(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
Chapter 1: And so it begins…
Marshall groaned as his alarm clock went off. It was 6am on a Saturday Morning. Why did I have to pick today to start practicals he thought to himself. Marshall was a month into his 3-month long paramedic course and had completed all the book work. Thank God for that Marshall reminded himself at least from now on I get to use what I learned and not just on some test! Marshall had passed the written exam the night before with the highest grade in the class. After calling home to share the news, he had gone out with his classmates to celebrate. Being a pup, Marshall had not drunk with his classmates but I sure do feel like I've got a hangover he laughed to himself. The evening had been a rousing success though it hadn't ended until 3am and it had taken Marshall until 4am to get everyone back.
Marshall headed to breakfast. While all the class work had been with his classmates, each on was assigned a different unit for their practicals. His classmates had all opted to start on Monday but Marshall, dedicated pup that he was, had opted to start on Saturday. Yeah, real bright move that was he thought to himself. Dan greeted Marshall at breakfast. "Good morning, Marshall, am I to infer that you did not adequately celebrate your passing the written part of the course last night?" he joked.
"Oh, I celebrated it enough all right," replied Marshall, "I just failed to properly account for it ahead of time when I said I would start practicals today."
Dan laughed "yeah well, if you handle today like every other day where you got two hours of sleep you'll do just fine."
Marshall grimaced at the comment, even though it was true. Throughout training, he had routinely stayed up late to help his classmates and ensure that they passed and stayed up later on top of that to study himself. The results had been impressive to say the least. Most classes usually had 5 or more academic failures but Marshall's hadn't had any. Only one had quit when they decided that they did not want to be a paramedic. While Marshall had only had a few days with less than two hours of sleep, less than six was the norm and 4 hours was common. Usually, he compensated by sleeping all day Sunday but that was tomorrow, he still had to get through today.
"Yeah, yeah, so who am I doing my practicals with?" asked Marshall as he finished off his breakfast.
"Light Force 25" Dan replied, "it is an integrated Paramedic engine with attached ALS ambulance. They are the primary support for Task Force 2 and secondary for Task Force 3."
Marshall smiled, it had taken him a long time to learn how the city had its emergency response setup but once he wrapped his head around it, it was surprisingly simple. Task Forces were the heavy units, with a ladder or SAR truck as the primary unit with a fire engine and ambulance to support them. Light Forces were a single fire engine with an ambulance in support. Every Task Force or Light Force had one paramedic unit, usually the fire engine or the ambulance. LF 25 was special in that both units were paramedics. This meant Marshall would get lots of experience but it also spoke to the high volume of calls that they responded to. Furthermore, it was a unit with humans and dogs integrated which meant they could do more than a regular fire truck. Going over the map of the city in his mind, Marshall remembered that TF 2 and its ladder truck covered roughly half of downtown, primarily the high rises along the water front. TF 3 was an integrated Urban Search and Rescue unit. LF 25 covered the waterfront itself as well as the airport and Coast Guard Station. The airport itself had its own set of fire engines and paramedics but they were limited to the airport itself. If a major incident happened, multiple LFs and TFs were on call to respond to the airport if needed. It was definitely going to be quite the learning experience for Marshall. "Sounds great Dan" Marshall replied, "I'm just going to call home really quick and then we can go."
"Sure thing, we got time" Dan replied.
Marshall walked back to his room, and dialed Ryder on his tag. Ryder promptly answered "Hey Marshall, how are you this morning?"
"Great, about to head out for my first day of practicals" Marshall replied
"With two new spots under your eyes?" teased Ryder.
"It was a late-night last night" Marshall defended himself.
"I'll bet" replied Ryder, "hang on let me get you the rest of the pups."
Marshall smiled as he watched Ryder walk outside. All the pups were outside in various stretches and yoga poses while Skye tried to motivate them.
"Hey pups," Ryder called, "look who is here!"
"Marshall!" all the pups cheer as they ran over.
"Save me!" cried Rubble.
"Help us!" added Rocky.
"Skye has gone cwazy" chime in Zuma.
"It's not that bad you babies" retorted Skye, "you just have a tummy ache from your midnight treats."
"I'm not so sure Skye" grinned Everest as she pointed behind her, "Tracker appears to be stuck!"
Tracker yelled something Marshall couldn't quite hear but he sounded rather put out about being stuck.
"He'll be fine" chimed in Chase, "in a minute or two!"
"Hey guys" said Marshall, "I'm off to start my practicals today, working with two paramedic units and other pups!"
"Sounds like fun!" cheered Everest, "where are they at?"
"Along the water front" replied Marshall.
"Any beaches dude?" asked Zuma.
"No," replied Marshall, "But I have a feeling it is going to be very busy regardless."
"Zuma was just hoping you could introduce him to some cute beach pup" teased Rocky.
"Aww man, why you gotta wat me out like that bro?" whined Zuma.
"Hey Marshall," Everest chimed in, "I take my EMT cert this afternoon, wish me luck!"
"You got this Everest!" Marshall cheered, "you are going to crush that certification like Rubble crushes treats!"
All the pups laughed at that. "Well, I have to go, talk to you soon!" Marshall got ready to sign off.
"Bye Marshall!" all the pups and Ryder cheered as they hung up.
Marshall got all his gear on, grabbed his bag, and then headed back out the meet Dan. "Ready to go Dan" barked Marshall as he jumped into the truck.
"I can see that" Dan laughed as he got in and they drove off. "So, I'm doing Everest's EMT cert this afternoon."
"She'll do great," Marshall confidently replied, "I have this feeling."
"I don't doubt it" laughed Dan, "She has definitely been giving it her best. Do you remember when I certified you?"
"Do I ever!" Marshall laughed, "that was one wild afternoon!"
"Yeah, getting called out on a real rescue with you opened my eyes to how you guys operate" Dan smiled as he remembered. "Well, here we are."
Dan pulled his truck up to the side of the fire station. The fire truck was parked out in front of the garage with the ambulance parked next to it. As Dan and Marshall walked up, Marshall smiled proudly at his reflection in the truck. "LF 25 is home to the best of the best in the city" Dan continued as walked between the truck and the ambulance. "Every aspiring fire captain in the city has to demonstrate what they know at LF 25 before being given their own TF or LF. There is no unit in the city with a more storied history" Dan finished as they came to the back of the garage where Marshall saw the rows of unit commendations and the pictures showing LF 25's history. Taking it all in, Marshall noticed more pictures on the adjoining wall but he quickly sobered as he realized what it was. Every emergency response station in the city had a wall like this, commemorating those who had given their lives in the service of others while assigned to it. Marshall pressed his paw against the wall, silently commemorating those whose deeds would live on in the lives that they had saved and adding his own commitment to theirs.
As Dan and Marshall walked through the station, greeting everyone they passed, Marshall felt the comradery of the team had and how it dared him to join them. Then they turned into the fire captain's office. "Skipper, it is my joy to present to you Marshall, Paramedic in training and member of the Paw Patrol" Dan said as they entered the office. "Marshall, this is Senior Instructor Captain Kevin "Skipper" O'Malley, may he have mercy on your soul."
"Oh, I'm not that bad Dan!" Skipper replied with a jovial laugh as he came around his desk to greet Marshall.
"Says the man whose last trainee fire captain came back to me in tears" teased Dan.
"Only because he was a fop who didn't belong anywhere near a fire station, much less in charge of a major incident" grimaced Skipper before continuing "Marshall, all I'm going to ask from you is your best. Dan has already filled me in on why you are here as well as what you do for the Paw Patrol. I have no doubt that you will succeed here and in turn, save more lives at home in Adventure Bay. As a trainee, you are always on duty and I will work you to within an inch of your life and then keep pushing because that is what is required of us. When you certify and leave us here, you will have the knowledge and skill to assess risk and operate safely inside and outside your limits to save lives. Are you ready to get started?"
Marshall was nervous but he put that aside and barked "I'm fired up for some Ruff Ruff Rescues."
Skipper smiled "I thought you'd say that. Engine 25 is heading out to the waterfront here shortly; I'll get the station together before you leave though and introduce you."
"Sounds good Skipper" replied Marshall as he turned to walk out. But with his customary precision, he tripped over his own feet and went rolling down the hall before ending with a heavy thud. "I'm good!"
Skipper shook his head, "I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it myself, does it ever stop?"
"Sometimes when he is asleep" chuckled Dan.
"Well then I better get used to it" chuckled Skipper, "I better get him introduced and on that engine before anything bad happens!"
"And I'm off to evaluate one of his teammates to be an EMT" said Dan, "I'll catch you later!"
Skipper found Marshall in the crew lounge and unsurprisingly, the whole station was already gathered.
"Team, we have a new pup with us, Marshall. He is with the Paw Patrol and is in training to be the first Paramedic pup. While he won't be staying here with us forever, we need to make him the best paramedic pup that we can! Make him a part of the LF 25 team!" The assembled team of humans and pups cheered and howled in welcome to their new teammate. While it wasn't home, Marshall already felt a sense of belonging.
Shortly thereafter, Marshall was in the cab of Engine 25 as it headed down to the waterfront. While Marshall wasn't able to drive the trunk, he still had to know how to get around the city and where everything was. Suddenly, the radio crackled to life, a kid had been climbing in a tree and fallen and needed medical attention. Marshall looked at the driver who gave him a nod. "Engine 25 responding code 3" Marshall spoke into the radio as he hit the switches for the lights and siren. As the truck sped up and raced to the scene, Marshall leaned out the window and howled, letting everyone know that they were on their way.
It was late that night when Marshall finally found his bunk. Dan had left his bag on it. As a trainee, Marshall was always on call while the rest of the station operated on shifts. Being the only trainee at the station, Marshall was the only permanent resident of the small bunk room which afforded him a little privacy. As he started to get settled, he tapped his tag to call Everest.
"Hey Marshall!" she answered on the first ring, "How was your day?"
"Exhausting, one call right after another" Marshall replied, "How did your certification go?"
"Great!" Everest cheered, "Dan said that I passed with flying colors!"
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Marshall.
"He also told me all about how your assessment went…" teased Everest.
"Oh no" groaned Marshall, "all of it?"
"Cracking the dummy's ribs during CPR, the unintentional Heimlich on Chase while eating meatballs for lunch, the impossible to walk in splint for Alex, sticking yourself with an EpiPen…" listed off Everest.
"Yeah, that about covers it" said Marshall as he buried his face in his paws. "Though I still maintain that my splint on Alex was perfect for immobilizing him and preventing further injury."
"Well, it sounds like it certainly did that" laughed Everest, "prevented further injury for a whole two weeks after he healed!"
Both pups laughed at the memory.
Then the station alarm started to sound.
"Gotta run, duty calls" said Marshall as he started strapping his gear back on. "Talk to you later Fluffy!"
"Catch you later Spots" replied Everest before hanging up. She smiled as she pictured Marshall running through the fire station, jumping into the fire truck before speeding off to help someone. "Be safe Marshall" she whispered to herself as she started to get ready for bed.