Heed your body’s messages
Volunteer Firefighter, Passenger, and Car Occupants Saved from Near-Fatal Fire Truck vs. Vehicle Crash
- The forethought of a fire apparatus driver prevented injury or possibly death when a fire truck-passenger vehicle collision was averted. The vehicle contained a family of five. The fire apparatus driver was an experienced pumper/tanker operator with some 25 years of experience and had not been involved in any department accidents ….
The above headline and story lead may be hypothetical, but the possibility of injury or death could have been fact.
A pager call went out around 4 p.m. that Saturday. It was for another vehicle accident with injuries at Bailey Canyon curve on U.S. Highway 82 in New Mexico. Typical response was a Class A pumper, an EMS/rescue rig, an extrication/rescue rig, a chief’s car, and perhaps a vehicle for blocking traffic. Volunteers turned out in their personal vehicles with bunker gear bags, dressed out at the station, and then departed. This particular response was somewhat irregular in that I experienced slight chest discomfort and was somewhat winded after carrying the bunker bag from my personal vehicle into the equipment bay. Since all necessary units and personnel had already left or were about to, I decided to sit this one out. I remembered a similar feeling had occurred during long walks in the cold morning air.
Images flashed back of a caricature grimacing, red faced, both hands clutching his chest. Also, thoughts occurred from reading various online firefighter LODDs. I listened to what my body was trying to tell me and made an appointment with my general practitioner (GP). He took my blood pressuretwice. He couldn’t believe the first numbers; they were higher than 150. Things then got serious real fast. I was asked the usual questions: “Do you smoke?” “Are you on blood pressure pills?” “Are you on cholesterol medication or high-dose aspirin?” (Yes to cholesterol medication and low-dose aspirin only.)
My GP made an appointment for me with a cardiologist. He wrote out prescriptions for nitroglycerin pills and increased my cholesterol pill dosage.
Now, things began happening fast. The cardiologist did an ultrasound of my heart and an electrocardiogram (ECG) and pushed and poked. He scheduled and performed a catheter probe into the heart, took pictures, and recorded them on a CD. It was determined that my clogged arteries were too small for a stent or “roto-rooter” procedure and too small for bypass surgery. He recommended treatment with a very strict diet, high aspirin, and blood pressure pills. (Now, go home. Next.)
Well, I sought a second opinion, made an appointment, set a date for bypass surgery, and this is where the story presently ends.
Although the headline and lead-in in this letter are fictitious, had I not taken these actions, I could have been responsible for another headline that reported the deaths of a family of civilians in the car that was hit by the fire apparatus I was driving (and possibly I could have been killed as well).
I want to send out this message: Listen to what your body is telling you; watch your weight and cholesterol, exercise often, keep monthly records of your blood pressure, and don’t smoke. This was a personal wake-up call. Take heed. Look for signs; listen to your body’s signals. Save someone’s lifemaybe even your own. If the heart gets damaged from an attack, take corrective action before damage occurs. Go online; Google “heart attack”; it will get you thinking.
Emmett Savage
High Rolls (NM) Volunteer
Fire Department
Editorial “home runs”
Although Editor in Chief Bobby Halton has had many “right-on” editorials in the past, his Editor’s Opinion columns “Silver Bullets” (February 2008) and “We Aren’t Killing Anyone” (March 2008) have hit the bull’s eye regarding issues important to me (the twisting of statistics to “judge” the American fire service and “killing” our firefighters). However, it has only been since I have “retired” that I have had the time to read and process more articles regarding our industry’s current condition and futurean unfortunate state of affairs, having to be retired so that I can think about the future.
Gerald Kohlmann
Vice President, Fire Services
Lexipol LLC
Redwood City, California
