Corridor 9

Lord, be with those in need.

With disaster & destruction being broadcast nationwide and death in the paper daily, its especially hard not to become calloused over with regard to other peoples pain and suffering. There is a need to get the job done, be effective, compassionate, and caring. There is also a need to keep your head clear and make sure that you deal with the problems physically instead of letting them deal with you mentally. Today was a rough day though.

I was laying there all peaceful for my midmorning nap when the tones went off. We had been paged out to aid MCAS in the vicinity of Muffler Express on South Main Street. F3 went in route fairly quickly and I rode with F8 shortly there after. When F3 arrived they couldn’t see anything happening, and hollered back to dispatch trying to get a better position when they were told that the incident was approximately 1 mile west on St. Route 70. As soon as we pulled up the medic yelled out the rear door of the ambulance that he needed 3 people now, and we needed to get heading to the hospital yesterday.

For those of you who don’t know, most of the people working for Med Center Ambulance Service are fairly laid back, knowledgeable, and good at what they do. It is extremely rare, even in the worst of circumstances, to have a medic barking out orders with what looked like panic in his eye. When I stepped in the back of the ambulance I understood what the look in his eyes was all about.

Standing in the door, I saw an 11 year old boy who had a gunshot wound to his chest. He was unresponsive and CPR was in progress. The paramedic was in the process of starting IV lines and the EMT was needing to setup equipment so I took over CPR along with another firefighter from F3. It only took approximately 5 minutes to get to the hospital, but it seemed like hours sitting in the back of the truck. As we pulled up to the ER, another MCAS crew was standing by to take over care from the other firefighter and I.

From what I understand, this incident started out toward Richland. The family of the patient decided to put him in a personal vehicle and head toward Madisonville which explains why we were unable to find the scene plus the reason we were toned out in the first place.

It us my understanding that the child died shortly after being taken to OR.

God, help us to remember how short our time really is, to care for the ones we love while they are here, to take joy when they depart for heaven, and to comfort those who are left behind. Amen.