"Winter Carnival" Memories
A radio personality solved the political correctness issue of this season by lumping all of the celebrations into a single term – Winter Carnival. In the spirit of inclusiveness, let me share some of my fond fire-rescue winter carnival stories.
Winter Carnival Gridlock
The heaviest travel day of the season had Fossilmedic commanding an engine company, running car collisions big and small on "the slab" – the section of Interstate 95 that runs through the jurisdiction. Sitting in traffic on the northbound lanes, a dispatch was made for a commercial structure fire in the business district.
From our elevated position on the interstate we could see the building. We also saw the hundreds of cars and trucks between us and the exit one eighth of a mile away. We were first due, but never got to the incident. The rest of the first alarm was at the scene and declared the event stable by time we cleared the interstate.
The selfish Midnight Mass celebrant
Coming back from a "smoke in the house" call, we were asked by dispatch to stop by the Catholic Church parking lot. We met a well dressed woman who arrived late to the Christmas Eve midnight mass. She parked her brand new luxury car in an exit lane of the overflowing parking lot. Trying to get a jump on the congregation by leaving early, she encountered a problem.
She called 9-1-1 because the keys were locked in the car. No OnStar, a door designed to defeat slim-jims and the owner’s profound sense of self importance made it difficult to provide a positive customer service experience. We left as the police-summoned tow truck arrived to remove the traffic hazard.
More working incidents during the Winter Carnival season
The boss of the fire dispatchers considered a request to reduce the on-duty staffing for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years day. The dispatchers said that those were the slowest days of the year. While these days had the fewest dispatches on those three days, about 20 to 30 percent slower than an average day, there were more working fire and ems incidents on those days. In fact, there was a 100% probability of a cooking related structure fire on Thanksgiving and a 75% probability of a greater alarm event on one of those days every year.
Chest Compressions for the Holidays
One of the first cardiac arrests I handled as the EMT-in-charge was 4 am Christmas morning, very near my parent’s house. The wife called after hearing him gurgle. Pre-paramedic treatment meant strapping him onto a Heart-Lung Resuscitator and speeding to the hospital. In Scope-of-Practice talk, this is known as "diesel therapy."
The patient was declared dead-on-arrival, the fourth or fifth cardiac arrest patient who arrived during the overnight shift. Fast forward fifteen-some winter carnivals. I am again near my parent’s home. This time I am successfully resuscitating one of their friends. He eventually gets a successful heart transplant.
I hope that you have a great holiday!
Mike "FossilMedic" Ward
Original post December 26, 2007, Updated November 24, 2011
Also on FireGeezer…
- “The Greatest Generation” white-knuckles through another Winter Carnival – December 22, 2010
- Not dead until the ambulance crew assesses the patient. A Winter Carnival memory. – November 23, 2011
- Christmas Dawn 1971 – December 25, 2011
- Why wait 10 hours for ambulance? – January 3, 2011
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