When I stop at a house and people come running to the ambulance I’m usually concerned. To me, that means either they don’t know how to cope with what is happening inside and/or that whatever is happening inside is terribly frightening. This was the case when we stopped at the day care. From the second we stopped, people seemed to come at us from all directions and we were almost mobbed by the crowd. A huge woman almost physically pulled me out of the ambulance because she felt I wasn’t moving fast enough.
Strange as it seems now I remember this call in slow motion. Everything happened so quickly but it was as if my mind took hundreds of pictures to remember this day in agonizing detail. I can still smell the thick green grass and the sickly …show more content…
I heard a man howling in despair. It was a horrific sound, one I hope I will never hear again.
Someone led us out of the patio door and into the pool area. Before I saw the howling man I saw the swimming pool. It was shaded by large trees in the fading afternoon sun and painted black. There was a strong smell of chlorine that caught in my nose.
Our friend was almost beyond hysterical, sitting in a corner against a wall and wailing like a wounded animal. He was gripping the limp 14-month old baby in his arms and crying uncontrollably. Sandy stood next to me and appeared transfixed at the sight. I knew I had to do something, anything and that’s when my training took over. I raced over and said, “Give him to me.”
“No! No! He’s gone! He’s gone!” the man shouted back.
I got down on my knees and pulled the child from his arms as gently and kindly as I could. Some bystanders took him away and I carried the small lifeless body a few steps back to Sandy. The little angelic face was white and cold and his tiny lips were blue.
I lay the baby on his back and tilted his head back slightly to open his airway. I looked, listened and felt for any breathing, hoping for the slightest movement from his chest or a tiny puff of air on my face from his nostrils. There was nothing. I quickly felt in the crook of his tiny arm for a pulse and prayed to find one. But there was no
Strange as it seems now I remember this call in slow motion. Everything happened so quickly but it was as if my mind took hundreds of pictures to remember this day in agonizing detail. I can still smell the thick green grass and the sickly …show more content…
I heard a man howling in despair. It was a horrific sound, one I hope I will never hear again.
Someone led us out of the patio door and into the pool area. Before I saw the howling man I saw the swimming pool. It was shaded by large trees in the fading afternoon sun and painted black. There was a strong smell of chlorine that caught in my nose.
Our friend was almost beyond hysterical, sitting in a corner against a wall and wailing like a wounded animal. He was gripping the limp 14-month old baby in his arms and crying uncontrollably. Sandy stood next to me and appeared transfixed at the sight. I knew I had to do something, anything and that’s when my training took over. I raced over and said, “Give him to me.”
“No! No! He’s gone! He’s gone!” the man shouted back.
I got down on my knees and pulled the child from his arms as gently and kindly as I could. Some bystanders took him away and I carried the small lifeless body a few steps back to Sandy. The little angelic face was white and cold and his tiny lips were blue.
I lay the baby on his back and tilted his head back slightly to open his airway. I looked, listened and felt for any breathing, hoping for the slightest movement from his chest or a tiny puff of air on my face from his nostrils. There was nothing. I quickly felt in the crook of his tiny arm for a pulse and prayed to find one. But there was no