They are the local graffiti rocks and anyone can paint them. Someone painted them for 9/11. This is the longest I've ever seen them without getting repainted.
Whoever did this work of art, thank you.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
A Silent Tribute
These rocks are on my way home.
They are the local graffiti rocks and anyone can paint them. Someone painted them for 9/11. This is the longest I've ever seen them without getting repainted.
Whoever did this work of art, thank you.
They are the local graffiti rocks and anyone can paint them. Someone painted them for 9/11. This is the longest I've ever seen them without getting repainted.
Whoever did this work of art, thank you.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11 Ten Years Later
10 years ago this morning I was getting ready for work. I was an aspiring firefighter but I worked for a construction supply company in Los Angeles. I had my morning routine down, shower, get dressed and watch the news for a little bit. I turned on NBC and saw that one of the twin towers was engulfed in flames. I sat, transfixed, until I saw the second plane go in. At that point I went in and woke up my wife. I went into work that morning. At work, everyone was gathered around the TV. After an hour or so the owner told us all to go home and to be with our families.
It's a difficult thing to try to put into writing how I exactly feel about that day, especially now, as a firefighter. I imagine that my feeling are similar to those of other firefighters.
In the fire service we now talk about remembering the 343 fireman that died that day. Most apparatus have either an FDNY sticker, remember 9/11 or 343 on it somewhere. Rightfully so since that was the single worst day in fire service history. But what about all the others that die? Recently a plaque was dedicated to the 55 members of the FDNY that have died due to World Trade Center related illnesses. More have died since the creation of the plaque. And what about the 937 other firefighters that have paid the ultimate price while serving the public since then?
I've decided to honor all of them in the same way. On this day I will lower the flag to half staff. I will wear a shroud on my badge. But more than anything else I will report to work and when the tones go off, I will answer the call, just as they did.
To my brothers and sisters that have gone on before me, I will carry on. To the public, when you need us, we will be there.
It's a difficult thing to try to put into writing how I exactly feel about that day, especially now, as a firefighter. I imagine that my feeling are similar to those of other firefighters.
In the fire service we now talk about remembering the 343 fireman that died that day. Most apparatus have either an FDNY sticker, remember 9/11 or 343 on it somewhere. Rightfully so since that was the single worst day in fire service history. But what about all the others that die? Recently a plaque was dedicated to the 55 members of the FDNY that have died due to World Trade Center related illnesses. More have died since the creation of the plaque. And what about the 937 other firefighters that have paid the ultimate price while serving the public since then?
I've decided to honor all of them in the same way. On this day I will lower the flag to half staff. I will wear a shroud on my badge. But more than anything else I will report to work and when the tones go off, I will answer the call, just as they did.
To my brothers and sisters that have gone on before me, I will carry on. To the public, when you need us, we will be there.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Don't Sleep Naked
Seriously. No matter how attractive you may think you are at least sleep in underwear. If we're there, it's not going to be pretty.
We got a call to a business for a man having a stroke. Strokes are one of the calls where seconds count. There is only limited time to get someone have a stroke the treatment that may make the difference between permanent disability and normal life.
As we approached the business we found an old man waving us down. He pointed us toward the rear of his property. His business rents single wide trailers to construction companies to use as offices on site. He pointed us in the direction of one that had an open door on one end and said that the patient was in there. I should have suspected something bad when he didn't lead us into the trailer.
Stepping inside the trailer we found a walk way that was about 18 inches across. Lining the path was trash, boxes and miscellaneous stuff stacked all the way to the ceiling. I went in first and worked my way to the back where I found my patient. He was laying, naked, on the floor, with his head leaning to the right. He was groping around with his right arm trying to find something to grab onto. I asked him his name which he said was John. He said that he fell down on Friday night (it was now Monday morning). He was unable to move anything on the left side of his body. His facial symmetry was way off as well. Classic signs of a stroke. One that had probably struck 3 days prior.
At this point I asked my engineer to grab our carry all. It's a tarp with large loops for handles for carrying dang near anything you want, although we primarily use it to move people. My captain and I then backed out of the crawl space to get our equipment out. There was no way we were working this guy up in the trailer.
Once we had maneuvered the man onto the canvas we literally drug him out. There was no way for us to safely pick him up to carry him and avoid all the objects sticking out into the walkway. As soon as we got him to the door we picked him up and carried him to the gurney. Thankfully AMR was already waiting. I gave hem a quick rundown on the call and helped them load up the patient.
After some calls, you just need a shower.
We got a call to a business for a man having a stroke. Strokes are one of the calls where seconds count. There is only limited time to get someone have a stroke the treatment that may make the difference between permanent disability and normal life.
As we approached the business we found an old man waving us down. He pointed us toward the rear of his property. His business rents single wide trailers to construction companies to use as offices on site. He pointed us in the direction of one that had an open door on one end and said that the patient was in there. I should have suspected something bad when he didn't lead us into the trailer.
Stepping inside the trailer we found a walk way that was about 18 inches across. Lining the path was trash, boxes and miscellaneous stuff stacked all the way to the ceiling. I went in first and worked my way to the back where I found my patient. He was laying, naked, on the floor, with his head leaning to the right. He was groping around with his right arm trying to find something to grab onto. I asked him his name which he said was John. He said that he fell down on Friday night (it was now Monday morning). He was unable to move anything on the left side of his body. His facial symmetry was way off as well. Classic signs of a stroke. One that had probably struck 3 days prior.
At this point I asked my engineer to grab our carry all. It's a tarp with large loops for handles for carrying dang near anything you want, although we primarily use it to move people. My captain and I then backed out of the crawl space to get our equipment out. There was no way we were working this guy up in the trailer.
Once we had maneuvered the man onto the canvas we literally drug him out. There was no way for us to safely pick him up to carry him and avoid all the objects sticking out into the walkway. As soon as we got him to the door we picked him up and carried him to the gurney. Thankfully AMR was already waiting. I gave hem a quick rundown on the call and helped them load up the patient.
After some calls, you just need a shower.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Lord Vader
If a call doesn't come in during dinner than it's bound to come in just as you sit down to eat your ice cream and watch a movie. Actually, my ice cream very rarely gets interrupted. But I do hate coming back to ice cream you can eat with a straw.
As we walked into the home we found a an 85 year old woman laying down in bed struggling to breath. The family said that the breathing problems had started that morning and had steadily worsened. As we approached the patient the problem was easily identifiable. She had audible rales. While my engineer set her up on an oxygen mask I sat her up and got a quick pulse ox, which was 60.
While I continued questioning the family and getting my vitals my engineer then set up our CPAP. The family told us that the grandmother had had a heart attack 10 days before. While in the hospital they did an angiogram which determined that her arteries were too small for angioplasty. For some reason the family also said that my patient had not been a candidate for a CABG which meant that she still had the exact same blockages in her heart that she did 10 days ago. Not good. And to further complicate things she had developed CHF. After determining that her BP was good I gave her a spray of nitro right before put Darth Vader's mask on.
Once we got her on the CPAP her vitals started rapidly improving. Just a few short years ago the treatment for a severe CHF patient was barbaric. It involved lots of medication that did little in the short term and, depending on the severity of the patient, sticking a tube down their nose or mouth into their lungs to breath for them. At the hospital they would then have to be put on a ventilator. Sadly, a large number of those patients would never be weened off of the breathing machine.
AMR walked in just as I finished missing my IV attempt. I gave them a quick rundown with an updated set of vitals. The AMR medics must have completely ignored what I was saying because they immediately set up for a 12 lead EKG. Under normal circumstances I would have as well but because of her recent cardiac history I decided to put it on the back burner. What would it tell me? That she was having cardiac problems? No Duh. After shooting the 12 lead they decided that it wasn't clear enough so they did another one....and another one. After the 4th I stepped in and asked them what they were looking for since we already knew that she had major heart problems. About that time the lights clicked on in the heads and they got it. We loaded her up and started toward the hospital.
In the back of the bus (I went along because she was on our CPAP which isn't compatible with AMRs) I started the IV without a problem. I guess I just needed the sway of the ambulance going over speed bumps. We checked again on he O2 sats and she was up to 100%. CPAP is a God send.
At the hospital I gave my report to the doc. I then turned to the RN and gave her all the nitty gritty details. That same RN had worked up my patient 10 days earlier when she came in with the MI. While I was talking I heard the MD order one the techs to remove my CPAP. I jumped in and suggested that they have RT on standby which the all knowing doctor ignored. Within 2 minutes my patient started crumping (yes, it's a technical term). Her SpO2 went from 100% to 59% and the staff started getting excited. I just shook my head and walked out. I had done my part. Time to get into Big Red and go home.
 |
| Photo by Frank Hnatek |
As we walked into the home we found a an 85 year old woman laying down in bed struggling to breath. The family said that the breathing problems had started that morning and had steadily worsened. As we approached the patient the problem was easily identifiable. She had audible rales. While my engineer set her up on an oxygen mask I sat her up and got a quick pulse ox, which was 60.
While I continued questioning the family and getting my vitals my engineer then set up our CPAP. The family told us that the grandmother had had a heart attack 10 days before. While in the hospital they did an angiogram which determined that her arteries were too small for angioplasty. For some reason the family also said that my patient had not been a candidate for a CABG which meant that she still had the exact same blockages in her heart that she did 10 days ago. Not good. And to further complicate things she had developed CHF. After determining that her BP was good I gave her a spray of nitro right before put Darth Vader's mask on.
Once we got her on the CPAP her vitals started rapidly improving. Just a few short years ago the treatment for a severe CHF patient was barbaric. It involved lots of medication that did little in the short term and, depending on the severity of the patient, sticking a tube down their nose or mouth into their lungs to breath for them. At the hospital they would then have to be put on a ventilator. Sadly, a large number of those patients would never be weened off of the breathing machine.
AMR walked in just as I finished missing my IV attempt. I gave them a quick rundown with an updated set of vitals. The AMR medics must have completely ignored what I was saying because they immediately set up for a 12 lead EKG. Under normal circumstances I would have as well but because of her recent cardiac history I decided to put it on the back burner. What would it tell me? That she was having cardiac problems? No Duh. After shooting the 12 lead they decided that it wasn't clear enough so they did another one....and another one. After the 4th I stepped in and asked them what they were looking for since we already knew that she had major heart problems. About that time the lights clicked on in the heads and they got it. We loaded her up and started toward the hospital.
In the back of the bus (I went along because she was on our CPAP which isn't compatible with AMRs) I started the IV without a problem. I guess I just needed the sway of the ambulance going over speed bumps. We checked again on he O2 sats and she was up to 100%. CPAP is a God send.
At the hospital I gave my report to the doc. I then turned to the RN and gave her all the nitty gritty details. That same RN had worked up my patient 10 days earlier when she came in with the MI. While I was talking I heard the MD order one the techs to remove my CPAP. I jumped in and suggested that they have RT on standby which the all knowing doctor ignored. Within 2 minutes my patient started crumping (yes, it's a technical term). Her SpO2 went from 100% to 59% and the staff started getting excited. I just shook my head and walked out. I had done my part. Time to get into Big Red and go home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)