Beyond the Pain

Chuck was keen to treat the patient but the fire crew couldn’t get the patient out of the car because his legs were trapped under the front seat. The fire crew pryed open the driver’s door with the Jaws of Life and within minutes the driver was strapped to a spinal board and bundled into the ambulance.

Stuart backed away from the scene and carefully manoeuvred into a northbound lane of Crowchild, turned the lights and siren on, and accelerated to eighty kilometres. Chuck thought that it was fortunate for their passenger that they had a fairly direct route to the Foothills.

Chuck began an examination of the driver of the car starting with pulse, breathing, and obvious injuries. She documented the patient’s name and status. In summary, the patient had suffered trauma to the head and neck, extremity, chest, abdominal trauma and had an altered mental status. She then documented a summary of the conditions of the vehicle when they first encountered it. The fact that the vehicle had a head on collision with a concrete structure on a highway. That the speed of the vehicle was unknown at the time of the collision. She documented the significant damage to the front of the car; the fact that the patient was wearing a seat belt; there was no obvious deformity to the steering wheel; and, no airbag was deployed. Maybe Chuck did not realize it or she maybe she was simply answering questions thoroughly but the 1992 Oldsmobile is not equipped with airbags.

Chuck turned her attention to her patient. She taped a gauze strip over the wound above the patient’s right eye. And, then applied a large gauze pad to the avulsion¹ on his left chin.

Chuck noted that the patient was not responsive to verbal stimulus but was responsive to painful stimuli. The patient’s airway was open but he had increased respiration. The good news was both his lungs were clear and he had a rapid strong regular radial pulse. There was no visible deformity to the extremities. There was no grating sound when she pressed on his chest. The patient’s pelvis was also stable on paliptation.

Chuck took a moment from recording the patient’s history to do something she always did with unconscious patients. Chuck took the patient’s left hand in her two hands and began to rub it gently. Then she said what she always said in cases like this, “You’re going to get through this. You will be fine.” She rubbed his hand gently for a few seconds more and then got back to taking and recording his vitals.

EMS to the Rescue

The driver of the Ford F150 stared in disbelief¹. The powder blue Olds she had been taiiling had just executed a lighting fast lane change. Into the empty bus lane. And, rocketed straight into the concrete sound barrier marking the end of the bus lane. The brake lights never came on.

Two of the concrete slabs that made up the barrier had cracked and plummeted down on the Olds. The truck skidded to a stop. Leaving ten feet of rubber.

The driver pulled out her cell phone. Dialed 911. “A car just crashed into the concrete sound barrier at Crowchild Trail and fifty fourth avenue. Send an ambulance.”

She hung up. She had been partying. Hard. Was probably over the limit. She started the truck rolling. Booted it up to 80. And, was gone into the night. Forever unknown.

EMS 29 had just finished delivering a patient to Rocky View Hospital Emergency. Chuck and Stuart, EMS professionals, had just become available for service when they received the call. The communication system came alive, “EMS 29 stand by to roll. We have a report of a single vehicle accident. The vehicle apparently went off the road. Smashed into a concrete barrier wall at the intersection of Fifty Fourth Avenue and Crowchild Trail.”

EMS 29 was manned this shift by Stuart. EMS, driving. And, Chuck, EMT, attending in the back. In spite of the name, Chuck was female. Stuart was red haired, Irish. Face a mass of orange freckles. He tried to live up to his nickname, Speed. He prided himself on being soonest to the accident scene. Chuck was a buxom red head with a reputation for being a softy. Their coworkers called them the Howdy Doody Show. But, the fact that Stuart liked to drive and Chuck liked to care for patients created a partnership made in heaven.

Fortunately the scene of the accident was mere blocks from Rockyview. That didn’t prevent Stuart from operating the unit full out. He flipped the siren on and said to dispatch, “EMS 29 is rolling.” He drove onto the access road that leads to Rockyview. Turned left. And, within a block they were up to eighty kilometres per hour and Stuart was doing what he did best: driving.

In spite of Stuart’s best efforts a Calgary Fire Department truck was already on scene when they arrived at 3:33 am. The truck was parked on the roadway next to an powder blue Oldsmobile that was embedded in the concrete wall that served as a sound barrier. Stuart pulled the ambulance up over the sidewalk, next to the fire truck.

Fire trucks always accompanied EMS units because the fire truck carries the breathing equipment that any patient might require. For some reason the city emergency services had decided that EMS units would not carry breathing apparatus. Fortunately they also carried the equipment required to gain access to the car doors. It was obvious to Stuart that this equipment would be needed to extract the driver.

Excerpt from CRASH! Memories of a Healing Journey, All Rights Reserved, Copyright Lyle T. Lachmuth