# On a walk with my kids this evening...



## abckidsmom (Oct 2, 2010)

We walked past a house in our neighborhood where a man was working on a car.  My 4 yo noticed it, and we talked about the wheel being off, and the man's son was standing there watching him...peaceful Saturday afternoon.  We got just out of sight of the car, and we heard screaming- female screaming and child screaming.  I debated a second, then send my 3 and 4 yos to a neighbor lady who was standing out in her yard and ran back to him.  

The frame of the car was on his head, the rotor of the car was on his right upper chest.  He was awake, but not breathing or able to talk.  The jack that the car had fallen off of was laying there, but I couldn't figure out how to work the stupid thing.  I was trying to close it and put it under the car and get the car off of him, I was yelling for someone to call 911.  I had left my phone at the house when we went walking.  I tried lifting the car off of him, and he grunted a little when I picked it up some, but nothing.  I told the screaming women around to get a man to help, NOW.  

Right after that, a man showed up, a neighbor from the next apartment.  With him and I on the front of the car, we lifted the car off of the man, then looked around, wondering what the heck we were going to do now.  The wife was screaming and running around.  Somehow, we got her to grab him by the ankles and pull him out from under the car.  It wasn't pretty, certainly not ideal, but he was out from under the car and breathing again.

At that point, the man was awake, talking and complaining of head pain and side pain.  He had a deep ridge of a depressed skull fracture on the right forehead, and an unstable right chest, not complaining of shortness of breath, completely oriented.

The fire station is just 2-3 blocks away, and right after that I heard the engine and medic pull out onto the street.  They came, and arrived and the medic stood there gaping, clipboard in hand while the engine crew went to the medic unit (20 yards away) to get the bag and equipment.

Blah blah blah with the details, but the end result was that we landed the helicoptor in the field across the street, and I helped the crew with getting him packaged, and transferred over to the flight crew.  

Then I went and met my kids and walked back to my house.

So here I sit with the, "dang!  Did that just happen, for real?"  My 17 month old was in my baby backpack the whole time.  My 4 yo was really aware of what happened, and was scared, the 3 yo was a little oblivious, but we spent a long time at bedtime talking about how the people were all working to help him, and she did a good job by standing quietly with the neighbor.

And all I can think of is the two minutes that I was fumbling with that jack and looking at him growing more and more still, and thinking that if I couldn't get the car off of him somehow, he'd be dead before the engine crew got there.

They were 9 minutes from the time it happened to being on scene, and it would have taken them a couple of minutes to make a plan and get him out.  He would have been dead.

And now my back is sore, and I'm supposed to run my first 5K in the morning.  Sheesh.


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## CAOX3 (Oct 2, 2010)

Wow,

Great job.

I cut my grass today and thought that was an accomplishment.

But you win, you saved a life today.

You kids should be very proud of you, as I am sure they are.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 2, 2010)

CAOX3 said:


> Wow,
> 
> Great job.
> 
> ...



This is one of those moments when I came back home and was really surprised to see normal life still happening.  In 15 years, I've never experienced a situation where I looked at a person and knew that if I screwed up this. specific. action. they would die.  I'm really thankful that we somehow got it done.  I've never picked up a car before.


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## DaniGrrl (Oct 2, 2010)

Good job, Momma! Don't you love when your kids pull through in a crazy situation?


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## jjesusfreak01 (Oct 2, 2010)

I wouldn't tell your neighbors this, but I swear it seems the chance of these things happening around you rises astronomically if you are a medic. For whatever reason, some medics are off-duty black clouds.


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## CAOX3 (Oct 2, 2010)

The term is called hysterical strength.

I have also learned from my wife and daughter that a determined woman can accomplish just about anything.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 3, 2010)

jjesusfreak01 said:


> I wouldn't tell your neighbors this, but I swear it seems the chance of these things happening around you rises astronomically if you are a medic. For whatever reason, some medics are off-duty black clouds.



Figures, cause I'm an on-duty fluffy white cloud.  Peace and tranquility all around on duty.  I've done 48 hour shifts with two refusals.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 3, 2010)

CAOX3 said:


> The term is called hysterical strength.
> 
> I have also learned from my wife and daughter that a determined woman can accomplish just about anything.





Last year, my superhuman feat was giving birth to a 12 lb baby.  At home.


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## firetender (Oct 3, 2010)

*What the hell were you thinking?*

Are you telling me you did all this WITHOUT GLOVES!

Wait a minute, you were OFF DUTY; you weren't obligated to intervene in someone's stupid mistake. You even noted it was stupid when you passed the guy, didn't you? That was your out. Why didn't you take it?

You mean to say it was Okay for you if you dropped the car on the guy's head, crushing it, and then his family sued your family destitute?

And how could you even think to stress your back, knowing...wait a minute; did you say your 17 month old was *on *your back in a backpack the whole time?

Were you thinking anything at all? 

_*How could you have been; you obviously took action because you were trained to do so if there was a chance to prevent a needless death.*_
*
Good on ya, Girl! *

Sometimes, if we don't argue and debate with ourselves, we know damn well what we're doing. I suspect that was the case with you. You we're aware of the dangers, and without freezing while doing the math you calculated the odds were okay enough to give it a shot.

Securing your three and four year old kids tells me your Mom's instincts were in operation, looking out for the little guy (what is he 40 lbs. now?) so, yeah, in my mind you acted like a good medic.

...and you do realize NOW, it could have cost you your life or that of someone you love. I hope so. Being a medic taught me to never think it couldn't happen to me. That's never been a threat, only a guide.


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## CAOX3 (Oct 3, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> Last year, my superhuman feat was giving birth to a 12 lb baby.  At home.



Good lord, woman.

You need to change your screen name to abckids*super*mom.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 3, 2010)

firetender said:


> Are you telling me you did all this WITHOUT GLOVES!
> 
> Wait a minute, you were OFF DUTY; you weren't obligated to intervene in someone's stupid mistake. You even noted it was stupid when you passed the guy, didn't you? That was your out. Why didn't you take it?
> 
> ...



Thanks, I think.  I come down on the side of don't get involved unless you have to in those off-duty debates.  The screams weren't screams of "somebody consider helping, please?" but  primal, oh-my-God-how-the-hell-did-this-happen screams.

<about those gloves:> I basically stood there looking at him after we got him out, didn't take c-spine because he was bleeding from the head, but just calmed him down and verbally encouraged him to be still.   

When I couldn't sleep, I called the dispatcher to get the times: time of call1835, units enroute 1838, onscene 1840.  So it was less time than I thought, but still probably 8 maybe 9 minutes from the time it happened till they were on scene.


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## rescue99 (Oct 3, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> This is one of those moments when I came back home and was really surprised to see normal life still happening.  In 15 years, I've never experienced a situation where I looked at a person and knew that if I screwed up this. specific. action. they would die.  I'm really thankful that we somehow got it done.  I've never picked up a car before.



Nice job Dana! Nice coordination of efforts and scene management under such difficult circumstances. Thoughts and prayers for the victim.


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## clibb (Oct 3, 2010)

firetender said:


> Are you telling me you did all this WITHOUT GLOVES!
> 
> Wait a minute, you were OFF DUTY; you weren't obligated to intervene in someone's stupid mistake. You even noted it was stupid when you passed the guy, didn't you? That was your out. Why didn't you take it?
> 
> ...



I agree with this 100%. I'm not a medic but I work with some damn good ones and after all the experience and time I've spent with them, their instincts and thoughts have rubbed off on me. 
It's on thing to have BSI stuff when you're on a call on-duty. But, when you're off duty you don't really think about that stuff. 

Good job! You really did save someone's life!


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## JJR512 (Oct 3, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> <about those gloves:> I basically stood there looking at him after we got him out, didn't take c-spine because he was bleeding from the head, but just calmed him down and verbally encouraged him to be still.



I'm sure when someone is lying (or laying? I always get that mixed up) under a car that two people are holding up, that qualifies as a good situation for an emergency move.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 3, 2010)

So this evening, I worked up the courage to go over there and ask his wife how things turned out yesterday.  He was sitting in his recliner, watching the Redskins play, feeling a little sore.  He had one fractured rib, and no fractures to his head.  Nothing. 

Apparently that ditch in his head was swelling from the tissues with a mark from the car.

Amazing, and somehow very anticlimactic.  It all could have been so very different.  His wife is opening her in-home daycare tomorrow.  And life goes on.  Wow.


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## JJR512 (Oct 3, 2010)

You didn't say, so I have to wonder...Did they thank you? Offer you a beer or anything?


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## abckidsmom (Oct 3, 2010)

JJR512 said:


> You didn't say, so I have to wonder...Did they thank you? Offer you a beer or anything?



I was standing in the door of the living room, interrupting the game.  They really didn't say much other than answering my questions, and maybe thanks, and then there was a really awkward silence, so I just let my fidgety kids be the reason why I had to jet out of there.

Anticlimactic, seriously.


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## foxfire (Oct 4, 2010)

WOW!!! Way to go!
I agree with the title change to abcsupermom. B)
How is your back feeling? 
Hope that it feels better.


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## firetender (Oct 4, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> Anticlimactic, seriously.



Welcome to the club.

That is so TYPICALLY sad!

You did save the MF's life, you know!

This was a scene from a Red Neck's last words; "Hold muh Beer, Honey 'n watch this!" He was understandably embarrassed by having to be saved by a mere woman after doing something so stupid as to not secure a jack under a half-ton of steel!

The guy treated you as if you were his stupid self. It has nothing to do with you and there you have EMS in a nutshell; "Doing the best we can for people that could give a rat's ***!"

I dunno; stuff like this makes me angry.


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## abckidsmom (Oct 4, 2010)

firetender said:


> Welcome to the club.
> 
> That is so TYPICALLY sad!
> 
> ...



LOL!  Not a redneck, if you can believe it.  A standard guy.  Black, even.  Definitely not redneck.

Gotta love that quote, though.  I'll get him, though.  My dad called the newspaper.  h34r:


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## abckidsmom (Oct 4, 2010)

foxfire said:


> WOW!!! Way to go!
> I agree with the title change to abcsupermom. B)
> How is your back feeling?
> Hope that it feels better.



No pain today.  I ran my first 5k and had a free massage after.  It was terrific.


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## JJR512 (Oct 4, 2010)

I wonder if the guy even understood how much you did for him. I mean, he probably got told at the hospital that there was no skull fracture, so he probably assumed the situation wasn't that serious, and that he would have been perfectly fine if he had just sat there with the car on his head for the next couple of minutes until the FD showed up. And maybe he was technically correct to think that; nevertheless, "Well you didn't actually need to try to save my life after all, therefore I'm not going to bother to thank you for even trying," is an alien concept to me.


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## Aidey (Oct 4, 2010)

abckidsmom said:


> So this evening, I worked up the courage to go over there and ask his wife how things turned out yesterday.  He was sitting in his recliner, watching the Redskins play, feeling a little sore.  He had one fractured rib, and no fractures to his head.  Nothing.
> 
> Apparently that ditch in his head was swelling from the tissues with a mark from the car.
> 
> Amazing, and somehow very anticlimactic.  It all could have been so very different.  His wife is opening her in-home daycare tomorrow.  And life goes on.  Wow.




Sorry, I had to giggle a little with that. I agree that it is very anticlimactic when someone who looks like they have major injuries turns out to have no or nearly no injuries. That seems to happen a lot with facial trauma.


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