Suzann Kale

Trauma Town Dispatch Suzann Kale

If it was a full moon and everyone was having head traumas and their trach tubes were falling out, Dispatch often ran out of ambulances. That means if you're having a heart attack on a snowy Saturday night when everyone else is fracturing their hips at the ski slope, you're going to need to learn how to pray.

Sabine, the dispatcher, was close to distinguishing between Dr. Kildare and Dr. Who.

Juliet, Sabine's neighbor, was close to death, but not in a good way.

Dispatcher Sabine used to answer switchboard calls with "How can I help you?" but that quickly turned into a soft landing field for Trummel's lost.

"Oh thank God I'm speaking to an actual person. I haven't had anything to eat in four days," one caller said.

"Can you make it to the emergency room?" Sabine responded.

"No. I'm having a diabetic emergency and my grandson is in college in Omaha."

"Okay, then, can you hang up and call 911?"

"No, I have electromagnetic hypersensitivity."

"Yes of course. Hold on, I'm going to connect you with 911, okay?"

"Bless you, child."

"Don't hang up."

Juliet, Sabine's neighbor, had a husband. Although he died, Juliet never lost touch with him. One day Juliet forgot to do Happy Hour, and entered the Trummel Hospital emergency room on a stretcher.

Sabine was searching for her life's meaning and her cats' safety. Juliet was searching for a sense of family and an apartment in Manhattan.

I mean, is there any hope?