Cabbage...Coon's Tails... and Code Brown

Cabbage and Coon's Tails... are those good things or bad things when you're fishing. I have no idea. I went fishing yesterday with my good friend and confidant, Ken Olson. In addition to being a career firefighter, Ken is also the owner of Just Add Water (JAW) Baits and he is a professional fishing guide. (http://www.jawbaits.com/ if you want to learn more.)

Anyhow, we're out on the water and I'm having a great time. It is a little overcasted, a little breezy, and a little cool. Perfect fishing weather. Ken's cell phone rings and I'm listening in on the conversation. It's kind of hard not to listen in when you're only 15' apart. He's obviously talking to another angler because he's describing where we are fishing in terms I am entirely unfamiliar with. "We came across several patches of coon's tail and there's very little cabbage in it. Huh?!? Did I miss something? Coon's tails and cabbage. To me that sounds like something a Cajun chef would cook up in a pot.

Every vocation has its lingo, a language of its own. I remember when I was a newer EMT (oops... there I go using lingo... Emergency Medical Technician for you lay readers) and we were at the station when another crew came back from an emergency call. A member of that crew told us their patient was a "Code Brown." I had studied hard to become an EMT. Code Brown. Code Brown. I don't remember what a Code Brown is. I remember Code Blue and Code Red. I'm drawing a blank here. No Code Brown.

So after the other crew left, I quietly approached my partner and asked sheepishly and with some embarrassment "What is a Code Brown and what should I do if I have a patient who is experiencing a Code Brown?"

My partner told me to get a pen and paper to write it down so I would not forget what he was about to tell me. Fortunately for me, I was always prepared and had both a pen and a note pad in the shirt pocket of my uniform. "Go! Ready!" I said enthusiastically.

He leaned toward me and in a soft, reassuring voice said "Code Brown means the patient pooped their pants. If you have a patient with that condition, turn the vent fan on high, roll down all the windows, and drive fast to the hospital."