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************************************************** From : Roxy Dee <laterrapincabesa@hotmail.com> Sent : Thursday, January 5, 2006 4:30 PM Subject : Heart to Heart~~ Roy and Johnny reappeared back onto the ground floor of emergency services. They left the elevator with their two station backboards, already sprayed off and germicided by a thoughtful surgical technician. "Man, those two are the luckiest building collapse victims I've seen in a long, long while." Johnny remarked while they walked down the hallway towards the desk to resupply their I.V.s and cervical collar stores. "The vascular surgeon got great pulses in both their legs and feet using that sonogram. You can't get any better results than that. And they both could still wiggle their toes, too." "I'm usually not one to be a raging optimist in trauma cases as severe as theirs, but I think you're right. This time." he held up a warning finger so Gage would know not to get his hopes up so high for a future run that proved as bad conditions wise. "I think they had a lot going for them because they weren't dwelling so much on themselves as much as they were worried about each other. How you handle things psychologically in adverse situations has got to say a bit about what kind of cards you'll be dealing with afterwards. I've been in the business long enough to start noticing certain patterns. Remember that hand stab last week who was so shocky, that we had to ventilate her a bit whenever she fainted on it?" "Yeah, I remember. Talk about panicking. She drove herself into not breathing so hot." Johnny sniffed as they both paused at the main desk. "And how about that soy farmer with the severed hand? Walked right into the ambulance without so much as breaking out into a light sweat with normal vital signs? That was weird." "Not really. That was an example of positive will power at work. Just what I've been talking about here. I wish half the patients we treat would learn that same mind trick." DeSoto grinned. "It would make their rescue experience with us a whole lot more comfortable." |
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"In your dreams. Think about it from their perspective. You're suddenly slammed into an unexpected emergency that possibly threatens your life. Nine times out of ten, you've never been in that kind of situation before. Now how in the heck can anyone have enough previous experience in their life to not let that kind of thing get the best of em? Especially if it happens to them kinda fast like it usually does. You've got to be absolutely stunned while it's still going on. It's only natural."replied Gage. "That's what WE'RE good for, Johnny. To do all the thinking and worrying for them. I keep thinking that if we find the right way to explain things to the conscious ones, or even those that aren't, that they'd do a little better for us on the way in. But there isn't yet a surefire book on reverse psychology for covering any of that. Everybody's personality's different." "Exactly my point, Roy. That's why I think those two up there in that operating room are so lucky. They figured it out." he grinned hugely. "I just wish I could. I don't enjoy seeing downward vitals trends." DeSoto grumbled. "No paramedic does." agreed Johnny. "Let's start experimenting on that ok? Promise?" "Ok. I'm game. But who're we gonna experiment on in between response calls?" "The guys.." Johnny nodded seriously. "The guys? Johnny, they're not even hurt or anything. How can they be of any use to us?" "They hurt, Roy. Just like we do, when we all lose someone on a station run. It hasn't been that long since we lost those two swimmers in the reservoir. We can use that as impetus if the topic crops up again at lunch today." "The CISM counselors have already made all the rounds they're gonna do. No one was interested." "True, but that doesn't mean they're not hurting any. That means, they've decided to get mule-headed about it." Gage said, raising both eyebrows without a smile. Roy fell silent, listening to the whispers of his own pain still just under the surface. "They were kind of young. And such a pointless boating accident, too. I mean, who ties off an innertube rope on an anchor's drag handle so close to an outboard prop? That was...uh..." the memory of how badly mangled they were, returned in a flash. "....pretty stupid." |
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"Yeah, it was." Johnny said, getting faintly angry and sad at the same time. "So there's some hurt we can sink our teeth into. Maybe easing some of their stuff will ease ours." Roy looked up at Johnny and gave him a miniscule nod and the two of them fell quietly thoughtful. His look told Gage that he was more than game to try. Dixie wasn't around, so DeSoto and Gage helped themselves to the base station coffee pot. It was full and fresh, a sign of a busy shift. Johnny held it up so Roy would get the same sign he did about the E.R. to explain why Dixie or another nurse wasn't there to fill a supply order yet. They filled only two cups since Chet Kelly had already rejoined the engine crew and had accepted their drive-by pickup. They had heard as much through the radio traffic coming from their HTs while working on their two seniors in the pre-operation room. About three minutes later, someone did come to help them out. But the nurse who came, wasn't Dixie. ::That's too bad.:: Roy thought. ::I wanted to pick her brain about how SHE calms and relaxes people down.:: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soon, DeSoto and Gage were back at the station and they were surprised to see Chief Bill McConnikee still hanging around the chower pot. Johnny's defense against the mild depression that he and Roy had reflared was to grab the long dusty guitar out of Chet's locker. Without preamble, Johnny sat down in a chair, and started playing;... badly. |
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************************************************************************ From: Sam Iam <lafddispatcher@yahoo.com> Date: Fri Jan 6, 2006 7:35 pm Subject: Hardball.. Henry, the couch potato bassett, immediately sat up and started howling at the teeth jarring, scalp twisting absolutely wrong chords and notes Johnny plucked out of the sorry looking wooden guitar. Of all of them, Roy DeSoto was the only one who didn't wince. ::He's starting our psych pick me up experiment already?:: he wondered. Chief McConnikee wasn't fooled either, his eye didn't miss the feathery dust wafting up from the guitar strings as Johnny's uncalloused fingers stoked them into a knotted bluesy jive. He started grinning. "Why Hank, I didn't know one of your boys was such an aficionado of one of the finer arts. That's- that's really starting to come along here." he said gesturing at Johnny's closed eyed, oblivious playing. He tried a wink at the paramedic to tell him that he knew the game of emotional probing hard ball was on, but Gage's enthusiasm slowed how attuned to the chief's hint he was, unintentionally. "I didn't know, either." said Stanley, reliving a powerful, would-like-to-have-forgotten-it-instantly memory of when Gage had been on his one time and one time only music kick. McConnikee upped his ante'. "Say, Gage. Did you know that some of the best, longest serving fire fighters I know are all talented musicians? When I talk with them, they say playing helps them initially cope a bit with their excess day to day baggage. Is that what you do, too?" Johnny's chording faltered even more when his shock at the chief's correct guess at what he was up to, sank in. His playing died away. "Uh,..really. Didn't know that.. And yeah, I've... been known to dabble with this ..sometimes. Uh, sir, uh, what do you do whenever you know, whenever you feel like you just wanna rip out all your hair?" Gage asked loud enough to be overheard by everybody. Then just under his breath he added, "...what's left of it." he mumbled. Chet Kelly's face went white as a sheet at that comment and unbidden, his left shoe under the table, started tapping sharply on Johnny's shin to shut him up. Even Henry dropped off into utter silence and his ears perked forward. |
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But the chief didn't seem to have heard the jab. Roy barely hid a smirk and covered himself by folding interested hands together across his chest to mask his amusement as he waited for the chief's response. Johnny's throat wasn't even dry. He was banking on the fact that the chief was playing along with his and Roy's plans to.....talk. The kind of talk that firemen usually never shared with each other without some kind of official counseling mediator, sent from headquarters, hanging over their heads. He subtlely slid his chair over to the right to get out of Chet's kicking reach in order to hand over the old guitar to Bill, who was literally reaching for it with wiggly fingers. Bill McConnikee settled the ornate country western strap over his broad shoulders and after a brief, swift retuning of the flaccid strings, he coaxed a very bright, jaunty prison feeling number out of it. "I just learned this one last week from some fresh faced new fella playing an open stage in a bar." he said. "Said he was making his big break with the record company. Played something called Leaving On a Jet Plane with a trio of others. I think he was a singer, too." And his playing shifted to the melody he just mentioned. "Hey, I think I know him, chief. But I can't remember his name right off hand." Johnny remarked. "I've forgotten what his was, too." said the chief. "But I remember that I liked his music set immensely." Henry, instantly collapsed into a heap onto his side in pure beastly bliss at the sweet sounds whispering out of the guitar. Everyone but Johnny and Roy just stared at Henry and the chief. Both of them. Back and forth. Like a tight tennis match. Only Johnny and his partner were playing things cool. The door was wide open. "So...." Roy stammered, "You find this allows you to get whatever's bugging you off your chest pretty easily?" he nodded in encouragement for Bill to dive right on in. "Nice tune. Never heard it before." "As I said, that musician was going places. And I always pay attention to people who're doing just that." he winked at Cap, tapping his white inspection hat that he always wore when he was visiting a station, even when he wasn't conducting a surprise snap inspection. Hank immediately blanched, and the past sin of committing mayhem by the burning of Bill's old absent hat came slamming back into his brain like a freight train. ::The chief's paying close attention to me still for that?!:: he thought in sudden horror. ::I thought he was here to talk about our last rescue call. I didn't know he was out for my bl---:: "Music's always a balm. Never forget that, guys. Gage may be still be new at it. But he's on the right track here. You should follow his example." the chief grinned, taking off the guitar strap. He held out the instrument by the neck, passing it off to Gage. Johnny took it. "I think I will." Chet Kelly said, snatching it quickly out of Gage's fingers. |
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"Give me that..." Johnny smiled, which wasn't really a smile at all as he snatched it back. He started playing again. This time, he plucked a very hesitant version of the first song the chief had strummed for them, but at a molasses snail's pace. With every third note a half key off. "That's the way, Gage. Wrong notes don't matter with the blues. They just seem to fit." McConnikee grinned. Then he looked to Roy to continue what was afoot between him and the two paramedics. DeSoto's stammer was even more pronounced than Johnny's. He found himself tongue tied. "Yeah, uh, Chet here, collects barbed wire as a hobby in order to relax. Somedays, he completely fills up the kitchen table to show them off to all of us. Uh, what do you do, Cap, to blow off some steam?" "I yell..." he said with narrowed brows and a firm press on his lips. He wasn't smiling. All the gang froze. Then Hank's mouth opened up and he laughed great guffaws at his own joke. Bill was the only one to join in. The chief poured himself some more coffee from the steel pot sitting in front of them from its place on a gingham pot holder. "Funny, Hank. That's a good one. Yep. Guitar playing.... Collecting bits of antique wire... It all helps a great deal, guys. I should come up with a stress relief program demanding that you fellas practice some kind of hobby to do religiously so I know you all have a relief valve going for ya." Then he leaned into the table from his chair in a confidential air. "I hate those CISM shrinks, too." he admitted, "with a passion. But they do know their jobs and Headquarters seems to like em." He sat back with a sigh and studied the two speechless paramedics in front of him, just waiting for them to delve again. But neither of their lips moved. Bill decided that they were giving up on the emotional probing and he changed the subject. "Now about the way that earlier tower tumble was handled..." he said, lifting up a finger with a stern face. The gang's eyes got bigger and they re-petrified. "Nice job, all. I got word on my way over here that those two victims we dug out together are doing just fine. That's a thing I always like to hear." Battalion said. "We do too,..Bill." Gage peeped, smiling faintly, slapping an affectionate hand onto McConnikee's shoulder. Chet kicked his shin again. Cap did, too. "I mean, Chief, uh, sir..." Johnny amended, pulling back his hand as if it had burned him. He started playing again as if his life depended on it. The chief's gray eyebrow furrows narrowed stonily, but then Cap said... |
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************************************************** From: "Cory Anda" <andacory@hotmail.com> Date: Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:52pm Subject: Struck... "Chief, at our last call, you said that you had something that would interest me about the response we just wrapped up an hour ago." Hank deflected. Bill looked up, effectively diverted. "Hmmm? Oh, yes, I did say that, didn't I? A change in the department, captain. And for the better." "Oh?" Stanley asked, his eyebrows raised. "By next week, no fire department will ever have to haggle with a city or suburb via Headquarters in order to turn off gas or electrical utilities at the scene of an incident.." McConnikee smiled. "They will have already been shut down even before any firecrew gets there." That shocked everybody. "Really?" Kelly asked. "How'd they manage to do that?" Stoker added. "Don't tell me that all the public utilities suddenly turned clairvoyant.." Bill looked up at 51's engineer with a frank frown. "In a way, they have. Gentlemen, yesterday, I was informed that within soco city limits in all L.A. County Fire Department service areas, that we've finally entered a new age of infrastructure regulated technology. They've gone fully computerized, boys. The minute there's a disruption of any kind in the power net or in the gas flows, safety shut offs are triggered on both sides of the trouble spot and plant operators are notified soon afterwards." Cap celebrated. "Terrific! No more ripping my hair out waiting for the proverbial tinder box to unfuel itself under other fingertips while chewing on my own." "Wow.. " remarked Roy. "When did all that automation happen?" McConnikee grinned expansively. "Little by little over the past three years. Believe me, I was shocked as snot myself when I heard the news. That whole robotic communications net they have up now, is a lot like the monitoring network usually in place in a subway transportation system." "Something of which we don't have in California due to all the earthquakes..." DeSoto smiled. Bill nodded. "We been behind the times on how the city senses itself. But not anymore I'm pleased to say. And that's a boon for the whole department." He rose in his chair and subconsciously, so did the rest of the gang. "Well, I'd better be getting back. I've a stack of captains' exams to plow through from Division 2 to get done before sundown. See you fellas. Stay safe out there." "Thanks for helping us today, Chief." Hank said seriously. "Your hands on bit probably made all the difference in the world for those two people we dug out this morning. There's nothing like having a higher up around to motivate things to move along a little faster." "It wasn't about that, Hank. Your station has one of the best track records for speedy extrications. I wasn't worried about that. I only wanted to get my hands dirty again for once. I've missed getting into all the action, especially since new paperwork, like the new city automation alert packet I just told you about, seems to ...magically pile up by the pound in front of me onto my desk. Seems like there's more and more of it every year, too. It sucks, gentlemen. And the main consequence besides burning the eyes out of your head for all the reading, is gaining a big one of these.." Bill said, smacking his ample waistline. All the gang chuckled. "Well, I'd better go. Maybe I can bug 116's after dinner and help out on one of their brush fire assignments while I'm delivering the good news about the new utilities management system to them. See you, thanks for lunch and coffee." "No problem, chief." said Captain Stanley as he opened the kitchen side door for McConnikee. "Thanks for lightening my radio load." |
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"Any time, Hank. Any time." said Battalion as he returned to his chief's car parked neatly facing the avenue in the side drive. "I like being the bearing of good tidings." They watched, as McConnikee pulled away from the stoop, waving at his tip of the hat he gave them as he drove off. "Ooo, Cap.." gushed Chet. "Does this mean you're gonna find a way to lighten our radio traffic load so us guys can enjoy something just as nice as that bit of news was for you?" "I'm working on it." Cap said after a thoughtful pause. "There's a new fangled thing called a passage device or some other name that some yokel dreamed up last month. It's still in the testing phases." "What will that do for us?" Marco asked. "Don't know the answer to that quite yet. Its designer claims it'll revolutionize the whole fire department. He's hailing it as a new kind of life saver." Johnny sniggered. "You mean there's something more revolutionary than a blind insertion luminal airway? I heard about that new paramedic tester device from Brice yesterday. He says it's being used in the surgical wards at Rampart right now to learn its versatility." "Apparently so." Cap said, finishing off his cup of coffee. "I guess we'll all just have to wait for the final word on both of those things when they finally filter down to us as official gear." Kelly started clearing the lunch bowls. "Meanwhile, the waiting's intolerable. It'd be nice for a little job improvement more often than once every five years. The last thing we got was that our asbestos tarps were taken away." "Hmmm." Cap snorted. "We got a change. Roy and Johnny here got themselves free of being tied to those dangerous glass I.V. bottles last month." "I'm talking about something for us common fire guys, Cap. Everybody knows that it's the paramedics who get all the experimenting benefits when they crop up." Gage had a compliment to cheer Chet and he shared it. "How can you improve perfection? Maybe engine firefighting's honed to the sharpest it can be already." "So where's the pay raise then? Geez, guys. Think about it. We're in the forgotten multitudes." he sighed at Marco and Stoker. "I'm bushed. Who's up for a nap after someone volunteers to help me do the dishes?" Chet auctioned off. |
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All hands were fully raised just as an injury tones call went out for the station. ##Station 51. Man down at the shipping yard. Dock workers report an explosion occurance without fire. 6610 Busch Blvd... 6610 Busch Blvd. Cross street, Canal 5 Causeway. Time out : 13:11.## The gang rolled out of their chairs, abandoning the kitchen lunch table. Roy got in an acknowledgement at the alcove station. "Station 51, 10-4. KMG 365." Soon, both the Ward and rescue squad were flying down the boulevard towards the nearby industrial ocean canal district. |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They were met instantly by the loading dock boss. "This way fellas. He's still out." said a big burly yellow hard hatted man wearing tan coveralls. "I think he's hurt real bad." "What happened?" Cap asked, as he shut the engine's door. "We don't know. Mac was unloading those crates from Europe over there using the ship's roof crane when Kablewy! Something went up. It caught my brand new man here real bad in a flash and knocked him flat." Johnny and Roy immediately got their medical gear and the oxygen over to the clustered group of dock workers holding another young man on the ground's head still. "Did you move him?" Gage asked loudly. "No. They didn't." answered the dock boss. "I'm not that stupid. I know about the possible broken neck and back thing happening in any fall or bump my men might take. I told them to lay off him past making sure that his tongue wasn't blockin' off his breathin." Cap got the boss's attention again. "What do you think caused this mess?" Hank asked, sweeping a glove and active HT over the shattered debris dotting the canal waters and the concrete immediately upwind of them. |
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"Larry found this.." said the boss. And he handed Cap a bill of laden. Cap read it quickly. "Aww, nuts! Gang, get your air bottles on before you go anywhere near that fallen pallet. I got a CAS number of 7439-95-4." The boss immediately got alarmed. "What? Did we screw up somehow moving that junk?" Cap took his arm and spoke gently. "You had no way of knowing this clearly. The crates are marked totally wrong. Stoker! Call a foam unit. We've got pure, loose magnesium powder of an unknown quantity, right there!" he said, stabbing a finger at the jumble of splintered crates. Then he turned to the boss and the small group of dock workers still hovering over Roy and Johnny and the unconscious man, sprawled on his back. "Mister, I want you to get everybody who's outside within three hundred feet of him.." he said, pointing at the injured man. "...well back. Better yet get them all inside the warehouse and close those main bay doors." "I'm doing it!" said the boss man, running and shouting. He soon had the area cleared and locked down tight so the firefighters could work. Gage was still tossing the wooden boards off of their explosion victim while his other glove rested on the man's stomach to monitor his shallow respirations. "Cap, you want us in scba, too?" Hank shook his head, squinting at the color of the sky. He set up the oxygen tank his paramedics needed. "You're safely downwind. The day's land/sea breeze is already rock solid. It's not going to shift with the Santa Anas shearing like they're doing on its topside." Gage finally got to their patient's head as he shooed the last first aider away. His fingers found a careful jaw thrust lift that eased the man's fitful gasping soon afterwards. Then he did a double take, when his eyes caught sight of the man's face. "Ohmyg*d. Is this man who I think he--?" he broke off when he realized the dock workers had already retreated to safety on Cap's order. Johnny leaned in closer, making sure the man was breathing well in a listening check. Roy smacked his arm, holding out an oral airway and handing Johnny a flowing oxygen mask. "Here. I'll check out his back next. Cap, would you go get a C-collar from the rear stow?" "Yep." said Hank. And he jogged to the squad to get one. Johnny was still gaping and he stared at the young, round eye glassed, page styled, blonde haired man under his hands for long moments. Roy finally lost patience and snatched back the oropharyngeal from his partner. He cross fingered in the short oral himself and planted the oxygen mask down over the pale man's nose and mouth. Gage slowly reanimated. "Roy, don't you know who this is?" he said, throwing a chin downwards while his hands continued to hold the face bruised man's head and neck still. "No." DeSoto said, working swiftly in a check for broken bones and other problems. |
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Gage dissassembled. "This here's Jimmy Colorado! The one and only." he grinned. "Yeah, well whoever he is. He knows you're not acting very professional right now while you're drooling in amazement, all over him. Sorry, sir. Forgive, Johnny here. We ARE taking good care of you." he said to the unconscious man's closest ear. "Try to pick up your breathing a little. You're doing ok for us. I'm not finding any bad problems yet past a swollen right knee so far. Can you hear me?" he asked tapping a light finger over one of his eyelids a few times after he gingerly removed the man's round glasses for safe keeping. The man didn't move or swallow around the airway in the slightest. Cap returned with the cervical collar and a backboard. "Marco, Stoker. Grab some sandbags. Once we get him moved outta here, we'll worry about the mag spill." Soon, Gage was freed up hands wise so he could get an initial complete blood pressure past a pulse estimated one. His earlier starstruck gape, was disappearing and he was fully back to business. "Roy, 92 over 66. He's not reactant to pain either." Johnny shared, after pinching the underside skin of the man's upper arm firmly between a few fingers. "He's not diaphoretic though despite this pallor. Resp rate's twenty two and regular." "Ok.." said Roy, finishing up a Babinski's on the man's feet that he had bared for a CMS check. "So far so good down here, too. No apparent fractures. But I think we should splint that knee up anyway. It's getting pretty big. Marco, can you handle that before we check out his back and log roll him onto the board?" "Got it." said Lopez. Gage added more. "And see if he's got his I.D. on him in one of his jeans' pockets, too." he ordered eagerly. Roy threw his eyes skyward. "That can wait. We're rapidly getting out, remember?" "Finding a wallet's important, too. He.....might have a preexisting condition we need to know about to explain all this wheezy breathing." Johnny stammered as a little of his recognition stun came back. "He got the wind knocked out of him when the crates went up most likely." Roy shrugged dryly. "Come on, focus here, Johnny. Ok? ..Chet. Fellas. On the count of three, we'll tip him my way. One, two... three... Cap, keep those legs in an easy line. He's twisting a little." Roy quickly scissored away the man's shirt back and pants to look for more injuries and bleeding. There was none. "Ok, that's it. He's clear. Roll him back down. Yeah, he's centered. Ok. Let's get those straps on next." Soon the comatose man was safely long boarded and head tilted up onto the splints box by the squad behind the secure shielding bulk of the Ward. Cap and the others went to tend the hot spot in air bottles. Gage silently brandished a found wallet at Roy and set it open onto Jimmy's stomach and turned it so Roy could read the driver's license himself while they opened Jimmy's shirt to set him up for an EKG reading. Roy ignored his partner with a sigh of long patience and picked up the phone to Rampart to give their opening hail. |
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************************************************** From: Sam Iam <lafddispatcher@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:31 pm Subject: Hazmat Captain Stanley got on his HT to Headquarters. "L.A., Engine 51." ##Engine 51, this is L.A.## answered the dispatcher's calm baritone. "We have a positive I.D. of several hundred pounds of pure magnesium exposed to the air and sitting on a wet pier. There are signs of recent explosive hydrogen gas effects. Respond a Haz Mat crew for decontamination and clean up. I have a foam truck standing by should this spill ignite other combustibles in nearby shipping crates of unknown content." Hank told him, cocking his head. He had heard Foam 127 pull up at the same safe distance his own vehicles were positioned at around the corner of the large sea facing warehouse. He motioned for their captain to come on over once he saw his men air bottled. "For now, holding dry and seeing about getting large quantities of sand." Captain Stanley made sure he was upwind and pulled off his air mask long enough to eyeball the pier boss and crook a finger to draw the man out of the building from where he was watching anxiously, to commandeer a front end loader to deliver just that. The boss took the hint and exited a side door away from the canal and he circled around until he had met Hank behind the bulk of the engine. He had on his own contamination air bottle of short acting duration, the kind normally issued to ship firefighters. Immediately, a triple beep intercepted the transmission. ##L.A. This is Battalion 14. I'm in the immediate area. I'll be responding to fully assess the situation for escalating fire conditions. My E.T.A. is four minutes.## ##Battalion 14, 10-4. 51's incident address is 6610 Busch Blvd. Cross street, Canal 5 Causeway. Your time out : 13:19.## said L.A. ##Battalion 14. KMA 116.## acknowledged Bill through his wailing siren over the frequency. Captain Stanley replied. "Engine 51, Battalion 14. I note your response and estimated time of arrival. We've only one injured civilian who's been confirmed as contamination free. Ambulance is not on scene. I'm getting bills of laden handed to me right now for all cargo inside the hot zone. We're located on the north side of the causeway. Our wind is north to south banking west and then out to sea away from most line of sight cargo barges and all buildings. Please notify responding units of our local weather conditions from the coast guard. In fact, having them come out here themselves isn't a bad idea. They could oversee operations." ##Copy, Engine 51. Keep your men in scba and fully outfitted outside the radius you've marked. Have them wait until your sand arrives. A three hundred foot circle should just about cover it.## McConnikee advised Captain Stanley.##And I already have a Coast Guard Dolphin crew, their closest cutter and Fire Boat 110 en route to your position with an E.T.A. of under two minutes. Watch for them.## |
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"Engine 51, 10-4, Battalion. I will advise you of all changes." Hank replied. Then Stanley put his mask back on as he turned to the pier boss to discuss getting one of his pier firefighters to drive in a front loader to dump sand and air smother the magnesium spill until it could be scraped into an empty cargo container in the canal for safe water decomposition and later disposal. 127's captain jogged on over, placing his helmet over the air straps fastened around his face. Hank leaned into him, grabbing him around the shoulders and soon they got into an immediate plan of attack huddle with the pier boss and the new paired pier firefighting team the warehouse boss had summoned through the harbor master by phone. Battalion 14's lanky red car soon pulled up behind them and their efforts were joined. Then they broke apart. Hank got on his walkie talkie to advise his own men, waiting in a line along the landside of the La France. "Engine 51 to HTs 51, all. In two minutes, a front loader will be coming in from the shipping yard with his first load of sand. Marco, Stoker, Kelly, follow him with a charged inch and a half each time he moves in to dump his sand but do not release any water over him. Do that only if a fire erupts to turn away any explosion from him. And if fire does happen, do not eyeball any flames directly or you'll burn your eyes. The brightness flaring from the burning mag will flash sear your eyes in seconds, faster than an arc welder's. Foam 127 will be covering you should fire get around your cover before you make good your escape with the driver. Secondarily, wash down those blue crates..... right over there, when he goes back for more sand without getting any of the original fallen ones dampened in the slightest. Make sure all the runoff you make goes straight into the ocean. Those second bins contain fresh shrimp." Cap told his men. Chet groaned. ##Oh, no. Iodine? Those'll smoke the mag for sure if the wind blows any powder over there.## Hank grinned ruefully through his air mask. "That's probably what made the initial explosion go off when the magnesium crates fell off their unloading cables the first time. So, the sooner we wash the fish juice away, the better off we'll be. Go.." Marco, Stoker and Kelly soon had their hose set up ready and waiting for the silver hazmat suited and air bottled pier firefighter to start up the heavy machinery. |
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************************************************** From: "patti keiper" <pattik1@hotmail.com> Date: Wed Jan 11, 2006 7:18 pm Subject: World of Silence..? Roy lifted the biophone receiver and plugged in the antennae. He was just about to speak when Johnny looked up from the eyes of their victim that he had been checking out with a penlight. "Roy,..he's gone tachycardic.." Gage said suddenly. "Just started happening." he said, getting a grip on Jimmy's carotid as he looked at his watch to time it. Roy set the unused receiver onto his shoulder and he looked at the EKG monitor which was set to visual tracing, studying it for long moments, then he flicked on the audible mode so both could follow what was happening without looking away from what they were doing by listening to its sounds. The beat was racing at 150, and it was bounding. "Adrenaline effects? He might be waking up some. His breathing's still ok. It's not causing this V-tach." DeSoto told him. Johnny shifted his attention from his patient's vital signs to neurological ones. He tried another pain check with a firm sternal rub in between two of the man's EKG pads. He was rewarded when Jimmy jerked both of his hands under the backboard straps. Deftly, Gage slid the oxygen mask aside and pulled out the oral airway before he could gag on it. "Jim?...Jimmy? Can you hear me? Open up your eyes. Can you do that for me?.. Hey.." he said, rubbing knuckles once more, grinding a couple fairly deep into Colorado's breastbone. A weak groan trickled out of Jimmy's cracked lips and he kicked out both legs. Pain from the knee finished the job of arousing and he was suddenly awake. "OhhHHh... nghhH. *cough* " The heartbeats coming from the monitor speakers jolted a series of slow beats at the cough, then started racing once more when a sudden new panic filled Jimmy's face. Fear poured into his eyes as they snapped open and started watering under the sun. "Hey,... take it easy. You're all right... You're all right." Gage said, firmly, grabbing one of Jim's shoulders to keep him still. "That explosion's over. You're safe. Tell me what's happening to you, ok? Can you talk?" he said, leaning close over his face. |
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Jimmy's eyes met and tracked Johnny's easily. But he didn't speak. He remained obviously frightened and it reflected in the monitored heartbeats, which climbed even faster. "Are you in pain? Is it your leg? Or is it your neck or back?" Roy tried asking him, taking a hold of his other shoulder. Jimmy Colorado gave a cry of dismay. Then he froze, taking in an unpleasant breath of discovery. "Guys, I can't hear you. At all. Are you yelling? I can't.....hear .... anything. I... my ears were ringing before. Now they're totally quiet!" he panicked in a rich sounding tenor voice. The paramedics saw that he wasn't even the slightest bit confused mentally from the blackout disorientation that they were used to seeing on people who finally decided to wake up for them. "Ok. ok.." Johnny said. "Just let me put this oxygen mask back on. It'll start slowing your heart down some. I'm going to check your ears out right now. Just try to relax. You're not hurt bad at all. We've just got you on a backboard and in a C-collar as a precaution." he pantomimed with two hands wrapped around his own neck to demonstrate what he was talking about visually. Jimmy's eyes took in the straps over his chest and the wires feeding the Tetronix display and a hand worked free to feel the oxygen mask sitting over his face tentatively. It was more Johnny's reassuring smile than his words that made the man settle a bit. Fright was still very highly evident on the EKG monitor, but Jimmy no longer tried moving his arms and legs. He was watching both paramedic's faces intently instead. Johnny knelt down with his penlight and check both ear canals. Then he looked up. "Roy, bleeding in both. Perforated eardrum on the left side. Contusions and swelling on the right." he reported. Then his hands slid under the collar to palpate the back of Jimmy's head. "There's no stiffness in his neck, or Battle's sign. Negative on CSF in any of this drainage." he said, looking at the reddish stains Jimmy's ears had left on the sand bags holding his head still. Roy took another blood pressure. "It's up. 140/100." Gage nodded and then he turned his attention back to communicating. He pulled out his writing pad and a pen. With it, he wrote Jimmy a few facts and asked a few questions while Roy slid the round glasses back onto his face so Jim could read the note being written for him. Jimmy gasped. "No, my neck and back don't hurt." he said, his eyes growing wide. "I just can't hear myself talk. But my knee's old news. I hurt it last week getting tossed off a horse. Are my ears going to be all right? You see, I'm a musician and I play and sing for a living." Johnny wrote. ~I know. I recognized you when we first got here. Just take it easy. Is it okay if we start an I.V. on you? The doctor we're gonna call may want one for you because you were knocked out for a while.~ "Yes. How long was I out?" fretted Jimmy. ~Around twenty minutes according to your boss.~ "Am I ok?" Mr. Colorado asked with alarm. ~You must have a very hard head. You're doing just fine, Mr. Colorado. But we were wondering about that wheeze you've got in your chest.~ Johnny wrote. "I'm not used to the California smog yet. I've a dust allergy. I've only been in the state for a couple of days so I guess it must be flaring up now." ~Do you have any other problems we should know about?~ Gage asked in words. "I've hypoactive thyroid in the wintertime. I take a pill for it when my energy's low." said Jim. ~Ok. How about pain. Are you in any?~ "My head, a little bit. Guess I cracked it when I flew backwards. And both of my ears are stinging badly. Is that why I can't hear anything?" ~The explosion put a hole in your left ear drum and bruised the right one. Once we get to Rampart General Hospital, a doctor will examine you much closer to see exactly what is causing your deafness right now. And he'll get you out of this contraption, too, after a couple of x-rays.~ Roy answered on the note pad after pointing to the longboard. |
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Jimmy sighed and closed his eyes. "All right. I hope they can fix whatever's wrong soon. Music's my life... Annie, my wife, will kill me if she finds out that I have to give any of that up." Gage tapped his shoulder again to show him another question. ~Do you want someone at the hospital to get a hold of Annie once we get there?~ "Yes. Could you arrange that?" Johnny nodded. "I want to thank you for caring for me like this. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd need a couple of Los Angeles County paramedics called out to look after me." Jimmy grinned. ~That's what we're here for, Mr. Colorado. Welcome to California.~ wrote Roy. Jimmy managed his first full smile and the racing audible heartbeat finally slowed to near normal. "I'm ...a little tired. I was up all night playing a gig with my new band. We were practicing for cutting a new record when I remembered that I had my first day of work to report to at the pier. I barely got here in time. Is it ok if I sleep a bit?" Johnny and Roy both nodded that it was safe for him to doze. Their patient relaxed instantly, his face going slack with released strain. His breathing evened out and his slight gasping went away. "He's a very busy man." Gage remarked to Roy. "I guess so. Who is he again?" "A famous country western singer. Remember the second song the chief played for us? That's his." "He still doesn't ring a bell." DeSoto said, looking at their patient's face again. "Roy, you need to get out of the house a little more. You're sure missing a whole lot." Johnny frowned, cutting away Jimmy's sleeve for his future I.V. "This young man here's gonna be as big as the Beatles someday. Mark my words. I got his first album and his second one, too, I think." Gage thought out loud. "Yeah, I played 'em both last month." "I may be behind on the music scene, but little else escapes me." DeSoto teased Johnny with a straight face. "You should loan me those records sometime. Joanne and I like to try new things every once in a while." "Deal. He's real good. You won't be disappointed." Roy got on his HT. "Squad 51 to L.A. Can I get an estimated time of arrival on our ambulance?" ##L.A. Squad 51. Mayfair Two reports an E.T.A. of four minutes to your location.## "Squad 51, L.A., 10-4. We'll be set. Our scene is safe." ##Squad 51.## Roy got switched over to the phone on top of his shoulder. "Rampart this is Rescue 5-1. How do you read me?" |
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********************************************************************* From : Derrick <rescueman1962@yahoo.com> Sent : Tuesday, January 17, 2006 12:46 AM Subject : Where The Silence Is There was a brief period of silence. "Rampart base, County 51. How do you read?" Roy repeated. ##Go ahead 51, this is Rampart. We read you loud and clear.# replied Dr. Early. "Rampart, we are at the scene of an explosion at an imports pier involving powdered chemicals. We have only one previously borderline critical patient at this time. Our victim is now a conscious and oriented late twenties to early thirties male trauma patient. He was thrown back onto his head from the force of the blast and was initially unresponsive for twenty minutes prior to our arrival. At this time, his chief complaint is stinging pain in both ears. On a scale of one to ten he rates his ear pain as a nine. "On examination, he has active bleeding in both ears with a possible perforated eardrum on the left ear and swelling in the right with profound early tinnitus and deafness. He has swelling in the right knee, now splinted, and facial contusions. But we have found negative findings of any stiffness in his neck, battle's sign, CSF fluid drainage, or signs of pain with his neck or back. There are no other injuries, past these, detected ..but we have him longboarded with a C-collar for his protection." said Roy. At Rampart, another doctor was with the carefully attentive Dr. Early. It was Dr. Brackett, listening in. They heard Roy add more to his radio conversation. "Vital signs were : BP 92/66, pulse 150 and regular, respirations twenty two with wheezes detected in all fields. We now have a BP of 140/100, pulse is 110 and regular, respirations are twelve and normal. His chest sounds like it's clearing. O2 saturation is at 98% on six liters of O2 via non-rebreather mask. On that right knee injury, it is from one week ago following a fall from a horse. He also expresses a history of hypothyroidism. He is allergic to dust and takes thyroid medications for his condition only occasionally. We request an I.V. and affirmative, I will be sending you a strip. Over." Dr. Early replied. ##Squad 51, do we know what chemicals were involved?## "Rampart, distilled powdered magnesium as far we can tell." Roy replied. ##51, are any of you or is your patient contaminated?" Dr. Early queried. "That's negative." Roy answered as Mayfair two's electronic wail siren tone shattered the air. "Rampart, this will be Lead II." Roy said as he sent the EKG strip over the radio. |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Joe Early and Kel read the strip as it came over the telemetry lines and they interpreted the rhythm to be mostly a normal sinus rhythm at a rate of one hundred ten without ectopi, with intermittent periods of sinus tachycardia. Kel thought. ::That's probably due to the fact that their patient's worried about his sudden loss of hearing. His vitals are too good for this reading to be anything else.:: Brackett saw that his mental conclusion matched Joe's by the expression on his face and they shared a look without needing to speak. Dr. Early replied. "51, start an I.V. of Lactated Ringers TKO at 30 to 60 cc/hr. Monitor for any changes and transport as soon as possible." Roy answered.##10-4, Rampart. Copy an I.V. of Ringers at 30 to 60 cc/hr, monitor patient vitals and transport. Our ambulance is here and our E.T.A. is twelve minutes.## he added. "10-4, 51." Dr. Early said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy had just gotten off the air with Rampart as Johnny double checked Jimmy Colorado's sensory, motor functions, and immobilization effectiveness to the long spineboard. He told Johnny. "Early wants Ringers, TKO." Then he handed him the I.V . bag, microdrip tubing, and a 20 gauge needle. He knew the reason for the infusion of small fluid volume to their patient was because of the fact that Jimmy might have sustained a head injury. It was his goal and Rampart's to prevent any swelling in his brain which could lead to disastrous consequences. That would change though if their patient went into a poor breathing shock level on the way in. Then Colorado would have to be rapid sequence intubated and hyperventilated as an increased intracranial pressure preventive measure and a faster flow on the I.V. would be dialed up. ~Okay, Mr. Colorado.~ Johnny wrote . ~I am going to start an I.V. on you. You're going to feel a big pinch here in your arm for a couple of seconds. That's just me putting the needle inside the the inner elbow vein in your arm.~ Colorado froze, looking away from the needle. His trepidation was plain on his face. Then came the sharp stick, ..but he didn't move. "Ow. That stung a little. But no worse than getting a shot at the doctor's though." Jimmy Colorado replied nervously, gasping as he released the breath he had been holding. ~Believe me, they do sting. I've had em', too.~ wrote Johnny Gage with a smile after he secured the I.V. catheter with tape to Jimmy Colorado's right arm while holding pressure on the lanced vein above it. Gage attached the I.V. bag and its drip set after he flushed out the tubing to the catheter. He adjusted the drip's rate after the fluid chamber was half filled to start the I.V.'s challenge. Mr. Colorado's face expressed relief the ordeal was over. "I truly hate needles. Sorry for flinching." Johnny then signaled Harold and Malcolm to move in with the stretcher. ~No problem. But I'm glad you felt that to tell you the truth. It means you're waking up well for us and have absolutely no signs of upper body paralysis to speak of.~~ he joked on his notepad. In a test, Colorado wiggled his toes to reassure himself and the paramedics both that he was still fine the rest of the way down, too. |
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Gage smiled at that and looked up at the waiting ambulance attendants who quickly picked up the longboard after dropping the foot guard flat on their mattressed stretcher. "Guys, he was in an explosion and got knocked off his feet. He has injuries to his ears, possibly the head, and a bum knee that he got last week. We got loose dressings to both ears, just that knee splint, and he's on light O2. He's pegged for a continuous read on the monitor and will remain fully immobilized. Note that we're going to Rampart and it's a rush. Be careful." he told them. Chief McConnikee walked up to check on the progress of his favorite bar singer. He examined the loading scene and said to Roy as he was picking up the biocom and trauma kit to hand to him. "How's he doing?" "He seems to be doing better now. We're taking him to Rampart and we'll know a lot more later. But I think he's got nothing serious that can't be repaired or healed, most likely." said Roy. "Before you go, I want to warn you that as big as he is getting, there will be a ton of media at the hospital. Maintain your silence about meeting him, both of you, unless he personally says you can do otherwise." The Chief told them as his eyebrows furrowed with a straight face. "I'll be back at the station in a couple of hours to tell you how to report his run in the logs to fully protect his privacy to prevent someone in our internal departments from leaking his misfortune to the papers." he added. "I'll drive the squad in." Johnny told his partner. "Get to know him, Roy." he grinned. "Here's a once in a lifetime chance that I'm just handing out to you. Remember that." "See you there." Roy said unimpressed, as he and Malcolm stepped inside the ambulance to transport Jimmy Colorado to the hospital. Vince Howard arrived at Roy and Johnny's location and gave the ambulance the all clear, double slap signal as the ambulance pulled away with red lights and siren towards Rampart with the squad leading the way. McConnikee afforded one more look of concern for their young, rising, from out of state singer. Then he put his white helmet back on and strode back to work on the long hazmat cleanup ahead with engine 51 and the other units covering the incident. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Their Mayfair's arrival at Rampart took a couple minutes longer than expected because of the strong head winds and low visibility from blowing dust that slowed down the squad and ambulance's speed as they travelled. They also had a couple of unexpected obstacles to overcome, like a windblown trash can and a road strewn cord of firewood that some motorist had lost unintentionally that had blocked lanes of traffic. However, Roy's celebrity patient remained stable throughout transport and there were no unforeseen events. When they arrived at Rampart, the emergency entrance looked like a used car lot with three squads and four ambulances parked there. ::It looks like business is still picking up.:: thought Roy. ::I wonder how busy it is now.:: |
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