We responded to a call for a male who was short of breath. We routinely have a district police car respond to all calls, and we "stage away" until cleared by police for calls suggesting violence, drunks, etc. In this case we arrived before the police officer and there was no … [Read more...]
FULL ARREST LEADS TO NEAR ELECTROCUTION FOR RESPONDERS
I was on a medic unit and got dispatched to a man not breathing under a mobile home. The first responders made scene about 4 minutes before we did. Two men were under the mobile home trying to get a male patient (about 250lbs and 70 years old) out from a confined space. He was in … [Read more...]
STUCK ELEVATOR TURNS DANGEROUS!
At approximately 02:25 Hrs on January 1, 2007 Rescue 1 and Truck 3 responded to what is normally a routine call for a report of a stuck occupied elevator. I am the Lieutenant of Rescue 1 and was in charge of rescue operations. My crew consists of myself, my driver and two … [Read more...]
INJURY IN THE BACK OF THE MEDIC UNIT
Over 5 years ago, I was injured on the job as a part-time medic. I was in the back of an ambulance, being driven by a volunteer, that was to be going to the hospital, priority 3 which in our case is no lights, no sirens, and obey traffic laws.(I later found out she had the lights … [Read more...]
WMD AUTO INJECTOR ACCIDENTLY INJECTS FIREFIGHTER
One of the Lts on my shift called me to his scene because a FF was accidentally stuck by a needle from a mark-1 kit auto-injector. After 9-11, a lot of us have these "failsafe" kits on our units. Everyone needs to know that they can discharge accidentally - the syringe came loose … [Read more...]
ANOTHER GAS CYLINDER CLOSE CALL
While conducting a extrication training class and cutting relief cuts above the front tire/fender area to prepare for a dash roll. The student made a cut above the passenger side front fender on an older vehicle and cut through the hood pressurized cylinder causing the flood to … [Read more...]
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUND YOUR CALL
One routine afternoon my partner and I, along with our engine company responded to an injured person call right across the street from the station. We found the patient to have minor injures and the police officers on scene apologized for calling us but she had some blood from … [Read more...]