Calls involving your family

[larry cook]

I seen a post here asking about worst calls you have been on. one was about close friends. I once did cpr on my mom and other family members while on duty. In rural EMS and volunteer fire depts, this often occurs and it is never easy. It is something that I hope no one ever has to do. To all who do, it is one of the toughest calls that you will ever handle. Yet, we all do our best on every call. Have many of yall had to answer these type of calls?

[Captain Gonzo]

When I was assigned to Rescue 1, we had a EMS call at the home of a close family friend. When we arrived, the kids were outside crying. My wife's best friend's mother was in cardiac arrest. We immediately began CPR and although the ambulance and ALS were just a minute or two out, those few minutes seemed to take an eternity. Unfortunately, she was in asystole when the medics arrived and she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

When a situation likes this happens, you put your personal involvement aside and your professional side takes over. That and CISD help to get us through these difficult calls.



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Firefighters: Today's heroes protecting everyone's tomorrows!
Captain Gonzo

[Fire Eater 07]

When i first started in the fire service i volunteered for a small community, we had to work a full arrest on one of our board members in about 14 inches of snow...we lost a great friend that night.
Now, everytime my wife gets off work and the tones drop for an entrapment my heart drops a beat or two, thank the Lord its never been for her

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Engine / Squad Co.# 7

[Nick SBFD 6]

I have a grandfather who is in failing health who lives in our town. This is the most dreaded call I can think of, I even had a nightmare about it once. But I got a taste of the grief about a month ago. Our town is real small (7000 residents) and there is a restaurant where we all go to eat we are all pretty close and last month the old woman who worked at the cash register went into arrest, on scene it wasn't bad because you are focused on the job, but at the hospital when her family who you all know well showed up it was hard. I think these are the worst calls you can go to.

-Nick

[Ford45]

its always hard to get hit out on an address that you know. you can never get to the station fast enough. Thank God I've never been to something REALLY bad at a friend or family members' house, but you never know whats going to happen or when. its always something to think about. Well, with any luck mine will hold out. I just like to think that if it ever did happen, I'd be able to keep my kewl and do the best i can. Peace.

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Matt
Newtown Fire Association
Station 45

[daysleeper47]

I have a buddy that is a cop, but it is the same thing...one of the reasons he chose to work 30 minutes from where he lives was because no one he knew lived even remotely close to the town. He didn't want to have to report to a familiar address for any kind of call, whether it be criminal, medical, fire, or anything. I can't even imagine having to respond to an addres of someone you know, finding a situation you don't want to face, but as a professional, you have to. I give anyone a massive amount of credit who ever had to go through something like that.

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Joe
Daysleeper47
"When the bell goes ding-ding, its time to get on the woo-woo."
"Dusting desire - starting to learn. Walking through fire with out a burn..."
Youngstown Fire Department

[Tanker06]

Luckily I have not had a call to someone's house that I know, but I did avert one call purely by luck.
I went over to see my grandmother, who was starting to suffer from the effects of both Alzheimers & Parkinson's. I walked into the kitchen (where the door is located) and into a fairly good haze of smoke that seemed to be coming from the stove area. I could see a glow as I approached the stove, and found that she (for whatever reason) had turned on the burner (electric range) with the wooden potholder (put hot pots directly on the tables for serving) still laying across the burners. (She kept it there for some reason.) I grabbed the one side not burning and tossed it into the sink, where I doused it with the potwasher extension. After ventilating the kitchen, I went to find them, finding my grandfather asleep in the living room in his chair, and she was watching a game show on TV. The smoke hadn't banked enough to creep into the living room to activate the SD. (And I found that she had taken the battery out of the kitchen detector, "because it kept beeping at her!"
Almost!

[spo0k]

As bad as it would be to run on the final run to your close family, I think it must be convenient to be readily available for those "our daughter is throwing up too much" times when you have to just tell your wife to deal with it. There are many times when I wish I could just stop by home to make sure everything is ok....



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FF. Mike Burnes
Whitehall Fire Division

[mike021]

I've cared for a few of my relatives. Treated and transported my great grand mom, she died a few days later. Then treated and transported my grandfather for chest pains. Then had a friend of the family that is pretty much my little sister, go into res. arrest, but she was breathing before we got there thank god, then a year or 2 later her little sister had a febrial seizure also and did the same thing right in front of my, I did some rescue breathing for her and she came back around. I can honestly say that I have been calm, for some reason I can do that on ambulance calls and fires thank god. Oh and once my cousin passed out while I was close by. Man I don't have a healthy family huh?

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Norwood Fire Co. No. 1
http://www.nfco1.freeservers.com