I'm Tired

I'd like to say "WE are Tired" but I can only speak for myself. This past week had has plenty of work for everyone from linemen to EMT's. We've all been putting in more than any of us thought we could, especially the trained volunteers. The storm damage in my district was bad, but not terrible. I don't consider being without electric for 6 or 7 days a big deal. Tiresome yes, but just an inconvenience. The districts just up the line in our regular mutual aid areas saw almost total devastation. Main connecting roads through the mountains have been cut in half, isolating parts of the county. The statistics show it best, stating that this type of flooding should only occur once every 100 to 500 years. It was the worst natural disaster to hit our County in recorded history.
 So why am I tired? Well, it's not so much the 'why', but the 'what' that is wearing me out.
I am tired of politicians getting in front of every camera available to tell the voting public how hard they are working, when they can't supply us with the materials or resources to do what needs to be done.

 I am tired of these same politicians that can't use their 'on air' time to get critical information to the general public about what is going on, how they can help, and what is needed.

 I am tired of hearing people come into shelters telling us how rough they have it because they don't have hot water, electric, or cable TV. The sit at the shelter and whine when they could be helping a neighbor who has REAL problems clean out the mud from their home.

 I am tired of news crews sticking cameras in my face looking for a story while I am just trying to do my job.

I am tired of getting 7 good clean hours of sleep, only to wake up exhausted from my dreams.

I am tired of driving my engine over roads that may give out from under it at any time.

I am tired of the tourists that don't understand simple signs that say "LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY" or "ROAD CLOSED".

I am tired of tourists that feel it is more important for them to get good pictures of ruined homes and livelihoods than it is to get the hell out of our way and let us do our job.

 I am tired of seeing my brothers and sisters in the service working 20 hour days and not having been home to take care of their families and damaged homes in over a week.

 I am also tired of seeing other 'brothers and sisters' who could easily give up some of their spare time to put in a 12 hour shift to let some others check their families and get some sleep, but instead turn a blind eye to the need.

 I am tired of road crews that drive around downed trees and lines because "this is not 'our road'".  Take 5 damned minutes and top the tree and open the road making it safer for EVERYONE.

 I am tired of walking around with a lump in my throat from seeing all the ruined lives and homes.

 I should also mention what lifts me up and gives me hope.
 I am encouraged by relief workers that know their job, work tirelessly and always manage a comforting smile and supporting words for those truly affected. (You can usually recognize these folks by the bags under their eyes and the tired expressions when they think nobody is looking.)

 I am Encouraged by the citizen volunteers that step and and offer to do any task and don't walk away when they realize it is hard work. They stay there, get the job done and move on to the next task. (You can recognize these people by the sweat stained shirts and the constant upbeat attitude and smile on their faces.)

 I am encouraged by the Civil Engineers and equipment operators who are faced with incredible challenges and are stepping up and making it happen, pulling off engineering marvels of reconstruction I would have never thought possible.

 I am encouraged by Volunteer Fire Chiefs and Officers that have stepped up and worked non-stop  for 8 days to do whatever could be done to organize communities and help their neighbors. Never turning a person in need away, and never losing patience, in spite of all the "help" they were getting from the politicians.

 I am thankful to Be'la Fleck and the Flecktones who could have understandably canceled their concert in the heart of the devastation and instead worked to make sure they could put on the show and turned it into a benefit for the victims. On top of that, they invited all the first responders and their families in for free. What a great night and welcome respite from the carnage. Be'la and the band came down on the floor after the performance and spent time sharing stories of their own losses in the Nashville earlier in the year, as well as listening to the stories of those affected here and now. They truly are a fine bunch of gentlemen and spoke with us like old friends.

 Here is a slideshow of the area showing some of the damage. The stuff further up the mountains doesn't appear here because those areas are still being opened up.

I spent a 12 hour shift out in the heart of these areas yesterday so that some of their crews could attend to their own families. This is the third '100 year flood event' those folks have seen in the last 5 years. Most came back to work as soon as they could, some never left the station. It was strange to pull in and report for duty when the first question they asked us was "what can we get for ya'? Did you eat yet?" Their hospitality was ingrained, I guess. We came out to help them and they were making sure we were comfortable and well fed. Just amazing.  Anyone who came into the station could not leave without being asked "Is there anything else we can do to help you?" Yeah. we worked hard doing cleanup from the previous days 'relief drops and public distributions", but they treated us like family. We helped distribute RED Cross supplies, give directions to Federal Workers, find sources for odd requests, and generally make ourselves useful. We put their station back into normal response mode before we left for the night. We came home very tired last night but feeling good about a hard day of meaningful work. I should have known it wasn't over, we were driving back to our station around 2100 and were flagged down by a LEO who inquired if we could assist with a cardiac emergency. We did the initial workup and treatment for a lineman in his truck that could barely remember what day and time he had come into work. An odd call in another district that brought together responders from 4 agencies, including an off duty State Trooper/RN/Paramedic who happened to be getting gas for his generator. One final example of people working together without boundaries.
 It's been a long eight days, but I've had it easy and God was good to me and mine. Many of the people I've talked to and worked with over this week will takes years to recover, some never will.
UU

The rest of the Story

 Well, you've waited long enough, here are the details missing from the previous post. But first, I neglected to mention that this patient had nothing between him and the Lord except a pair of boxer shorts. No Shoes, no shirt, (no service) nothing.
 Turns out our hapless patient made a phone call at about 0300 from the residence where he was staying. At 0330 he was found in the living room of a house about 2 houses down. The homeowner asked the patinet to 'please leave', which he did. At 0350 he returned to the same house, whereupon the owner threatened to have him arrested. Fearing the threat, the patient took off in haste, apparently into the woods and stumbled around for a while and somehow lacerated his leg.
 Bleeding profusely, he looked for another place to get help and found a house which was unoccupied. He broke in and soaked several handfuls of paper towels with blood trying to stop the bleeding. He tried laying down (on the Judges bed) to see if that would help. Apparently, it did not, as he left several very large puddles of blood on the bed which soaked into the mattress and had still not congealed several hours later.
 He then left the house and began walking up hill, down the middle of the driving lane in the opposite direction he had started from. After a half mile, the blood trail wanders around for quite a bit, then heads back down the road, this time mostly along the double yellow line until he passes the house he broke into (the second one) by a few hundred feet. At this point he is running out of juice and he sits on the side of the road in the cool tall grass. Someone driving to work sees him at 0500. He was found by a woman out taking her two small grandchildren for a morning walk at 0800.
 Two counts of Criminal Trespass and one count of Burglary has him being held for bail in the County Lockup.
 Now the thing that surprises me is that if you find somebody in your house, without your permission in the wee hours TWICE in the same night would you not call the police?! I believe I would have (right after my hearing came back from the shot I fired). I would also like to think that if I saw a mostly naked person sitting in the grass at 0500, I would most likely call a cop for assistance. But that's just me. Some folks might see it differently.
 You just can't make this stuff up.
UU

Did you ever .... ?

Did you ever have one of those calls where you found yourself saying "I can't wait to hear the rest of this story!"
 Sure you have, and we had one today. No I don't know the rest of the deal yet, but I'll share it when I find out, you will have to wait, just like me.

  We were banged out for a 'adult' male, severe laceration to the leg. According to my GPS, I was 30 minutes from the scene because I was returning from dropping my wife at the airport and I knew there was no way I would be of any help unless it turned into something more. So all I could do was follow the city fellar down the two lane at 45 MPH and listen to the chatter on the radio.
 Follow-up information during response included that it was a 40 Y/O Male with a severe laceration to the right lower leg. He was found on the side of the road by a passer-by. HMMM, I'm thinking, "Must be a cyclist, we have lots of those on the holiday weekends, we live in a paradise for bikers." Then I heard the LEO on scene ask his back-up unit to continue in and that the scene was secure for EMS to come on in, he also confirmed the previous medical information and added that the bleeding was controlled. "What? 'Scene secure'? They didn't mention the scene was NOT secure with the dispatch or to stage away at any point. What the hell is going on?"
 So I arrive on-scene after the ambulance has carted the patient off to the hospital and my guys are just getting ready to leave.  The young Lt. brings me up to date "Wow, major lac 12 inches long and down to the bone, bleeding pretty good. No, he wasn't on a bike or any vehicle of any kind. He had four different stories that all ended with 'but I don't really remember', and the police are following his blood trail up the road now." I smiled and had 'that thought' I mentioned at the top of the post.
 Turns out we wound up having about 5 or 6 LEOs doing the 'investigation thing' and we lent them a hand by closing the road to preserve evidence and the scene, which turned out be to nearly a half mile of blood trail that included the inside of one home the patient had apparently broken into and bled all over the place. Apparently the homeoners were away for the holiday, at least I hope they were.
 It gets better: the home our patient choose to do his B&E on was a prominent local figure of the Judicial persuasion. He's gonna be ticked when he returns, and this patient may very well wind up in his Court.
 The patient was found not knowing where he was or how he got there. He said he was from Baton Rouge, which is around 1,000 miles from here. He was staying at a house down the road and remembers A) Going out for a walk, or B) Going to buy a bottle of wine (5 mile round trip), or C) Being dropped off. He either was, or was NOT in a vehicle at any time. He either was, or was NOT partying with friends. He either was out for a couple of hours, or all night. But whatever it was, he doesn't remember.
 I'm not real good at assessing blood loss when the trail is a half mile long, but I figure that this guy lost a fair amount since we had little trouble following it on a road that was still wet from the previous night's rain. We also had little trouble finding where it started (in the middle of the driving lane), without the aid of a dog or a CSI team.
 I can't WAIT to hear the rest of this story!
 And the Holiday weekend isn't even over yet! We still haven't done our 'Drunk stumbles into the campfire' call, or the 'Deck fire secondary to a barbeque experiment' job.  Last night it continued to rain as it had all day, so today should be the big day for us. More blog fodder, if nothing else.
Be Safe, Be Sharp, and Please Don't be Stupid,
UU

Back To Normal

... or as normal as it gets around here anyway.
 Well, I've got the 'series bug' out my system and I thank you all for suffering through it. Actually not all made the cut, because I notice that the readership has fallen, which gives me a good idea of how the group of posts was received. I was afraid that might happen, but I have never made apologies for the content here, reminding all that I write as much for me as I do for you all. The content in that series contained a lot of things I have been wanting to say 'out loud' for a long time. We can fix this service if we just work on it in a business like manner.
 It was interesting to see that some readers became a little bit more 'regular', looking for the next installment, while others didn't show up as much. I'm thinking any career service readers I had pretty much faded away when I focused on the Volley Service, and I don't blame them. There was one exception and that was Capt. Mike. He checks in pretty regular, no matter how bad it gets here.
 I never started this blog to give the big boys a challenge, just to get some stuff off my chest and perhaps share something that somebody else out there would find useful. This is why there is no facebook page, no "like" buttons, no attempt in anyway to get my 'name out there'.  I figure if folks like it, they get the word, and if they don't, well then I learned something. As an Instructor, I am very interested in what gets people interested, and what does not. This understanding is vital to make my classes meaningful and worthwhile for those who participate in them. The concepts in the proceeding series were those I was considering putting into an article submission for one of the major fire service Magazines. I wanted to judge interest, and I've think I gotten my answer.
 In other news, let me catch you up on what's been going on around the farm while we were all occupied.

• I played Safety Officer/5th Instructor on 2 live burns in 3 days. Both of which kicked my ass. These bottles don't last as long as they used to, have you noticed that? The first burn was for a Firefighter 1 class. The first one for this class, and the Instructors worked hard that night. I was working with State Fire Instructors that had been my instructors not too long ago. Having  virgins on their first burn meant a lot of extra work pushing them and showing them what they should be doing and how it's done. All of the Instructors were Career guys except me, and one, a veteran Captain, remarked to me that he had humped more hose in the last 3 hours that he had pulled in the last 2 years. I made a remark about him earning his pay ( as I was tripoding and trying to catch my own breath) which led to a discussion about the recent (paid) Instructors jobs which I had considered, but failed to apply for. I mentioned that it would have helped pay for FDIC next year and he lit up. He said "Next Year Man! I am going to finally go, nothing is gonna stand in my way!". So now I have another traveling partner. Sweet! We are gonna have a blast. I came home that night soaked with sweat right down to my socks, and a huge grin on my face.
• The second burn was a class given by a guest Instructor. I had met Ray last year when he came up to do a workshop on building size up and initial fire attack. This year he used the training center, did a 45 minute classroom session, followed by a few hours out in the burn building putting it all together. These students were more experienced and we focused on decision making, communications, and coordination. I didn't sweat as much on this one, but my gear is still drying out. Good Times with a good Instructor at a good facility. What more could you ask for?
•  I am back in class myself, taking a Fire Behavior class from one of the Instructors I worked the first live burn with. Good class and I am learning some stuff. I think I am also doing a fair job of keeping my mouth shut most of the time. It must be rough having an Instructor as a Student in a regular class. I keep catching myself as I am about to blurt out the latest numbers and statistics that the Class Instructor doesn't have handy. He is pretty good about it. When I do slip up, he gives me that look, smiles, says "Thank You, UU, now please shut up" I apologize, we all laugh and move on.  It's good to be learning some new stuff.
•  My ass is dragging today. We had an unusual shift last night. Caught a run at 11pm (dementia patient found wandering down a two-lane, nearly got hit twice) and as we were doing the turnover at the hospital, we got dispatched to a cardiac emergency (A-Fib) so we dumped and ran all the way back out of Small City to our District, loaded that patient and transported with ALS aboard back to Small City. As we were turning over THAT patient, we got dispatched for a respiratory arrest call. Dump and run again with a long hot run back to town to load-and-go, again with ALS on board. This one was a 'worker' with all the toys brought into play and our medic did a great job. I got back into bed at around 3am. So yeah, it was rough to get up at 6 and go to 'work'.
• The last 5 days have been interesting. My wife, Sister, Mom, and Dad are all over in Cape Cod where my Sister has a house (that's a far piece from here). I thought I would have some time for myself to relax, be a bum, and do some stuff for 'me'. Turns out it doesn't work that way. By the time I check the mail at my folks house, feed and run the dog, clean the dishes, cook, take care of the training commitments, etc., I barely have time to sleep and go to work. Who would have thought? I'll be glad when they all come back in a couple of days.

• We had a public service event yesterday. An annual run sponsored by a Law Enforcement to benefit the Children of two Officers who died in the line on duty  in our District about 8 years ago. We have lots of volunteers for this one because they get a T-shirt and a hamburger out of it which is more than we usually get. I've done this one for many years, but these days my 'contribution' is to let the young folks go have fun while I post myself on standby in the middle of the District. I read the paper, drink my coffee, watch the boats and the birds out on the Big Water, and let the hours roll by. As is usual, no work rolled my way.

 Ok, so we are back into the day to day mode here and I've used up enough material in this one that could have given me a weeks worth of posts. Looks like it's gonna be slim pickings for the next few days.
 Be Safe and Be Sharp,
UU

More Old Business

 One of the posts, or rather series of posts, that have gleaned the most readership on this blog is the group of posts regarding my experiences on my paying job with respect to setting up a proper response system for my co-workers in the event of an injury or medical issue. I summarized it with this follow-up last month.
 Now the only reason I bring this up is because these posts continue to get hits, so I figure there is still some kind of interest. For those that may be following this saga, I thought you might be interested in the next installment:
 A couple of days ago we had a "CODE 88" in the plant. CODE 88 is the catchy term the ESHW came up with for an announcement to alert the First Responder Team to an emergency somewhere in the plant. They get on the paging system and announce "ATTENTION, THERE IS A CODE 88 IN THE WINGNUT DEPARTMENT, I REPEAT, THERE IS A CODE 88 IN THE WINGNUT DEPARTMENT."  (No, we don't have a wingnut department.) This should bring the whole team with the equipment (Trauma Bag and an AED or two). I had conducted drills just the day before this incident for both the day and night shift. We set up a scenario of some sort of accident and let them work through it. It is useful and keeps them thinking. These are laymen, and trained in First Aid, CPR, and AED. Their job is to cover the first 5 minutes of the job, get the notification out, and direct the responding unit(s) in to the proper location in our large plant. They actually do a pretty darn good job, even though they lack confidence in their skills, I am impressed with the quality job they do. I trained them as best as I was allowed with the thought that if I go down, they are taking care of me, and unlike anybody else in the plant, there will be no EMT responding from inside the building to help me out. I am the only one with current rescue experience and training.
 So, if you recall, the powers that be had me remove all my 'advanced BLS equipment' from the building such as OPA's, NPA's, BVM, Blood Pressure Cuff, Stethoscope, oral glucose, etc. Whereas I did comply and removed all that stuff "which I might cause harm with" from the trauma bag a I keep in my office (my stuff), I did a little foot-dragging on taking it out of the company trauma bag. I just kept 'forgetting' to get it done. My memory is not what it used to be, it seems.
 So we get this CODE 88 called and I can hear the fear in the person's voice that made the page (it wasn't excitement, it was definitely fear). I lefte my office and start walking toward the area. I see lots of folks running and nearly got sucked up and started running myself. Nearly. So I get there and find a co-worker in severe chest pain and distress, sudden onset, 10/10 pain, she can't even lift her head to look at me. Nobody on my time can think of anything to do in the way of treatment. They have all jumped on the physical tasks quickly. They made the 911 call and gave good info to the dispatcher, they have sent folks to guide the Fire and EMS folks in, and they have cleared some working room, but treatment, nada.
 That's because there was nothing they could do in that vein within their training. They all looked at me, as usual. I got down on one knee and started talking with my patient, I went through the pain stuff (severity, quality, radiation, onset, etc.), got her medical history, meds, pulse, respirations, and anything else I could think of. Now we are waiting. I am not getting a good idea of what is going on and I don't like not having a B/P or knowing her O2 sats. I now there is a B/P kit in the bag next to my foot so I pull it out and do the deed, which I was told I was not allowed to do. I get 130/68. OK, I am relaxing a little. Fire (BLS) shows up, I go through the information I have and offer the written copy I have to the EMT, he completely ignores me. He doesn't listen to anything I offer, just shoulders me out of the way. "OK, asshole", I think, "I'll just have to work around you" so I reach behind him and grab the airway bag, set up the O2, put a mask on and fill the reservoir, and set it on 15 LPM (12 wasn't an option on their cheap regulator) and hand it to the tech. He looks at me and says "You've done this before?" "Yeah" I said, "Former Lt. and Captain for several years at Podunk EMS, now Fire Lt. at the same Department, County EMT of the year in 2007, Nationally certified Fire Service Instructor Two, County Fire Instructor. Any other credentials you need to hear, or can I give you a turnover report now?" He apologized and changed his tune. The medic came in, another one with an attitude who only brought half the equipment she should have. (Who does an industrial plant call for a cardiac issue and leaves their stretcher in the rig, 500 feet away?!)
 So we finished the job and sent our patient off for definitive care. As I was cleaning up and packing the gear, the EHS Boss was standing there and saw me folding up the B/P cuff. I caught her eye. This was the cuff she had told me I needed to remove from the building. I rolled it up and put it in the bag. "You know", I said, "You might think you saw me doing a B/P, but the truth is I was just checking her circulation, it just LOOKED like I was taking a B/P. Besides, I REALLY needed to know in order to get a full picture." I waited for the lecture that I knew was coming and would include some political double-talk.
 She looked at me, looked at the cuff in my hands, then looked down the aisle where the stretcher had just disappeared around the corner. She then looked back at me and said "I'm sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about. By the way, nice job, we're lucky you were here."
 So, I am assuming that I am safe in going with my original plan: If the outcome is good, I can do whatever I see fit (within protocols, of course), but if the outcome is bad, I am on my own. I can live with that, I just hope all my future patients can.
UU

The paycheck

 We saved a life tonight.


It was someone we all knew.


It felt very good.

'nuff sed.


UU

MVP's

 I handled a call this morning for an MVP. Many times these calls are a pleasure to do, but on occasion they can be upsetting or depressing.
 An "MVP" is my term for Municipally Valuable Person. My cute way of referring to people in our community who have value to all of us. These are usually not politicians or other 'important' people. These are the people that make up the real fabric of our area. They are the writers, the local historians, the folks that go to the grammar schools and tell stories, the ones who have built this community. The teachers,  the musicians,  the contractors, the stone masons, the store owners, the folks that ran the Sunday schools for years on end, the Scout Leaders, The coaches, the school bus drivers. All of these are personalities that shaped the way we interact with each other, how our kids grew up, and what we, as a community, have become, as well as where we are going.
 George was a renowned local writer with national impact. He specialized in the history and preservation of a particular type of barn architecture, and he knew more about it than anybody else in the world. He freely shared that knowledge through his books, magazine articles, and workshops. He also put his hands to the task on many preservation projects. He had an interest in varieties of corn grown in our area during the colonial era and had managed to secure some strains of this 'blue corn' and waged a campaign to re-introduce it several years back. George was an MVP, no doubt.
 I used to see George all the time in the local coffee shop and say 'hi'. The last time we talked about anything of meaning was years ago, but we each recognized each other every time we met. Two months ago I happened to be at a garage sale at a friends house and somebody stopped in asking for directions to a particular road miles from where we were and on a lark, I asked the lost driver who's house he was looking for . He told me it was George's, and I said " Oh Hell, I know where George lives, you'll have a hard time finding it, just follow me and I'll bring you over." "Gee! Thanks!" the old guy said. I asked what the occasion of the visit was and he mentioned that it was George's 80th birthday. I told him to wish George Happy Birthday from me, and I led him along, pointing out the driveway as I passed the house. Never thought about it again until I got called to that house this morning.
 [knock, knock] "Who's There?" "Rescue Squad, did you call for an ambulance?" " Yes, Please come in, we're back here and my hands are full just now."
 I walked into the bedroom to find George naked and half standing with the assistance of a home health care aide. "He's had a rough morning and is not acting normally. He's has pooped himself which he rarely does and he is not talking to me as much as usual. Also he is leaning to one side a lot, something is wrong." George is smiling and appears truly happy to have a visitor. I call dispatch to let them know what I have, provide details so that the ALS rig can find the driveway and slow there response, and also warn them that the driveway is like polished glass. Then I check the basics and help the aide clean George up while going through all the questions. The Medic arrived and we put together a history. George had experienced a debilitating stroke over a year ago and has had home care ever since. It was tough to see him that way when weighed against the last time I saw him. Still he had a smile on his face and every question I asked him he gave an answer with the smile on his face that I had always known. He only had about 8 words he could use these days, but every one had a smile attached to it. His eyes still had that sparkle that could suck you into his enthusiasm for whatever subject he was talking about. It fully looked to me that George still had his passion, it was just focused in a smaller scope these days. I confess that I had a difficult time differentiating between treating a patient and helping an old friend. I think I split the difference.
 As I age myself, and attend these calls at homes, and for people I have known over the years, I begin to realize how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing at this age. I care for an awful lot of people with 'aging issues' that are younger than myself and it is beginning to scare me a bit.
 Fate wields a random sword stroke.
UU

Winter

I know I'm getting older and don't have the tolerance I used to, but this winter is kicking my butt. In the second half of December I could never seem to get warm and it always seemed really cold in the house, especially in the morning. Then I discovered that we had a bad zone valve on the heating system and we weren't getting much heat upstairs. Things got much better after I fixed that (duh).
 But for the last week or so we've had a lot of zero or sub-zero nights and boy is it hard to run out the door when the pager goes off. So far we've been lucky and only had one long roadside call, but the weather and terrain around here can make for 'micro environments' where a certain stretch of road in a small area can have arctic weather. Such is the case along the downwind edges of large frozen bodies of water such as we have now. The wind comes down with no impediments and hits the road carrying literally tons of wind blown snow which it deposits in unpredictable ways. Just a quarter of a mile away, things can be normal with a slight breeze, but when you are working in the target zone you may have 30 below wind chills and white-out conditions. This can be dangerous stuff and tactics have to adjust. Exposed skin freezes quickly in those conditions.
 The other night I had to cross one windswept road to get to an MVA on another windswept road caused by, you guessed it, snow drifting. It hadn't snowed for 24 hours, but I was driving the Engine through foot and a half high drifts and visibility was around 30 feet until I got out of the target zone and hit clean dry road. Here was the view from my cab:

 And of course, we have that white spit coming down an awful lot this year. At my place I put it at around 24 inches so far in the last few weeks. We've actually been lucky, some places within an hours drive are up around 3 feet already. We are starting to see the ice dams building up on the edges of roofs though and this will present the next battle if we don't get a warm spell.
 Every time I hear a neighboring Department toned out for a structure fire I cringe. It is brutal working in these conditions. As I type this, the next Department up the line is headed to a chimney fire. Bad enough on a night like this. We get a lot of those this time of year because when it gets this cold nobody wants to shut their stove down to clean the chimney. Some folks consider a small chimney fire a 'good way' to clean out the chimney.
 I'm on duty on the Ambulance tonight and I pray that the little old lady who has taken to calling us on Sunday night's for attention and a ride to the hospital will skip this week. It's just too damn cold.
 I am very ready to go some place warm for a few days.
Old Bussiness:
 In case you are wondering what happened to the eyeglasses in my last post, I swallowed hard and went back to the call location and returned them after confirming they didn't belong to one of our other people. I had hoped to just drop them off, but no, the family wouldn't have it and invited me in. They wanted to thank me and all the other responders who came so fast and did everything they could. One family member, who was doing compressions when I arrived, needed to talk things through and was looking for some closure. I assured him he did everything right and was doing a good job when I arrived. He just kept telling me how much of an impression I made in putting things in order and setting up the scene while continuing treatment. He said he didn't understand how we could get there so fast and be as organized as we are to do what we do. I told him I don't completely understand it myself, but it's what we do and it always seems automatic to me. I was there a half hour and was pretty drained when I left. I don't have much training in grief counseling. At any rate, they were very pleased to get the glasses, they had been looking everywhere for them and wanted them for the wake. They said his old glasses wouldn't 'look right'. I get that.
Be Safe, Stay Warm, and Stay in the House,
UU

Eyeglasses

 He sits in his favorite chair in his den in a warm house while the wind howls outside presenting wind chills of 5 below on exposed skin. He is tired and nearly emotionally exhausted. He contemplated the eyeglasses he held in his hand.
 Years of running calls as a volunteer taught him to put his gear back in order immediately after running a call. Tomorrow was never soon enough because the next call could come in just a few minutes. Just 2 hours ago he had skipped out of work early to get a jump start on the snow that had piled up on his driveway all day. He came home, did what needed doing, sat down at his desk and cracked opened a pop. He took the first sip of satisfaction, and at the same instant his pager toned off. His listened for a few seconds, he was tired, it was a long day, and it was probably just a bullshit job. "Unconscious, Unresponsive, CPR instructions being given", he hollered to his wife upstairs "I have to take this one, I'll be right back". His wife knew that this meant "I'll see you when I see you', and out the door he went.
 The job was close, about 3 miles away, he had the AED for this side of town and knew he had to get it there and put it to work.
 First one on scene "Damn!" he thought. He left on his blue strobes to mark the location and grabbed his oxygen, jump bag, and AED. Family members were waving from the doorway, never a good sign. In the bedroom he found a family member 'performing' CPR one handed while talking on the phone with the other. Quick check for pulse and breathing yields no joy. He directs the family member to assist getting the patient on the floor and so it begins.. AED in place, "NO SHOCK ADVISED" continue CPR, more responders arrive, ALS arrives, ALS supervisor arrives, everybody is working. He is stuck in the middle between the Aiwray Medic and the Drugs medic trying to assist both in a tiny bedroom with too many people and too little room.
 Work, Work, Work, Package, Package, "OK Ready? 1,2,3 Lift and lets Go". Nothing is easy in this small house and the foot of snow isn't helping. The Firefighters have shoveled a clear path to the back of the rig, thank God for that, and even with this blessing, the broken ground makes things difficult. The ambulance leaves for the hospital.
 He collects his gear and finds his team mates have already done most of it, but returning to his truck he finds a dead battery because he left his lights on. One more inconvenience and he gets a jump, gets it turned around and starts to head home.
 He hasn't gotten far enough down the road to light up his 'end of call cigarette' when the tones go off for a two car MVA, rollover with entrapment. Back into high gear, he heads for the station to grab an Engine as fast as the conditions will allow and after loading his gear bag on board, he races across town. Halfway there he is turned around and returned to quarters.
 After filling out the paperwork, returning home, and explaining to his wife why he was gone two hours, he sits in his den to straighten out his gear bag, which was torn apart by helpful folks trying to find the gear he was asking for. From the open front pocket, he pulled a pair of eyeglasses that were certainly not his.
 Heavy, thick bi-focals they were. He tried to figure out how they got there and then he remembered the cardiac arrest. It was an unkempt house with 'stuff' everywhere. The place was a mess and all the EMS gear spread aorund just made more of a mess. The well meaning responder who had packed up his gear for him assumed they were his glasses and put them in his trauma bag.
 At this point he knew that the patient would no longer need them. What should he do with them. Return them to the family and risk the hurt it would cause by recalling the memory? Donate them to the eyeglass bank in town?
 What to do indeed? He was tired, tomorrow was another day. The question of the glasses would wait until then.
UU

Our Constituants are clueless

I read this article on a Boston TV website and it really didn't surprise me much. Then I read the comments, all of which almost completely agreed that the Firefighters were whining. I left a comment myself. But the point is that the public largely has no clue what the Fire and EMS Services do, and why we are here. Until they need us. Moreover, they think everybody is in this for something. The other night I 'babysat' some live wires crossing a road with a partner and our Engine sitting vigil, waiting for the utility guys to show up. We didn't have the tools or training to handle it ourselves, and leaving these live wires would have created a public hazard. Should the wires get run over, and moved, they could have easily shorted out on the car they were draped over. The car would have burned and the radiant heat would have started the garage next to it on fire, which would have started the woods on fire...... You get the picture. As stupid and cold as we felt, we had to stay there and re-direct traffic around the wires. And let me tell you, with a 20MPH wind, it WAS cold. None the less, the 3 hours went by fairly quickly. This is what we do. Whatever it takes. Boring, exciting, frightening, whatever.
 The owner of the house from which the wires had been ripped came out an apologized for having to call us. He said the power company was surly after his third call and told him to call 911 if he wasn't happy, so he did. He was worried about somebody getting hurt. He was right to be worried. I assured him he did the right thing.
 After a couple of hours, he came out of the house to warm up their second car. He apologized again and also said that he had to go find a place to keep his 2 small kids and his wife warm. I passed along the info about what shelters had just been opened because of the storm and gave him directions. He thanked me yet again. "You guys are amazing. It's so damn cold out and you stand there for hours, but all you are concerned with is that we have a place to go. It boggles the mind. You guys are amazing." I shrugged my shoulders. "It's what we do. No big deal. We are used to it. You go and get your kids warmed up." He gets it, I thought.
 Slide back, many years. It was 3 days of non-stop duty around the clock for all of us, we ate and slept, when we could, in the trucks or in the station. We have never ever seen water this high and many people would not believe what were telling them. I had been standing at a roadblock for over 12 hours re-directing traffic during a 100 year flood incident. After all those hours I had heard EVERY excuse for letting people slip through the roadblock and I was getting a little punchy. I had been nearly hit by several cars and actually struck by one of them. I was getting testy.
 Late in the evening one guy pulls up with a pretty good attitude. I told him he couldn't go west on the main road and asked where he was headed so I could offer an alternate route. "Oh, OK man, look, we were just headed out for a late dinner, but if it's as bad as you say maybe we'll just go back and cook something." I Smiled, "Good Idea, go home and enjoy your evening, getting around tonight is no easy feat." Then he started to go into chat mode, which was fine until cars started to back up behind him. "Hey man, how long have you guys had this road closed anyway?" "Gee" I had to think, "What time is it? 11PM? Well we closed it at just around noon today." "Wow" they guy said, "that's a long day. Well look on the bright side, at least your getting overtime." and he pulled away. I was dumbfounded, but I caught myself at the last second and before he got out of earshot, I hollered "OVER TIME?! HELL, TODAY IS SUNDAY, I'M GETTING DOUBLE TIME!" I laughed way too hard on that one. My partner turned to me and said "Dude, you are loosing it, time for a break, when did you sleep last anyway?"
 So if you volunteer, what does it matter if you get straight time, overtime, or double time? To tell the truth, I don't know if anybody could pay me to do this job. I do like doing it for free though. Like thousands of others, I'm just funny that way.
UU

Checking in

 I had thought with having the week off I would have had a bunch of time to put some posts up. Guess not. Although I have had the time, nothing is coming through, and I am keeping myself busy getting stuff ready to turn over to my new Captain at the end of the week, finishing up the end of the year stats for the Department, battling storms, and running calls.
 Christmas day was fairly quiet. We had an impalement call while I was in the middle of dinner, but we had plenty of folks out to handle it. At around 8:30pm local that evening, just as I had gotten home and settled on the couch with my bloated belly, the tones dropped for a structure fire in the next town over.  We caught some work on that job. Fortunately, it was an occupied unoccupied SFD undergoing renovation. The heat on the second floor drove our guys back out on the first attempt, but with some venting they could re-enter and finish it off. We still don't know what started it because there was no power to the structure. It was a cold night, and ice was beginning to be a problem when we were picking up.
 The day after Christmas, the storm came in and I prayed there would be no calls. SO we went out for a medical job just when the storm was beginning to really lay it down. Syncope secondary to some pot brownies. he patient was hypovolemic and he kept passing out with minor convulsions. I got to work with a Medic I know well who is also and Assistant Chief in a neighboring Department. So we had a nice run in. It's great having a good partner. On the way back from town two morons in little cars flew past us hell bent for leather. The wind is whipping at about 30 MPH, the snow is horizontal, and the road is covered with about 4 inches of the slippery stuff. These jerks both wig-wagged their way up the hill without ever touching their brakes. My driver slowed down to give them crashing room, glanced at me and said "We'll have real good response time to this job!" "No", I said, "It doesn't count if you call it in." We both laughed as we watched the one car get sucked off on the shoulder, bring it back on the road and cross two lanes, winding up in the oncoming lane, before he finally got control. Morons.
 Yesterday we ran 'wires down' calls, the last one keeping me out on the road for 3 hours last night in a wicked wind babysitting live wires laying squarely across the road. I couldn't leave it, and the Utility could not spare anyone to come mitigate it as they were handling thousands of outages around the county. Finally we called Town Highway to bring barricades to block the road completely on both sides of the wires. Hopefully no idiot will come along and move them and drive across. (I figure the first idiot came along in about 20 minutes.) I got home around 11:30pm.
 Which brings us to today. Cold, cloudy, with a 20 MPH wind that sounds like a freight train going over the house. They say it's gonna clear today. Maybe I'll get some new pictures of snow and ice.
 So I just wanted to let you know I'm still here. Today I'm hoping to get out and do some 'stuff for me' for a change. I have a bunch of holiday money burning a hole in my pocket.
 Stay warm, stay safe.
UU
Here's a local shot from last year around this time:

What are the chances?

It's four AM on the morning of another dark and drizzly weekday. As he crunches across the road through scattered broken glass, plastic, and crumpled auto parts, he watches the second ambulance carefully pick it's way out of the scene and onto the road to the hospital. He instinctively looks in the opposite direction to check for traffic that might intercept the ambulance, then he chuckles to himself.
 There is NOBODY on the road. This accident took place at a rural intersection of a backroad and the
'four-lane' which, although controlled by a traffic light, sees no traffic at this time of day. Which makes him  wonder: Why, at this hour of the day, were the conditions right for a high speed, two-car t-bone accident? Two people headed for the hospital on backboards with serious injuries and requiring some extrication work, for what?
 What could have put one driver in such a rush with NO other cars on the road except for a single delivery van? The night was dark and foggy but with good visibility and moving headlights would stand out like a bonfire.
 What are the chances of these two cars meeting at that precise instant? 45 minutes on scene cutting cars, clearing debris, packaging patients and in that whole time 4 vehicles came through. In another hour or two there would be a steady flow as people headed to work and school, but for now, there was nobody.
 What are the chances?
UU

Another day....... concluded

 He's driving west headed back to town and back to his world. Eight hours on the mountain was all he could spare on such short notice. The search, for him, was tedious and fruitless, as it usually is.
 He tried to enjoy the rare opportunity to be out in the daylight on a perfect, clear, crisp, sunny, Fall day. Just as he began to enjoy some success in his daydream, the cell phone rang. He pulled it off his belt, saw the name on the screen and slid off the road onto the shoulder. He tapped the 'answer' button on the phone and said "Hi Chief! What's up?" The voice on the other end was concise: "We found him, he was mostly naked, cold, and fairly stiff. He almost made it back home and he was found in an area that was searched yesterday. Probably got back there last night. Just thought you'd want to know. Thanks for you help today." He frowned, "Thanks for the call Chief, tell the crew to be careful coming off the mountain, it's pretty steep up there. I'll see you tonight. Thanks for the call."
 He hung up and pulled back on the road with his thoughts. He passed through town and pulled into his fire station and went in to quickly change into his 'business casual' clothing. He didn't want anyone at the job to suspect that his time off for 'personal business' was spent in the woods. He jumped back in the truck and headed into his paying job to try and be on time for his meeting and the phone conferences that were scheduled for the afternoon. For him, the only difficulty in making the transition was avoiding the casual conversations going on everywhere about the lost person and all the resources that were coming into the county from all over the state to join the search.
 He always found the transition from emergency scene to conference room a difficult one. Today was just another one of those days.
UU

Just Another Day

 The alarm buzzes at 5AM. An hour before the usual time. He needs not awake, as he has been lying there waiting for the alarm to sound. He has spent most of the night thinking about the lost person on the mountain who, if still alive, will have survived 3 nights in freezing temperatures with little clothing and no supplies, food, or equipment. He rises, pulls on his wool socks, under armor, duty pants, and a wool hunting shirt. Not his normal garb when heading out for a detail.
 He pads to the kitchen, fills his coffee cup, then his thermos, and grabs his grub bag from the fridge. The same grub bag he has taken on countless hikes and hunting trips in these very same mountains. He descends the stairs into the den and puts on the parka shell he has worn for many miles over the years and has shielded him in rainstorms, blizzards, hail storms and cold, windy, sunny days. The smell brings back numerous pleasant memories. It has been too long since he's has need to wear it, he thinks. He makes a mental note to get out on a hike soon.
 Stuffing the thermos and grub bag into his pack he checks again to make sure his wool gloves and hat are in the bag. He knows the weather this time of year can have you in all wool in the morning, and a t-shirt in the afternoon, and back to all wool the minute the sun falls behind the mountain.
 Fourty years of heading out into the woods has taught him to scan the room carefully before leaving to make sure he hasn't forgotten a critical piece of gear or clothing. He sees the snowshoes, hiking poles, ice axes, crampons, rifles, fishing poles and sees nothing he is lacking.
 He walks out the door and into the cold morning air covered by a black, star filled sky. As he climbs into the truck for the 30 mile drive to the staging area, he thinks about the day's search that lies ahead. Before he leaves home, he already knows in his heart how it will end. He turns the key and whispers a prayer that just this one time, he might be wrong.
UU

Definately Educational, but not acceptable.

On Sunday The Happy Medic posted this short blurb about traffic fatality Memorials and questioned if it was acceptable to post a sign which read "A drunk driver killed themselves here".
 I see these memorials all the time and I don't really care for them, especially those at jobs I had worked. It brings back the video of the incident every time I pass one and I really do not wish to re-live that experience at that particular moment, thank you very much.

There is one of these not far from my home which I have to pass everyday several times. Each year it falls into decay as the year goes by, the snow comes and goes, the snow plows do their damage, and the weeds grow up over it. Every year I think the family will let it go and forget about it. I would really prefer that they do, honestly. But then on the anniversary of the event, everything gets freshened up, new flowers, more candles, and I don't know what else. At that point I know I have another year to look at all this stuff.

My problem with this one is that it reminds me of a particularly nasty incident, and also that there is no way for me to avoid it if I want to get home. It happened many years ago but is still vivid in my head. The bike's computer chip recorded 120 MPH as it's last recorded speed, there was no alcohol involved. He was out riding for fun with a friend, who was smart enough to slow down as they entered the turn. If I were going to post a sign like  HM, this one would have to read: """On this spot, a motorcyclist committed suicide and left a 24 year old wife and a 2 year old daughter to fend for themselves."

Some days I come around that bend and the Memorial catches me off guard and before I can catch myself, I get a flash photo of that night. When this happens I get angry and think about ways to make this thing go away. But then I recover and realize that on some level, this family is finding peace with the trinkets that reside on that rock wall. They need to have it there, much more than I need to have it gone.


Tolerance: Just another service we provide.
Still, there are those days........

UU

"I don't think you've ever seen this before.."

The previous post (Lord, I apologize..) made me think about some of the jobs I have worked while at the paying job over the years and I thought I'd share one with you. There was the one where a co-worker opened up his arm from the shoulder to the pinky tip down to the bone is a spiral cut that circled his arm once. But I thought that wasn't really a good one, and then I remembered this one which happened many years ago:

I met the rig in the parking lot of the shop. I had gone outside for three reasons: 1) We had the patient in as good a shape as we good expect and there was nothing more to be done at the moment, 2) I felt that the previous person I had sent out to meet the ambulance and guide the crew in was not doing his job because they weren't on scene yet, and when I realized why... 3) to call dispatch one the phone and talk them through giving the responding crew directions to find us. I could hear their siren going up and down streets a half mile away on a road with a similar, but different name. I followed the sound through every wrong turn and re-direction. It was comical, even in light of the serious issues my co-worker was coming to terms with just a few feet away in the shop.
 So I greeted them in the parking lot and reached to grab a bag and give them a hand. I said to the Medic, "before you go in. let me explain that you have probably never seen anything like this and there are special treatment procedures involved, I have printed out detailed ...." She just walked past me saying "yeah, everybody says that, but I've seen it all. Where is he?" OK, I think, guess we'll just have to see what she wants to do with this one and I followed her into the building giving directions from behind. As she approached the patient seated calmly in a chair with a crowd of slack jawed people around him she started to say "SO, Whats going on gu.... WHAT HAPPENED HERE?! HOW did this happen?! WHAT is that?" She was looking at a male patient in his early thirties and good physical condition except that his right arm was more than twice it's normal size, and his hand was nearly three times normal. It appeared that his arm had been inflated, which it actually had. In truth, it looked like a plastic gag arm because the skin was so taught it was shiny (it was also wet which added to the plastic effect). "It's his hand" I said calmly, now relishing the fact that I had the attention of this mighty Paramedic that has 'seen it all'. She looked at me and said "I have NEVER seen anything like this!" I cleared my throat and suppressed a smile, "Well, it's an injection wound. We have that machine over there  that cuts anything from steel to glass using water. It pushes the water out of a tiny orifice at 55,000 PSI and carries an abrasive medium along the outside of the water column. It can pop a hole through 1/4" stainless steel in 750 milliseconds. Matt here was distracted for a moment and let his hand get under the jet. The force of the water filled his hand and forearm in the 2 seconds it took to pull his arm out. There is no exit wound, all the fluid went into his arm. As far as we can tell, the jet did not cut any bone, but you'll need x-rays to confirm, as this thing cuts bone like paper. Now I have a medical treatment document from the machine manufacturer here that has detailed clinical treatment procedures. They have a lot of experience with these wounds. There is also an 800 number the physician can call for consultation. The biggest threat with these wounds is infection and sepsis. Urgency is needed to minimize the spread. His arm has, in effect, just been pumped full of bacteria. Any other questions I can answer?"
"Just one" she politely said, "Can I have that 800 number?"
UU

Shorts or Pants?

Well EMT GFP was the sole voice responding to my query about whether EMT shorts are acceptable. In case you missed it, he came down in favor of the pants, but with some qualifications.
Perhaps I should better explain my reasoning in going with the shorts. Besides the normal volunteer EMS work, I do lot of volunteer work at public service events as an EMT. These are events like street fairs, concerts, and the like. A few weeks ago I did a 4 day bluegrass festival with about 10,000 of my closest friends camping for the weekend, 5 stages going 14 hours a day and lots of 'good times'. (It was an easy way for a lifelong bluegrass fan to get in for free, get fed, and have free camping for 4 days.) You can translate the numbers out into what an EMT would see over the course of those 4 days. But let me tell you that it was HOT. 95 degrees with 85% humidity and I can tell you that as I walked around the festival site and campground (about 75 acres). I believe I walked 25 miles during the weekend and doing that in long black pants would have had me looking like some of my patients.
The shorts I bought for the occasion were perfect!. Fit well, looked presentable, had the pockets (not that I would fill them in that heat), and allowed me to stay as cool as possible. The rest of our 25+ member crew wore shorts as well, EMS or whatever they had and would not have done otherwise. (By the way, I had a blast and learned a LOT working with the other providers because we had RN's, LPN's, PA's, A dentist/EMT, Paramedics, and EMT's all working on a BLS level and sharing notes and treatments. It's amazing how we all worked together and asked each other for opinions and help. All this without a single Administrator on site. I had an E/R RN turn a potentially unstable patient over to me saying "this is really your field, not mine". It blew me away. She meant the 'out of hospital' (no Doctors and no drugs) part. I had watched her all week, she was competent for sure, but out of her E/R environment. I think she gained a new appreciation for what we do on the street with the tools we have.)
On the other hand, this past weekend I did an 8 hour shift at a single day fundraiser concert with my home crew, all of which are half my age. I suggested we wear shorts, but the youngsters said they wanted to present a 'more professional' image. Being the type of leader that enjoys allowing my people to make decisions and share in the results, I went with the consensus opinion. Uniform shirts and EMS pants were the rule of the day. We were there for an hour before they started to re-think the decision. The promoter of the event came over to thank us at about the 7 hour mark and said "Man, you guys look great and provided a professional presence, but next year, please be comfortable and wear some shorts and tee shirts! I start sweating just LOOKING at you!" It was 95 degrees with a temperature/humidity index of 104. I found that standing in the sun for a few hours allowed me to acclimate eventually, but I am not sure what my energy level would have been if one of the big benefactors had dropped into SCA while dancing to a John Fogerty tune ("Down on the corner, Out in the street..." makes everybody dance).
Sorry folks, I may be against the mainstream and current teachings, but I'm gonna stick with the shorts. My comfort speaks to my ability to help my patients in extreme conditions. It's the same reason I wear long wool underwear in February when it's 20 below zero.
Feel differently? Leave a comment and let us all know.
UU

Yup, That WAS stupid...

You would think I'd have learned years ago not to tempt fate. I hope I can manage to keep my mouth (and fingers) shut from now on. Ended the day with a bad PED call in the middle of the night with a medevac. Didn't get much sleep after that and my thoughts are with that family today. Not much of a National Holiday weekend for a family that just moved to this country, don't all speak the language, and don't understand the system. I can still see the agony on Mom's face.
UU

Can you provide any Assistance?

Some time back I gave a driver training classroom session for many of our drivers. As part of presenting useful information they could use, I went into some detail about the various tools available at the Dispatch Center. Being a rural county in non-flat terrain, finding locations can be a challenge at times and they have acquired and become adept at using various software tools to help all the agencies they serve. They have satellite photos, tax maps, GPS tracking, etc. I explained each of these and their uses to the class and encouraged them to make use of the dispatch center when they were in need of assistance. “Think of your Dispatcher as another person on your crew” I told them.
Just a few short days later we were dispatched to a medical emergency at oh-dark-thirty and it was my night on. “Podunk Rescue, respond to 25 Elm St, for an elderly female with abdominal pain”. Dutifully, we did just that, but when we arrived on Elm St. we could not locate number 25, but we could find most of the adjacent numbers. My driver was getting impatient and fidgety and wanted to start cruising around. I latched onto the teachable moment and said “Hey Bob, hang right here for a minute. Remember what I said the other night about Dispatch?” “Yeah!” he said, “Lemme try” and he picked up the mic and called Dispatch: “Control, this is Medic 88, we are having difficulty locating this residence, can you provide any assistance?” “Medic 88” Dispatch came back, then began to speak in that slow, clear, and purposeful tone you use for a small child that does not understand why they’ve done something wrong: “You are looking for………. NUMBER TWENTY FIVE……… ELM……. STREET”. My driver was non-plussed and keyed up “Understand control, we are out in the area and unable to locate that number, can you provide any ADDITIONAL assistance?” He looked at me to see if it sounded ok with no sarcasm and I nodded an approval with a little smile, glad that he kept his cool and sounded professional. We perked up when we heard the squelch break again, expecting the useful information we needed. The dispatcher had a one word answer: “No”. I was stunned and my driver was confused. While our heads were still trying to digest this single syllable rebuff, a different voice came on the air with what I had expected originally, “Medic 88, number 25 will be the third house on the right, it shares a driveway with number 23. Follow the long driveway up and past number 23 and you will find a yellow raised ranch about 100 feet further on.” I smiled at my driver and off we went. I found out a few days later that we had a new dispatcher that night who didn’t know what kind of ‘assistance’ we were looking for. I thought that was a new voice, but at that hour my brain don’t work so good. We had a good laugh over it later, but I would have paid good money to have a photo of my face when the dispatcher came back with her simple “No.” It must have been precious because my Driver still tells the story and giggles like a little girl when he comes to the part where he explains my expression in great detail.
UU

Can I really do this?…..Part 2

So if you’ve read the previous post you know of my self doubts when I started in this game. I’m sure you had yours also. I knew if I made it through the major cardiac job I was in pretty good shape, but I had never in all my experiences, an experience with a lot of blood. I had seen and worked with a severed finger or two, and back about 25 years ago I took a co-worker into the hospital that had opened up his arm with a spiral laceration that started above the elbow and ended at the tip of his pinky, (Funny, but we never thought of calling an ambulance, just wrapped him up and put him in my truck.) He was in surgery for 8 hours while they tried to repair the nerve damage followed by 6 months of rehab, but I digress.
All those jobs I handled as a layman had blood for sure, but none were the big bleeders. I had concerns that all that blood might be distracting enough to keep me from doing a proper job…..
It was a cool early spring evening, just around dusk as I was headed home from shopping in town. I heard the page go out for a Department in the town next to ours, the town I was in right now and it sounded bad. Car vs. Bicycle up on the four lane that I was just pulling onto. I had no choice but to pass the scene and I was ahead of all the responding apparatus. There was a Chief Officer just in front of me as I pulled into a parking lot 100 feet short of the scene. I grabbed my turnout coat and caught up with the Chief as he approached the scene. I identified myself and offered to lend a hand until his crew showed up and he accepted. The Medic unit pulled past us and got to the patient first. It was the call I dreaded. The pool of blood coming out from under the patient kept growing by the minute, definite multi-system trauma. It was a high speed hit and run. The Medic got busy quick as there were lots of people standing around and watching, but not being any help. The Medic’s EMT partner had the unmistakable ‘deer in the headlights’ look, He was freaked, no doubt, and he was useless to his Medic. I stooped down and asked the medic if I could lend a hand. He didn’t look up, he was too busy, he just asked “Do you know your CPR?”. “Sure”, I said. He nodded at the patients chest and just said “Show me”. I went to work and started to hit a rhythm with the medic, stopping when he tried to get the tube, putting some cric pressure on to try and help him, and verbally directing his EMT through the motions of getting a backboard in place and preparing for packaging. The Medic began to speak to me in low tones to let me know what he was thinking and what was coming next. He knew I could hear him and get ready or think ahead and make sure he got what he needed. He wanted to get the patient off the road and into the rig where he had lights, it was now full dark. We could not kneel on the ground to work on this patient because it was just one big puddle of blood. We boarded the patient quickly, and moved him to the stretcher in almost one move. Then up and into the rig as others grabbed the gear and piled it into the side door. The last thing I did was ask the EMT if he was “OK” to drive, he looked at me like I had insulted him, but didn’t say a word, just climbed in the cab and turned the rig around and headed out.
And it was over, just like that. My total time on scene could not have been more than 6 minutes. I spoke to the Chief and asked if I could do anything else even though I knew the answer. He said “No, but thanks, appreciate the extra hands and those are good ones you’ve got there.” I left the scene and got back in my truck and waited in the traffic like everyone else. I never saw that EMT again, but I see that Medic regularly although that was the first night I worked with him. He has taught me a lot over the years and I love working a job with him. He’s one of the best I’ve ever worked with. In all the calls we’ve worked, I never discussed that first call with him. I guess I knew all that I needed to know. I answered my own question and never worried about it again.
UU