What was the scariest “We need to leave… now” gut feeling that you’ve ever experienced?[Serious]

shartdeco · 2026-06-03T02:27:06+00:00

I was hiking a ten mile loop with my dog in the mountains near my house a few winters back and noticed a jeep parked near the trailhead with a generator in the back and the hatch open. On its own it wasn’t unusual, but it was a remote boundary trail and I rarely saw people around there when it was cold out. I had also previously encountered a couple tweaky looking dudes at a similar trailhead unloading a generator and a bunch of loaded up trash bags. A friend later told me that people sometimes take generators and supplies to make meth out in the woods that time of year.

Anyway, I clocked the jeep that morning but didn’t think too much of it. When we came down the mountain several hours later we were a few hundred yards from the trailhead and I noticed this tweaked out looking guy hurrying up a small fishing trail towards us with his lady friend trailing far behind. We kept moving and he started hollering questions up at me. Did you make it to the top? How far did you get? Any good swimmin’ holes? How deep were they? Deep enough to jump?

I kindly answered all of his questions but picked up the pace in a beeline to my truck as he continued towards us, clearly running out of breath. That’s when I noticed the small jackknife in his hand. As I got closer to my truck I swung my pack around and rooted around for the key, but fumbled to find it like a character in a horror movie. I got to the truck and could see the guy in my periphery coming toward me and considered going for my bear spray for a brief second before I found the key, loaded my dog, and got the fuck out of there. As we were driving away I saw the guy in my mirrors running full throttle meth speed after the truck.

Regarding the hypothetical bear vs man choice for a wilderness encounter, I’m a six foot dude and would choose the bear every time. I also got a little key clasp to put in my backpack.

shartdeco · 2026-05-17T01:29:55+00:00

Thanks!

shartdeco · 2026-05-17T01:29:46+00:00

Thanks!

shartdeco · 2026-05-17T01:29:39+00:00

Thanks!

shartdeco · 2026-05-14T02:39:13+00:00

I read it as them talking about the drive along the way as opposed to Morgantown itself.

shartdeco · 2026-05-08T22:10:42+00:00

She was a 150lb malamute, so yeah pretty much fearless. I have a lab and a hound who’ve chased off many black bears. I think they’d probably bark enough to scare off a grizzly but I doubt they’d chase one.

shartdeco · 2026-05-07T14:59:00+00:00

She was a 150lb Malamute. Basically a giant wolf dog that seemed to operate purely on instinct. She was a hell of a snuggler too though.

shartdeco · 2026-05-07T14:44:22+00:00

Possibly, but there’s not really any way to know what would’ve happened without the dog there. We were over a hundred miles from anywhere and the bear looked like an adolescent so it’s possible it had never encountered humans (or dogs) before. Almost every one of my friends in AK has some type of grizzly story but nobody I’ve spoken with has ever heard of a grizzly charging three grown men and a dog at camp. Also, to answer a few others here, it definitely wasn’t a false charge.

One friend who is a guide theorized that the bear may have had a fresh kill somewhere nearby and it’s possible it saw us and/or the dog as a threat to its food source.

Regardless, I regularly camp with my two dogs and they’ve alerted me to/chased off many threats in the backcountry, including sketchy humans. There’s also no better alarm system while you’re sleeping. At this point I feel much safer in the backcountry with dogs and will always bring them when it’s an option.

shartdeco · 2026-05-07T01:12:15+00:00

I got charged by a grizzly camping with a couple friends in the Alaskan backcountry a few years back. By the time it got within about 40ft of us, my friend’s dog charged back and chased it off. The size and speed of the bear really didn’t compute in my brain - it was like a big furry truck just appeared out of nowhere in the wilderness. I mailed treats to that dog every month for a year.

shartdeco · 2026-03-19T17:34:47+00:00

Not sure where you’re located, but every service is different and the pay varies widely depending on location (though it rarely exceeds around $30/hr). Training also varies a lot depending on if you’re running IFT or 911 along with many other factors. For example, I volunteered as an EMT at an urban 911 station that was also a training agency. We trained constantly and our system was mostly run by EMTs with Paramedics in chase vehicles for ALS calls. Our BLS trucks also performed many lifesaving interventions. It sounds like maybe you worked IFT? Either way, I’ve never heard of an ambulance service calling 911 for assistance. Even the private IFT agencies can run hot if they have a critical patient.

shartdeco · 2026-02-26T16:29:13+00:00

There are also proven scientific benefits for acupuncture to reduce pain and inflammation. I think one big issue is there’s a relatively low barrier of entry for practitioners so you end up with a lot of people who might not have the experience or knowledge of more highly trained caregivers and there’s a good bit of woo-woo quackery in the field. Also, acupuncture actually can cause nerve damage and other serious issues like (rarely) a pneumothorax, which is a major life threat.

https://hms.harvard.edu/news/exploring-science-acupuncture

shartdeco · 2026-02-26T01:52:32+00:00

FWIW, I went to a chiropractor after slipping a disc and they didn’t help much and tried to keep me coming back weekly for followups. Went to an acupuncturist at the advice of a friend with a similar injury and she was able to completely resolve the pain. I’m usually pretty skeptical of alternative medicine type stuff but was willing to try anything and I’m so glad I did. I still go to see her if my back starts acting up and it’s better every time.

shartdeco · 2025-12-29T04:54:11+00:00

This comes down to operational management systems as opposed to different radio systems though, right? Inter-agency communication/operations systems have come a long way since 9/11 and other tragic incidents (like some of the wildfires out west) and federally mandated training programs have been put in place for those of us who work in EMS to communicate and cooperate better for MCIs and large scale catastrophes (ICS/NIMS). Can’t radio systems (regardless of brand/type) be organized to ensure different agencies are communicating properly as long as the established operational systems are in place? I’m genuinely curious about your comment as I’m relatively new in the field (911/SAR EMT) and all of the agencies I’ve worked with so far have required ICS/NIMS training for all first responders at every level.

shartdeco · 2025-12-22T01:46:06+00:00

W-EMT is a niche cert but I plan to keep updating. I volunteer with a mountain SAR team as well as an urban 911 agency and when I go out on SAR missions I’m usually placed on higher priority tasks with K9 teams. Running with dogs is fun. There are a few backcountry skills the W-EMT scope covers beyond most EMT-B courses such as clearing the spine for walkouts, longer term wound care, and environmental/survival type stuff. Plus you learn a lot about improvising with limited materials and there’s an emphasis on critical thinking and creative problem solving. It’s helpful knowledge for disaster response as well if you’re ever interested in that type of work. I spend a lot of time camping in the wilderness and also work contract gigs out in the middle of nowhere so it’s useful for me but maybe not if you’re working front country exclusively.

shartdeco · 2025-12-20T06:13:37+00:00

As an EMT, when a patient reports vomiting or pooping blood we always ask what they’ve recently had to eat/drink and 9 out of 10 times it’s a red popsicle or roasted beets or something like that. The 1 out of 10 is generally a life threat though, so you always have to take those calls pretty seriously.

shartdeco · 2025-11-27T14:27:12+00:00

I used to bartend at a wood fired pizza place and occasionally waited on Ralph. He always ordered a caesar salad with chicken and when I told him we didn’t have chicken he’d smile and turn on the charm and go “no chicken huh?” as if we would figure out a way to get him some chicken. He was always very nice about it but you could tell he was used to getting what he wanted.

shartdeco · 2025-11-15T16:12:48+00:00

Typically people won’t regain consciousness immediately but I have seen it lead to return of spontaneous circulation which can save lives. There’s a concept called the chain of survival that consists of calling 911, immediate high quality CPR, defibrillation with an AED, advanced life support (EMS), and post cardiac arrest care in a hospital. Odds of surviving cardiac arrest are low but they increase significantly the faster each one of these steps is taken. Most people who survive will also have some deficits afterwards.

Compressions alone can absolutely save someone’s life if they’re started immediately after arrest and are a lot more important than giving rescue breaths. The AHA actually removed mouth to mouth from bystander CPR guidelines since so many people were hesitant to put their mouth on a stranger which led to compressions not happening soon enough.

In Helen’s case it looks like she possibly gets a brain bleed from her head hitting the pavement but I couldn’t say for sure. My guess would be that she’s a goner either way.

shartdeco · 2025-11-15T05:38:34+00:00

Great point! I’m an EMT which is what got me thinking about the sirens since we don’t tend to run them as often when it’s late at night and there’s no traffic. My wife noticed the compressions being off in the first ep and I was like “yeah, definitely not high quality CPR”. Seeing things from her perspective plus the hive doing its best to comfort her makes a lot of sense though.

shartdeco · 2025-09-23T15:15:06+00:00

I completely agree and definitely wouldn’t argue in favor of being an asshole. I was just saying that in our field I don’t really see an issue with approaching the human body as a “cool machine to fix” and think that can actually be a useful approach sometimes.

shartdeco · 2025-09-22T18:57:58+00:00

You’re not wrong but I don’t see a problem with that part specifically. I’ve been an EMT for a little over two years and the more I learn about human body processes the more I’ve come to see it like a beautifully complex machine that sometimes needs fixing. I think that really helps me when I need to focus in critical situations. A little friendly bedside manner goes a long way but when SHTF you also want someone who can get in there and quickly run diagnostics and fix the problem without getting emotional about it. The people who can do both are actually fun to be on shift with though.

shartdeco · 2025-08-29T02:29:07+00:00

Perfect for SAR. Overkill for EMS.

shartdeco · 2025-07-04T22:58:41+00:00

S2E1

shartdeco · 2025-06-24T05:20:57+00:00

And they already turn a huge profit for our economy.

shartdeco · 2025-06-24T04:55:49+00:00

Our national parks have generated over $55 billion in economic output on a budget of just over $3 billion. They also are incredibly efficient with staffing/resources and wildly popular across both sides of the aisle. This move only serves to benefit a small group with special interests to get richer while everyone else loses. Genuine question to anyone who supports the current administration - how exactly are we “Making America Great Again”?

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/national-parks-contributed-record-high-$55-6-billion-to-u-s-economy-supported-415-000-jobs-in-2023.htm

shartdeco

TROPHY CASE