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T'was the night before Christmas and all
through the town,
Ambulances sat quietly -- call volume down.
Dispatches and medics, without any call,
All settled cozily within station wall.
The city grew silent as the the night grew
deep;
My partner and I settled in for some sleep.
But no sooner dreaming in our beds were we,
When dispatch awoke us, crying,
"Hurry! Code 3!"
The call had come in for an MVA;
Some nutcase claimed he'd hit Santa's sleigh!
"Head trama," we thought, as we gathered our
gear,
"Or maybe a drunk driver -- its that time of
year."
As we raced to the scene with our sirens and
lights,
We hoped for the best, tonight of all nights.
We had no idea we were in for a surprise.
And, on our arrival, could not believe our
eyes.
I said to my partner, "This must be a trick!"
"That man in the ditch just can't be Saint
Nick!"
A smashed-up sleigh! Toys thrown far and
near!
And off to the side, a group of reindeer!
The driver of the car, with a bump on his
head,
Was crying and he told us he wished he was
dead.
"Oh, why did I have that one extra beer?"
"Now I've killed Santa -- no Christmas this
year!"
By now we'd decided that this was too
strange,
So we tried to call backup, but were way out
of
range.
"No radio contact," to my partner I said,
"I'll check out that one while you dress this
one's head!"
I approached the man in the ditch with great
care,
He was dressed so oddly-he gave me a scare.
He wore a red suit and a strange kind of hat,
And I thought to myself, "Who dresses like
that?"
The he opened his eyes and said, "Do not
fear,
Just please help me up -- I must catch my
reindeer."
I said, "The reindeer are fine, but stay
where you are.
You've taken a pretty hard hit from that
car."
I didn't want to leave him, so I let out a
holler;
"We're going to need backboard, head blocks
and collar!"
As we worked, the man cried, "No!
Please don't strap me down,
I have toys to deliver, all over town!"
"All of the children tonight are depending on
me,
To get their presents under the Christmas
tree."
"I'm sorry," I told him, as I shook my head
sadly.
"You're going to the hospital -- you've been
hurt too badly."
He looked up at me and wiped away a tear.
And told me, "Then YOU must bring the
presents
this year!"
"Visit every child's home in this town?"
asked I,
"Sir, you must think I can make an ambulance
fly!"
I thought I had made a serious blunder.
For his eyes grew steely, and his voice was
like thunder,
"Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and
Vixen,
Come Comet, and Cupid and Donner and
Blitzen."
"Hitch onto that truck and take to the sky,
For tonight, indeed, an ambulance WILL fly!"
I just shook my head as we loaded him in.
Then climbed in the cab and I just had to
grin.
There were the reindeer, all in a row,
In front of the truck, as if ready to go.
"That's cute," I thought, "I'll just go
around."
But then they took off and our wheels left
the ground!
Away we went, up over the trees,
Sailing along as light as a breeze.
We touched down on rooftops, delivering toys.
Dropping off gifts, for good boys and girls.
We stopped briefly in the hospital's
ambulance bay,
And wheeled him to the ER -- and hoped that
he would
stay.
"We'll call in and report later," we said on
our
way,
"This man's turned our ambulance into a
sleigh!"
Then off we flew, all through the night,
Delivering toys til the dawn's first light.
Finally, at our station, we headed down,
Both of us happy to be on the ground.
Dispatch was mad, but the more we explained,
The less they believed and the more they
looked pained.
So we sat in our quarters -- boy, were we in
trouble!
We turned on the news and perked on the
double.
As TV crew interviewd people down town,
It seemed that some very strange things had
gone down,
Tire tracks were found on a rooftop or two,
And children said, "This year, Santa wore
blue!"
I grinned at my partner and said,
"Its no mystery!
This Christmas will go down in EMS history!"
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