the Happy Medic

 It was November 2009 and me and a friend in England had this stupid idea to trade places for a week and live in each other's EMS systems. Thaddeus, or Ted to those of us unable to pronounce his given name, met us on a podcast and asked why it wasn't being filmed. Ted was already well known around my parts as the creative mind behind the Level Zero movie filmed in Alameda County. He had this crazy idea to film Mark and I "fly on the wall style" and focus more on the people rather than the lights and sirens. The day Mark was due to arrive in San Francisco and begin this adventure Ted asked me to meet him in San Francisco for lunch on my way to pick Mark up at the airport. Not knowing then about my anxiety issues, I planned on arriving at the airport an hour early. I had never met Ted and had no idea what to expect. Sitting at a bar height table with a glass of red wine was a confident man, tribal tattoo peeking out from under his polo shirt, a short, styled haircut, gl