Rescue on the Tower

 

Rescue on the Tower

 

“Mom!” yelled Stacy.

Kevin quickly got to his feet but Stacy had gotten to her feet quicker and was already running toward her mother. 

“Dad, Mom's hurt!” Stacy yelled over her shoulder as she ran to her mother's aid.

Kevin ran to Helen's side. In the short time it took Kevin to cover this distance, he was changing his personae to the Paramedic and trying to put the husband part of him aside. Must be completely impartial, he was thinking to himself.   Can't allow emotions to get in the way here.

But there were emotions and they were running high. This was the mother of his children, this was his wife. If both people were injured, he had to triage them 100% based on the injuries and survivability factors, not on how they were related to him or what the emotions of the moment might be at the time.

Greg was right behind Kevin. Kevin could hear his footsteps behind him as they made their way towards the two patients. Another problem for Kevin; Stacy was slightly ahead of them, and there was no way Kevin could shield her from this scene without jeopardizing patient care.

In fewer words, this sucked rocks in a big way, but Stacy surprised her Dad as she quickly placed her hand over the most serious wound. She looked up to her father for her next move. He grabbed a large piece of gauze, an ABD pad, and placed it under her hand. She pressed as hard as she dared, and she could feel the bleeding begin to slow. She was assisting her father to save a life, her mother's life, and it felt great. Kevin's crew was already mobilizing to assist him treat these two patients. The instant his crew left the helipad, the LifeFlight helicopter began its descent to the landing pad. In this circumstance, the more help, the better. The LifeGuard helicopter had lifted off to make space for Laura's LifeFlight helicopter to land and was hovering, prepared to touch down and transport at a moment's notice. The scene was becoming very crowded with police and medical personnel.

Amanda exited the LifeFlight helicopter first with Laura close behind. They were at Kevin's side quickly and they began to assess the two patients. Kevin expected the worst. In his years of service, he had found this to be the best route to take. Expect the worst and anything better would be a bright spot. Kevin took a deep breath as he continued to examine his wife with help from Greg, Amanda and Joyce. Laura, Randy, Reggie and Marie took charge of the camera operator.

In a worst case scenario, there would be two victims without any signs of circulation. “She's still breathing,” Amanda said. “Not well, but she's breathing.”

Stacy was watching the scene around her with a detached amazement.   She was in the middle of the action and so much was going on around her, it was hard to follow. “Look for an exit wound,” Kevin ordered in his most professional voice. “She's looking pretty shocky. Vitals?”

“50 palp,” Amanda reported. “Pulse 160, resp at 32. Keep pressure on that wound, hon. You're doing great!” Then she said to Kevin in a lower voice out of Stacy's hearing, “Kevin, she's in trouble. We need oxygen, we need some lines and we need them fast.”

Joyce quickly placed Helen on oxygen while Greg spiked two bags of normal saline and cleared the lines. Kevin had the veins ready to stick and got the first line in with no trouble. Greg took the second needle and quickly placed the second line.

Laura's crew was examining their patient and had a very serious situation as well. The camera operator was not exchanging air well and her respirations were getting shallower with every breath.

“Tension pnuemo!” Laura said. “We've got to needle her chest.”

“Landmarks located,” Randy said. “Verify fourth intercostal space, tracheal deviation to the right, jugular veins distended, diminished breath sounds on the right and left, hyper-resonance on the left.”

“Good enough for me. Needle in!” The camera operator showed almost immediate improvement with her respirations, but she was still in trouble. 

“S**t! Jugulars are still distended, her heart tones are muffled,” Laura complained. “She's got to go now. No more play time folks, this is load and go.”

The two helicopters played musical landing pads as they quickly loaded both women into the helicopters and transported them to the trauma units. Laura had the priority patient and transported her to the Houston Trauma Center.

Helen was transported to Hermann Hospital Trauma Center and if ever there was a time for prayer, it was now. The wounds the women had suffered did not come from the gunshot directly, but from the bullet striking the camera. Once the bullet struck the camera lens, large pieces of glass shattered from the camera and impaled themselves into the two women’s bodies. Both were struck in the chest.

The camera operator had a piece of glass in her left lung and another in her pericardial sack. Helen had two pieces of glass in her left upper chest, one in her right lung and another in her right upper quadrant of her abdomen.

Reviews

[Yvonne Heidt]

Were Kevin and Stacy on the scene when shots were fired? Or did Kevin show up on the call? This part is a little vague (for me). Other than that - your details are excellent. Your vast life experience serves you very well here.

Thank you for sending this to me, I will definitely read more...