No Dull Days
Today has been interesting, to say the least. When I woke up this morning, I had no idea what this day would hold...so here we go:
I went to work since today was a day ending in "y" and as soon as 5 o'clock struck I raced over to the fire station. Our cadets were volunteering to be victims for an EMS drill so we had to get them all made up with their wound simulations. The career firefighters had a meeting at 6...the kids got there at 5...that doesn't leave much room for error.
We were most of the way done with getting the kids ready. The last one was in the chair for make-up. Dad was applying the fake blood and I was putting the finishing touches on another cadet. Across the table from me I saw this kid start to lean over in his chair...then a dazed moan escaped his lips. {great, he's gonna have a seizure} then he tipped all the way off of his chair and slammed into the concrete floor of the apparatus bay...and he just layed there... {well, he's not having a seizure, that's good...he's just unconscious...not so good}
Dad immediately controlled C-spine and he and Daniel brought the cadet around. I gathered all the other cadets to keep them out of the way. As Dad began to check B's level of consciousness, Daniel went inside the station to tone out the engine...it's hard to keep a straight face when you hear: "Engine 3, medical aid...on the app floor."
Soon the area was swarming with firefighters...three crews in all. That's a total of 15 EMTs including myself. It took a while for B to get his bearings and since his blood pressure was so low and he hit his head pretty good, we called the ambulance. When the paramedics arrived we still hadn't been able to get in contact with his parents, so they asked me to ride with him.
I got one of the chiefs to watch my other cadets until I got back and off I went with the ambulance. The crew was excellent...one of the better crews I've seen in quite a while. We were diverted from the local hospital to another one about 15 minutes further away, foretunately B wasn't critical...transport was really more precautionary.
We arrived at the second hospital and I told the story for the fifth time, this time to an admit nurse. I stayed with B until his father finally arrived. Now, I was more than a little nervous to face his parents. Let's go through the list:
- I'm almost 25, but when I'm in a hoodie and street shoes I pass for a high schooler
I've had bad experiences with over-protective parents when there wasn't anything wrong with their child...I must add that this is the first cadet we have sent to the hospital in ten years.
Anyway, his dad arrived adn was completely relieved to see that B was alright, just dizzy and in recovery. I put on my most grown-up expression and introduced myself. His dad was just very gratefult hat we had taken good care of his son and that I had actually accompanied him to the hospital. (Like we would just leave our kids to fend for themselves??) I explained to the dad what had happened (this would be explanation number 8...not that i'm counting). His response? "Well, I guess he must me genetically predisposed."
huh?? What do you mean?
"Well, the first time I helped his mom (who is an emergency vetrinarian) with a patient, I fainted dead away too." and then he laughed and said, "I'm sure B will be just fine. Thanks again for looking out for him"
That's it?? Awesome!!
After that, I went back tot he ambulance and hung out with the crew while they finished their reports and then they took me back to the fire station. I did have the rest of my cadets to watch after all. I arrived back at the station about an hour after I left...just in time to watch the remainder of my cadets, gory and bloodied for the drill, be "rescued from the fray" or at least that's what passsed for rescue in that joke of a program.
Whew...it's been one eventful evening. My phone has been ringing almost off the hook with people wanting updates on B. The story count is up to 18...not including you lovely people.
Wonder what tomorrow will bring...
posted by Audrey @ 11:11 PM
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