# Search and rescue turned not



## yay4stress (Nov 25, 2007)

I just got back from the all time weirdest shift I've ever worked.

The EMS agency I run with has two bases, so when one crew gets called out, the other sits and waits for calls not only for their base but for the crew that's no longer in service.

Anyhow, the base I was not at got called to a scene for an unknown medical problem; a medical alarm had been activated.  The crew responded, and in conjunction with law enforcement realized the patient wasn't there.  His car was there, his house was empty.  Law enforcement busts down the door, the patient is nowhere to be found.  Since the medical alarm has a range of 200 yards from the activating tag, they set up a search perimeter.  They also call in both my crew and the local fire department.

We get on scene, we call for dogs and thermal imaging cameras, when law enforcement tells us they've located him.  He's several miles away, perfectly fine, at his niece's house.  The alarm got activated accidentally.

Search and Rescue in below freezing temps and rain turns into standing in a circle laughing nervously.  I've personally never "lost" a patient before, nor have I heard any stories about it, how 'bout you all?


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## ErinCooley (Nov 26, 2007)

Full moon!

My very first day as a 3rd rider, there the ambulance was dispatched for a horse and buggy without a buggy driver.  They never found the driver and to my knowledge, never found out where the horse and buggy came from.  PS.. I live in metro-Atlanta.  We do have lots of rural areas, I've never seen anyone actually using a horse and buggy though!!!  Very bizarre!


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## Ridryder911 (Nov 26, 2007)

Wow ! All of that over a medical alarm? We respond to at least 1-2 a week, that leave their residence and forget to turn off their alarms. We go to the house, and attempt to make contact with contact person/family. If no one is present, and entry is made, we cancel. No hunting, etc.. Too busy, to be hunting for possibilities. 

R/r 911


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## firetender (Nov 26, 2007)

I was once accused of kidnapping by the husband of my patient who insisted I bring her Code Three to an Osteopathic Hospital for chest pain, SOB, etc.

I didn't exactly "lose" her, but the poor guy sat befuddled at the Osteopathic Hospital waiting, then panicked when he couldn't figure out that I might have actually taken her to a Hospital to be treated like I told him I was mandated to do. He was sure it was an abduction.


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## yay4stress (Nov 26, 2007)

haha, we're not nearly busy enough to not look.  That was the second call of the shift, the first one being 3 hours before.

I think a little of it had to do with the pt being like 94 years old.  We had a search grid marked off and everything.


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## certguy (Nov 26, 2007)

*Bogus search and rescue*

After a drill at our mostly volunteer station , we got a call for a no detail MVA . We were to meet the RP at a market . Duty LT. and one other FF went in our ambulance and I responded with the other LT. in our brush rig which also carried our rescue gear . When we got there , we found a vehicle 150 - 200 ft. over the side of a lookout and on fire . The amb. crew was already over the side and there was a guy on scene screaming that the driver's trapped . I pulled an inch and a half and started down the hill to try to knock down the fire and cover the rescue . Unfortunately , the hill was a lot steeper than it looked and I took 2 falls , nearly breaking an ankle and also getting heat exhaustion due to wearing bunkers on a hot night . ( no time to change ) It turned out the VW bug landed on it's roof on an old fire :sad:road cut back in the 40's that we didn't know about . The driver was nowhere to be found . The ambulance crew was able to hold the fire to a few bushes till we got lines down there . IC pulls the plug and calls for a full wildland response , search and rescue , SDSO chopper with lights , the whole nine yards . The sheriffs pieced it all together . The car was stolen and we got on scene so fast , the perp was still there , so what's the best way to get away ? Tell the firefighters there's a victim trapped and simply leave while everybody's working on the rescue . 3 weeks on crutches for trying to rescue someone who wasn't there . BUMMER !


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## seanm028 (Nov 26, 2007)

certguy said:


> The ambulance crew was able to hold the fire to a few bushes till we got lines down there .


How were they able to hold it back?  Do they carry any firefighting equipment?



certguy said:


> The car was stolen and we got on scene so fast , the perp was still there , so what's the best way to get away ? Tell the firefighters there's a victim trapped and simply leave while everybody's working on the rescue . 3 weeks on crutches for trying to rescue someone who wasn't there . BUMMER !


That sucks.  Did he actually get away, or did they catch him?


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## yay4stress (Nov 26, 2007)

that takes the cake right there I think.


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## Flight-LP (Nov 26, 2007)

yay4stress said:


> I just got back from the all time weirdest shift I've ever worked.
> 
> The EMS agency I run with has two bases, so when one crew gets called out, the other sits and waits for calls not only for their base but for the crew that's no longer in service.
> 
> ...



Much ado about nothing! Why didn't the alarm company call the emergency contact? Would have saved a lot of time and wouldn't have wasted all of those resources. I would have been beyond pissed having to be out in that crappy weather for nothing more than an false alarm.


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## Ridryder911 (Nov 26, 2007)

Our service rents or sells those "medical alarms" like those in ads "help me, I fallen and can't get up!".. as well as a lot of other companies, etc. 

I remember last year we received a medical alarm on Christmas. No contacts were home, and we went through the procedures. So, the P.D. obtained permission from the officer in charge to "break in". I remember the officer kicking in the door... destroying the door and remnants of the frame. Of course, the patient had forgot the alarm and left for the holiday. 

We placed a sticky note on the fragmented and destroyed door stating, "Sorry about your door!. Your medical alarm activated (you must turn it off, when leaving)..we were worried about your health. 
p.s. Have a Merry Christmas!  

R/r 911


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## wolfwyndd (Nov 28, 2007)

Wow.  I guess WE'RE the freaks.  In the jurisdiction I run in, the PD is NOT allowed to break in, but the fire department is.  So when we get a call and we can't get in, we have to call the FD to break in the door.


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## katgrl2003 (Nov 28, 2007)

I've never lost a patient, but I have had dispatch lose them.  I work a private service, night shift.  I dropped a patient off at a local hospital for a procedure, told dispatch where he was, and continued on with my shift.  The next day, in the middle of my sleep schedule, a crew called asking if I had transported this patient, and where in the hospital he was.  Dispatch had been calling all different parts of the hospital, trying to find this patient for over an hour, and the crew found out with a five minute phone call.

Is dispatch another word for black hole?

-Kat


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## BossyCow (Nov 28, 2007)

We have a frequent flyer who uses her alarm every time she gets lonely (generally around 3am) Most of the systems require a responder that will go check on the subscriber, and determine if an emergency is present.  The problem is the responders burn out pretty quickly on those 3am calls.  

I think there are just those who will abuse whatever system they are under.  The 911 abusers who know which code words will guarantee an EMS response, and what things they have to do and say in order to get transported to the ED.


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## yay4stress (Nov 28, 2007)

haha, not to mention what words to say to get the morphine.


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## hitechredneckemt (Nov 29, 2007)

I had a medical alarm activation that was set off by a cat while the person was out off town. Called FD to make entry


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## rescuepoppy (Dec 5, 2007)

*You gotta make sure*

Several years back we had a call like this. Medic unit and law enforcement could not find patient but decided to call for help in searching. After ten minutes we found the 80 year old patient 50 to 60 yards from his alarm device face down in a creek after sufferring a CVA. Cause of death was ruled as drowning. So why not take the time to look around? You may save a life


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## BossyCow (Dec 5, 2007)

In Search and Rescue training they say the person has a high liklihood of being found in the place everyone says is the least likely place for them to be.  We found one subject having tea at her next door neighbor's house.  Her 60 something daughter couldn't keep up with her on their walk in the woods so she walked home on her own, left her daughter scared witless thinking Mom stroked out in the woods.


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## Arkymedic (Dec 5, 2007)

seanm028 said:


> How were they able to hold it back?  Do they carry any firefighting equipment?
> 
> 
> That sucks.  Did he actually get away, or did they catch him?



Probably used the fire extinguishers we are suppose to have on the units...


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## Summit (Dec 10, 2007)

A search for a missing person who is not really missing is called a B*st*rd Search because when the subject is finally "located" you get to scream "YOU B*ST*RD!"


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## certguy (Dec 14, 2007)

*Bogus search and rescue*



seanm028 said:


> How were they able to hold it back?  Do they carry any firefighting equipment?
> 
> 
> That sucks.  Did he actually get away, or did they catch him?



Hi guys ,

   Sorry I haven't been around . It's been real busy with the holidays . To answer your questions ; 
The ambulance crew used thier extinguishers and a shovel till I lobbed some water around the VW . If I remember right , I think they let it burn itself out rather than have the 4th of july from the magnesium . We really lucked out except for me getting hurt . I had people who weren't even there criticizing me for not changing into brush gear , but in my judgement , there wasn't time . I had a working fire and at least 3 lives to protect . 


Yeah , it sucks , the perp got away  . I really would've liked to get my hands on him . B.C. ( before christ ) days . Now I've forgiven him .


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