Presenting EMS Magazine's Eighth Annual Holiday Gift Guide

     Season's greetings, everyone, and welcome to EMS Magazine's Eighth Annual Holiday Gift Guide. Vicki and I have searched far and wide to assemble a list we hope will be of assistance in finding the right gift for that rescuer or rescuer-to-be in your life.

     One note pertaining to this year's Gift Guide research: Vicki and I took early retirement from the city of San Francisco, and I accepted a chief's position with a county third service located along the western slope of Colorado. We went from America's 14th-largest city to a rural/frontier county of 550 square miles with a full-time population of just over 4,000. So a lot of the research and shopping this year had to be done online. With that said, let us begin.

     As always, let's start with suggestions for those young rescuers-to-be. They're our future, and they're what holiday gift-giving is all about.

GIFTS FOR KIDS

Costumes
     Is your little prospective EMT/firefighter/law enforcement officer really into play-acting the job? The folks at Galls, The Roberts Company and OUR Designs all have costumes/outfits that can be purchased with various accessories. Prices range from $24.99-$51.99. The costumes vary in quality and materials from vinyl with printing (essentially themed raincoats) to much more realistic, depending on price.

Home Decor
     Looking for something to accessorize that special child's room? Emergency services have gone mainstream enough that there is a wide variety of choices available. For fans of shopping on eBay, search for "fire trucks [and] ambulance custom light switchplate." The plate you'll find, from a helpful and reliable vendor known as kmy4560, has a royal-blue background that has multiple fire engines, trucks, rescue squads, command vehicles and Type 3 ambulances featured on it. It is listed with a "buy it now" price of $3.99 plus $2.99 S&H.

     Not fancy enough? How about rescue-themed drawer pulls? The folks at coolknobsandpulls.com are featuring rescue helicopter, ambulance, police car and fire engine drawer pulls/knobs for $4.95 each. Check them out online at www.coolknobsandpulls.com/cabinethardware.cfm/category/rescue-knobs.html, or contact them in more traditional ways at 800/811-6302 or sales@coolknobsandpulls.com.

     Going for the complete look? Several different vendors feature rescue-themed wallpaper borders. The folks at Kids Furniture Mart have a 9-inch-wide by 10-yards-long border that not only features police cars, ambulances and fire engines, but has several rescue figures and pieces of rescue gear. Check it out at www.kidsfurnituremart.com/kids-decor/wall-decor/products.cfm?action=view&key=OK108.

     The folks at Wallpaper n' More offer a different emergency-services border that also features a repeating pattern of an ambulance, a police car and a fire engine. It is 6 inches wide and comes in 15-foot rolls for $13.99 plus S&H. See www.wallpapernmore.com/products.php?pid=FZ4557BDB.

     Last on this theme, the folks at wallpaperwholesaler.com feature yet a third emergency-services wallpaper, this one 9½ inches high, in 10-foot rolls for $19.49. Buy a dozen rolls, and the price drops to $13.50.

     Also of interest at that site are emergency-services height/growth charts featuring law enforcement, firefighting and EMS vehicles. You have your choice of a generic or personalized chart, $26.39 plus S&H.

Toys
     Moving on, how about a quality toy ambulance? The folks at The Learning Shop have a 10-inch-long ambulance with lights that flash as it moves. The Web page description promises "all the lights, sounds and medical equipment of a real ambulance! The push-along vehicle opens to reveal a medical unit inside, complete with a patient. You can even hear his heart beat and tummy growl." For age 18 months and up, for $29.95 plus S&H. See www.learningshop.com/Store.cfm?Info=1&ProductID=613.