JOB TALK: November 2023 Story

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Shared by: David B., Retired Lieutenant

    "My first incident I was working as a handy person at 18 years of age. When a staff member and boss’s son came to me and said the coworker was missing around the lake. After a quick shore search, we found him 25’ away from a floating dock that was 50 yards offshore. I performed CPR with no success until the paramedics came and continued to the hospital. He unfortunately did not survive.

That person was the nephew to the senior house staff member, and a friend that I had worked with for 2 years.

30 plus years later I was 3 hours from retirement when I got called to a frequent flier that had difficulty breathing.

When I arrived with two rookie paramedics, we found our patient taking his last breaths. We quickly loaded the patient into the rescue truck while communicating the proper radio information that notified the proper units. We had all proper treatment established ie. Oxygen, intubation, IV etc., by the time our supervisor arrived he was canceled as we went enroute to the hospital.

By the time we arrived at the ER patient had pulses, with spontaneous respirations.

I had completed a full circle after 30 years with Fire Rescue. I had lost a good friend who said he could swim, when he couldn’t, to my last 911 call with a patient in cardiac arrest who was given a second chance in life." - David