's the word, I guess a very more upscale professional because, know, A, I've got my crew behind me that I've got to look after. I've got to make sure they're doing their shit right. And I'm not going to put them as a lieutenant in a leadership position. I will not ask my crew to do anything that I would do or I wouldn't do, anything that I have not done. If I ask my crew to do something, it's because I've done it as a pro-bee, a rookie. Hell, even I still do it as a lieutenant. And I'm not going to put anybody in danger, because at the end of the day, I don't want to go to, you know, your wife and say, hey, you know, Ms. Stockton, sorry to tell you this, but Chris was being a fuckstick and he got killed on the job. I don't want to do that. And that's what I told my, that's what I told my subordinates at Midsfield. Chris Stockton: Right. Chris Cooper: You as long... I had a rule. You come in, what Colt Shifton was saying, you come in, you check your shit off, check your trucks off, clean station if it needs to be cleaned. My rookies knew they had to do the bathroom. It's a rookie thing, okay? mean, it's a rookie thing. I done it as a rookie. And I expect my rookies to do it. You get shit done. Yeah, you get shit done. Then if I don't, if we don't have a PR event for that day or if the chief or city is going to be in and out or whatever, then add a side out of mine. Chris Stockton: Where it makes sense. Chris Cooper: You know, just run your damn calls is all I ask. If you get a call, if you're in your bunk, get your ass up and get on that fucking truck. If I've got to leave you, you, I get back to the station, you're have some pen and paper on your ass. I usually gave my folks two times. you know, two shots, you know, first shot, I'm going to jump your ass. Two shots, you're getting some paper to pencil, pencil to paper. And, you know, and my folks respected me for that because I wasn't a hard ass. Well, according to some people, you know, what some people might see, I wasn't a hard ass on my folks. I wanted them to just to do their job is all I really cared. I want them to do their jobs. Respond, show your the people who pay your paycheck. You need to show them, hey, you know, I'm Todd Catherbur. I'm here to help you and call it a day and let's go back to the damn bar. You know, you get your shit done the first thing in the morning. If we get everything done, ain't got no PR at nine o'clock. God, you're fucking bummed. I don't give a shit. But here's what I've asked of you. If you can keep me out of the chief's office, which if I'm not in his office, and you know as well as I do, I am a fucking troublemaker. Chris Stockton: mean, yeah, that makes sense. We're medics. Chris Cooper: I'm a paramedic. And you know, if I can stay out of the chief's office, then you're going to stay out, you can stay out of my office. But if you do something to put me in the position in the chief's office, your ass is coming into my office and you're going to get some paperwork done. usually, and I can say on one hand, I've had one, maybe two, two guys that no longer work there. Had me in the chief's office more than I care to remember. But they no longer work at the city of midfield. And that's it. You know, I said, fuck it. They've had one guy had a stack of paperwork. I know he had two files going. But he let his medic license lapse and we told him, know, hey dude, you've got until July 31st to get your shit together. If you don't, you are no longer an employee. Well, the stupid son of a bitch didn't get shit done. And I said, you know what? You're done. You're done here. And then, you know, we've had some people, a guy who got in trouble for drugs. He stole, Chris Stockton: Here we go. Chris Cooper: some ketamine out of the medical cabinet. And that's not the first time. He's had his Alabama license taken away, suspended, shit, three times. Four times was a charm. Doc Ferguson, which was our EMD, he said, Nope. He said, dude, we gave you chance after chance. You know, and you fucked us. said, you're done. You are no longer a medic for the state of Alabama. And that was the hard one I had to swallow too, because I went to bat for him the last time he lost his license. I went to bat with him for the state. And I said, yeah, dude's a great dude. And he just made a bad mistake. You can give his license back to him. And then the fucker does what he did. He got he overdosed in the down in his bunk room. He just got on shift. He overdosed and we took his ass to UAV. And when he got back, our chief had midfield PD. in the office and as soon as that dude came back they put him in cuffs he spent a couple of days in in Jefferson County on felony charges and that was that was a hard one for all of us lieutenants man I mean we like not damn dude you know we love you guy you're our brother and we know you're going through a lot Chris Stockton: I love that. Chris Cooper: hell come to us man you know if you're having trouble with your wife come to us because mental health I hold mental health but very close to my heart because you know a lot of my story when we talked in orientation you know there has been Chris Stockton: So before we get into that, me start with this real quick. Before we get into all this, what do you want people to take away today from this episode? Just put that out there. Chris Cooper: I hope people take away that, you know, behind the badge, we're all human. We, you know, we as first responders, we feel like we might be alone. We're not, we're not alone. We've got people who, we've got a good support system. Or I hope we do. Now, you know, you're not alone. Chris Stockton: should. Chris Cooper: because you've got me and you as first responders, we know, we know how other first responders may feel. I've lost I've lost some friends with suicide that were first responders. But I'm hoping to take people to take away that you know, although you know, if you If you feel like you can't talk to nobody else, go to your superior. Go to your lieutenant. Go to your sergeant. You know, hey, look, I'm having trouble. know, send me to EAP, employee assistance program. Talk to me. Do something. Because I'm going to tell you, I've had to talk to a couple of people before because I've had some issues. But I just hope people understand you're not alone. If you can confine in your officer, go talk to your officer. Because to me, a good officer will listen to his people and help his people, I guess, help his people cope with stuff. Don't turn to alcohol, don't turn to drugs. Trust me, I've done that shit. I turned to alcohol and I turned to drugs to try to kill the pain. you know, as you know, when we were in orientation, you know, I told you, I'm a religious guy. I believe in God. wholeheartedly. And he brought me through some of the darkest times of my life. I was an alcoholic. Do I still drink? Yeah, I'll drink a beer every now and then. You know, but I know like, you know, I know my limit. I'm not going to just sit here and my sorrows and alcohol or take drugs. Really the only drug that I do to try to cope was my eight pills. I got addicted to narcotics, to opiates, and I broke that cycle. One, I broke it because of God. Two, I broke it because of the woman that I'm married to now. She had a big, and her mama too, had a big step in me changing who I was. Chris Stockton: I think that's biggest thing is we got to have the support systems, you know, in place. You got to have people that back you. as you said, I've had friends who've, you know, wound up taking the cheater's way out, I should say, or not opening up and bottling it up like everyone always says to do. and of course that eats your live and you wind up fighting your own little demons and losing. Chris Cooper: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, and I've always tried to have an open door, you know. If you can trust me to come to me with your problems, I'm not going to go out here and blab your problems to everybody because one, A, you trust me with your story, what's going on. And, you know, if you don't want me to tell the chief, you know, hey chief, this person over here has got this going on. By God, I'm not gonna tell the chief. It's gonna be between me and whoever I'm having a conversation with. Hey, the only one that I really know well enough to talk to my troubles with is actually you, Chris. mean, me and you, we know each other like that. Chris Stockton: Yay! Right. No, yeah, I agree. Chris Cooper: But, you know, I'm not going to blab somebody's story out there unless you tell me, hey, if you know anything, just let people know, hey, this is what's going on. I want... I know it's hard to be a first responder. I started, I was 19 years old. My son and he just got into it. He works for an ambulance service up in North Alabama. It's Coleman EMS. It's about like Mobile County EMS. Chris Stockton: Gotcha. Chris Cooper: He just got his basic. He's wanting to go into medicine. Because I mean, you know, he's let's say I'm 46, he's 27. And he saw me through his younger years. I volunteered, you know, I pulled after me and his mother got divorced. I pulled myself up out of the gutter. And I went to college and I got my basic, then I got my medic, I got my fire one and two, and just the list keeps going on and on and on. I just, you know, it's like I told him and he's got some issues. To be honest with you, the career path that he chose with his mental issues he's got, he really shouldn't be doing what we're doing. But I'm not one to knock, okay? You know. I'm glad he's doing what he loves. saw his dad do it growing up. And he told me, he said, said, dad, know, I'm an EMT basic. I said, good for you, man. I said, that's good, man. I said, you got this. And so he finally goes, he gets, he passes the class. And it took him... ship six months to sit and take the test. And I kept telling him, Son, you got to, you just came out of class six months ago. I you're gonna, you're gonna lose everything that you were taught. No, I'm not. I said, yeah, you are. I said, you know, everything that you've learned in class, you need to. Chris Stockton: Yep, that's how it Chris Cooper: You're gonna lose. You're gonna lose it. That little peckerhead took Basic Registry the first time and fucking passed it. I'm like, what? Huh? What? Chris Stockton: I had to drink alcohol each time. I had to get busted each time I took my test. Test anxiety. Chris Cooper: yeah, well, now he's wanting to go through the medic. He was in firefighter 160, but he had to give it up right now because he's got a brand new baby. And you know, the way that his schedule works, He just he's on base shift. His partner is a dickhead. Which I mean, I mean, come on now us as medics, we know how it is when you got a brand new basic on your truck. We know how it goes. But Chris Stockton: We all deal with those. But you gotta teach them. Chris Cooper: Yeah, I mean, you know, I've learned from I've had some good medics in my life that I was a partner with and I have some shit medics. And I'm pretty sure you know, when you were you've had some good medics or wherever you was as basic. You had good medics and you have some shit medics. I'd like to say me and you are the world's okayest medics. Chris Stockton: Yeah, so you know on the on the good medic shit medic thing I think in my opinion is a lot of that shitty medic is from their attitudes, you know, they don't They don't want to learn even I'll admit it, you know when I first got my medic or Advanced even you know, I was like, okay. I was a basic at once I already know what the fuck these guys know Well, that was proven wrong to me numerous times Chris Cooper: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Mm. Ew. Chris Stockton: Your he can teach you shit you may not have for you may have forgotten or you may not have even realized you didn't know. And it it's amazing you know that the old saying is you the medic is only good as good as his basic and that is the hundred percent truth. Chris Cooper: yeah. Well, I also live by this and I tell new medics and I even tell basics and advanced who want to become medics. If you want to be a good paramedic, you better be a great basic or advanced. If you want to be a Jam up medic, you better have expectations as high as clouds as a basic or advanced to pull that off. You know, 95 % of our causes, basic cause is BLS. And I mean, you know, how many times do we give medications? How many times we pace? You know, I've been a medic for plenty of years now. Chris Stockton: Pretty much. Chris Cooper: And you know, I've paced, I've chemically cardioverted somebody. But, and like you said, you are only as good as your basic is. You know, because I've had some basics that really got my ass out of a jam. And you know, They see shit that we made for you. Like, hey, know, they paramount, you know, paradigm. Got this, you know, go back and check this shit out. you paramedics think y'all know everything. We don't know everything. You know that. Chris Stockton: and you drop. Chris Cooper: Every day I'm learning something new. And I'll tell you, I'll say it and I'll look at my, I go over my protocols, you know, like with medication, you know, you may think, you know, that shit, but do you really? You know, it's like, like with a cardio gym, you know, if we got a new medication that we can push, that's in our protocol. Chris Stockton: yeah, you got... You have to. Chris Cooper: I'm looking at my protocol book. Hey, can I give this shit? It's like that. It's like that, you know, that one call that me and you transported that one day. You wasn't for sure. Are we can we really give this medication for this issue? And you know, and I told you, yeah, we can. It's in our protocol. Fuck it. Yes, sir. Chris Stockton: Yeah, you're right. You know, back to how we met, forgot this question I had written down. So why do you think in this job people either don't connect at all or connect instantly like we did? Chris Cooper: Yeah. yeah. Chris Stockton: I mean, why do you think that is? Chris Cooper: Well, as paramedics, we've got to have a sick sense of humor for one. We've got to have dark humor. But with me and you, it's just like, when I ask you, are you a medic? Yeah, you, yeah, okay, well, fuck you. Well, fuck you. You know, it's just, as medics, we've got a different mindset. Me personally, I believe we got a different mindset. You know, we can be a good judge of character. Sometimes our character, our judge of character is like 15 miles way off. Chris Stockton: very much. Yeah, of course. Chris Cooper: But I think with, you know, with me and you, it's just like, it was just something that just, you know, just clicked. You you told me where, you know, you came offshore and I told you I came from a new municipality. And it's just... People don't understand us as medics, what we've actually gone through in our career, in our lifetime. When you said that you've worked on a box before I know you saw some shit, know, just like I saw shit. Chris Stockton: Well, yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I've worked for more than them, but, know, and that's the thing. think it's honestly, because when medics or even firefighters or, you know, first responders period, whenever they meet each other and they know or understand that they're a first responder, we all know that we went through some shit. You know, we all know that we went through it. You know, we, we understand it and, you know, I think that's Chris Cooper: Yay. Chris Stockton: The biggest thing is we have a... Chris Cooper: Yeah. Chris Stockton: a common denominator in the end, if you will, or a common fact that we can all understand and comprehend with each other. We can empathize with each other on what the hell we've done. Chris Cooper: Yeah. Yeah. Right. And you know, the way that me and you are fucking with each other in that orientation, all these other people who are not, that don't have any idea what me and you do, we're looking at us like, these fuckers know each other? No, we just met. Do y'all not like each other? Chris Stockton: That was fun. Chris Cooper: Yeah, you know, he's a cool dude. Well, why are y'all talking like that? We've got a dark sense of humor. And that's one thing that my wife has started to understand after 15 years. Our dark sense of humor, you know, Chris Stockton: can. Chris Cooper: Me and you know how our dark system humor is versus people on the outside unless they were close family like EI Wives, you know. We have to have that darks and that is what I've told her. We've got to have that dark sits in him or to cope with what we have seen out on the box, out on the rig. Everybody who knows me knows my weakest point is children. And that probably can save for pretty much for all medics. Well, majority of the medics is, you know, because the kids got their whole life to live. know, adult me and you, you know, you as a, you as a brother, I see you, you know, hanging on to life, I'm going to try what I can to keep you alive. Chris Stockton: You're half-whither, you're live. Chris Cooper: But if you die, oh well, you know, sorry, I've done what I've done. But with a kid, a kid is just, it's different with me. One, I've got five grandbabies. And now when I was in municipal, now since I'm at Dauphinile and I'm having to, you know, am I gonna run that child call? But when I was municipal, Chris Stockton: you did with your Chris Cooper: I rent a lot of child calls. Now, I can deal with the calls that, know, hey, they haven't felt good in a few days, you know, they may have a febrile seizure. And I tell the parents, well, it's a febrile seizure. You know, give them some children's Tylenol, they're gonna be okay, you know. If it's persistent, then we're going to take them to the hospital. Now, you know, I'll tell you, my very first call, was 19 years old. It was actually on my 19th birthday. My very first call. Yeah. Chris Stockton: Okay. Chris Cooper: I got dispatched out and I was a volunteer. I got dispatched out on a motor vehicle crash on I-65 up in Coleman County where a mother that had two children in the car, they said they were doing like 110. and she lost control. yeah, it was bad. so she was going toward, she was going north towards the next county. And so she lost it going around the curve and down the mountain. She rose. Well. The kids would, the only person in a seatbelt was a 12 year old, was her 12 year old daughter. She was the only one in a seatbelt. The four-year-old child was not in a car seat or a seatbelt. Well, he got ejected out of the vehicle at 110 miles an hour. He gets ejected out of the sunroof. Well, he slid. Chris Stockton: Do you have power? Chris Cooper: a quarter of a mile. They estimate it was about a quarter of a mile on the asphalt on 65th. He was one burger meat. Okay, he was freaking hamburger meat. Now keep in mind, I was 19 years old. It was my birthday. And you know, I've never dealt with death like this before. So Chris Stockton: Damn. Chris Cooper: I'm walking on the street over on the interstate and there was a tooth over here, piece of meat over here, brain matter over here, half of his head over here. And you know how they mark how the state marks, you know, where things are located in a wreck. Kind of like a marking Chris Stockton: Right. Chris Cooper: move. Well, I'm looking at it. You know, I'm having to dodge all this shit in the middle of the road. Teeth, skin. I think there was a finger over here somewhere. I mean, this kid was, he was hamburger meat man. Well, I go up to where he was at. He was up against a guard rail. Chris Stockton: Yeah, they Chris Cooper: and he had already getting ready to be covered up by the corner. so. I look at the kid and I'm like, oh, he's dead. That was the first death that I've ever experienced. And that was with a kid. Well, I looked down over the hill and his mother was also deceased. And it broke her neck and she had she was hanging out of the car. And the only survivor was the 12 year old girl who was restrained. Chris Stockton: Ho! Chris Cooper: And that was the beginning of my mental state because, I was young, I was a young pup. I had just got into the service. you know, me seeing that at 19 years old, well, now I have seen a lot of death in my career. You know, because I've been a career firefighter for a very, very long time. I've gotten kids back. Yeah. Yeah, about 25. And, you know, I've got kids back. I've lost kids. You know, there was another call that I ran when I was basic. Chris Stockton: What was it, 25 years I think you said? Chris Cooper: on the ambulance, we got called to back in the gosh, I want to say back in like 2016, there was this game going around with kids where they wanted to strangle their self to get that high. You know, how they were strangled their self. You know what I'm talking about? Chris Stockton: Yep. Chris Cooper: Strung with yourself and then all of a sudden just let things go in your back. Well this kid, he was, I think he was 12 or 13 and he was home alone by himself and he wanted to play the game just to get that high. So he hung himself. Well. I guess he kicked the chair out from under him far enough to where he couldn't get the chair because the chair leaned back. Well, of course, he hung himself. And that was a hard one. That one stayed with me for a little bit. But I kind of hold the shit in when it comes to kids because I don't really like talking about kids. But this ships off, know, anything's not off limits on here. I'm trying to open up, you to our audience. Huh? Chris Stockton: Right. So on that note, is it harder to talk about it now since you have grandkids? Or does that make it easier to talk about it? Chris Cooper: It is. To certain people, it's, you know, it's a little easier, but just to the general public, there's things that my wife, I don't even talk to my wife about when it comes to that. Chris Stockton: And that's normal, I think that's all of us. Chris Cooper: But now there is, you know, I'll give you a case that right before I moved, I worked. It was a four year old boy. He got shot in the head with a 40 cal. He found his father's gun in the back seat of the car. Okay, now. explain to me, now this is coming from a, you know, I'm putting my law enforcement side into this mix too, you know, along with my paramedic. So you tell me how a, if a four year old was restrained in their car seat, then how would they be able to get a gun? Okay. Good question, right? Chris Stockton: Yeah, I'm trying to figure out how that would work. Chris Cooper: versus one thing that pissed me off was why do you have your gun in the back seat of your vehicle with your child, your four year old child? Okay. Chris Stockton: Yeah, it's a good, very valid point. Chris Cooper: Well, you know, I am not trying to be racist about this, but they were a different ethnicity. this dude, now the mother, the mother is freaking fantastic. The father actually worked in the street department for the city that I was actually working for at this time. Yeah. And so, you know, going to the dispatch side of it, the dispatch came in. Now keep in mind our dispatch system that we had at this city. It was shipped. Okay. They were not EMDs at all. they did not know how to dispatch medical or fire. Now, for PD side, they still sucked. But, but this, yeah, no shit, right? Well, we get that the dispatch for a child shot in the head. Now, I was the only medic in the city that day, let alone being an officer. My whole damn crew called out for the red flu for some reason. I'm like, what the hell? Whatever. Me and this guy can handle everything. Hell, we would jam up. So we get the call for a kid, a four-year-old shot in the head. No, no further details. I'm like, this is something I need to, I need to know what's the details. So I get on the radio and I tell dispatch I said, you know, I asked dispatch, what do we have exactly? well, we just got a kid shot in head. self-inflicted or what? You know, by this time I'm already running out of the engine because I've got to get on scene and start triaging this kid. Well, she didn't give me much information. Well, on the way to the hospital, on the way to the call, you know, I was trying to get every ambulance that I could that would respond. I did not care what service it was. And, you know, I even called for Birmingham, because, you know, the city I was working at, Birmingham had a transport like two miles up the road. And they just some reason refused to come help us on anything. And, you know, I was like, I was trying to get Birmingham, I was trying to get a couple more other private ambulance services. I needed an ambulance. I don't care where they came from. So we were going and you know, in my dispatch said, well, you know, you got a RPS unit coming, but it's an advanced unit. Okay, what can advance can, you know, they can control leading, they can keep this kid alive on the to the hospital. Well, me being the only medic in the city, I was, I could not really, I couldn't leave, leave my city uncovered. So, you know, get on scene. I'm looking out at the officer door. This little kid was laying beside a mailbox, unresponsive. And I mean, he had agno-breathing, man. I mean, he... I knew this kid, was fixing to get his wings and go on out of the work. So the first thing I do, I told my driver, I said, look, I said, you just keep people off of me. I said, you know, I'll deal with this. Well, luckily, the ambulance was not very far. That thing, pulled up like 10 seconds after we did. Well, PD hadn't got there yet. And so, know, they teach us in class to, know, be, you know, same safety. Okay. Chris Stockton: That bullshit. Chris Cooper: Well, to me, you know, I believe the call dictates to me if I'm waiting on PD to get on scene or not. Well, when it's a kid shot, I'm not waiting on PD. If you're going to shoot, if you're going to shoot, go ahead and shoot me. mean, hell, you know, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do for this kid. So the dad was over me just screaming and hollering. And I looked at him, I said, look, man, I do you want me to save your kid or do you want your kid to lay here and die? I mean, I was a dick. I said, do you want your kid to lay here and die? I said, I totally refuse to let this young kid sit here and die because you're over here cussing me. Well, can his mama come see? I said, no, absolutely not. I said, I need your ass to get all the way back. Well, by the time he started, he bowed up on me. And I said, look man, I said, I ain't got time to fuck with you. I've got your kid right here. I'm trying to save. I said, hey, you know, and I've already got the kid rolled over and I'm holding it, you know, I'm holding this airway for him. And so finally PD showed up and I said, look, said, you need to get these son of a bitches back. I said, this is the dad where the gun was in his car. I said, the mom was over there. I said, the mom was not really giving us any trouble. I said, but I need everybody back. I'm working my ass off with this child. So the ambulance gets on scene. I've already got the child. I got him bandaged up, got the bleeding stopped, cause the bullet, luckily, the bullet when it went in his forehead, it just curved around his skull. Now it did take some skull fragments with it because it was a 40. Cal. And so got the kid breathing again, got him responsive, got him in the back of the ambulance. And, you know, now now the the advanced EMT, I knew I know her and everything. And I said, you know, I opened the door, I said, here, said, y'all just go to Children's. I said, I'll call TCC. She said, I can't do this by myself. said, look, I I'm the only medic here. I looked at my driver. said, look, I said, call the mayor. I said, shut the city down and let somebody else handle it until I get back. I said, I've got to ride with this EMT. So I'm jumping in the back and. lay the kid on a stretcher and every time he would turn his head, he would lose his airway. So I finally decided, you know what, piss on this, I'm tubing him. I don't give a shit what the ER doc say. Now I did have the Children's Hospital ER doc on my side because he's a firm believer in you do what you got to do to keep this child alive. Okay, fair enough, right? So we get his airway back and the kid needs a little line started on him. knew, I mean, he needed a workup. Well, my advanced... Chris Stockton: Right. Chris Cooper: She is like, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. So not only did the grand, I had the grandfather side coming out. I had the dad side. I had the instructor side. So in between all that shit, I'm instructing her, hey, look, you treat, you treat them like people, know, treat them like a small adult. They're little people. They are little people. You do for them what you do for an adult, but you just cut it in half. You know? Well, I said, she said, well, what do need me to do? I said, fucking start a line. Just do something. So. Chris Stockton: Right. All right. Chris Cooper: She was pissing around trying to get a line started. I'm on the phone with TCC. I'm giving them, said, look, you know, I've got this going on, this four-year-old. And I said, four-year-old shot in the head. I'm working on getting a line and everything else. said, my EMT is just trying her best to survive. He said, the operator TCC said, okay, well, when you get done, you can call me back with your times and stuff. said, I will, I'm going to let children know what's going on. He said, you just do what you can for that kid. And so I started, I started a 24 on the kid in the AC and I don't know if you've ever started a line on a child, but it is hard. It's freaking hard, dude. Chris Stockton: They're tiny as shit. Chris Cooper: especially going down the road at 82 miles an hour in Birmingham, hitting them fucking bumps. You're like, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. There it is, you know. But I've always said I can hit a, I can do better than giving an IV going down the road hitting bumps than I can sit still and what they are. But long story short with that kid, I actually found out that I was worth with one of the girls who knows the mother really well with this child. And she knew that I was the one who took care of the kid. So probably about a week, I'd say a week later, I'm getting a phone call from a girl that I used to work with. said, Hey man, she said, Lou, that kid that you took care of. said, yeah. He said, well, turns out she's the mama is Ken or a friend of the family or whatever, whatever. Well, come to find out that kid was Ken to a couple of people at the department that I worked at. Luckily, one of the guys that the babies came to, he was supposed to be at work that day, but he called off and he's glad he did. And I can't blame him. I cannot blame him anymore. And she said, hey, she said, you know, the boys, he's a couple of days and I see you. They pulled the tube out. He's talking. He's just acting like a regular four year old kid. I'm like, wow. I'm like, wow. That's just, that's crazy, man. Because seeing what has happened with that kid, I'm thinking that kid was going to have a lot of deficits. Well, he spent one week, one... Chris Stockton: Elliot? Chris Cooper: week in that hospital. in the dock, you know, the dots and everybody said, Hey, you know, whatever you done on scene, save that kid. said, I just done what I was supposed to do. You know, I relied on God for one and I relied on my training. I said, don't know what to say. And And the kid, you know, he got to come, walked out of the hospital. I've got videos and I'll show you the videos of the kid next time I see you at work. the kid, he didn't have any deficits, you know, at all. And he to live in the life of a happy, go lucky, four year old boy, well, he's probably five now, but living a life as a young boy with no care in the world. And I think the only thing he has is a little scar where his hair don't come over, but he didn't have to have brain surgery. He was kept alive and he got discharged within a week. And to me, that's what makes, you know, hearing stories like that and seeing the outcomes like that as a paramedic, not just an officer, not just a firefighter, but as a paramedic who's got small grandchildren. knowing that I made a difference in a in a kid not well not just a kid but a family's life and this kid's gonna live a full life that is one of the stories and it's not a pat on the back by any means it's just a like a story I like to share you know hey God's in this you know if you got the skill set you you preserve the life And this kid's gonna live, this kid's gonna live his whole life, you know. Just probably don't even know what happened. He probably don't even remember what happened to him. But the family and the community is gonna know, hey, you know, the paramedic done what he had to do and he used all of his resources that was at his disposal. And that was just once, you know, that's out of all my stories that I could tell. That is the one I believe is going to stick with me the most is because I saw from start to finish on this kid. You know, I saw where he was knocking on heaven's door to where he walked out of that hospital room and. living his life as a five-year-old child now. Chris Stockton: It's funny you said it that way because I personally think that's the reason a lot of medics and EMTs get burned out is we get to the beginning. We don't get to see the middle. We don't get to the end. You know, in the human mind or psyche, it doesn't approve or really appreciate that because we don't get closure. know, humans... Chris Cooper: You're welcome. Chris Stockton: They closure. They need some kind of information. are beings that need information to be able to survive. We cannot not know things. working on these victims and patients, we have to have some kind of awareness or affirmations, if you will, on what happens in the end. I've always called myself I always call the ERs… Like, how's that patient I'm doing bring, know, I brought, know, this is whatever truck, this is the medic. If you can please give me information on bed number, blah, blah, blah. You know, in 90 % all right. Chris Cooper: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'll try. Yeah, I try to do that, so... You know, I'm like you are. Chris Stockton: So. And that brings me to my next question too is. Chris Cooper: You know, I'm like you Chris, because I want to know did, well, one reason I want to know is because I want to know if my patients survived or are going to be okay. Second, that shows me that my treatment was right, you know? Chris Stockton: Right. It helps improve the outcome. Chris Cooper: Mm-hmm. Great. You know, like with that kid, you know... The basic thing that I know of him was stop the bleeding and control is our way. And the kids survived. The kids survived. But in the ones that stick, we do the hardest are the ones that you can't get back. Now, if this kid would have died, I would be second guessing myself. Was there something I could do more? Did I do something wrong? And you know, and I tell new, I tell new medics this all the time. You don't second guess yourself. Cause if you do, you're going to screw up. It's okay to screw up. You know, I was a young medic once, you was a young medic once. And I'm pretty sure you fucked up several times like I have. And you know, Chris Stockton: yeah. 100 % Chris Cooper: I as of this day, as an old medic, old season medic, I still fuck up. know? You know? Um... Oh, yeah. I don't give a shit. You know? Chris Stockton: yeah. Chris Cooper: And I guess with, you know, about the mental health part of this is. you I'm not trying to say people's not strong enough to handle this. You know what you're getting into when you sign up to do any kind of first responder. know, when your first day of EMT basic or hell I'm gonna go less than that as EMR, okay? Your first day in a medical class, they're gonna tell you this shit ain't for everybody. I mean, you know, it's not for everybody. and You you gotta have strong, you gotta have strong, a strong mentality with this shit. You know as well as I do. You your mentality's gotta be strong. You can't, and I hate to use this, you can't be no weak ass, everything hurts my feelings. Chris Stockton: yeah. Chris Cooper: I can't do this shit in you know, I can't I can't take people telling me what to do. You can't do that in this shit. You got to have your mentality. Hey, okay. It's gonna be some shit days. It's gonna be some great days and it's gonna be some days that I want to fucking die. Well, I'm not gonna say that I've ever contemplated suicide because I haven't on the first responder side. I, you know, I coped with my issues by, like I said, drugs and alcohol. And, now with, I cope with mine, you know, through a lot of prayer, you know, put my trust in God. My mental health is really... It's came a long way, but it's not where I want to be. know, I could tell you, yes, I'm not thinking about suicide, you know. And, you know, like I said, I've lost some friends that just couldn't, could not handle it. And, you know, I tell, I tell everybody, look, you know, I've got an open phone line. If you've, you know, even my closest friends that's not in first responders. If you feel like you can't go on on your own, give me a call man. You know, just, just call me. My phone line is open. You know, and you know, us is not just medics, but us as men. You know, people. Chris Stockton: 100%. Chris Cooper: People tend to, you know, well, you're a man, you can handle this shit. No, they tend to put us, I guess, kind of on the back burner to speak. Because we're men, we can handle this, we're tough. But I'm here to tell you, it don't matter if you're the toughest son of a bitch out here. There's going to be a time in your life that your mentality is going to get the best of you and you're going to break down and you are going to squall. I've always thought I was a tough guy because I don't cry. know, yeah, bullshit. It's going to come back on you. You know, you may be sitting at home, you and your spouse may be having issues or whatever, you know, and this don't just go, you know, this don't just go on what we see as first responders. This can go along as your family, you know, you and your spouse are fighting. You know, you got issues with your kids, you just not strong enough to deal with the issues. Well, you know, You are strong enough. You're strong enough. You've just got to believe that you can pull through it. There is nothing in this life worth you killing yourself over. Nothing. You lose a spouse to whatever the reason is. Okay, you know, if your spouse dies, I understand, you you need time to heal. Chris Stockton: Reach out. 100%. Chris Cooper: I get that. If your spouse cheats on you, infidelity, well, you know what? There's more fish out there in the sea, okay? There is nobody worth you killing yourself over. And some of my friends who have committed suicide that are first responders, it wound up being from their spouse because their spouse ran out on them or Now, with us being first responders, we know that our married life takes a very big stress. It's stressful on our spouse. Especially, know, we're gone 24 to 48 hours at a time. Now, and our spouses don't hear from us. in a few hours, they think, my God, the worst has just happened to my other half. I understand we miss, and I tell new people coming in, we're going to miss holidays, we're going to miss special occasions, we're going to miss birthdays, we're going to miss X, Y, Yes, it is very hard on your family, but You know, if your spouse can't see that and work with you and work through you and support you, there's always somebody out there who will. I promise you. My wife now, she loves what I do for a living. She knows, hey, I'm not going to be home in 24 hours or whatever. But But as far as you're seeing a lot of death and you're thinking, well, I could have done something better for the outcome of this patient. I've seen death and dying for 20 years. To me, Yeah, and I hate to say it, but you know seeing seeing death has kind of like got me cold to death. I mean, you know, it is what it is. But when it comes to a kid, that's totally different. It comes to my loved ones, totally different. I don't want to see, I don't want to see nobody die, but I know it's inevitable. But Chris Stockton: Right. Chris Cooper: But. If you're to the point that you can't handle, you know, all the stress with whatever's going on, if you're to that point to where you want to just commit suicide and be done with it, do you think the world's a better place for that? I'm here to tell you, it's not. Everybody on this earth is here for a purpose. There is a purpose for you to serve. It don't matter in what capacity. It don't matter if it's being a first responder. It don't matter if it's just being a mechanic or whatever. Everybody here in this world and is in the sound of my voice. You are worth more in this life than you, than what you think you, you know that you think that you're not. I promise you that you're worth more to people in this world than you know. You you might be, it might be your kids, it might be your mom, your dad, or whoever. If you ever get to the... to the point to where you feel like you can't keep on and you want to just end it all. Talk to somebody, you know, my gosh, there's programs out there to help you. know, the suicide hotline, you call suicide hotline. I want to commit suicide. They're going to get the 911 agency in your area to come and they're going to stay on the phone with you too to come get you and take you and get you an email. If you don't want to go that route, Chris Stockton: You can text them. Chris Cooper: Talk to somebody that you know, that you trust. It could be your mom, could be a preacher, it could be whoever. But if you just don't bottle it up inside and let it eat at you to the point to where you just want to end it all. I've read a lot of suicides in my municipal career. I don't like to see somebody take the, as you said, the cheater's way out. Okay. There's help for everybody. You can get help. You know, don't do what I've done either, you know, and just cope and mechanisms, alcohol and drugs. You know, if you got to do anything, get a big nicotine and caffeine habit. That'll, that'll help you. Chris Stockton: Right. That reminds us, we're not neck-teens. Chris Cooper: well, But you know, you know, I'm an open line to any, any of my friends, or anybody who's ever got who's got my number, you know, I will try my best to help you out and talk you quote unquote, off of the off the ledge. Chris Stockton: yeah. Chris Cooper: I don't have all the answers, but if you just need an ear to talk to, you know, find somebody, you know, with my friends. I'm always, I'm always available. It could be four in the morning, you know, Hey, I've got this going on and I just, I don't feel it. Okay. Where are you at? I'm on my way. Chris Stockton: Same here. Yep. Chris Cooper: And, you know, it's just us as a first responder community, we are a brotherhood and a sisterhood. I don't care if you work for a private ambulance or you in fire and EMS and rescue. We are all family and we are all supposed to be here for one another. and help each other through and not judge, help each other through their toughest time in their lifetime. If you need to go and talk to a counselor, know, get some mental help. You know, I think what is it June? That's men's mental health month or something like that. And I'll go to and if your job will let you take a take a mental health day. I mean, well, they don't do a fiery. I don't think they can fire you for mental health day. If I need to take one, I'm gonna take one. Okay. But a mental health day is just a day off work. You go do you boo boo and whatever. Chris Stockton: Just the first. Chris Cooper: But if you do need help, I just, you know, reach out to the suicide hotline. Reach out to your community that, you know, somebody you can trust. But I think with us as first responders, we all need to stick together and help each other out. know, we are, when we're dispatched, we are definitely damn dysfunctional. Okay, you know, we're and even after the call, we're still dysfunctional. I mean, you know, we're dysfunctional family and we need to be here for each other. You know, just be here for one another. If you need help again, I just reach out to somebody. Chris Stockton: yeah. That's 100%. Chris Cooper: You know, there's no horror feelings and do not be ashamed to ask for help. There's help out there. And I can promise you, if I ever feel like I need help, you know, I've got resources that I can go to. I just, I want people to just sit, you know. The world is not better off without you. Think of your family. If you ever want to think of doing something like that, you're going to hurt more people than you think that you're helping. You know, just you're here for a purpose. You're here for a reason. And get your mental health checked out. If you're a leader. in your department or your agency. Be the type of leader that you would want your crew to follow. Don't be a shit dick. Don't be a shit bag. Don't tell your crew to do something that you would not be willing to do. Lead by example. To me, leading by example is the perfect leadership. And this goes for anything not just being a first responder. It can go with the middle. right. Be a good leader. Lead by example. Lead from the front. Just if you're a leader, be worth somebody to be worth following. And don't take advice from anybody that you wouldn't. Chris Stockton: yeah. Chris Cooper: I can't remember that exact wording, but don't be stupid. Okay, just don't be stupid. Be somebody that you want your crew to be proud of. Say, hey, yeah, that's my captain, that's my lieutenant, or my chief, or my serge. Okay. and be the type of crew that nobody really knows who the leader is. And I say that to say this with that quote. If you're a good leader, there ain't no damn reason in the world that you need to let everybody in the world know that you're the lieutenant or you're the captain. Your crew's gonna know who's in charge. You ain't gotta go flop your pecker around and hey, I'm the chief or whatever. If you're worth anything, your crew already knows it. So be somebody that you want your crew to look up to. to be proud of and by God be somebody that your community is going to be proud of. Don't be some slap dick out here. Just do your job, do your damn job and protect your people. And again, if you need any kind of mental health, mental health. Chris Stockton: Re-challenge. Chris Cooper: Middle health is my, I hope that near and dear. So please get help, get help. I want everybody to succeed in life. I do. I like to see the good in everybody. So please just be a good leader, get the help you need, stay positive and you will. Chris Stockton: Yes, sir. Chris Cooper: prevail like Noah. Chris Stockton: Yes, sir. And I appreciate you coming on today. Seriously. It's been awesome. Not just as a guest, but someone who actually understands respects the job and can actually help train anybody else on it. me go ahead and stop. Chris Cooper: Mm-hmm. My pleasure, my pleasure. Adios, adios.