July 23, 0414 hrs - the morning I began to become very angry.


Leslie and I were dispatched 2nd unit in for an MVC with entrapment. Arrive on scene in less than 6 minutes to find two vehicles, both with heavy front end damage. Firefighters were cutting the top off of one vehicle, and there were 2 firefighters at the other. I walk around the passenger side door of the other vehicle and I see them, Ellen and Geoff from OFD Rescue 8, strapping in a child to the pedi-immobilizer. Ellen was giving me pass-down on the pt; telling me that his name is Joey, he is 6 yrs old; he was restrained rear seat passenger who was sleeping at the time of the crash. Ellen continues telling me he has a laceration, with avulsion to the forehead with skull visible, and bruising to his abdomen. Ellen also tells me he has vomited blood 2 times since they got on scene. As we are placing Joey on a long backboard and securing to stretcher, he vomits again. We tilt the backboard and make sure his airway is clear and then rush him to the back of our unit.

As we were loading him in, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Leslie calls out his name and we notice that he is bubbling from the mouth. Leslie slams the stretcher into the truck; I jump in and grab the suction, tilt the board and begin suctioning him. Leslie jumps into the drivers’ seat and we begin our transport to ORMC.

Geoff puts him on O2 via NRB with an ETCO2 as I am placing him on the monitor. Joey’s eyes keep rolling back in his head. Geoff does an excellent job of keeping him “with us”. Geoff keeps telling Joey “stay with us buddy” and Joey keeps saying “I’m here”. Geoff keeps suctioning his mouth and airway as I get ready to start the IV’s. Earlier in the night I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a 24G cath – thank God my luck was changing. Joey started vomiting again and we tilt him. I place the Yankuer in his mouth and ask him if he has ever been to the dentist and how the dentist will put the tube in his mouth and have him close it to get all the “stuff” out of his mouth. He said yes and I told him we were going to that now. He is such a trooper!!!

We arrive at ORMC and go to trauma 6 where the team is waiting for us. Joey’s father is in trauma 3 with the other team. I give my report and turn around and see Patrick, the Chaplin for the night. Something pulled me to him and I put my head on his chest and cried.

Joey and his father had just dropped Joey’s mother off at work and were on the way home to go back to bed, A drunk driver was traveling southbound in the northbound lane in the direct path of Joey and his father.

Joey’s father had a perforated bowel and had lost a lot of blood. Joey also had a perforated bowel, the injury to his head, and a lumbar spine fracture. As of this writing Joey is still in ICU at APH. His father was moved to a monitored bed from ICU about 16 hours after the crash. Neither one are out of the woods yet. Both run the risk of severe infection due to the bowel perforations. Joey gets to spend about 6-8 weeks in a brace that will limit his ability to walk, sit; be a 6 year old boy.

Why am I angry? That drunken piece of shit had not a single injury.

I guess you could say that they are lucky to be alive. You could also say that they are lucky that we were there quickly and got them to the hospital. Not saying that we deserve any or all of the credit, that is just how I feel. We sat at the bottom of the ramp at ORMC and talked about the call. Actually we talked about how we were feeling about the call. I know in my mind and my heart we did everything that we were trained to do. We did no harm, we did nothing but good. But there is always a part of you that questions if you did everything you possibly could. Was there something in my assessment that I missed? Was there another intervention I could or should have done? Was there something I did that could have been detrimental to the patient? Were we not quick enough? Could we have been there sooner? Could this all have been avoided?

I recall saying that sometimes I wonder why I do this job. Joey is the reason why. But there are so few Joey’s and so many others who don’t survive, that sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth it. Too many times in my life I have been affected by drunk drivers, professionally and personally. I have no sympathy for their hardships following an incident like this. All I can say is that they bring it on to themselves. It is a choice that is made to drive drunk, and if the person can’t accept the consequences, then maybe they should reconsider their privileges to drive.

I am angry and I don’t care who knows why.