I was recently working a 72 which means I picked up an overtime shift at a different station and then went right into my normally scheduled two day tour. The overtime shift was at a station I had only worked at once before which meant that I wouldn't know where I was going when responding to calls and would be relying on the officer and the MDC (mobile data computer) to navigate. It just so happened that on that day the entire normal crew was off on vacation and myself, the captain, and the firefighter were all on overtime and neither of them had worked there before. This was going to be an adventure.
We ran a handful of medical calls and somehow found our way to the addresses without incident. The toughest one was when we got called to a huge apartment complex down an obscure side street late at night. The residents had evacuated the complex and the sidewalk and street were just full of people. We located the apartment that caused the problem and determined that it was just a pot on the stove that had created enough smoke to set off all the alarms. My crew aired out the apartment, reset the alarm, and cleared the building for re-entry. I was down at the engine and was approached by a woman who stated that her elderly mother who uses a walker and lives on the third floor was falling asleep and couldn't get herself upstairs. They did not have a wheelchair so we said we'd help. We wound up carrying this woman from the curb, into the building, and into the elevator for the ride to the third floor. We then carried her from the elevator to her apartment down the hall and got her situated on the couch.The family was very grateful and we gave them some advice on what to do in the future, sheltering in place versus evacuation if the circumstances allow, etc. That's the kind of stuff no one ever sees but means so much to the people we serve.
The next day we were called out on a medical call and on our way there a lift assist call came in on the same street several houses down.They dispatched the next districts engine to cover the lift assist. Instead of tying up two engines my captain decided we would handle both calls simultaneously. I dropped him off at the lift assist address (hoping it wasn't somebody he couldn't lift by himself) and drove on down to the medical call. The medical turned out to be a gentleman having a full on, no joke, legit stroke. It was nothing that I couldn't handle with just the firefighter and myself but it was serious. My captain returned quickly, having handled the lift assist himself, and was able to get all the patient info for me before the ambulance even arrived. It all worked out without a hitch, but that was a new one on me - one crew, two calls, same street, same time. Done and done.
Our next medical call was for a 50ish year old woman who was feeling dizzy. She was home alone with her 80-something year old non-english speaking mother. She had no other symptoms other than feeling dizzy but her ekg revealed frequent PVCs (an irregular beat caused by an irritable heart and a potentially bad sign). The ambulance arrived but the patient didn't want to leave her mother alone in the house. The mother was visibly upset by the whole situation. A phone call had been made to the patients daughter who was on her way, but still about 15 minutes out. Our patient needed to go to the hospital and really shouldn't be waiting around. We told her to go with the ambulance and that we would stay on scene and look after the mother until the grand-daughter arrived. There was still a language barrier but we sat on the couch with her, brought her tissues, and got her some tea while we waited. The granddaughter arrived and informed us that she also didn't speak the native language but I'm sure the familiarity would be a better comfort than the three strangers smiling at her in her living room.
The last example came on the last day of my 72. We responded for another man possibly having a stroke. When we arrived he met us at the front door saying, "Oh man, I tell ya, it's unbelievable". I asked him to step out and have a seat on the bench that was on the porch. He just stood there and said again, "Oh man, I tell ya, it's unbelievable". I asked him again to come out and sit down and this time he did. I asked if he had called us and if there was anyone else at home. He looked at me and earnestly said, "Oh man, I tell ya, it's unbelievable". We assessed him for stroke (arm drift, facial droop, slurred speech) and cardiac symptoms and he was negative for either one.
I did a quick search through his house and only found a few random pills on the table but nothing of much use. Fortunately a neighbor came over and told us the patient's name and that he did indeed have a stroke history. We asked the neighbor if she knew who called and she said she didn't know but that the patients daughter had just driven away. Huh????
I continued to try talking to him and only got one of three phrases in reply, "Oh man, I tell ya, it's unbelievable", "long time, a long time", and "it doesn't win". He was otherwise gentle and compliant although definitely anxious and repeatedly trying to stand up. My firefighter was able to keep him relaxed just by holding his hand while I finished my assessment. She continued holding his hand and talking to him until the patient's daughter appeared again. In a case of rather bad judgement, this woman had called 9-1-1 for her father with a stroke history and then left, driving her ten year old son home because he was "feeling scared". This man has neighbors who know him well enough to know his medical history and care enough to come over and help us out, she couldn't have sent the kid next door to their house or said go in the other room and watch t.v. for five minutes while she stuck around to help us take care of her obviously sick father?
The decisions some people make, oh man, I tell ya, it's unbelievable.
