4 AM is the Devil’s Hour. I’m convinced.
Nothing good happens at 4 am. If you get woken up for a call
at 3 am, it’s just a really late night. Often times, you’re still up. If you
get a call at 5 am, it’s just a really early morning. That’s close to when I
wake up for work anyway. No problem. But 4 am… of our 24 hour shift, it is the
absolute worst hour. Here’s why:
When we get woken up at the station for a call, we have 60
seconds from the time of the call to get our uniform on, grab any gear, run
down the stairs, through the parking lot, and get on the radio in our
ambulances. This means during the night, you go from complete shut down to
adrenaline fueled driving with screaming sirens in 1 MINUTE.
Often times, this isn’t that hard as we’re used to it, but
at 4 am, good grief. Somehow, right at 4, I am always at the deepest part of my
REM cycle sleep and thus it is the hardest to pull out of. It’s the type of
awakening that leaves you confused and with a headache at first. Of course, at
this point you’re also hungry and have to pee. Badly. But there’s no time for
that.
Next is the type of calls we get at 4 am. They are always
one of two types of calls. Absolute BS, or Horrible Trauma. For some reason, there’s
seems to be no in between.
Absolute BS: When awoken at such an hour, it’s always for “Toe
Pain” (Yes, these are actual reasons people call 911). I had a buddy once get a
call for a woman who had a nightmare. It’s often chronic pain problems like
back pain. When I ask, “Ma’am, how long have you had this back pain?”, they
often answer “3 days”. SO WHY DID YOU WAIT TIL 4AM TODAY TO CALL?? Whatever the
complaint is, foot pain, anxiety, being cold (we gave her a blanket), or a
combative crack whore threatening to slit my throat (did not give her a
blanket), it is almost never reason to call 911. It’s basically adding insult
to injury for us.
Horrible Trauma: The other half of the time, it’s for some
absolutely crazy call. Guns shots, brutal beatings, or multi casualty
incidents. My partner and I once ran a traffic collision call on the 405 south.
We came around the bend in the freeway to find two wrecked cars, one completely
engulfed in flame, and a woman on the ground with a broken back. It was a
chaotic scene of screams and wreckage. We got the call at exactly 4 am. The
worst call my partner ever ran was a head on suicide collision on PCH, where
one party had to be airlifted out and the suicidal driver burned to death. 4
am. My partner still has flashbacks at times and remembers the horrible smell
of charred flesh.
Now, I am not suggesting that the devil himself has the rights
to one hour of our night. It’s just an expression. But if he did, by God, it
would be 4 am.