It's mid-afternoon on Monday when the call comes in. The tone goes off - one single beep, followed by a deep male voice over a loudspeaker. The station, previously buzzing with voices and activity, falls silent to hear the message: an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Within seconds, three members of East Lansing Fire Department Station 2 are mobilized.

Firefighter and paramedic Jamie Garner drives the truck. Its screaming sirens draw the eyes of passers-by as it hurtles down the street. The seats bounce as she drives the truck over cracks in the road.

In the back, firefighter and paramedic Bill Bailey hurriedly gathers necessary medical equipment. Everyone hired into East Lansing's department is both a firefighter and a paramedic.

"It's a benefit to whoever's calling," Garner said.

Garner will have been with the department for 11 years in June. She is one of only four female firefighters in East Lansing.

She said working mostly with men is "just like having a bunch of brothers."

That sibling relationship is evident, not only back at the station, but in the teamwork they exhibit on the call.

Bailey slides open a door and pulls out an oxygen tank and two orange cases that resemble a fisherman's tackle boxes. Instead of worms and rubber lures, the boxes are full of medication and life-saving equipment. They're the boxes that Garner grabs almost immediately after stopping the truck at the scene.

The patient doesn't need the stretcher and is walked toward the ambulance, which arrived first from Station 1, where she's ushered inside with the five paramedics on the scene.

The East Lansing department has two stations. Station 1 typically covers calls north of Grand River Avenue, while Station 2 covers calls on campus and south of Grand River Avenue.

Not long after assisting the patient, Garner and the others climb back into the truck.

Garner is the driver today, and she hops back up into the driver's seat. This time, there are no lights, no sirens, no urgency.

Side by side

Monday is Rig Day at the station, so Garner spent the early afternoon taking care of the truck. Part of her duties include taking everything out of the truck, making sure that it is all clean and properly oiled for a fire.

The garage smells like a combination of oil and diesel fuel. Garner opens up the several different compartments on the truck and pulls everything out of each of them. She tries out a saw, and it roars to life at ear-splitting decibels. Garner is wearing earplugs, but Bailey, who is standing nearby, is not and uses his hands to plug his ears. The saw works, so Garner fills it with oil.

While Garner is working on different pieces of equipment, Bailey assists her, especially when it comes time to pull out the several ladders on the truck.

"Bill and I have worked together for quite awhile," Garner said, adding that they've worked the same shift since she hired on.

Decades ago, this scene - a woman and a man working side by side in a fire station - would have been extremely uncommon.

Now, more women are entering non-traditional gender occupations, said Jayne Schuiteman, interim director of Women, Gender and Social Justice at the MSU Women's Resource Center.

"It's becoming more and more routine," Schuiteman said.

Schuiteman credits parents and teachers for the increase.

"We have a generation of young women who have been taught by their parents that you can do anything you want to do," she said. "You follow your heart; you follow what your interests are."

Family business

When Garner finishes going through everything on the truck, she heads back into the station and prepares for her routine workout.

Garner opens her locker, and decorating the inside of the door are pictures of a little girl with short blond hair - her 20-month-old daughter, Mackenzie.

The photos show Mackenzie in a variety of different backgrounds: such as one of Garner and her husband, Scot Wyman, deputy chief at Station 1, posing with the baby, and one of Mackenzie in a fire department shirt with both parents' helmets in the background.

Garner's face lights up whenever she talks about Mackenzie.

Garner and her husband are scheduled for the same shifts so they're able to spend their days off together and with their daughter.

When she's finished getting ready, Garner heads for the basement to begin her workout.

"When you get a fire is when the physical part of the job comes in," she said. "It's very strenuous."

Garner moves to a variety of different exercises, ranging from cardio to free weights to sit-ups. She does several of the exercises more than once.

"It's important to make sure you're taking care of yourself," she said.

Garner was majoring in sports medicine at Grand Valley State University when her grandfather became ill. He was admitted to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, where Garner said she spent time with him. She said it was there she thought she might like to work in health care, although she said she didn't want to work in a hospital.

"I wanted to be a paramedic," she said. "I knew that."

She took an Emergency Medical Technician course at Lansing Community College, followed by a paramedic course through a private program. Then, she was hired on as a paramedic. At that time, it wasn't a requirement to be a firefighter as well, she said.

Garner then went to the fire academy in Lansing and became a firefighter after about three months of training.

Passing the testP> Garner was still exercising when word came from upstairs - dinner was ready. Bailey cooked tonight, and the entire shift gathered around the table to eat.

Everyone helps themselves to the serving of chicken and potatoes, and while they're eating, they engage in conversation. When they're through, everyone pitches in to clear the table.

Who does the dishes comes down to the luck of the draw.

The firefighters reassemble around the table for a game of poker - loser does the dishes. It takes two wins to be out. Capt. Dave Dunham leaves the table first, followed by Bailey and Garner. Three others still are left.

While avoiding dishes just took some gambler's luck, gaining access to the department took physical strength and mental know-how.

Garner said when she was hired by the East Lansing department, she had to take a series of tests - written tests for firefighting and paramedics, and a physical agility test - in addition to two interviews. She added that they were the same tests that everyone needed to take, regardless of gender.

Schuiteman, of the Women's Resource Center, knows some female firefighters and said that, in the past, women had a more difficult time passing the physical tests to gain entrance into the academy.

"We're seeing that shifting as well (in) areas where once women just couldn't be considered to be good," she said.

The game ends, and the evening begins to wind down.

"I love being able to make a difference to somebody," she said. "You wouldn't think it'd make a difference, but you don't know how many hugs I've given to people, telling them it'll be okay."

Lindsay VanHulle can be reached at vanhull3@msu.edu.