The Real Finger Story

I was working an overtime shift at another station. The crew there likes to work out together. To get in their cardio workout they do basketball drills. Things like 20 lay ups on each hand while running back to the half court line each time.

So that morning  I joined in. I enjoy playing basketball but I'm horrible at it. So this was good practice at some of the fundamentals while getting in some exercise. Near the end of our workout a stray ball bounced my way. I grabbed it and tossed it back to my engineer. After that I noticed my finger was deformed and locked in a 90° bend at the second knuckle.

At that point it still didn't hurt. That wouldn't last. I asked my engineer to come pull my finger (no, an injury doesn't make me lose my sense of humor). He came over and gave it a tug. Not only did it not move, it now hurt. Undaunted by our initial failure we decided to try again. On the second try, success! My dislocated digit was relocated.

And as soon as I moved my pinky it snapped right back into that 90° bend. So I decided to do what any reasonable medic would do. I popped it back into place and taped it to my ring finger. What could possible be wrong with that? 

Over the next few hours the swelling and the pain worsened. Finally around 4 in the afternoon I decided I better go get the finger x-rayed. So we headed over to the local ER (also a trauma center) to get a looksee. After an hour the doc said my finger was not broken. All I had to do was keep it secure while it healed.

WRONG!

Several weeks later I was still nursing a painful and deformed finger. I checked with my own MD and he needed all of 2 seconds to diagnose my problem. A ruptured tendon. 

I had what is called a Boutonnière deformity.

Yes, that is my finger.

Several doctor appointments later I found myself laying on an operating table. This time I was not under full anesthesia. In fact, I was so lightly sedated that I was able to have coherent conversations with the surgical teams about Google and some of it's projects.

Mid way through the tendon repair the surgeon lowered the curtain that was blocking my view of what was going on. It looked really cool. The doc even took a picture for me. I've since learned that not all of my friends are as curious about what I look like on the inside. 

3 weeks later I'm on the mend. I still have a pin in my finger (which comes out in a week) and still have some pain but I think it's getting better.

Stupid Little Finger

The billowing pillar of smoke was visible from the station. The radio crackled to life. Dispatch was letting us know that they had multiple reports of smoke and flames showing, possible persons trapped. Pulling out of the station we noticed something that would complicate this call. A freight train had stopped on the tracks that separate us from the rest of the city. We would be on our own for a while.

We pulled up to find a 4 story apartment complex with fire rapidly spreading. The second and third floors had units that were fully involved. Several bystanders were screaming and pointing to a man apparently stuck on the third floor balcony.

While my captain gave a size up and set up IC my engineer and I went to work. We grabbed the 35' extension ladder and raced over to help the trapped man. There were several trees and bushes on the landscaped property which made setting up the ladder difficult but we did it. My engineer quickly slid under the ladder "footing" it to keep it from sliding away while I climbed.

I ascended the ladder and helped the guy over the railing. He either wasn't afraid of heights or he was more afraid of fire because he had no problem trusting us to get him to safety. After getting the gentleman to safety we went right back to it. We had reports of a kid stuck somewhere inside.

My captain led us into the not so towering inferno. He was using the thermal imager to scan through the black smoke for people. In one apartment we found a kitten. Rather then let the pet die I grabbed it and stuffed it into my coat pocket.

Several apartments later we found him. A little boy, no more than 3 years old, cowering in the corner of his room. As I reached for him he really started to cry. Thankfully I have a 3 year old at home and I can understand their whining. He was afraid that we were going to leave his puppy.

So with a child in one arm, a puppy in the other and a kitten in my pocket I followed my captain to the closest exit. Now out in the clear the boys mother ran up and took him from me. We handed them off to the AMR crew along with the animals. That's when I noticed it.

At some point during the daring rescue I had dislocated my pinky on my left hand. Hours later I would go to the ER for x-rays but for now, there was more work to do.

And that's how I dislocated my pinky. No matter what you may have heard I definitely did NOT do it playing basketball at the station for PT. That would be kind of lame.

Stupid little finger.

Freeway Dangers

This engine was struck not once but twice, sending 3 firefighters to the hospital. Please slow down when you see flashing lights. Our families want us to come home at the end of the shift.

A Dangerous Job

In today's economy budget cuts are forcing the downsizing of fire departments across the country. I've seen politicians argue that our job as firefighters is mostly sitting around waiting for calls. While this is true, we are paid for what we know and are willing to risk.

Several firefighters in Southern California were injured last night in a ceiling collapse. Here's a video from NBC with the story:

View more videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com.

I read a little more on the fire and found this article on Firefighter Nation. The thing that amazes me is just how many firefighters (80) were on scene at this blaze. Now I understand that LAFD and LAcoFD have more resources than most other departments but still. At my department we would have been fighting that same fire with a lot fewer resources. 

There's no real way to tell what would have happened if that were in my jurisdiction. Maybe we would have gone defensive and wouldn't have been inside when the collapse happened although I doubt it. If the owner had still been inside we definitely would have been in there. 

What is certain is that we, as firefighters, are being asked to do more and more with less and less. The danger is real. Train hard and be safe.