Working During Earl

[abckidsmom]

I don't recall a time when we were ever told not to respond due to weather. We have been advised to go back to our stations between calls from time to time, but that's it. Wait for the weather to moderate? Will patients MIs wait for the weather to moderate? Will that woman in labor WAIT for the weather to moderate. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we do. We're expected to show up when people call. Sometimes, like in Pittsburgh last winter, we can't, but that doesn't mean that we sit in our station waiting for the weather to moderate.

I've responded in blizzards and hurricanes, gotten soaked and froze, but that's part of the job.

To paraphrase Gen. Patton.

For us, we had a Cat 3 hurricane 80 miles inland. We totally could have kept responding, but to get to half the city we would have had to drive our high-profile vehicles over bridges, under 100 ft trees, and then when we got there we'd have had to carry people out through 85 mph winds pushing twigs, branches and leaves. It was September, which is a bad time to have a big storm, and it was quite a storm.

The risk/benefit ratio doesn't pan out, really.

People with MIs are honestly better served waiting till they don't get blown over on the way to the hospital, and plenty of babies are born safe at home.

In the two hours we weren't responding, there were 15 calls. Most were Priority 3, non life threatening, and the couple of Priority 1 callers were still there after the storm.

And all the medics went home that morning.

 

[Too Old To Work]

For us, we had a Cat 3 hurricane 80 miles inland. We totally could have kept responding, but to get to half the city we would have had to drive our high-profile vehicles over bridges, under 100 ft trees, and then when we got there we'd have had to carry people out through 85 mph winds pushing twigs, branches and leaves. It was September, which is a bad time to have a big storm, and it was quite a storm.

The risk/benefit ratio doesn't pan out, really.

People with MIs are honestly better served waiting till they don't get blown over on the way to the hospital, and plenty of babies are born safe at home.

In the two hours we weren't responding, there were 15 calls. Most were Priority 3, non life threatening, and the couple of Priority 1 callers were still there after the storm.

And all the medics went home that morning.

So, if I understand you, you're saying that someone with an MI is better off in their house, with no one treating them, let alone transporting them to a hospital. Does that mean that there is no point to EMS or having specialty centers for cardiac patients.

I can see telling low priority patients they have to wait. Well, if you think that your flavor of "card triage system" is really specific and sensitive as a triage tool.

I'm sure that the Priority 1 patients were still there in the morning, I just have to wonder if they were alive.

 

[abckidsmom]

So, if I understand you, you're saying that someone with an MI is better off in their house, with no one treating them, let alone transporting them to a hospital. Does that mean that there is no point to EMS or having specialty centers for cardiac patients.

I can see telling low priority patients they have to wait. Well, if you think that your flavor of "card triage system" is really specific and sensitive as a triage tool.

I'm sure that the Priority 1 patients were still there in the morning, I just have to wonder if they were alive.

I think you misunderstand.

For the duration of 75 mph winds, we did not send an ambulance. The police did not respond. The fire department sat in their stations.

This period lasted for just under 2 hours. After that, we responded to calls like normal. There weren't many calls at all because the phones went out, along with the power.

We had done as much prepping as could have been done prior to the storm's arrival.

I'm willing to agree to disagree with you on this one, because it's really a no-brainer for me. If I can't stand up outside, I'm really not going to be much use to you. If I can't see out of the windshield into the black darkness laden with tree branches, I can't safely drive to your house, or drive you to the hospital.

It's not about who's the coolest, or who gets the muddiest. It's about providing an effective service. And you really can't do that in the middle of a hurricane.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

Sounds like fun...

You want fun? I was living on Guam during Super Typhoon Pongsona. Third strongest storm to hit Guam since 1900. Damage off of the Naval Base. Yes, those streets used to be paved. Until almost 30 inches of rain in 24 hours fell.

We were without electricity on base for over three weeks. Some people out in town didn't have it for two months. This is why. Every single line was down. Or so it seemed. And yes, those are concrete power poles.

And due to this, fuel prices skyrocketed. Eventually, they ended up using taker ships instead of fuel tanks to store fuel for the island until the tank farm could be rebuilt.

Good NOAA report.

So I can sympathize with all you who are going through or are about to go through a hurricane. Please stay safe out there.

As for the OP question, you best bet would be to ask your supe, or the management. (I'm sure you needed to hear that again, right? Sorry.) I know that Guam Fire and Rescue didn't go out in 150 mph winds when a call came in from a family whose house was disintegrating around them. (No duh.) The Navy ended sending a column of several armored vehicles over 20 miles through the storm to rescue them. I'm not sure what kind of vehicles, but the story I heard said they drove right into the house to get the occupants. I'm guessing it was some kind of tank like vehicle, I dunno. I do know that as soon as the island hit Typhoon COR Alfa (Typhoon Condition of Readiness Alfa) The whole Fire/EMS and LE system shut down until the storm was over.

Ok, I am sure you are all really sick of hearing me go on and on about my typhoon, so I will shut up now.......

 

[Too Old To Work]

Ok, I am sure you are all really sick of hearing me go on and on about my typhoon, so I will shut up now.......

Actually, one of the better posts I've read. Of course, Earl is no where close in intensity, fortunately.

Right now what SE MA is getting is very windy thunderstorm, not a hurricane. Of course I'm in Edison, NJ right now, where we got a couple of sprinkles and a bit of wind, but mostly incredible humidity.

I think that the bottom line is absent a really extreme storm, the public has come to expect that we'll respond. Look at how many people climbed all over those paramedics in Pittsburgh last winter. That was pretty extreme weather, even by Pittsburgh standards. Yet, the public felt that they should have responded. Of course the public safety director didn't help that situation either.

 

[Outbac1]

In severe storms we have telephone triage. We only roll to the calls deemed emergent. We do have the right to refuse unsafe work. Responding in severe weather conditions is not necessarily the best thing to do. In Sept 03 hurricane Juan dropped a two ft thick tree branch on one of our ambulances and killed the medic in the back.

Remember none of your pts are worth dying for. You have your own family to go home to at the end of shift.

The latest track for Earl has it well off shore of Mass and Maine. It appears it is going to hit the southern end of Nova Scotia and then track over SE New Brunswick and PEI. As it stands the eye shouldn't get within 100-140 miles of me. And, I don't work until tomorrow night at 8pm. It should be pretty much a done deal by then.

Stay safe.

 

[reaper]

Actually, one of the better posts I've read. Of course, Earl is no where close in intensity, fortunately.

Right now what SE MA is getting is very windy thunderstorm, not a hurricane. Of course I'm in Edison, NJ right now, where we got a couple of sprinkles and a bit of wind, but mostly incredible humidity.

I think that the bottom line is absent a really extreme storm, the public has come to expect that we'll respond. Look at how many people climbed all over those paramedics in Pittsburgh last winter. That was pretty extreme weather, even by Pittsburgh standards. Yet, the public felt that they should have responded. Of course the public safety director didn't help that situation either.

When you work in hurricane areas you learn that all systems have close to same SOP's. Once winds reach 60 mph, all response stops. I really could care less what the public expects. The safety of the providers come first, above all.

Let's risk the lives for two or three Pt's.If the providers are injuried or the equipment is damaged, That does not help the hundreds that need the help, after the storm.

 

[Meursault]

Right now what SE MA is getting is a very windy thunderstorm, not a hurricane.

Not even. I've been out on windier days without a cloud in the sky.

I'm slightly disappointed, largely because I spent a fair amount of time the other day getting all my parents' deck furniture, containers of tomatoes, and sundry other movable outdoor objects moved inside or tied down.

While I expect meteorologists to be utterly helpless in the face of New England weather, I hoped they'd have a better idea as to whether a storm would be cat 2 or a weak and not particularly coherent tropical storm two days from their prediction.

 

[Chimpie]

While I expect meteorologists to be utterly helpless in the face of New England weather, I hoped they'd have a better idea as to whether a storm would be cat 2 or a weak and not particularly coherent tropical storm two days from their prediction.

Talk to the storms themselves. They make their own decisions.

 

[Outbac1]

Well Earl is starting to have an effect at the other end of the province. The current track has it comming right over my area later today. Right now no rain and the wind is just starting to pick up. We'll see what a few more hours brings.