Three and One

Some days have their highs and lows.

We started off early with a trip to the grocery store to get our dinner shopping out of the way. As we returned to the engine we were approached by a man who asked us if we wanted to save some ducks. We asked what he meant and he told us that some ducklings had fallen into the storm drain through a grate in the parking lot.

We followed him over and sure enough there were three cheeping ducklings down in the drain and no momma duck around. So we pried up the grate and dropped a firefighter down. She scooped up the ducklings one at a time and handed them up to us where they were placed in a cardboard box.

The plan was to bring the box of ducks to the local animal shelter but as we returned to the rig we spotted the mother and the rest of the duckling off in the bushes the next aisle over. I headed that way and of course they started waddling away. I got within a few feet and let the babies out of the box. They quickly fell in line with the rest and waddled off. Cue Paul Simon's Mother And Child Reunion.

 

We returned to the station having done our good deed for the day. 

Our next call though wasn't as cheery.

We got toned out for a traffic collision not too far from the station. It came in as a truck into a pole. Based on the location of the incident we figured it wouldn't be that bad because it wasn't an area in which you would normally be moving at a high rate of speed. But, we got several updates during the short trip to the scene, each one worse news. 

Update. Vehicle is on it's side.

Update: Female pt trapped in vehicle. 

Update: Pt may be in cardiac arrest trapped inside the vehicle.

On arrival we saw a pickup truck head on into a tree, on its wheels but listing to the side due to the impact. We also saw cpr being performed on a man on the ground. So much for accurate information. 

Well, we were quickly informed that this was the only patient (no woman involved) and that the truck had been on it's side before the crowd of 25 on lookers decided to push the thing upright and drag the driver out to begin cpr.

We took over cpr and started doing our thing. It was pretty evident early on that this was a massive cardiac event that led to the crash and not a traumatic arrest as a result of the crash. We got all the pertinent medical procedures done, Lucas device attached, IV access, intubation, and meds on board. The patient was in asystole from the get go and never came out of it. We determined death in the field after three rounds of drugs failed to have any effect.

We covered the body with a highway blanket and left the scene with the cops to wait for the coroner then returned home where I made enchiladas for dinner and the white board by the table displayed three crudely drawn ducklings next to my firefighters name. You take the wins where you can.