Rescue 12 Responding, page 4
He grimaced as he continued following her frame with his eyes toward her head. He stopped and closed his eyes, then slowly, they opened and refocused on this woman and the cause of her injury. Without the restraint of her seat belt, her head had found the sun roof, and the car was resting on her head. The soft sand below had allowed for a lot of room, but not quite enough. Her head was both pinned and crushed.
David’s mind began to race in thought. What are my options? I could try to save her, but I can’t get her out from under the car in a reasonable amount of time. I have no options. Slowly he released his hand from hers and reached for the keys to turn the car off. The early morning was again filled with the stillness of sleep, the sleep of death.
The sheriff’s officer arrived within a few minutes. Rescue 12 was released from the scene immediately. There was nothing for them to do but get back in service for the next call. David and Jonathan looked at each other. Their burning red eyes watched each other as each one simply placed his own seat belt on. “Rescue 12, back in service. No transport,” Jonathan said quietly.
“Rescue 12, return to your station,” the monotone voice of the dispatch replied.
The quietness was broken as Jonathan vented his frustration, “Why is it so hard for people to do the simple things that are right? Why do we hide behind the big things we do to show love and never stop to do the little things? Did you see her key ring? It was one like my ex-wife has – the clear plastic squares with the pictures of her two young kids. How old do you think they are?”
“About my kids’ age. The girl looked about seven, and the boy about five,” David rubbed his red, burning eyes. As they backed the unit into their station, the heaviness of death rested on the dark streets. “All it would have taken was a seat belt. That’s all. She would still be alive, and those little children would still have their mother,” David whispered as the stillness of morning began to touch him.
Quietly, they returned to bed. An hour later they were awakened. This time it was for the shift exchange. David slowly rolled out of bed. Sleep had not been so restful this time.
After the report had been given to the oncoming crew, David silently walked out to his car. No one was around. He reached over and pulled his seat belt across his lap. All alone, he spoke out, “I love you.” His mind pictured his wife and kids, those that he worked so hard to support, that he had to leave so often in the early morning to go to work, just like the dead woman. The seat belt clicked. David headed home.
David found that this simple thought on love somehow stayed with him. He could hear within himself, for the first time, an awakening to the “rightness” of love. He could hear… and he spoke to the One he knew was there.
“Dear God: Please help me never to forget to do the simple little things. This woman thought she was showing the greatest love by getting up to go to work, but had she stopped for one second, and just put on her seat belt, she could have given her children a greater gift: the gift of her life and of their mother. May I learn to always look for ways to show the greatest love.”
He turned on the radio and pulled out onto the highway. The sun was beginning to rise, and the brilliant colors of a beautiful Florida morning began to appear. This would be a very good day to rest from work. He knew it was worth enduring their twenty-four-hour work shift for the forty-eight-hour breaks between shifts. There would be time to rest, and time to think.
Chapter Two
Monday:
In the Twinkling of An Eye
The off-going crew gave a quick report of their shift. The ambulance was checked out, and all the drugs were accounted for. “What a horrible shift we had last Friday,” Jonathan moaned as he saw David come in the door of their office. “I went home and slept all Saturday. Let’s hope we don’t have a repeat performance today. I don’t need any more excitement for a while.” They both knew the odds for a slow shift were slim. Their rescue unit usually responded to at least twelve emergency calls a day. Sometimes, much more. Somehow these two paramedics, like all the other first responders who survive the streets, found a way to discipline their bodies and minds to take the stress of the calls as well as the long hours. Nonetheless, twenty-four hours is a long time.
David shrugged his shoulders in agreement then changed the subject. “You know, ever since we transported that girl Terri to the hospital, I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh oh, we’re in trouble now!” Jonathan jested. “You really did a great job with that kid. I didn’t expect to find her alive by the time we got to the hospital. And she was so awake and alert! What did you do back there anyway?” Jonathan’s admiration for David was obvious, as was their genuine friendship.
“I really didn’t do anything after we had that IV and oxygen established on the scene. There really wasn’t anything else we could do at that point. But there was something…” David paused to consider his next words, then continued, “She apparently had some near-death experience. It was weird. But the strangest thing is that I really believe what she told me.” David took his eyes off his friend and looked at the floor. “Maybe I have been doing this job too long, seen too much death and other things I can’t explain.” He stopped to look at his partner. “Jonathan, you are my friend, and I have trusted you with my life before on the streets. Can I be honest about what happened back there?”
Jonathan leaned forward. “You know you can trust me.”
David stared at the floor as he began to tell Jonathan about the vision Terri had and the prayer. “The really weird part is, I feel different. I can’t explain it, but I feel clean inside. You know my dad was an alcoholic, and honestly, I have never even been inside a church. I felt like I didn’t belong there. But…”
David reached inside his uniform jacket and pulled out Mrs. Blake’s Bible. He held the book between both his hands and pressed it together as if he could squeeze out some explanation for what had happened to him. “I don’t even know what is in this book, but something in me keeps telling me to find out. Sunday when I was finally awake and mentally ready, I looked at the index and found out that apparently, the Bible is actually a collection of many small books. Did you know that?”
“Yeah…” Jonathan’s expression urged David to go on.
“Well, I didn’t know where to begin so I noticed that one of the authors had your name: John. So, I figured I would try that one first.”
“So, did you read it?” Jonathan asked with a little more reservation.
“No, I’ve not read all of it yet. But this man Jesus… it is amazing. It seemed like his words just leaped off the page and inside of me. I have never read anything like it. Do you know that in the second or third chapter, he said, ‘God loved the world,’ that he loved everyone and all you had to do is believe in Him?” David stopped his mind from racing. He needed to focus his thoughts. Slowly he took a deep breath and continued. “When I read it, I almost fell off the bed. Jon, it was like I could hear him say it to me directly.” He turned his face to the wall. “I really felt loved. I must be going crazy.” He pulled back and got very quiet. He knew he had said too much. He trusted Jonathan to handle the truth and help him.
Jonathan stood up and walked to the kitchen for coffee. “Where is a call when you need one?” he muttered under his breath. He wanted the conversation to change. The unspoken rule at work was to be personal – but not too personal. Because this job was hard on the emotions, Jonathan, as well as David and every other paramedic, was trained in basic stress debriefing. And the first rule of dealing with stress was to give your partner the encouragement to open up and show emotions. But this – this was too close to home. Jonathan’s mind raced for an escape. He returned to the office with two cups of coffee.
Jonathan would have preferred a change in conversation, but he knew he had to help his friend. He chose to be honest. “David, I never told you this before, but my Dad and Mom used to take me to church every week when I was a kid,” He paused a moment before continuing, “I don’t go now that I live on my own. But I do know what you are talking about.” He looked deep into David’s eyes and spoke each word slowly to accent the truth within. “You are not crazy.”
The lights and horn went on at the same time. The printer began recording the information for the first call of the day. “Rescue 12, respond emergency to 8780 Arena Drive – Shortness of breath,” dispatch declared.
The men jumped up and ran to their ambulance. Jonathan grabbed the microphone and advised dispatch, "Rescue 12 responding.” David reached over and pressed the red switches on the console. Red and white lights flashed against the garage walls as the unit pulled forward.
In the darkness of the evil kingdom gathered the creatures of eternal damnation. Creatures who had been created by God, beautiful and strong, but who eons ago decided they had the right to choose their own destiny. Their leader had convinced them that he could be as God and choose another path. They followed him away from God. They had only known life before. But, to walk away from the Giver of Life was to walk into the darkness of death. Immediately, they loved the darkness for their deeds were evil. So, in the darkness, those who had been angels of Truth, Love, and Life, became twisted and ugly and they took on new names of Deceit, Hate and Death. Their leader who, in times past, had been the chief musician and praise-giver to God, in the darkness had become the Adversary of all that was good. One-third of all the angels had followed him away from God, when he declared to God and to the host of witnesses, “I Will Be as God.” Each follower of the Adversary became the demon perversion of what they had been in the light. These were eternal beings with eternal power to speak to men. Yet, they were banished to the dark and condemned to eternal separation from God. For a short season, a vapor of time in eternity, they were free to roam on Earth.
God created another eternal being. This one he created with the right to choose. One that He created to be more like Himself. One He could love. One who could, like God, love. And like a Father desires the love and obedience of his son, so God desires the love and obedience of His children. He created a male and a female, and called them Man. And He loved them… yet from the beginning, Man chose the darkness. The sins of rebellion polluted Man’s seed and all his children after him. God, who so greatly loved his Man-being, chose to permit a season of light and darkness, hoping his Man would one day choose the Light and walk out of the darkness. He promised to forgive their sins if they but ask and come into the Light. So great was His love that theirs was the power to choose: his kingdom and light or darkness and death. It was their choice. This was His gift to them. He would let them choose.
“Just this once,” spoke the voice of Deceit, “I would like it if there wasn’t such a tall wall of protection that surrounded those who blindly walk into the Light.”
“Who is it that is adding the strength of their faith to this paramedic’s wall?” spoke the Adversary.
From the back of the room, a demon whimpered. He knew his back would be beaten and he would bleed from these stronger demons’ response to his knowledge, “It is Mrs. Blake again. She is praying for the Good One’s protection and His guidance for this man.” The demon’s voice was weak and trembling, “She is surrounding him with her faith and prayer.”
Hisses rose from the front of the room. They knew that they had all lost to this woman’s prayers, and therefore, recognized the size of the battle that they were headed for.
Adversary’s voice rose above the fears, “Well, what is war for? We can win. We must win. Our loss can be won back, listen and watch this paramedic. We will find just the right voice to penetrate this new convert’s heart. As for Mrs. Blake, get her mind off this man and see if you can get her occupied with telling everyone about her daughter. Pride, you go. Maybe a little spiritual pride can speak to her now. Distract her!” The Adversary spoke with the clarity of a general preparing for war. “We must do it quickly. If she doesn’t forget about this paramedic soon, and quit praying for him, our job will just get harder. You know the Good One will be working swiftly to teach and lead this new convert during this time that our voices are quieted.”
The warriors of darkness hastened to their appointed tasks. Death remained to speak to the Adversary. “I want this one. I want the life of the paramedic. He has fought me with only the knowledge that the Good One has given to Men in medicine and won. Now, with the aid of the Warrior of the Good One, how many will he steal from me? I cannot have it! I must have him!”
“So be it. Take him… if you think you can. How do you suppose we could get around his Warrior? Not to mention on what grounds do you think I can get the Good One to let us take him, now that he is in His camp?” Adversary was not pleased. Reminding Death of his limitations caused putrid vomit to rise within him. “Listen, Death, you must wait. All men come to you in time. You will have him, as well. How soon, will be determined by the success of our strategy.
Let me, the great Adversary, consider the matter. You go and make his job miserable. Take the lives of as many as you can in his work area. Weary him. Let this paramedic fight you for the lives of others, as we work to find a way to take his life. Maybe he will tire in his fight with you and forget about his new relationship with the Good One. I will find a way. We will win against this new Man. David will see your face, the face of Death. I shall drink his blood with you.”
Rescue 12 arrived at 8780 Arena Drive within five minutes of being dispatched to the emergency call for “Shortness of Breath.” The ambulance was parked in the street and left running. David and Jonathan grabbed boxes containing medications and oxygen. They entered the small mobile home rapidly.
David studied the woman sitting on the sofa, hands clutching the edge of the cushion as she leaned forward on her arms. Every muscle in her neck, chest, and back pulled with each breath in and pressed forward with each breath out. Over and over, the struggle continued, each muscle working to force air into her tired lungs. Her face dripped with sweat. Her body was exhausted, trying to get rid of the fluid within her lungs.
Jonathan took the stethoscope from the box. He placed the earpieces in his ears and the small metal plate against her chest. His eyes focused on the rising and falling of her chest and his ears heard the unmistakable sound of the mingling of fluids and air causing the bubbling crackles with each breath. In and out, the rhythm of the breaths and the melody of the crackles played their death song. At each location on her chest that he placed the stethoscope, the song continued.
As Jonathan took the stethoscope from his ears, his eyes spoke more to David than the simple phrase, “C-H-F” – congestive heart failure. Each man knew that this woman’s heart was no longer able to pump the blood out at the same rate her body was bringing it to her heart. The blood was backing up into her lungs, and she was literally drowning in her own blood.
David looked at this seventy-five-year-old woman. Her eyes met his and begged for help. She inhaled deeply. Her mouth formed words that didn’t have enough air to sound. “Out,” she inhaled, “Of,” she inhaled, “Breath.” She gasped and lowered her trembling head.
David reached into his medical bag and came out with a long, narrow ET tube and the Ambu bag. “Ma’am, this is really going to be uncomfortable for you, but I want to place this tube in your nose and down toward your lungs,” he held the tube before her as he spoke, and prepared it for insertion, “If you let me, we can ‘breathe’ for you so you can rest.” He stopped working on the tube for a moment and looked again into her dark brown eyes, “Would you let me?”
She blinked her eyes and bowed her head. “Yes.”
David coated the tip of this eighteen-inch-long tube with a non-petroleum-based jell so it wouldn’t damage her nose. He knelt beside her on the sofa and whispered, “Ok, here we go.” The tube was gently placed into her right nostril and slowly slipped to the back of her throat. She suddenly filled with fear as she sought the stranger’s eye. He was too busy to notice. Thoughts raced through her mind. Was he going to block her only access to air? What if he failed? Her neck jerked back in defense at this painful attack on her only source of air. Was he killing her? Her head fell farther back. Suddenly, she realized she was too tired to fight him. Either way, for better or worse, she relaxed into his hands. She was too tired to care.
David waited until she exhaled. He felt the air escape from the end of the ET tube in his hand. Using this air to guide him to her windpipe, he quickly slid the ET tube into the proper place. The tip of the tube was only a few inches from the edge of her nose, and some air was moving in and out. He quickly secured it in place and then attached the Ambu bag to the tube. He placed the football-shaped bag within both of his hands, and when the patient inhaled, he pressed and forced air into her lungs. His eyes were focused on her chest wall. Each rise of her chest met with the slow, steady press of the airway bag. With each firm press, the resistance within her lungs became less.
The patient looked up at this young man who was staring at her chest. Her mind was already beginning to think more clearly. If only she could speak, she would say, “Thank you.” But the paramedic was too busy to notice, and the tube in her throat wouldn’t allow words to be said. Finally, she thought of a way. She reached up and grabbed David’s hand. He was surprised by her touch and instantly looked in her face. With his attention, she took a long, deep breath, and her eyes, for the first time since their arrival, didn’t hold the expression of one about to die.
David looked directly into her eyes and tried to explain why she was feeling better. “Your heart was backing up blood into your lungs. With each breath now, the fluid is being forced out, and oxygenated air is being forced in.”
She nodded her head in understanding and seemed to relax a little further as David’s attention returned to her chest and to Jonathan’s efforts.
