OK, I'm about to just give up on talking to our PIO (Public Information Officer) to try to get pictures of fires I've gone to. It's pointless! He'll tell me that he knows which reporters were there and will talk to them, then never calls me back.

The best I can do is this picture of my helmet, taken after the first house fire. It was shiny black, with the shield looking a brand-new black and white.

After much delay and procrastination, here's what happened. Obviously, I was tailboard on the engine.

As usual, we had a radio on, even though we were at the station and had the encoder to let us know about any calls. We heard the engine in the territory next to us get a fire alarm in our territory. We told radio that we were available and would handle the call in our immediate.  **fire alarm at a residence usually gets 1 engine**

Rolling down the road, we knew the street we were headed to skipped over a block and picked up again. The map we had was labeled wrong for the breaking numbers so we started to go to the far half of the road. That is, until we looked over and saw a cloud of smoke coming from the house on the dead end we just bypassed. Backing up quicker than I'd like to admit, we notified radio that this would be a working fire and that we needed a full response. 

 Since I had all my gear on, I jumped off the engine and did a quick walk-around while the seatman finished getting geared-up. The house was a split-level, and every single ground-level window and door had burglar bars. I could see the house was filled with smoke, but I couldn't see anything else. One of the windows was inches off the ground and had yellowish smoke seeping out the cracks. I quickly relayed my findings as the seatman joined me behind the house. He told me to grab the nozzle and bring it to the door on the far left (per command's orders...other units had started arriving onscene).

Thanks to the burglar bars, it took us a few minutes to gain entry. Once inside, I went to the floor to try and see under the smoke (moments later I stood up, I couldn't see anything anyway and it wasn't hot at all). Pushing my way into the darkness, I went down a hallway and stopped in a doorway. I didn't know it at the time, but I was standing at the top of a stairwell.

Unfortunately, I had run out of hoseline, as hard as I tried and and much as I wanted to, I couldn't go any farther. Some genius, who will remain nameless, decided I wasn't moving fast enough for him, so he stepped in front of me. Keep in mind, everyone is taught to never get between the nozzle and the fire.

As if on cue, someone broke out the window to the fire room. With a new rush of oxygen, the fire "rolled-over" everything in the small room, the kitchen area, and up the stairs towards us. I remember the temperature suddenly skyrocketing, and seeing the fire swirling up the stairs at me in slow-motion, hearing the guys yelling to "open the nozzle!", but waiting on dumbass to get out of the way. By the time he was out of the way and I opened the nozzle, the fire had rolled over to the point of completely engulfing me.

Some things blurred together and other things I don't remember. At some point, another hoseline was brought in through a different door and advanced to the fire room. They were able to pull a few more feet of line for me and I ended up sitting at the bottom of the stairwell for a little while. The fire rolled-over again and I was able to stop it from going up the stairs.

I do remember 2 of the guys from our "god squad" literally crawling over me to get out. And those guys wear 2 nomex hoods to try and beat the heat.   **It's been said that the more heat you take, you eventually start to build up a resistance to it. It's also a well-known fact, that the nozzleman usually takes the most heat and deflects a lot of heat from the other guys.**    I was told after the fire by a few old-timer's that it was "hotter than hell in there" and that they were kinda surprised I took so much heat.

Eventually, my seatman told me to drop the nozzle where it was at and back out for a few minutes. We went outside and dumped our air packs and coats for a few minutes. The guy from air & light brought us each a cup of gatoraid and took our spent bottles to swap for a couple fresh ones.

A few short minutes later, we put our gear back on, grabbed our tools, and went back inside to help overhaul. We did minimal overhaul until the arson investigator had a chance to look around. After getting his go-ahead, we soaked everything down and did a little poking around to make sure the fire was out.

We again retreated outside and helped roll and put away some hose. We helped the homeowners get a few critical belongings out of the house and then went in service.

If I ever manage to hunt down pictures, I'll post them. Since most of the fire was inside the house and not visible from the street, there wasn't much news media there.

Take care

A teaser for my first house fires

OK, I'm NOT going to do the full entries just yet. You're just gonna have to wait a few more days for that, sorry.

The past 3 shifts (including this morning), I have had a house fire each shift. Not some BS where I got there late and only helped overhaul (tear up the walls and clean crap out)...I have finally gotten a chance to fight some fire!

I hate to do it to you all, but I took some pictures on 2 of the scenes and I'm hoping they'll turn out and look ok. I'm going to use up the rest of the roll of film so I can go get it developed. As soon as I know if the shots turn out I'll post them along with my entry. If they look like crap, I'll post the entry alone.

Be safe

dead guys, fires and buttheads

Ok, yesterday could've been better, or it could've been worse. Some of the calls were interesting, others weren't. That's just the way things go. But I didn't really expect to get into an argument with one of the guys at my station. I went in to work in a fairly good mood, but I wasn't in the mood to put up with anyone's BS.

The whole argument was a bit out of context, and it could've been handled better, I admit to that. The guy I was battling with is arrogant and egotistical (in my opinion). He made a few smartassed and rude comments to me in front of everyone at the station...including our Battalion Chief. I retaliated with a few remarks and it was kinda dropped. I told Chief and everyone else that I was tired of his comments and from now on, I planned to "check him" when he's disrespectful.

A little while later, I was still pretty pissed, but I was thumbing through a brigade quartermaster catalog and minding my own business. Mr. Ego was sitting across from me eating his lunch and looking at ads in the newspaper. He made some comment about when was I gonna buy him whatever he was looking at in the paper(I really wasn't paying much attention). I responded "whatever" each time he asked.

Now, let me pause for a moment and say that I know I have a temper. I also know that my inability to control my mouth has gotten me into trouble on a few occasions. I did the only thing I could to prevent me from saying something I'd really regret. I stood up, pushed in my chair, and went to the bunkroom to sit at the desk and finish looking at the catalog.

A few calls and hours later, I was sitting in the dayroom watching TV. He came in supposedly to apologize. He went about it all wrong. The way he started made it feel like an attack and I went on the defensive.

Like I said, it could have and SHOULD have been handled better, on both sides of the argument. I'm just tired of his comments and attitude toward me. It's one thing to be funny and make jokes, but there is a line that was crossed.

On a slightly lighter note, we had quite a few interesting calls yesterday.

We started off with our very first call being a cardiac arrest. Actually, the call was over before it even began, the person was DOA.

Later, we were dispatched to a MVC with entrapment a couple territories over. As we pulled out of the station, the engine was dispatched to a car fire. The fire was given out as being at the corner of Younameit Dr and Younameit Cir. Well, enroute to our call, we passed the car fire and didn't really think much about it, we were already committed to a different call. A few moments later we were cancelled. We turned around to head back to the station and figured we'd help the engine crew if they needed us. Much to our suprise, the engine wasn't onscene. I flipped on the lights and pulled over so my truck was blocking traffic.  Turns out the address given was wrong, it was at Younameit Ct...not Cir. Me and my partner hopped out, he put on his bunker pants and grabbed an  extinguisher while I got into full gear and ready to breathe air. W pretty much had the fire out as the engine pulled up. They grabbed the booster reel and soaked the car down while I got all the needed information from the owner and explained why we passed the car at first.

Next was another cardiac arrest/DOA. I guess it was just the day for folks to pass away.

Then we ran a rollover MVC. The van jumped the curb, went through a fence and rolled down a 20-30 foot embankment, coming to rest upside-down. The guy reeked of ETOH or alcohol. He had minor injuries from what we could see but was otherwise ok.

We jumped a call for our engine at the jail intake. The idiot was drunk and had grabbed the steering wheel while his son was driving, causing the car to wreck. His complaint seemed to be BS, except he had a sustained heartrate that was too high. He was transported, after being told that the officer was taking out a state warrant for his arrest.

Our last call was down at the state youth correctional center. A fight broke out and 2 guards took a good "pop" in the face. We didn't even see any of the kids there. Not like it breaks my heart, those kids are convicted murderers and rapists.

It was a long day, but the silver lining to this cloud is that we got to sleep all night without running any calls.

Seizures

Not too many interesting things to report. I took my best friend horseback riding a few days ago. It was his first time on a horse and I believe he's hooked now. I couldn't resist getting a "bad cop, no donut" sticker in his honor (when I finally found a store that had one).

With the exception of being at work, my Valentine's Day was uneventful. My Mom gave me a box of chocolates and some other candy, and my buddy gave me a metal rose and a teeny-tiny little teddy bear. The "EMS Gods" gave me a peaceful night's sleep during a full moon. We got back to the station around 2200 (10pm) and I figured I'd go on to bed since we'd been running all day. We didn't get up until 0600 for our next and last call.

But, on to the seizures.

First off, let me just say that I HATE running pediatric calls. I can deal with all the blood and guts you can throw at me, just keep the kids out of it.

We were heading back to the station and passed a car on the opposite side of the road. There was a lady standing outside the car, but she didn't start waving at us so I figured it was just another "stranded motorist" and kept driving. Moments later we were toned out to respond to that car for a 2 year old having seizures. 3 toggle-switches, a quick blast of the siren, and a U-turn later, we were onscene.

The little one was a bit lethargic (sleepy or slow to respond), but he opened his eyes as soon as I reached into the car to pick him up. We moved him into the rescue and got Mom to give him a little Tylenol since he had a high fever. I had to drive, but the ride in to the hospital seemed uneventful.

Arriving, we let Mom carry the little one into the ER. They were packed and had 20 or so patients in the Triage area, including ours.

I missed a little bit of the action when I went back outside for a couple minutes to clean my truck. When I went back inside, there's our little guy in one of the trauma rooms, stripped down to his pajamas. Apparently, he started seizing in triage and the trauma rooms had the only open beds. I couldn't see everything, but they started an IV and gave some medicine to stop the seizing.

I got busy and ran out of time, but I'm going to try to call up there today and see if I can find out how he's doing.

My only real issue, other than the fact that it was a kid, is PLEASE put your kids in a carseat! If they would've needed to brake hard, I might have spent my day picking the kid up off the road. I know some kids can't stand those carseats, but which is worse...Listening to your child whine and complain...or planing their funeral?

Be safe

Rainy Day

Nothing much of great interest at work lately. The past few shifts I was up all night running calls.Yesterday, I was swapped over to the engine. We didn't have very many calls, we were expecting the calls to really start as soon as the super bowl ended. "My team lost but they're better than your team." Anything ranging from drunkenness to shootings and stabbings was expected. We were able to watch 95% of the game uninterrupted.

We had a call sometime after midnight for a stabbing, but there wasn't anything to it. All of our units went inservice just a couple minutes after getting onscene.

The only call of real interest was a "smoke in the area of." For whatever reason a full house fire assignment was dispatched. We were the 2nd unit onscene and there was quite a bit of smoke pouring out of a small house on the corner. The first-in crew already had a quick knockdown so me and my Capt backed out for a moment to put on our masks and open up our SCBA's.

Searching the house, there wasn't anyone to be found so we went back to the room where the fire had been. We found out that there had been some boards blocking the doors shut and the fire appeared to be arson.

We pulled a little sheetrock and nosed around in the crawl space under the house, then went back in service.

On the funnier side of things, we have this stuffed animal that's supposed to be on one of the trucks to give to a child onscene to make him/her feel better. Well, this little piggy has made it's rounds in the bunkroom and been in everybody's bed. I guess it got bored last night and made it's way to the bay, just outside the bathroom door. The engine had a call and right as we came back, the "stalkee" came out of the bathroom and locked eyes with his stalker.

 

Be safe and have fun

How a medical call should be

I'm just sitting here, trying to think of something to do at 0200. The cable's out, it's too late to go out, and there's not a lot to do on a weeknight anyway. I've got some stupid movie I've seen 1,000 times playing, and a snoozing kitten curled up behind my knees.

Insomnia is NOT fun!

Sitting here, I've been thinking a lot about how things at work play out sometimes. Usually, there's an element of controlled chaos on critical scenes. We have so many of our people standing in such a small area around the patient that it's nearly impossible to do anything.

I had a call run like clockwork a few shifts ago...It was a beautiful thing.

I was on the Squad at the station when we were toned out with our Rescue crew for a patient having chest pains. Arriving onscene, our patient is sitting on the front lawn, complaining of classic MI or heart attack symptoms.

Here's where everything fell into place perfectly.

I grabbed a set of vitals, blood pressure, pulse, O2 saturation, glucose level, and respirations. Meanwhile, my medic partner (also my Captain) placed the leads and ran a 12-lead EKG.

As I started an IV in the patient's hand, he was given his first spray of Nitro and a dose of Asprin.

My partner gathered more medical information from our patient as I started to re-check his vitals.

<Insert the Rescue arriving onscene here>

The patient was moved to the stretcher and given a 2nd spray of Nitro, then loaded into the Rescue and rushed to the hospital.

Last I heard, he's doing fine.

 

Things just went perfectly. The 2 of us were able to do everything we needed to do without crowding each other or getting in each other's way. We had the patient pretty much packaged and ready to go, all he needed was a ride to the hospital by the time the Rescue showed up. We spent a total of 8 minutes onscene, from the Squad arriving, until the Rescue left the scene with the patient.

It was refreshing to see how a call should be run. I just wish it happened more often. The main problem I believe is that we run so many bull sh*t calls that we become a bit complacent. That, and when you're on your umpteenth call and you've been up almost 24 hours straight, you may get the job done, but what happens to the quality of care?

It's hard, I'll be one of the first to admit it. I've fallen asleep in the front seat of the truck at the hospital. I've run to the hospital lights and siren just so I'd have the lights, noise, and speed to make me focus on my driving and wake me up a bit more. I've teched on BS calls just so I could finish my PCR and doze off enroute to the hospital between rechecks of the paitient's vitals. I even fell asleep standing up at the station once.

24 hour shifts are hard, especially at such a busy station. For those who don't know, all 3 trucks at my station average 15-20 calls each and every shift. There's no rest for the weary and as much as I love what I get to do, I wouldn't wish 24's on anybody.

I think I'm gonna try to crash out....be safe and take care

Insomnia

OK, I can't sleep.

And I just noticed my hit counter dropped back to 0....Dammit, now I have to start all over.

Although that pic was taken from another website, it is of a bunch of my friends. One night at the haunted house after the show, our favorite knucklehead said he wanted to know what the Taser felt like. Well, he got his wish. The guy catching our falling hero is an out-of-state cop...I should mention he pushed the resident genious into the uniformed officer. (We always have one or more uniformed officers as part of our security force)

The dart cartridge was removed and the Taser was functioning more as a stun gun. Before you ask, yes, the officer was laughing his ass off! Then again, so was everybody else, including our hero. Well, maybe he wasn't laughing during the "ride," but he was all smiles afterward (minus these 2 odd-looking marks on his neck).

I bought some new pliers and other things chainmaille related to try out when I have time. Mainly some small wire I want to make a couple pieces of jewelery out of. If it works out, I'll post pics and maybe offer a couple pieces up for sale. It's a great hobby and I'll recommend it to anyone and everyone, but it isn't a very good money-maker. The sheer number of hours it takes to make some pieces, like my shirt, is amazing. It's hard because if you charged for your hours put into something, everything would be way too expensive to sell. I usually double whatever the materials cost is and add a little for labor depending on the size of the item and if it's all one metal.

I think it's finally time for me to crash out...Nite all and be careful