Poor Mother

Engine 51, respond for a possible OD, PD on scene....

We pulled up into the cul-de-sac in the upscale suburban neighborhood. There were two squad cars out front, one with its blue and red LED lights blinding all that looked at it.

Walking into the nice entry way I found two police officers, a frustrated mom and my patient, a 20 year old female that was handcuffed and laying on the tile floor. One of the officers briefly explained that they were a frequent visitor to my patient and that she has a history of drug abuse. This time she decided to fight the officers, upset that her mother had called them.

Still not happy, my patient spent her time yelling and swearing at us stopping only to vomit. She refused to admit that she was on anything at all. We knew better. Having been around the block a time or two we knew what someone stoned looked like. That and she smelled like a brewery. She was drunk and on some kind of stimulant. Probably meth. Maybe coke.

By the time that AMR showed up we had calmed the patient down. She was still throwing up but had finally reasoned that it was better to go to the hospital with the nice medics than to go with the cops.

After AMR left we found out from PD that the poor mother had been dealing with this for some time. The daughter had a boyfriend/drug supplier that was in his late 40's. He had been abusive and now there was a restraining order that wasn't doing much.

Hopefully the system won't totally fail them and the daughter can turn her life around. If not, we'll be back. Some day for something a lot more serious.

For more information on Methamphetamine visit The Anti-Meth site

The Last Thing I Heard

...Truck 105, respond for a report of a fire.....

It was the third or fourth false alarm this shift. It was getting old. I was itching for another fire (I shouldn't really be complaining because I get a lot more of them than some of the other guys on the department). After we pulled into the station went through my routine of doffing my turnouts and hooking up the plymovent to the exhaust. While doing this I informed my captain that I had reached my quota of false alarms and I would not be responding to any more without first have a structure fire. He assured me that the next on was going to be good.

About two hours later the structure tones went off again. Despite what I said earlier I was still excited to get dressed, dive into the quint and head out to a possible structure fire. As we headed out of the barn dispatch informed us that we were headed to a commercial kitchen fire with smoke and flames showing. Music to my ears. Better still, it was in my district.

My heart sank a little as I looked out my left window towards the call and didn't see any smoke. I was sure someone had extinguished it themselves. Then we turned towards it and my view was obscured.

 About a block out my captain said those magical words, smoke showing.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the banquet hall I noticed a group of people standing and watching. It would be a fun show for them, assuming they weren't the owners of the building.

The quint came to a stop and I hopped off. My boots were on the asphalt before the air breaks released the air in their system signifying that they were locked. I rounded the front of the apparatus and got my first look at the building. There were a set of double doors leading into the structure that had thick black smoke rolling out of it. There were also a couple of windows mimicking the door.

I grabbed the 1 3/4" crosslay and headed first away and then toward the door, hose paying out behind me. My captain was doing his size up of the situation and establishing IC while I masked up. Just as I finished masking up I turned to see my captain realize that I was ready and he was not.

While he masked up I decided to go on air and take a step into the enveloping black smoke. The double doors from the outside led to an anteroom. There I found a set of open double doors straight ahead which led to the hall and a set of open double doors to my right leading to the kitchen, and the fire. The smoke was down to about waist level so I bent down to look under it. I could see that the entire back half of the kitchen was aflame.

With my captain behind me I made my way into the kitchen. Just as I stepped inside I heard my engineer yell that there were propane tanks inside. The flames on the back wall were from floor to ceiling. I moved around the left of the large table in the center of the kitchen toward the seat of the fire. A few moments later the fire was out. There on the ground was a propane tank, charred black. I cooled it off and then turned it off. Moving around the other side of the table looking for hot spots I found a second propane tank which I also cooled and shut off.

Other crews had set up horizontal ventilation, giant fans at the doorway to blow out the smoke and heat. With better visibility we could now see what had happened. Someone had decided to use a pair of deep fat fryers inside. Something caught fire and it quickly spread. During overhaul we found a third propane tank. Thankfully none of them bleved. The two with direct flame impingement were open and able to off gas which probably helped.

By the time we were done with overhaul and reloading our rig there was just enough time to shower and get dinner. I'm ready for another one.

Low Sugar

I assume the tones went off. This was probably what woke me up. Or maybe it was the lights suddenly turning on. Either way, my body has the same reaction. Get up and head to the app bay. Jump into my bunker pants and hope by that time I've figured out if I can just go like that (in the case of a medical aid), toss on my turnout jacket (for a vehicle accident) or get "Scotted up" and ready to fight a fire.

This time, about 0130, it was for a medical aid. The engine company in the neighboring district was already on a call so we headed there. This meant a longer response time (my wife laughed at me when I mentioned this to her since our response time was just over 7 minutes....nothing compared to the response times of some more rural jurisdictions).

We were met at the door by the son of the patient. He led us upstairs to the master bedroom where his father lay on the floor, unconscious. He told me that his dad is a diabetic. The son had come home from work to find him laying on the floor. I inquired what his most recent blood sugar was and he had no clue. They hadn't tested it.

I grabbed the glucometer and prepped a finger for a stick. While I was applying the drop of blood to the test strip AMR showed up. The old man's blood sugar was in the low 20's. Now that the problem had been correctly determined it was time to solve it.

I started an IV in the mans right arm. He jerked slightly as I plunged in the needle. Once it was taped down the AMR medic, who had already fished out my glucose and set it up, pushed an amp of D50W. Within moments our patient was awake but confused. After about a minute you could see the internal light switch turn on. He knew what must have happened and why we were there.

We asked him if he wanted to go to the ER. He rather emphatically said no. It was the right decision. I discontinued the IV and had him sign the CYA paperwork. I talked to the son about making sure his father had something to eat before going back to sleep.

45 minutes after waking up in confusion I was back in bed, now unable to sleep. I pulled out the laptop and watched an episode of Deadwood. As I drifted off my last thought was that my alarm was going to go off way too soon.

Wrong Target

I read this at BackstepFirefighter's blog.

Two guys in Boston decided to steal something. They decided to steal a helmet....from a fire truck. I think they failed to realize that there is almost never just one firefighter and, as a general rule, are in decent shape. They are used to lugging around a lot of weight.

The truck company retrieved their property and subdued the would be thieves. The report from "witnesses" makes it sound a lot worse than what the video shows. Either way, not the greatest thing in the world for public relations. I hope that the people of Boston understand.

Patient Advocacy Even In Death

 We responded to a board and care home for a 90 year old man feeling lethargic. My first thought on hearing the nature of the call was, "Really? A 90 year old not feeling well, what are the odds?"

As we walked into the house my captain, who was really on the ball, asked the caregiver if the patient had a DNR. I love it when my captains are thinking ahead like that. The caregiver said yes and directed us to the back bedroom. As soon as we saw our patient my captain turned around and went to find the DNR. We were going to need it.

My patient was laying in a hospital bed sitting up slightly. He was guppy breathing. As my captain headed out of the room I quickly checked for a radial pulse. Not finding one I searched for a carotid pulse. He had a weak one but it was there.

As my engineer walked in the room I turned to him to explain what I had going on with the patient. I turned back and watched the old man take his last breath. Not wanting to do anything contrary to the mans wishes I loudly asked my captain if he had found the DNR. In the absence of a valid DNR we have no choice but to work up the full arrest. 

Because the staff were unorganized we had to start compressions. Thankfully, after about 30 seconds my captain found the DNR. Once it was determined that it was valid resuscitation efforts stopped. We then replaced the covers on the body and left him so that he appeared to be sleeping.

I'm glad we found that DNR.