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Firefighter Intern: Day 38 and 39
Nov. 4th, 2018 08:46 am“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” ― Albert Einstein
Today we got our house chores done, and then we were toned out on a wellness check of an older man who wasn't responding to his family member calls. We started to break in, but the landlord showed up and opened the door for us ... and we found him. He'd been dead for about 12-24 hours, based on turgor and rigor mortis and lividity. We waited for the Deputy Medical Examiner, gave report, and cleared. A sobering start to our shift. Later on we were asked to assist with the transport of a mentally ill person, who turned out to be delusional and symptomatic, but not a danger to themselves or others, so we ended up not transporting. We moved apparatus back to their designated places in the substations, as Engine 486 is now back in service. Engine 486, a custom Mack purchased in 1972, is the Engine I trained on when I went through the Academy in 2015, and I have a bit of a soft spot for her. *smile*
We slept well last night, and then I got to attend the Firefighter Academy. We spent the day working with ladders, both one and two-Firefighter Ladder throws with different size ladders and with different objectives. I got a lot of practice and some confidence laddering different buildings/props, communicating with my partner and raising and lowering ladders and hooking in roof ladders to allow us a stable platform for roof work. We had to stop just before we actually got to fire up the chainsaw and practice vertical ventilation on a roof prop - because we got three calls at almost the same time. All of the Academy recruits and I had to stop. We got dropped off in Engine 481 for a patient lift assist, where they needed extra muscle to get a bariatric lady out of her chair. We were using Medic 482, our oldest Medic rig without a power gurney as our third-out rig, and I ended up in the back riding third - and learned to use the older gurney, and how to use the patient bed at the hospital to help with the patient transfer.
Once back at the station, I finished my house chores, and we all went to bed early and slept hard with no calls. *smile*
Today we got our house chores done, and then we were toned out on a wellness check of an older man who wasn't responding to his family member calls. We started to break in, but the landlord showed up and opened the door for us ... and we found him. He'd been dead for about 12-24 hours, based on turgor and rigor mortis and lividity. We waited for the Deputy Medical Examiner, gave report, and cleared. A sobering start to our shift. Later on we were asked to assist with the transport of a mentally ill person, who turned out to be delusional and symptomatic, but not a danger to themselves or others, so we ended up not transporting. We moved apparatus back to their designated places in the substations, as Engine 486 is now back in service. Engine 486, a custom Mack purchased in 1972, is the Engine I trained on when I went through the Academy in 2015, and I have a bit of a soft spot for her. *smile*
We slept well last night, and then I got to attend the Firefighter Academy. We spent the day working with ladders, both one and two-Firefighter Ladder throws with different size ladders and with different objectives. I got a lot of practice and some confidence laddering different buildings/props, communicating with my partner and raising and lowering ladders and hooking in roof ladders to allow us a stable platform for roof work. We had to stop just before we actually got to fire up the chainsaw and practice vertical ventilation on a roof prop - because we got three calls at almost the same time. All of the Academy recruits and I had to stop. We got dropped off in Engine 481 for a patient lift assist, where they needed extra muscle to get a bariatric lady out of her chair. We were using Medic 482, our oldest Medic rig without a power gurney as our third-out rig, and I ended up in the back riding third - and learned to use the older gurney, and how to use the patient bed at the hospital to help with the patient transfer.
Once back at the station, I finished my house chores, and we all went to bed early and slept hard with no calls. *smile*
