Seizures Of A Different Kind

To me, seizures are one of the more fun types of calls to go on. For the average person out there, a seizure has to look somewhat terrifying. Your family member (or friend) loses consciousness and starts shaking all over. From an EMS point of view, they really aren't that bad. There are a couple of serious complications for which you need to watch such as the patient seizing for too long (since breathing can be affected) or trauma from the patient hitting something. The other thing that I like about seizures is that I can actually do something about it. Most patients are not actively seizing by the time we get there but the ones that are get an anti-convulsant and it almost always stops the seizure activity.

We got a call at about 0230 for a woman having a seizure.When we arrived we found our patient (a 63 year old woman) laying in bed. The entire left side of her body was contracted and shaking.As we talked to her through an interpreter we found out that she had been convulsing like this for the last 10 minutes or so. She had a brain tumor which was evidently causing the seizures. She had experienced one other seizure in her life that was about a month ago. It was the strangest thing being able to talk with my patient while she was having a seizure. Looking back on it I would have loved to question her about the experience (if she had spoken English). I gave her some medication that almost always works to stop seizures and it didn't work. By this time AMR was on scene so we loaded her up in the ambulance. The medic on the ambulance was going to give a repeat dose of the medication if the seizure hadn't stopped by the time that the started heading toward the hospital.

Something tells me that I haven't seen the last of her. Maybe next time I'll ask her more about the experience.

We Danced With The Devil: One Firefighter’s Cancer Chronicles

This is a great article about some of the hidden dangers that firefighters face. It's long so I'm just going to post a link. If you're a firefighter or have a loved one that is a firefighter, you need to read this.

We Danced With The Devil: One Firefighter’s Cancer Chronicles

Stopping By Your Local Fire Station

Sometimes it's the simple things that make this job great. One of my favorite things to do is wash the fire engine. I love having a sparkling shiny rig. The other day, while washing our engine, a grandpa and grandson walked up. The grandson is ten years old and has Savant syndrome. He quickly came over to us and started rattling off questions almost faster than we could answer them. While Grandpa stopped and talked to my captain, my engineer and I showed the boy our engine. He climbed into each seat and tried all of our headsets on. He pretended to be the captain ordering up additional resources for an apartment fire. I let him wear my turnout jacket which fit like a tent. In short, the kid was in heaven. After having thoroughly inspected our equipment (and us) he told his grandpa that he was ready to go. As he was leaving he asked if he could come back and visit some other time. We told him that we are always here.

Later on, talking with my captain, I found out that this young boy was an introvert in social situations. Whenever he is in a public setting, like school, he will sit by himself, silently, off to one side. Hard to believe. The boy's grandfather said that he trust us (because we're fireman) just as much as he trusts his own family. That was the only reason he was willing to come see and talk to us.

About 15 minutes later as we were drying off the engine a mother and her 8 year old daughter rode up to the front of the station on their bicycles. The mom encouraged her daughter to ask her question. I quickly knelt down in my turnout pants to get down on her level. She asked in a very quiet voice if we had a black and white spotted dog. I had to explain to her that we didn't have a dog at this fire station. Her reaction was great. She asked why not in a way as if to say, "Why wouldn't you have a Dalmatian? That's just silly"

After trying to explain why we wouldn't have a dog at the station the mom asked if there was someone working on Christmas day. I guess it's just something that most people don't even think about. The fact that there are always firefighters waiting to come help you, even on holidays. She was surprised that there would be a crew on duty that day and decided that she was going to bake them something to say thank you. Hopefully it's good. This year, I get Christmas off.

Honorable Mention

This story was related to me by one of the Captains at my department. It is too good not to tell. The Captain was helping to make dinner which involved slicing up some habañero peppers.
After he finished preparing dinner he went and used the bathroom. He then sat in the recliner while the chili slow cooked. After a couple of minutes he felt a burning sensation his crotch. And it started to get worse. Soon he was writhing in pain as the capsaicin soaked into a very sensitive place. With the other firefighters laughing at him he started dancing around in pain. One of the firefighters told him that soaking the affected body part in milk would help. Desperate for a cure the Captain grabbed a mug, filled it with milk, and headed for the shower. Evidently it worked, at least well enough for him to function. He then had to call the owner of the mug (it said something like worlds greatest coach) and let him know that he would probably want to throw it out.

When the story was related to me I thought the captain should have just posted a note on the board explaining what had happened and that he didn't remember which mug it was.

Be Careful With Your Christmas Tree

Make sure your tree stays moist. Give it lots of water and use LED lights. If it gets dry, toss it.