About

I retired from the Philadelphia Fire Department on July 22, 2017 after 26 years, 2 months, and 2 days. I’ll use a quote from Charles Dickens book A Tale of Two Cities to describe those years,, “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” I’m going to try and write about those times and other things on this blog.
I was what the Philadelphia Fire Department called a Fire Service Paramedic, a FSP. A FSP didn’t preform fire suppression, only emergency medical services. I fulfilled a dream to be a paramedic in a big city fire department.
I grew up in the 1970’s and I absolutely loved the t.v. show, Emergency. And I’ll admit that I still do love the show. Like many in EMS, Emergency interested me in becoming a paramedic like Johnny Gage and Roy Desoto.
I grew up loving photography. My first first camera was a Kodak insta-matic. I joined the Navy as a photographer. In the Navy I was assigned to an F-14 squadron where we maintained a camera system called TARPS, Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System.
I completed EMT training while still in the Navy in San Diego. This began my dream of becoming a paramedic. I worked part-time on an ambulance while I was still in the U.S. Navy at a company called Air-Evac.
It was too expensive to go to paramedic school and live in San Diego so I moved home with my mom in Stamford Connecticut. I graduated from paramedic school in 1989 from White Plains Hospital in White Plains N.Y.
During my time in Connecticut I worked as a dispatcher at Danbury Ambulance, an EMT or a paramedic at A-1 ambulance, Empress Ambulance, and Bridgeport Ambulance and Ace Ambulance. I was hired by the Philadelphia Fire Department in 1991 and so began this chapter of my life.
In the years since I began my adventure with the PFD I have completed my Associates Degree in Photographic Imaging from the Community College of Philadelphia and my Bachelor of Art in Photojournalism from Temple University. I’ve begun to research my family history and I’m thinking of becoming a professional genealogist as I continue to learn about my family’s roots.
I saw a lot over the years and always wanted to write about my time in the squad, as we call the ambulance in Philly. While I doubt I will ever win a Pulitzer for my writing, I’m hoping that my skills in writing, or lack there of, I can at least blog for a few laughs, and some tears.
I’ll also write about other things as I go along, mostly about the things I know and like, but maybe about things I really don’t know and don’t like.
Paul Klein
Fire Service Paramedic II (retired)
Philadelphia Fire Department