Ellie signed her name, put the date and the time, then took the key and made her way upstairs. She found a handful of people waiting outside the locked door, most of them nurses she knew from the hospital. “Good morning.”
Lolly Cortez, an older LPN who worked in the ER, gave her a sympathetic smile. “I was wondering who Pauline had roped into doing this.”
Ellie tried to act less irritated than she felt. “I guess it was my turn.”
She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and flicked on the light, then went about setting out the paperwork volunteers would need to fill out, along with copies of the schedule. People shuffled into the room through the open door behind her, taking their seats.
She looked up—and froze.
Jesse.
He moved toward a vacant chair—all six-feet and four-inches of him. He looked wind-blown, as if he’d just come off the slopes, his hair rumpled, his cheeks red from cold. His lips curved into a smile. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
There was something in that smile, something in his eyes, too, that made her heart beat faster—and left her feeling uneasy. Was he interested in her?
Oh, no. No. Ellie didn’t want that. Did she?
She searched for something to say. “Are you … uh … off today?”
He shook his head. “My boss gives me time off for Team stuff.”
“Oh. Yeah. Right.” He’d told her that already.
She willed herself to break eye contact and greet the others in the room. Most were nurses from the hospital, but there were a few paramedics from the fire department as well. “Thanks for being here this morning, and thanks for signing up to help staff the first-aid tent. I’m going to pass around the volunteer forms. If you could each take one and fill it out, we’ll get started.”
She moved point by point through the basics—how many hours each of them would need to volunteer to fill the schedule, what supplies the hospital would be donating, what she expected of them during their time on duty. Then she ran through the check-in procedure.
“What kinds of patient visits can we expect?” Lolly asked.
“Good question.” Ellie pulled out the report from last year’s festival. “Last year, we had fifteen cases of hypothermia, one person with chest pain, a bloody nose, six people with altitude sickness, a twisted ankle, an ice climber with abrasions and lacerations, two severe hangovers…”
That brought laughter.
“… and two hospital transfers from the skijoring event—a dislocated shoulder and suspected concussion, and a broken wrist.”
She could feel the heat of Jesse’s gaze on her as she spoke, his attention making it hard to think. She avoided looking his way, willed herself to focus on the job.
“Part of our agreement with the town of Scarlet Springs is that we’ll have at least one person certified in CPR and AED use in the tent at all times. That means I’ll need a copy of your current certifications. If you didn’t bring them with you, that’s fine. You can scan them and email them to me. I’ll need to have them on file before the festival opens. Are there any other questions?”
A few hands went up.
Ellie did her best to answer.
Yes, the fire department would once again have an ambulance on site. Yes, the tent would have heat and electricity. Yes, there would be a warm-up room for anyone suspected of having hypothermia. Yes, they would have oxygen and AEDs. No, she didn’t care whether a person did all six of their volunteer hours in a single day or spread them out over three days, as long as the tent had full coverage. Yes, she would need as much help as she could get unpacking the supplies and setting up. No, they wouldn’t need to set up the actual tent itself.
Jesse held up his hand. “How do you plan to handle it if someone needs help but is unable to get to the first-aid tent? The festival takes up most of downtown and stretches all the way to the reservoir. That’s a big area to cover.”
She hadn’t thought about that. Nothing in Pauline’s file addressed this issue. “I imagine we’d try to bring aid to them or ask the fire department to respond.”
Jesse seemed to consider this. “I could ask the Team to lend us one of its utility task vehicles. A UTV would make getting from one side of the event to the other a lot faster. It can handle snow and ice, and it can maneuver between booths—something an ambulance can’t do. Also, there’s room on the back to carry a litter should anyone need to be transported.”
Ellie could only see one problem with that. “Most of us don’t know how to drive one of those things.”
He laughed, his face lighting up with a grin that she felt all the way to her toes. “You drive it like a car—automatic transmission, steering wheel, brakes.”
“Oh. Okay.” She cleared her throat. “Thanks. Let me know what Megs decides.”
*
Relieved to have the initial meeting behind her, Ellie returned the key to the reference desk and walked outside—only to find Jesse leaning against her car, arms crossed over his chest, mirrored sunglasses hiding his eyes. She did her best to keep things professional. “Can I help you with something?”