A Long Night

Just after 2200 I decided that I was done for the night. I've been sick so an early bed time sounded great. I hopped into bed and turned on the reading light. I read my book for about 30 minutes then decided to knock out. Less than 30 minutes later the tones were going off.

We responded to a town house where we found a 52 year old woman with asthma complaining that she had been sick and now she couldn't breathe. She was coughing quite a bit but her oxygen saturation was 100% and her lungs were clear. She said that this had been going on for about two weeks. When I asked her why she called now instead of some other time in the last two weeks, she didn't have an answer. Thankfully AMR was right on our heels. We loaded her up and sent her on her way.

I got back to sleep around midnight. Not too bad. Then about 20 minutes later the tones went off again. This time it was for a structure fire. We hurried down to the apparatus bay and donned our gear. We went tearing out into the night with the siren blaring, the red lights reflecting off all the different surfaces around us.

I wish this is what I found when arriving at the warehouse.

Dispatch informed us that it was a small cardboard fire in the back of a warehouse. We knew that this building had sprinklers (something I highly recommend getting in your home if you can) so we weren't expecting much of a fire. When the first due engine arrived on scene they reported finding the warehouse full of smoke. they eventually found the source of the smoke. A small fire had started in the bailing portion of a cardboard bailer. They were able to extinguish the fire with the bumper line and tank water. The second in engine staged by the hydrant in case more water was needed. We stayed available for ventilation operations. We were called in a little after the fire was extinguished to assist the interior crew with opening warehouse doors to try and get out some of the smoke. By about 0130 we were loaded up and headed back to quarters. This time however, I knew there would be no going back to sleep right away. I was too hot and awake. So I had a bowl of ice cream.

As I settled back into bed I decided to text message my wife and let her know how my night was going. I figured with our youngest not sleeping well there was a good chance that she was awake. I was right.
She sent me a text saying that she was just going to ask me if I was awake. #2, our oldest son, was now sick and was having a hard time breathing. She was worried. I immediately called her and talked to her. I could hear my son in the background obviously having a hard time breathing. I had my wife go and get my stethoscope and try to get some lung sounds. Let me tell you, a lot of medical professionals struggle with lung sounds. Trying to get a lay person to listen and accurately describe to you what they hear is close to impossible. My wife had given him some Motrin and with some TLC #2 was starting to calm down and breathe easier. I told my wife to hold off on calling 911 or going to the ER. And I instructed her if he did get worse to call me back. I was worried about the little guy all night.

It's good to be home where I can take care of things if I need to. I know my wife is happy about that too.