I love my job!

[KMG_365]

It's not always all that great, but it's never boring and definitely a front seat on life. First call out the chute only 40 minutes into my 24 hour shift we're called for a "sick patient" and arrive to find a 72YOF with a long Hx: of illness . . . half out of bed who presents with Rigor Mortis. Poor husband had no idea and thought she wasn't responding normally this morning.

 

Then at lunch today: 54YOM with no heart or other significant medical Hx: (other than smoking a pack a day for years) presents at a construction site with pronounced S/S of a "Heart Attack". The patent walks up to me as I'm exiting the ambulance and I can almost Dx: it from 10 yards away: crappy skins and a positive Levine's Sign. He's telling me he's got "crushing chest pain", his left arm is going numb and he can't breathe . . . he's a tough guy who's looking pretty scared. I sit him down on the gurney and we lay into him like a pack of wild dogs: it's nothing but assholes and elbows in our cozy little office, yet it's a well choreographed and practiced fast tango. We're all on the same page and we flow through the steps of the ACLS Protocol knowing the clock is ticking and his time is quickly running out. The 12-lead EKG basically confirms the "holy crap!" Dx: so much elevation in leads V2-V5 they look like the aptly named "tombstones" on the paper strip. We're boogieing now: Rx: "MONA greets all chest pain" (Morphine, Oxygen, Nitroglycerin, Aspirin) with 4x NTG and 8mg MSO4 en route to the ER "Code 3". On arrival at the cath lab: 100% occlusion of the Left Anterior Descending coronary artery (LAD, aka: the widowmaker), time from "911 to balloon" in 42 minutes! He coded once during the "angioplasty" procedure (his heart stopped beating and he went into ventricular fibrillation, which they were able to easily fix with electricity), but his coronary circulation was fully restored and as of earlier tonight: he is still in "stable status" in the ICU. Assuming no other complications he'll be going home soon.

 

I hope this brush with death gives him a new appreciation for life and that his "new lease" allows him to enjoy many more happy years with friends and family.

 

And I hope those of you who are still smoking WILL FINALLY QUIT! I don't love my job THAT much . . . and an ounce of prevention . . . .

[Rinkydink]

Great job!! I can only imagine the satisfaction that brings a person to flirt with the end and have a successful outcome. Keep up the good work.

 

Smoking has got to be one of the harder vices to quit as I watched it kill my mother yet my three brothers still light up daily despite their own bypasses etc etc etc. I sure am glad I couldn't inhale a cig when I was young or I would probably be right there with them.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Smoking has got to be one of the harder vices to quit as I watched it kill my mother yet my three brothers still light up daily despite their own bypasses etc etc etc. I sure am glad I couldn't inhale a cig when I was young or I would probably be right there with them.

 

I once knew a guy who had been addicted, on separate occasions, to heroin and cigarettes.

 

He said it was easier to quit the heroin.

[smiller]

Tombstones, widowmakers... got to love that office humor...

 

Great job Jamie!

[Joel]

Great work! I hope I never need the assist, but it is good to know that dedicated folks like you are out there to provide it.

 

And I hope those of you who are still smoking WILL FINALLY QUIT!

 

Amen.

[jimfastcar]

Thanks Jamie

[Woodie]

WAY TO GO! I LOVE SAVES!

 

42 minutes is pretty damn impressive!

 

[Firefight911]

I wanna go back to work!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AZKomet]

Great job there KMG.....in addition to my l/e work I was and am still a medic. I teach @ Mayo and other valley hospitals and preach about the dangers of smoking and its affects.

 

The LAD is indeed the widow maker......and 100% occlusion is deadly and I am amazed this man was walking and talking. Those tombstone "T's" you speak of are ominous and warrant immediate action and I love the pack of dogs statement!!! LOL

 

In AZ the ideal time is 10 min from door to doc and some areas allow the medics to bypass the ER and head straight to the cath lab with 12 lead in tow.

 

Some people have no idea of the assisitance EMS brings to them by dx and taking immediate actions to save lives.

 

I cringe at all of the sports freaks who stand behind their team and want more pay to a guy who makes millions by throwing a ball all the while people like you deserve that hefty pay raise and more.

 

Outstanding job here my friend...if I were there I would shake your hand and maybe even a brotherly hug!

 

 

[Tank]

Jamie. Its been ten years since my last cig.

 

Every once in a while..... but I don't

[Lineareagle]

And I hope those of you who are still smoking WILL FINALLY QUIT! I don't love my job THAT much . . . and an ounce of prevention . . . . frown

 

And might I add

Always call EMS 911 DO NOT try to drive someone to the hospital!

More people arrive dead with the help of friends.

 

Our cardio docs always look at the fingers of the patient to see how much nicotine staining they see. Lots of sad shaking of heads on occasion, it is that bad for you folks.

 

Plus a little realized phenom, nicotine will give you bladder and testicular cancer as well. My barber had it ALL removed, and he still smokes. Talk about hazardous life style.

[Jacqueline]

I'll make sure someone see this

[Firefight911]

I'll make sure someone see this

 

And toss in a brief history lesson from his recent trip through the medical scare gauntlet, would ya?

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

 

 

For those who haven't seen 'em, here's a few tombstones:

[Boone60]

Oh you guys kick butt.

 

[wsg112]

It's been 15 years since I quit cold turkey. Maybe three years ago noticed some blood in my urine. Great! Bladder cancer, of course immediately blamed on the cigarettes!! Surgery and a few complications but at 63 I feel great and ready to ride for many more years.

[yabadabapal]

You (whoever you are) are amazing. And that is one amazing story.

Thank you.

[upflying]

My father (1923-1991) was a three pack a day Camel smoker for years. He passed suddenly from an aortic aneurysm. Although he was smart, educated and intelligent, caring for himself was not part of his daily regimen.

Thankfully, I never started smoking.

[g_frey]

I reckon that depends on the service. Here in Montana we are often many miles from a hospital. Whether we die waiting on the ambulance or die in a car en route seems immaterial. Often the smaller towns have volunteer medics. This means that it can be a 25 minute or more wait to arrival time. Several years back a local druggie? crashed his pickup into our building while unconscious. Doing the right thing by calling the ambulance crew resulted in a 25 minute arrival time, then add transport time to the hospital ONE BLOCK AWAY??? We could have rolled the pickup there in 5 minutes or carried the guy there in 3??? You never know.

[KMG_365]

Tombstones, widowmakers... got to love that office humor...

Thanks for the kind words folks, but I really should stress that it was truly a very large TEAM effort--I just got to have a seat at the front of the bus!

 

San Diego County definitely has "issues" with many aspects of Public Safety, but despite some serious challenges, the one thing we have going for us is a pretty good Emergency Medical System in the populated areas. I love being able to bring over half of an Emergency Room to your bedside in under 6 minutes over 90% of the time . . . but it's the rest of the system that "clinches the save".

 

It starts with public education about not waiting out potential warning signs and not trying to drive to the Hospital. This is by far our biggest challenge because so much of it is outside of our control. But if we can get the public to call 911 ASAP, thanks to the advancements in technology and refinements in our EMS system, the odds of survival increase by powers of ten.

 

For life-threatening events (like sudden cardiac arrest) we call it "The Chain Of Survival" and each link in the chain is critical for success: early access (get us coming ASAP), early CPR (keep their heart muscle alive until we get there), early defibrillation (with good CPR there's viable heart tissue to work with allowing the electricity to do it's job), and early advanced care (pre-hospital Advanced Life Support on scene and rapid transport to the ER or cath lab, etc.).

 

It starts with early recognition and early access to the 911 system. Don't wait to call--that's why we're here! I always tell my patients (who frequently waited hours to call me) that I'd rather get woken up for the third time that night to tell them they've got indigestion, than be called the next morning to throw my entire drugbox at them in a vain attempt to bring them back from a PREVENTABLE event. Running joke in EMS: Q: What's the first sign of a Heart Attack in a middle-aged male? A: Denial.

 

When you call you get a dispatcher trained in Emergency Medical Dispatch procedures with the ability to do at least four things at once. Good EMD's are rare and amazing people and we're lucky to have some really good ones in my system. They simultaneously listen to your story, locate you, see what units are closest and available, ask many questions to ascertain the specific problem, dispatch the appropriate units and give us a description of what to expect, give the caller First Aid medical direction if needed and other instructions to assist us upon our arrival, track our progress throughout the call and then immediately fill in the gaps in coverage so that no one else has to wait for service. The rest of the chain is above in the OP.

 

Re our gallows office humor, yes, it is a way to deal with difficult situations, but also sometimes pretty descriptive. For example, The Widow Maker earned it's title by the fact that it frequently strikes middle-aged males with little to no known heart history as their first heart attack and is so frequently fatal.

 

 

"Tombstones" are so named because they resemble a tombstone on the EKG tracing and imagine it stuck because of the associated poor prognosis of the patient who presents with them.

 

*** Tombstone ST elevation is an acute finding in extensive acute myocardial infarction (AMI, heart attack] particularly associated with occlusion of a high-grade stenosis of the proximal LAD (usually with involvement of more than one artery)

 

One study investigated 124 patients with AMI who subsequently underwent angiography. In this population, 24 (19%) patients had a definite tombstoning pattern on their admission ECG. Compared with non-tombstoning ECGs, the significant differences in the tombstoning group are as follows: Clin Cardiol. 2000 23(5):347-52

 

1. All patients, including those with inferior infarction, had either total or partial occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery (100 vs. 44%, p < 0.0001)

 

2 LAD occlusions were significantly more severe and mostly proximal (100% occlusion: 50 vs. 20.5%, p = 0.02; <50% occlusion: 0 vs. 15.9% p = 0.039; proximal occlusion: 92 vs. 65%, p = 0.017)

 

3 patients with tombstoning ECGs had a significantly greater incidence of occlusion of all three coronary arteries (54.1 vs. 22%, p = 0.001)

 

4. tombstone ECGs were more strongly associated with anterior than with inferior infarction (83.3 vs. 33%, p < 0.0001)

 

 

This characteristic tombstone pattern is also classified as grade III (Sclarovsky-Birnbaum score) indicating the poorer outcome Isr J Med Sc 26 1990 535–533.

 

 

Here's what a tombstone EKG looks like with a LAD occlusion (similar to the one we saw):

 

 

Here's what 100% blockage of the LAD would look like on the Angiograph:

 

 

Here's another tracing from an RCA AMI showing pretty clear tombstones:

 

 

For comparison, here's what a normal one would look like:

 

[upflying]

No problem with the gallows humor. Cops also make humor of the misfortune of others as a means to relieve stress..outside the earshot of the public of course.

I am absolutely amazed at the amount of medical knowledge shared here. I have renewed appreciation for the work by EMS, fire, paramedics when they show up to intense stages of controlled mass confusion at crash scenes.

Threads like this motivates me to exercise and eat well. One only wonders what hidden dangers are going on inside my body right now.

A couple of mentions of "the widow maker" made me think of a motorcycle that also acquired that same nickname. I am sure most of you recall the deadly handling 1969 Kawasaki Mach III.

 

[AZKomet]

Those are one ugly 12 lead EKG and pics!!

[John_Hendriksen]

Wow! Bravo!

 

I wonder, what is your feeling about defibrillator's in the workplace? Have you had any experience with trained, yet not EMT's and their ability to use them?

 

I ask as a business owner. You see, we've been getting pitches to add these units to our medical/first aid department.

 

Just wondering...

[Firefight911]

Defibrillators, or more aptly, AEDs are an invaluable resource. AEDs are designed for the lay person. One thing to make sure, should you opt to get one, is that you get the most recent algorhythm. They have changed and you need the current one. Get the voice prompted style.

 

They are also not cheap but nor is the life saved by having one.

[Boone60]

Defibrillators, or more aptly, AEDs are an invaluable resource. AEDs are designed for the lay person. One thing to make sure, should you opt to get one, is that you get the most recent algorhythm. They have changed and you need the current one. Get the voice prompted style.

 

They are also not cheap but nor is the life saved by having one.

 

I just renewed training on the AED last week, it's so easy even I can do it.

[pbharvey]

 

I'm sure some days are more interesting than others....

 

news health

Rescue Team Uses Saw to Free Trapped Penis

Sparks fly when a trapped penis is freed from a dumbell ring.

By JONATHAN LLOYD

Updated 10:23 AM PDT, Thu, Sep 24, 2009

 

 

It's unlikely anybody on the Costa Mesa Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue team signed up for this.

 

The highly trained team usually responds to calls involving people trapped in structures and vehicles. On Tuesday, squad members responded to a trapped penis.

 

In an ill-conceived attempt to increase the size of his member, a man placed his penis through the "hole of a steel, ring-shaped dumbbell weight fastener," according to the Daily Pilot. The fasteners are used to secure weight plates on dumbbell bars.

 

"They said his comment was, 'This will make me the chief of my tribe,'" Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Scott Broussard told the Pilot.

 

 

It did -- if becoming chief of the tribe means restricting blood flow and causing one's penis to swell to the point that the device cannot be removed. When he arrived at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, doctors tried to convince the man he needed immediate treatment.

 

That's where the multi-skilled urban search and rescue team and a surgical saw came in. The Pilot reported that squad members cut through the inch-thick ring -- producing sparks that flew across the room -- during a two-hour process.

 

"They also slid a little piece of metal between the collar and his thing, so if it slipped past it wouldn’t hit his thing," Broussard told the Pilot.

 

Keith Jones, deputy fire chief in Costa Mesa, told the OC Register that the man's penis remained fully intact.

 

First Published: Sep 24, 2009 7:29 AM PD

[motoguy128]

... and to the skill of rescue teams and modern medicine, this shining example of the gene pool will be able to go on and reproduce... if he hasn't already. Yikes!

 

 

[motoguy128]

And I hope those of you who are still smoking WILL FINALLY QUIT! I don't love my job THAT much . . . and an ounce of prevention . . . . frown

 

And might I add

Always call EMS 911 DO NOT try to drive someone to the hospital!

More people arrive dead with the help of friends.

 

Does that hold true if you live exactly 1.0 mile from the hospital (2.5 minutes if I stop at the 3 stops sings between there and my house, 2 minutes if I roll through them and drive "expeditously" ), but the ambulance is sually either parked on the highway 3 miles away, or the hospital, a 2 mile sround trip and the fire department is 2 miles away and the police patrol distance is unknown.

 

This is assuming the person can be moved, is relatively stable and conscious, and doesn't require extracation, or special stabilization like a back board. I suppose I'm adding a lot of exceptions. Obviously I would not transport a fimialy member if CPR is being administered.

 

Just curious what you'd recommend in that case. I know my situation is probably unique being in a small community. I do agree that in most metro and even rural areas, it's much better to call 911. But just wondering if there are some exceptions when you can get to the hosptial significantly faster than EMS could even respond.

[motoguy128]

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

 

 

For those who haven't seen 'em, here's a few tombstones:

 

What exactly does that mean physically. Are the heart muscles contracting and "holding" rather than constracting and releasing. Or are the electrical nerve impulses to the heart muscles peaking and holding there, but not getting a response from the muscle?

 

 

On the AED's. I believe all large aquatic facility as well as schools and fitness centers in msot states are required to have them. I'd like to see a law, if there's isn't one already requires them at any building designed to hold more than say 50 people. So places like supermakets, theaters, large restaurants. Would that be realistic and useful? I could see in the future, having them in outdoor public areas with a camera system that psoitively records a persons face image and a biometric recording system, like a thumprint recording device to open the cabinet it's stored in to prevent theft. So anyone has access but it will be cloer who took it. Not so different from and ATM machine really. Is there any thing like that in the works?

[KMG_365]

52 Y.O. male, no heart history and passed his Stress Test this am at his cardiologist with flying colo(u)rs. This evening is playing tennis and collapses on the court. Good bystander CPR prior to our arrival, quick access to 911, quick response of EMS crews, first arriving crew finds him in Ventricular Fibrillation (V-Fib), shock him once, he converts, grabs my engineers hands (who was compressing his chest), sits up, and then within a minute or two proceeds to code again.

 

We shock him a second time and he converts again into a rapid Atrial Fibrillation at about 140 beats per minute with a great blood pressure and is talking coherently, buy the time I and my partner get on scene. The first arriving medic is already giving him an anti-arrhythmic medication to quiet his irritable heart tissue down a bit. We whisk him off to the cath lab and give some aspirin en route.

 

He says he remembers the sudden onset of chest pain and grasping at the chain link fence. Then he's lying on the tennis court with a bunch of medics looking down on him. He stayed stable for the rest of the call and shortly after we delivered him to the ER he had converted again into a normal rhythm (with only a few FLB's, aka "Funny Looking Beats" )

 

Here is a perfect expression of the chain of survival. Without early recognition, early notification, early and consistent CPR, and early ALS including defibrillation, this 52 year old man could be dead tonight. Instead, when we left him in the ER he said his chest was still sore, but otherwise he felt fine. It was weird to tell him that he had just died . . . twice, but his friends, his family, and his tax dollars--not to mention the friendly folks from "the government"--had saved his life.

 

Everyone should LEARN CPR and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED)! Contact your Fire Department and find out when their next CPR/AED classes are and if they don't teach them find out why not!

 

We're from the government . . . and we really ARE here to help!

[randys]

sounds like stress tests are a problem! (sort of tounge in cheek)

[AZKomet]

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

 

 

For those who haven't seen 'em, here's a few tombstones:

 

What exactly does that mean physically. Are the heart muscles contracting and "holding" rather than constracting and releasing. Or are the electrical nerve impulses to the heart muscles peaking and holding there, but not getting a response from the muscle?

 

 

On the AED's. I believe all large aquatic facility as well as schools and fitness centers in msot states are required to have them. I'd like to see a law, if there's isn't one already requires them at any building designed to hold more than say 50 people. So places like supermakets, theaters, large restaurants. Would that be realistic and useful? I could see in the future, having them in outdoor public areas with a camera system that psoitively records a persons face image and a biometric recording system, like a thumprint recording device to open the cabinet it's stored in to prevent theft. So anyone has access but it will be cloer who took it. Not so different from and ATM machine really. Is there any thing like that in the works?

 

http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/ecg/ecg_outline/Lesson9/index.html

 

http://www.tveatch.org/ekgs/pqrst.html

 

The T wave is the recovery phase of the ventricles, not getting enough O2 will cause abnormalities in the T wave due to tissue death. The less O2 the higher the T. If one sees this on an ECG then the chances of death are pretty close if immediate action is not taken.

 

As KMG pointed out the stress test is not always 100%. However, it can be a diagnostic tool that can assist with CV problems that are undetected.

 

I would advise any male over 50 to get:

 

 

Chem 20 panel to include a C-Reactive Protein and Homocysteine level (the latter 2 are not routine and some physicians are not privy to them as a diagnostic value)

 

A stress test

12 lead EKG

a 64 slice heart quick scan

 

These are simple painless tests that can save your life or that of a loved one. Check with you health care provider to see what their advice is...

 

[motoguy128]

So the 12 leads pick up singls from 6 locations on different heart muscles?

 

I'm trying to understand most of this a little better. Our 5 month old daugther has had her heart checked due to several risk factors for heart defects and abnormalities. everythign has come out clena, including the 12 lead EKG, having a "Halter" placed on her for 14hours with a recording device... hat was done twice. She's also had X-rays and an Echo-Caridogram (ultrasound of the heart). So far eveything looks fine and she's a normally very, very active baby, but she still has a high heart rate.

 

So even the specialist (Pediatric Cardiologist) is a little perplexed as to why it's still high when the blood chemistry, and all other tests appear normal. Itst' kind of a wait any see... which doesn't make us, the parents, feel any better.

 

 

 

Anyay, thanks for the information.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On the AED's. I believe all large aquatic facility as well as schools and fitness centers in msot states are required to have them. I'd like to see a law, if there's isn't one already requires them at any building designed to hold more than say 50 people. So places like supermakets, theaters, large restaurants. Would that be realistic and useful?

 

My understanding is that they don't work very often. OTOH, when they do work, someone's life is saved.

 

Here's dramatic video footage of one in action. Australian life guards were gathered for a photo shoot when a Japanese tourist suffered spontaneous cardiac arrest while in the water. With the help of an AED they brought him back from the dead, and the whole thing was caught on video. Very profound to watch.

 

(click "HQ" below the video window to watch in high quality)

[JustJean]

I'm so glad you did say something about an SOB again! It's so confusing! Glad it all worked out for him. We are trying to line up a CPR class for our company now.

[lawnchairboy]

It is my understanding that some of the newer aed's have the ability for program updates so that new units don't need to be purchased often... Oh yeah, great save Jaime

[Laura]

Nice job, Jamie. You guys and gals are angels on earth and I only hope that if I'm ever in need I get someone as skilled and compassionate as you.

 

Smoking has got to be one of the harder vices to quit as I watched it kill my mother yet my three brothers still light up daily despite their own bypasses etc etc etc. I sure am glad I couldn't inhale a cig when I was young or I would probably be right there with them.

 

So very true. My mom was dying of lung cancer at 69. She was a multiple pack a day smoker all of her life and until the day she could no longer hold a ciggie she lit up. My brother, the only one of the 5 of us siblings who still smokes (I quit 12 years ago) is 52. He just had a heart attack and now has a stint in his artery. He was lucky....he went to the emergency room with pains in his back, he thought his back was out. When his chiroprator was closed that day he decided to drive to the emergency room. His comment is that he learned that you never want to be the most important person in the ER. We're all grateful he's still with us and he has quit smoking (so far).

 

Jamie, thanks for all you do. The fact that you love it is a bonus and a blessing for you and all of those in need.

[bmrbuddy]

Jamie,what a wonderful post. I certainly don't smoke but have had heart problems all my life. It is a huge comfort to know there are competent people like you looking out for us. Working in a hospital for the past 23 years, we have always been educated in CPR. After so many years, it seems that I have taken that for granted. This was just a reminder of how important CPR knowledge should is to all of us. It can save a life, an adult or a child's.

[AZKomet]

On the AED's. I believe all large aquatic facility as well as schools and fitness centers in msot states are required to have them. I'd like to see a law, if there's isn't one already requires them at any building designed to hold more than say 50 people. So places like supermakets, theaters, large restaurants. Would that be realistic and useful?

 

My understanding is that they don't work very often. OTOH, when they do work, someone's life is saved.

 

Here's dramatic video footage of one in action. Australian life guards were gathered for a photo shoot when a Japanese tourist suffered spontaneous cardiac arrest while in the water. With the help of an AED they brought him back from the dead, and the whole thing was caught on video. Very profound to watch.

 

(click "HQ" below the video window to watch in high quality)

 

 

Mitch, the AED when properly applied can be one's best bet. The ACLS protocol now is CPR and early defib. At Phx Sky Harbor the AED's have a 100 % save rate. Water is not a good thing to have on the body when these are used though.....

 

They only look for the 2 fatal rhythms: v-fib and v-tach. Anything else is not shockable to include asystole.

[AZKomet]

The SA node is the primary electrical signal maker in the heart. All heart cells are capable of firing but that is another lesson. You don't say how high the rate is for your 5 month old. Babies often have higher rates than adults....but how many BPM's is too high?

 

If all tests come back normal and the cardiologist is not too concerned then sounds like all is ok......

 

A twelve lead looks at various aspects of the heart's electrical firing system in different areas of the heart, septal, anterior, inferior, lateral, etc. The significance of this is the areas of the heart that may have an abnormal signal and therfore interfere with the beats.

 

It also tells of an area that may be infarcted. It is good to know what you want to know, but it is also a science that is not perfect and not always correct. I would hope that you ask the cardiologist for a detailed account of the 12 lead and that will put your mind to rest.

 

Hope all goes well with your child as they are very precious things indeed.

[KMG_365]

Well I guess things go in threes. Yesterday morning we had a structure fire in a small one-bedroom cottage/bungalow. The kitchen was fully involved and the couch in the livingroom was also going. I was the third guy back on the hose line (behind the two newbies) and they got knock-down in short order. On arrival, a bystander told me that when he tried putting water on the couch on fire through the front door, he scared the owner's cat back into the house. Being as the house was so small, the newbies had already gotten the upper hand and the smoke was starting to lift, I did a quick primary survey and found the cat unconscious in the back corner of the closet under some burned clothing that had fallen down. She was only breathing shallowly a few times a minute and dripping a lot of sooty drool, but I got her out quickly and started her on 100% oxygen. Our local Pacific Animal Welfare Society (P.A.W.S.) had donated three sizes of animal oxygen administration masks to us a few years ago, and I'll be damned if this isn't the third time we've had a successful resuscitation using them!

 

The cat didn't have too many obvious burns, just a lot of soot around her mouth and nose. Things in the room were melted from the ceiling down about two feet, so it had gotten pretty hot. She probably just had smoke inhalation and had succumbed to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. Her heart was racing, but fortunately she hadn't stopped breathing yet.

 

After about 5-7 minutes of high flow O2 the cat started breathing better and even began to stir a bit. Our PD's Animal Control Officer offered to transport the cat to the larger Emergency Vet 12 miles away as that was the best choice for a Sunday morning. I rigged up a hose to the O2 regulator to flow into the cage and secured everything in the truck for transport to the vet. When the Officer returned our equipment to us later that day, he said the cat looked great when he left and the vet thought it would make a full recovery. The owner lived alone with his cat.

[motoguy128]

That's a nice save. Obviously people are you first priority, but I suspect the cat was important to his owner since he lived alone. I think it's great that you have the equipment help small animals if needed.

 

I'll admit that before I got married, living alone and new to a small town, my 2 cats were my best friends.

[TEWKS]

Nice job Jamie!

 

Not sure if I ever told the story about one of our guys & his cat incident. Similar situation, one room fire with the rest of the house fully charged with smoke. He’s in doing a sweep of a bedroom when he comes across something that turned out to be the family cat. It was dead.

 

While this is going on, the home owners show up & were understandably frantic about their pet. The captain was reassuring them that the men would do everything they could to find their cat.

 

Meanwhile back in the room, the guy comes across the same cat again. Frustrated because he thought he had something, he tosses the cat out an open window. Betcha can guess where it landed; yup, about ten feet from where the captain & worried pet owners were standing.

 

That was not a good PR day.

 

 

Pat

 

[Polo]

I put out my last cigarette 26 years ago.

 

I went all out, I've never put another cigarette in my mouth. For me smoking is like a pregnancy; you can't be a little pregnant, nor could I have just one cigarette.

 

Now, if I could just do something about the heroin, the crack, picking fights at biker bars, and other miscelaneous bad habits, I'd have it made...

 

I trust there's someone like you and your buddies around Austin.

 

Kudos Jamie.