unknown medical (pick of the shift)

I had just fallen asleep when I hear "BeeeeeeP..... Alpha one respond to an unknown medical at blank address, PD on scene.". We arrive on scene to find a woman missing her index finger tip. I was told by our patient that her cousin had bit the tip off her finger off. They had gotten into some sort of fight, and now the cops were talking to her cousin in the kitchen. I asked if her cousin was hurt at all, she said she didn't know. My partner dressed our first patients wounds and gave her an ice pack. I went to check on the cousin. At first I was concerned by the blood that was coming from her mouth. As it turned out, the blood was from biting her cousin finger off! She was arrested and taken to the police department holding cell. We took our patient, minus one finger tip, to the local hospital. After we turned over care, then we went in service and returned to our beds.

I had just fallen back to sleep after our last call when "Beeeeep, Alpha one respond to an asthma attack at the police department holding cell.". I guess our biter from earlier that night decided she didn't want to be in jail anymore and tried to fake an asthma attack. She had an SPO2 of 99% on room air, and a resp rate of 18. She was clear in all lung fields, but tried to make a snoring noise with her tongue. She told me she was prescribed an inhaler but couldn't tell me what med was in her inhaler. Needless to say she spent the rest of the night in the jail cell and I went back to bed! JS

One of our Own, A repost from Bernice

For those that are in the field of EMS we often wonder where all the "good" people are. Stuck with partners that don't care or just don't get it, we dream every day for the elusive soul that is not only good at what they do, but you know they have your back no matter what. The same holds true for people not in EMS. When you find yourself dialing those three numbers for yourself, your mother, your friend, your child - you want someone there who can connect with you and earn your trust in seconds. So what are we to do when that person everyone wants to come running when they call 911 can't? What are we supposed to do? Well folks, this is your chance.

There is one such woman who puts her heart and soul into the job day in and day out. Her heart takes permanent residence on her sleeve while she cares for you physically and emotionally. This woman has worked her butt off to attend medic school. And wouldn't you know it has been faced with a barrier I hope we can all help her overcome. She is strong, passionate, loving and one of the coolest people I know. And she needs our help.

I know money is tight. I know we most of us don't "know" her, but I dare you to take five minutes and read through Epi's blog and tell me she doesn't deserve a chance to make her dream come true. She has worked so hard to get where she is today only to be stopped in her tracks.

I'm challenging all of you to three fives. Give five dollars, tell five friends and take five minutes to stop by Epi's blog and give her some words of encouragement.

I have put a donation button in the sidebar. Every last penny goes to Epi and getting her to medic school. I HATE asking for money but I can't think of anyone else that deserves this as much as she does.

Thank you all so much!

UPDATE: Epi gives a bit more of an explanation here. There have been several people wondering why I have been so vague as to why we are helping her out financially as well as with as much love and support we can muster and frankly as much as I would like to remove any doubt from your mind as to why she needs us, I don't want to cross lines of revealing more personal information than she is comfortable giving out. The bottom line is we have all been there at one point or another. When everything seems to fall apart and the one good thing you had your sights on gets taken away. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. But as I said before, I'm not sure how much I can truly share beyond what she has already.

Thank you for your understanding.

The link on the side car will send to Bernice's blog, just look for the paypal logo in the top right corner to donate to Epijunky! JS

Another Stroke (Pick of the Shift)

This was the shift for strokes. We were dispatched to four possible strokes on our last shift. This run was dispatched as a man not responding but breathing. This is what we found:

We arrived to find a 58 year old man laying in bed at home. He was breathing at 12 times a min. His pulse was 68, his bp was 166/90. He was unresponsive to voice, touch, and pain. He showed a sinus rhythm on the monitor. He had bruising from the waist down. Bystanders stated that he was taking coumidin and falls alot at home. He was last seen before going to bed the night before and was fine.

What would you do?

This is what we did:
We placed our patient on 15 lpm of O2 via nonrebreather mask. We put him on the monitor. We started an I.V. with saline. Then we transported priority one to the local hospital.

A CT scan reveled a large brain bleed. The patient never woke up and passed on the next day. Just in case you wondered. Do you think this man could have been saved? Tell what you think. JS

An injured friend

I got a phone call the other day from my Captain at my old station. He called to tell me that a friend of ours, a fellow firefighter, was injured in an MVA. Injured is understating the situation. He is bit of a biker and was involved in a motorcycle crash. As a result of the crash he lost his leg and spleen. I did hear today that he is awake and talking, but is still in the ICU at the local trauma center. I will be going to the hospital tomorrow to see him.

I would like to ask that you guys pray for Firefighter Randy to make a speedy recovery. JS

Diaries of a fat man.

I had the worlds greatest partner once upon a time. Working with Buck was like hanging out with your best friend all day. He is the standard that I judge all my other partners by. Buck had my back no matter what. Let me tell you a little bit about him. He is a about my age and is married. He has an awesome son, and a great father and sister. Buck is the kinda guy everyone wants around at a party. He is a Firefighter EMT with a rural fire department in Michigan and a road EMT with a private ambulance service.

Buck was dealt a shitty hand, about a year ago he found out that he had M.S., but he has not let that keep him down. Buck should be in the prime of his life right now, instead he is trying to figure out how to take care of his family when he won't be able to work anymore.

The reason I have told you about the world greatest partner is because he has started his own blog called Diaries of a fat man. Here is the address http://brianbuckmcilvain.blogspot.com . Go check it out! JS

Step brother

I received an Email this morning from my Dad's step brother. This is a man that I have never met and my father had not talked to in over 30 years. My father is still very angry at his step brother for things that happened a very long time ago, I think his feelings maybe justified, but how long do you hold a grudge? Anyway here is the Email I received, and my response to it.

Received:
"JS,
I could not believe my eyes when I came across your face book page while looking for information about XXXX city firefighters, you are the spitting image of your father when he was younger. My 15 year old son has asked questions about his grandfather and I have been searching the internet for some info or pictures of my father so I can show him, that’s how I came upon your page. All the pictures that I had were lost in my many moves across this country. I did find a picture of him in a book about XXXX city firefighters, but that’s all I found. I don’t know if you have ever heard of me or what you have heard but I spent a lot of my childhood holidays and weekends with your father, you see the grandfather that you speak of with such admiration who inspired you to be a firefighter was my father. My mother and father were divorced when I was young but I use to visit my father a lot when your grandmother Rita and he lived on 5 points in XXXX city. I also remember times spent with them at a little neighbor hood bar they owned called The Panama Café and of course I remember the firehouse. I know you don’t know me from Adam but if you have any pictures of my father I would be very grateful if you could post them or send some to me in an e-mail. I would really like to show them to my son, he has no living Grandparents nor has he ever met any of them, they had all passed away before he was born. If you have questions of me I would be more than happy to answer them. It sounds like, (from your blog) that you have a lot of love and respect for parents as it should be. When you see your father please tell him I said hello and I wish him well.
Best regards,
JW "

Replied:
"JW,

Let me start by saying that I was very surprised when I saw your Email. I have some of grandpas things and a couple of photos. I will NOT part with any of these items. My Dad has a great deal more photos of him. I sent my Mom on a mission to dig up as many old photos of Grandpa as she can find. She loved your father very much as well. I'll be honest with you, getting any help from my Dad or Aunt Kathy with this task will not happen. They are both still very upset about the past, and won't let it go. I wasn't there so that is between you guys. Besides it was over 31 years ago, and if my math is correct you were only about 20 when Grandpa passed. I think its great that your son wants to know about his grandfather.

I would like to ask you a few questions. Where are you now? What do you do for a living? Are you married? and how many children do you have? Just wondering, have you ever been to his grave? I try to keep his headstone clean and visit his grave site a couple times a year with my sister and 2 cousins.

Let me tell you about the stuff of his that I do have. I have his dog tags, medals, and his division ring from World War II. Other than the ring, the other stuff is packed away and will take some time to locate as I have moved recently. I also have his LT bars from his hat, his class a uniform tie bar and other misc. uniform parts from the Fire Department. His tie bar is on my Class A uniform. I also have some copies of stuff from his personal file at the Fire Department. I used to work for the XXXX city Fire Dept and was able to gain access to his file at fire headquarters. I have copies of 2 injury reports, his dept death notice, firemans fund beneficiary paper. I have taken some pics of these thing and will include in this email.

Let me tell you a little about my Grandpa, your father. My Dad never really new his birth father, he was only 4 when he died. Grandpa was the only Dad he knew, and to this day, 31 years later he still can't talk about him without tearing up. He loved him very much and still talks about him often. My mother just adored him, and he was pretty fond of her. Everybody I talk to about him always said how great of a guy he was. The guys on his crew at work loved him as well. The very first Fire job I ever got was because of him. My Chief served under Grandpa as a probationary firefighter, Grandpa was his Lt. His memories of Grandpa got me that Job. He was a good man.

I will be more than happy to answer any question that you may have. Feel free to ask.

JS"

Please tell me, what are your thoughts? JS