We were toned out a minute later for an EMS call at the intersection right behind our station. We pulled out and around the corner and found nothing. Dispatch then informed us that our patient was a mail carrier down the street and that he had be mauled by a dog. We were advised to proceed at our own risk. My first thought, "I don't have to out run the dog...." Half a block down we saw our patient sitting on the sidewalk in obvious pain.
I'll say this about the mailman. He did a great job protecting his head, neck and torso, and not much else. He had been bitten at least 10 times. The dog bit every single limb at least once. Luckily the pit bull missed all the major blood vessels so there was no profuse bleeding. Our patient, still holding a can of mace in his hand (which I don't think he used) had major avulsions to his right wrist, left forearm and right ankle. He had simple puncture wounds all over those appendages as well. In addition he had scrape marks from the dogs teeth on both thighs (near the groin....that could have been bad), both lower portions of the legs, to both forearms and to the left bicep. He looked surprisingly well for what he had just been through.
By the time that AMR arrived on scene we had him cleaned and bandaged up. They had a paramedic intern who was very disappointed not to be able to see and do everything.
The saddest part of this call was that the mailman was just attacked and bitten by a dog two months earlier. At least he's up to date on his tetanus shot.
Wow.... and ouch. In my area they don't do door to door mail delivery - this being one of the reasons ($$$ the other) but instead have mass boxes somewhat like rural mail boxes. This is a reason that pitbulls are banned in my city.
ReplyDeleteGlad he's ok, I'm sure he'll have some nice scars.
We have the giant collection boxes where I live too. I work in an older neighborhood so he still has to go door to door. Hopefully he'll be back delivering mail soon.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy blood is boiling. This just enrages me.
"oh, pitbulls just get a bad rap. My dog wouldn't hurt anyone."
"He's good with kids."
"Don't worry, he won"t bite.
These are the kinds of things we hear form the neighbors across the street. Their pit bull glares at us from the driveway on a regular basis and knows how to jump the fence.
It just freaks me out. WITH REASON!
This poor guy. I feel so bad for him! I hope the freakin' dog will be put down.
When will these dogs become illegal? How many more kids and elderly need to die. How many more people need to be disfigured?
ok, hoppin' down off my soapbox
When PD took the dog into the pound for quarantine the officer said that the dog never even so much as growled. That means the dog is fairly unpredictable. I'll see if I can find out what the outcome is for the dog.
ReplyDelete