Sdiver
02-11-2007, 20:46
I just have to share this, about something that happened at work last night.
My partner and I just cleared from a call we ran on the north end of town, and were told by our dispatch that we could go and post in an area in the central part of town. We get to this area, and I ask my partner if she needs to go anywhere while we're here. She tells me to hit this one 7-11 we normally go to. For those of you familiar with Denver, it's a 7-11 on the corner of Federal and W. 26th ave. ....... yeah. :rolleyes:
So we pull into this 7-11, and my partner jumps out, runs inside, grabs something to drink and warms up her dinner. She's in there for about 5-6 minutes. She comes back out, jumps in the truck and I'm about to pull out, to head to another area we like to sit at. Just as I put the truck in gear, this POS white chevy pulls up in front of us.
I turn to partner and ask her, "Okay, what's wrong with this picture?" The car was being driven by a Hispanic female, NOT wearing her seat belt and talking on a cell phone. She had two small kids in the back seat, in what appeared to be no child seats, but I later found out they were in child seats. We just shake our heads and think.....some people. :rolleyes:
So anyway, this woman stops her car in front of us and gets out. She makes eye contact with me and starts walking over. She was in her early 20's and at first glance...pregnant. So she does the Prego walk over to our rig and in a very soft voice asks me..."Excuse me, may I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead." I respond, thinking she was just going to ask for directions.
She very softly says, "Um, I'm in labor and am having contractions."
Not only was she pregnant....she was VERY pregnant.
I look over at my partner Amber, and she looks at me and we both mouth...OH SHIT !!!
So both of us jump out and start in on the questions, as we're walking her to the back of the rig.
"How far along are you?"
"35 weeks" she says.
Oh Shit !!!
I reach down and start feeling her belly, and yes, the little guy has turned. He has hooked up, checked equipment and is standing in the door.
"Has your water broke?"
"I don't know, but I've been peeing like crazy." she responds.
OH SHIT !!!!
So we get 'ol pergo lady in the back of the rig, Amber hops in, breaks out our OB kit and I start getting mom-to-be ready. Covering her lower half with a sheet and helping her get her pants and underwear off. While I'm doing this, Amber is timing the contractions....50 seconds at 1 minute and 10 seconds apart.
OH SHIT !!!
I run back up front and get on the radio....
"210 with emergent traffic."
"210, go ahead."
"210, we're at the 7-11 on the corner of Federal and W. 26th, with a female that approached us, in labor and having contractions. We'll be transporting to Rose medical here momentarily. I also need PD here to take care of 2 small children the pt has in the back of her vehicle. We are unable to take them with us."
"210 copy."
Now the fun begins.....:munchin
One of the little girls in the back of the car is loosing her mind and bawling her head off, wondering where mommy went, and the other one is fast asleep. So I run over to the car to get the kids. But guess what, mom locked the doors when she got out of the car and left the keys in the ignition with the engine running. I run back to the ambulance and ask the pt if she has another set of keys. Of course she doesn't.
Oh shit !!!!
I'm on an ambulance that doesn't carry tools such as a crow bar, or Halligan tool, so my mind starts racing, thinking of what I can do to get these doors open. Of course breaking the glass to one of the windows is right up top. I try all four doors and yes, they're all locked or jammed in some way.
mean while, my dispatch is calling me on my radio....
"210....210"
"210 go a head."
"210, PD needs to know what type of vechile the pt is driving?"
WTF !!!!! The pt isn't driving any vehicle, she's in the back of our ambulance about to have a baby.....that's what I thought, NOT what I said.
"It's a white 4 door Chevy. Colorado License plate, 123-ABC. It's sitting in the parking lot of our location, engine running and doors locked, with 2 small children in the back."
"210, copy."
Off I go to try the doors again. I found that one of the doors in the back was somewhat ajar and I was able to get my handy, dandy, trusty leatherman between the door and the frame. I don't know how I did it, but I was able to dislodge the door for the locking mechanism and get the door open.
The one crying her head of was screaming, "Where's mommy !!!! Where's mommy !!!!"
"It's okay sweetie. She's okay. She's in the back of our ambulance, about to have a baby."
Like a light switch, she stops crying and a BIG smile pops up on her face, "You mean my little brother is coming????"
"Yeeeessssssss." I say "You're going to come with me, while we wait for the policemen to help us, okay?"
"Okay !!!!...my little brother is coming....my little brother is coming" she starts singing.
So I undo the seat belt from the one closest to me, the one that has been asleep through the whole deal so far. She wakes up, a little, as I start to pull her out and she just looks at me with big sleepy brown eyes and mumbles, "Hiiiii".
So I run her back to the rig and place her in the front seat, mean while, the radio has been calling us....
"210......210......210...."
I grab the mic...."210, go"
"210, PD wants to know how old the children are?"
You've got to fucking kidding me....You could have knocked me over with a feather.
I don't know. They're little kids. Infants. So I look at the one that I just brought over, "Sweetie, how old are you?" hoping to God that she understands English.
She looks at me and holds up 2 fingers.
"Okay, you're 2??? How old is your sister?"
She looks down at her hand and manipulates and then holds up 3 fingers.
"Okay, and your sister is 3, right...."
In a little bird voice she says, "yes...."
While this is going on, mom is in the back screaming in pain, my medic is yelling at me, "Shawn....we've got to get going....NOW !!!!!", the radio is calling me...."210......210.....210.....", and I still have one more kid left to get in the car.
So I take a deep breath and say, "Amber I'm working on it, I know we need to get going....Mom, you're doing great....Sweetie, I'll be over to get you in a sec", to the little girl in the car, I key the mic, "210, the children's ages are 2 and 3 years old."
"210, copy."
I run back to the car to get the other little girl, who is just having a grand 'ol time singing, "My little brother is coming....my little brother is coming...." So I grab her and her car seat, run her back and place her in the front seat next to her sister....meanwhile....
Amber: "Shawn....we need to get GOING !!!!!"
Me: "Yes dear....working on it dear."
Amber: "Find out what the ETA for PD is"
Me: "210"
Dispatch: "210, go ahead."
Me: "What's the ETA for PD?"
Dispatch: "They said they were kinda busy. They have a unit at 13th and King that could be to you, in whatever drive time is."
(13th and King, drive time would be about 7-10 minutes )
Me: "210, well call them back and tell them to expedite. If that doesn't work, roll one of our units to us."
Dispatch: "We don't have anyone to spare."
Me: "Well....get on the phone and tell PD to MOVE IT !!!! Or call DG and have them send one of their units, or call Fire and wake the guys up across the street at Station 12 to come over here....anybody....WE NEED TO GET MOVING NOWWWWWWW !!!!!!", I said through clenched teeth while actually growling....
Amber: "What'd they say???!!!!"
Me: "Someone is on the way. 5 minutes tops."
Amber: "We haven't got 5 minutes !!!!"
Me: (taking a deeep breath) "Yes dear...working on it."
You know how they say, you should never take your eyes off a child for more than 30 seconds......well the 3 year old, who I had put in the passenger seat, just thought this was the neatest thing in the world being in the front seat of an ambulance. She had reached down and had picked up one of the other mics, to another radio that we have, that is tuned into a different freq, that just so happened to be the Golden Fire freq, for which we run backup. MY OTHER DEPT !!!!!, and she has KEYED....THE.....MIC.....holding it in the air saying, "What is this...this is neat.....", while mom is screaming through her current contraction pain in the background.
"Here honey," I politely say, "Give that to me. That's not a toy."
Then I hear from THAT radio.....
Dispatch II: "Last unit calling....please repeat...."
Me: (closing my eyes and taking a deep breath) "Headquarters, ambulance 210, please disregard that last transmission. I'll explain later."
Dispatch II: "Ambulance 210....copy.", she said with a slight little chuckle in her voice, seeing that they know who I am.
Than I hear, coming over that net, before I could get it turned off.....
Voice: "Headquarters, Chief 1"
Me thinking to myself....OH SHIT ....OH SHIT .....OH SHIT......OH SHIT....
Dispatch II: "Chief 1, go ahead."
Chief 1: "Ahh yeah....what was that last transmission about?"
Dispatch II: "Chief 1, you can disregard that last. They'll be an explanation later.", again she was saying this time with a little chuckle, almost a giggle, in her voice.
Chief 1: "Copy. I can't wait for this explanation.", he said with a slight giggle in his voice too......thank God.
I reach over and turn off the radio.......
My partner and I just cleared from a call we ran on the north end of town, and were told by our dispatch that we could go and post in an area in the central part of town. We get to this area, and I ask my partner if she needs to go anywhere while we're here. She tells me to hit this one 7-11 we normally go to. For those of you familiar with Denver, it's a 7-11 on the corner of Federal and W. 26th ave. ....... yeah. :rolleyes:
So we pull into this 7-11, and my partner jumps out, runs inside, grabs something to drink and warms up her dinner. She's in there for about 5-6 minutes. She comes back out, jumps in the truck and I'm about to pull out, to head to another area we like to sit at. Just as I put the truck in gear, this POS white chevy pulls up in front of us.
I turn to partner and ask her, "Okay, what's wrong with this picture?" The car was being driven by a Hispanic female, NOT wearing her seat belt and talking on a cell phone. She had two small kids in the back seat, in what appeared to be no child seats, but I later found out they were in child seats. We just shake our heads and think.....some people. :rolleyes:
So anyway, this woman stops her car in front of us and gets out. She makes eye contact with me and starts walking over. She was in her early 20's and at first glance...pregnant. So she does the Prego walk over to our rig and in a very soft voice asks me..."Excuse me, may I ask you a question?"
"Sure, go ahead." I respond, thinking she was just going to ask for directions.
She very softly says, "Um, I'm in labor and am having contractions."
Not only was she pregnant....she was VERY pregnant.
I look over at my partner Amber, and she looks at me and we both mouth...OH SHIT !!!
So both of us jump out and start in on the questions, as we're walking her to the back of the rig.
"How far along are you?"
"35 weeks" she says.
Oh Shit !!!
I reach down and start feeling her belly, and yes, the little guy has turned. He has hooked up, checked equipment and is standing in the door.
"Has your water broke?"
"I don't know, but I've been peeing like crazy." she responds.
OH SHIT !!!!
So we get 'ol pergo lady in the back of the rig, Amber hops in, breaks out our OB kit and I start getting mom-to-be ready. Covering her lower half with a sheet and helping her get her pants and underwear off. While I'm doing this, Amber is timing the contractions....50 seconds at 1 minute and 10 seconds apart.
OH SHIT !!!
I run back up front and get on the radio....
"210 with emergent traffic."
"210, go ahead."
"210, we're at the 7-11 on the corner of Federal and W. 26th, with a female that approached us, in labor and having contractions. We'll be transporting to Rose medical here momentarily. I also need PD here to take care of 2 small children the pt has in the back of her vehicle. We are unable to take them with us."
"210 copy."
Now the fun begins.....:munchin
One of the little girls in the back of the car is loosing her mind and bawling her head off, wondering where mommy went, and the other one is fast asleep. So I run over to the car to get the kids. But guess what, mom locked the doors when she got out of the car and left the keys in the ignition with the engine running. I run back to the ambulance and ask the pt if she has another set of keys. Of course she doesn't.
Oh shit !!!!
I'm on an ambulance that doesn't carry tools such as a crow bar, or Halligan tool, so my mind starts racing, thinking of what I can do to get these doors open. Of course breaking the glass to one of the windows is right up top. I try all four doors and yes, they're all locked or jammed in some way.
mean while, my dispatch is calling me on my radio....
"210....210"
"210 go a head."
"210, PD needs to know what type of vechile the pt is driving?"
WTF !!!!! The pt isn't driving any vehicle, she's in the back of our ambulance about to have a baby.....that's what I thought, NOT what I said.
"It's a white 4 door Chevy. Colorado License plate, 123-ABC. It's sitting in the parking lot of our location, engine running and doors locked, with 2 small children in the back."
"210, copy."
Off I go to try the doors again. I found that one of the doors in the back was somewhat ajar and I was able to get my handy, dandy, trusty leatherman between the door and the frame. I don't know how I did it, but I was able to dislodge the door for the locking mechanism and get the door open.
The one crying her head of was screaming, "Where's mommy !!!! Where's mommy !!!!"
"It's okay sweetie. She's okay. She's in the back of our ambulance, about to have a baby."
Like a light switch, she stops crying and a BIG smile pops up on her face, "You mean my little brother is coming????"
"Yeeeessssssss." I say "You're going to come with me, while we wait for the policemen to help us, okay?"
"Okay !!!!...my little brother is coming....my little brother is coming" she starts singing.
So I undo the seat belt from the one closest to me, the one that has been asleep through the whole deal so far. She wakes up, a little, as I start to pull her out and she just looks at me with big sleepy brown eyes and mumbles, "Hiiiii".
So I run her back to the rig and place her in the front seat, mean while, the radio has been calling us....
"210......210......210...."
I grab the mic...."210, go"
"210, PD wants to know how old the children are?"
You've got to fucking kidding me....You could have knocked me over with a feather.
I don't know. They're little kids. Infants. So I look at the one that I just brought over, "Sweetie, how old are you?" hoping to God that she understands English.
She looks at me and holds up 2 fingers.
"Okay, you're 2??? How old is your sister?"
She looks down at her hand and manipulates and then holds up 3 fingers.
"Okay, and your sister is 3, right...."
In a little bird voice she says, "yes...."
While this is going on, mom is in the back screaming in pain, my medic is yelling at me, "Shawn....we've got to get going....NOW !!!!!", the radio is calling me...."210......210.....210.....", and I still have one more kid left to get in the car.
So I take a deep breath and say, "Amber I'm working on it, I know we need to get going....Mom, you're doing great....Sweetie, I'll be over to get you in a sec", to the little girl in the car, I key the mic, "210, the children's ages are 2 and 3 years old."
"210, copy."
I run back to the car to get the other little girl, who is just having a grand 'ol time singing, "My little brother is coming....my little brother is coming...." So I grab her and her car seat, run her back and place her in the front seat next to her sister....meanwhile....
Amber: "Shawn....we need to get GOING !!!!!"
Me: "Yes dear....working on it dear."
Amber: "Find out what the ETA for PD is"
Me: "210"
Dispatch: "210, go ahead."
Me: "What's the ETA for PD?"
Dispatch: "They said they were kinda busy. They have a unit at 13th and King that could be to you, in whatever drive time is."
(13th and King, drive time would be about 7-10 minutes )
Me: "210, well call them back and tell them to expedite. If that doesn't work, roll one of our units to us."
Dispatch: "We don't have anyone to spare."
Me: "Well....get on the phone and tell PD to MOVE IT !!!! Or call DG and have them send one of their units, or call Fire and wake the guys up across the street at Station 12 to come over here....anybody....WE NEED TO GET MOVING NOWWWWWWW !!!!!!", I said through clenched teeth while actually growling....
Amber: "What'd they say???!!!!"
Me: "Someone is on the way. 5 minutes tops."
Amber: "We haven't got 5 minutes !!!!"
Me: (taking a deeep breath) "Yes dear...working on it."
You know how they say, you should never take your eyes off a child for more than 30 seconds......well the 3 year old, who I had put in the passenger seat, just thought this was the neatest thing in the world being in the front seat of an ambulance. She had reached down and had picked up one of the other mics, to another radio that we have, that is tuned into a different freq, that just so happened to be the Golden Fire freq, for which we run backup. MY OTHER DEPT !!!!!, and she has KEYED....THE.....MIC.....holding it in the air saying, "What is this...this is neat.....", while mom is screaming through her current contraction pain in the background.
"Here honey," I politely say, "Give that to me. That's not a toy."
Then I hear from THAT radio.....
Dispatch II: "Last unit calling....please repeat...."
Me: (closing my eyes and taking a deep breath) "Headquarters, ambulance 210, please disregard that last transmission. I'll explain later."
Dispatch II: "Ambulance 210....copy.", she said with a slight little chuckle in her voice, seeing that they know who I am.
Than I hear, coming over that net, before I could get it turned off.....
Voice: "Headquarters, Chief 1"
Me thinking to myself....OH SHIT ....OH SHIT .....OH SHIT......OH SHIT....
Dispatch II: "Chief 1, go ahead."
Chief 1: "Ahh yeah....what was that last transmission about?"
Dispatch II: "Chief 1, you can disregard that last. They'll be an explanation later.", again she was saying this time with a little chuckle, almost a giggle, in her voice.
Chief 1: "Copy. I can't wait for this explanation.", he said with a slight giggle in his voice too......thank God.
I reach over and turn off the radio.......