Intentionally vague use of “emergency situation” to encourage people to share. If you handle emergency situations as a profession, what’s a particularly interesting one.
My 9 year old woke me up before 6 on a weekend saying “Dad, dad, there’s an emergency!”
I got up to find the bathroom covered in sand and water and a toilet full of sand and shattered glass after a jar had been dropped in it.
Honestly, I had no idea what was going on, and yet complete certainly that someone was doing things they were not supposed to be doing and that the fact that I had to be awake right now means that this was going to be a bad day.
Don’t worry though, there’s a happy ending. We sold the child to a gang of poachers and regained all the free time and peace of mind we’ve been missing out on. And with the profits I plan to buy a Miata.
Hmmm, I had a similar emergency a bunch of years back but never thought to sell one of the kids.
In my case it was the town sanitation department trying to unclog the sewers by blasting a high pressure stream up my house’s drain line. The only consequence was me having a conversation with them about distinguishing the sewer lines from home drains
unclog the sewers by blasting a high pressure stream up my house’s drain line.
Funnily enough, this is a common tactic used to prevent having the kids in the first place and avoid these emergencies all together.
In our case we sold to a roaming band of gypsies. Which I didn’t even think was a thing in the 21st century, New Zealand, until I posted an ad online
Miata is always the answer!
Seconded.
Right choice with the miata. Not sure how much you got for the kid but you could get a few miatas. Well you could a few years ago… the old ones seem popular these days… as they should be.
This past weekend.
A wildfire started up a few miles from my parents house in the western US. Winds were fairly high and it was well above 95F, so in a day and a half it went from a sprig of smoke to 10,000 acres fuelling its own weather.
I have spent the entire weekend helping them prep their property under some extreme stress. We ripped out every bit of brush and weed from the house perimeter, cut down 6 trees that were too close, ran a tractor with a disk to start building ground fire lines around the base of their hill, and ran as many water sprinklers on the lawn and surrounding terrain and trees as we could to improve their ability to resist ignition. And on top of that have gotten them packed and their livestock and farm equipment all moved to pastures well out of the treeline.
All of this while the sun was completely obscured by smoke, to the point where I had the lights on the tractor. Hell, we could HEAR the fire from their house. It was like a jet engine was running just over the west ridge. You could see tree crowns torching 150+ feet in the air.I’ve probably worked like 45+ hours in the last 4 days. I’m so tired dude.
Luckily, whether by sheer happenstance or force of a god unknowing, the wind has held in the right direction and the fire front facing their house has been very mild since Saturday night, and wildfire crews have had a chance to build dozer containment lines there. We’re still on a hair trigger but we are cautiously optimistic they’re going to make it through without any of their land burning.
Fuck global warming dude
What a terrifying experience! I’m glad you’re safe for now. Praying your family and farm stay whole.
Mask up! Breathing smoke is bad for your lungs. Good luck.
So just now, as it happens, I was out for a walk and suddenly G’rlanshchs the Insatiable started eating the Sun! Luckily I knew how do deal with it and started slaughtering some sheep in a nearby field. For nearly an hour I butchered them by the dozen, crudely slashing with my penknife and shrieking platitudes as loud as I could while G’rlanshchs continued to devour until finally he abated, satisfied with my offering, and regurgitated his meal. The fucking ungrateful farmer, meanwhile, just shouted at me and for some reason kept trying to tell me about his shitty Mitsubishi.
You really want to know?
I died, flatlining one winter morning. Family did first responder, emergency services resuscitated. Hospital, recovery and so on.
And while it might be seen as a wonder I’m alive again we all got out worse from that experience in several ways - nobody cares. Your capacity for work is OK? Well off you go then!
I feel that. Can’t even leave and be at peace. Everyone’s always dragging you back to work.
Not really a ‘real emergency’, but some time ago electricity in all my zone (a radius of 50-60km) went down for several hours, so even cell towers, ISP routing centers, ecc, were out of power. Not a real emergency, but I had 2 small meshtastic devices, and it was awesome to be able to discuss with people in other nearby cities and communicate ‘offline’!
That reminds me of the cruise ship builder on the Ems that managed to switch off Europe’s entire power grid in seconds.
The one in 2006? Not the cruise ship builder’s fault, but the system operators of the grids. They failed to communicate changes in the plan to each other, and then fucked up when things started to go wrong.
The cruise ship builders told the grid about the change in time too late, though, not really giving them enough time to calculate everything.
Where can I read more about this? Was the cruise ship builder really such a massive load that they brought down the whole network when they powered up?
True, but they should have refused the schedule change then.
A woman had a seizure on the sidewalk. I kept her in the recovery position (she was already on her side) and managed to slip a bag under her head because she kept banging it on the ground. Called 911. Figured everything was as good as it could be given situation, she wasn’t going to hurt herself any further and help was coming.
Then a cop walked up and tried to pull her onto her back while I was trying to keep her on her side. I yelled to back off, he yelled back, argued with me about whether I witnessed a seizure, I refused to let him touch her, EMTs arrived shortly after.
Fuck cops.
I was aimlessly swimming underwater in the deep end of a backyard pool when I saw an infant on the bottom, next to one of the side walls. I grabbed it, rushed it to the surface, and sat it on the edge. Her parents quickly came running. The kid was fine. It seems she instinctively held her breath once submerged and wasn’t under very long. The parents weren’t watching (they were in lawn chairs 10-20 feet away) and nobody really knows how long she was under. I’m still struck by the parents’ neglect. Also that the kid had no buoyancy and sank like a stone.
Swimming in my Grandmas pool as a kid was so much fun. But when I was little, and didn’t know how to swim, my mom put pool floaty rings on my arms and let me have at it in the shallow end. Well I wanted to be like the big kids jumping in the deep end, so I did. with my arms straight up. Those pool floaties slipped right off and I was at the bottom in a second. Luckily my Grandma saw, jumped in and got me.
I love my Grandma.
It’s horrifying when you learn about the number of pool drowning deaths a year. It’s in the thousands in the US alone.
Basically this exact thing happened to me as a child. I was fine but it is one of my earliest memories. Good job!
First off, good on you from the rescue!
As a parent, I get both sides. It’s absolutely horrifying, but so easy to lose focus. You can start chatting, and not realise you’re not tracking the child. You can also both assume the other has eyes on them.
It’s better to assume problems like this as systematic, rather than personal failures. If a small child has access to the water, they should be explicitly monitored. If you can’t (as a group) do that, then they shouldn’t have easy access to the water. You can also train children in water safety from a young age. Babies can be taught self rescue from around when they can crawl.
It’s so easy to lose focus. It requires constant concentration, at a time when your life has been turned upside down, and you are often suffering from sleep deprivation. A (apparently) calm ‘normal’ situation and your brain can relax back and switch off from parenting mode.
It’s been a long time, but last one was about 20 years ago. Me and my friend Danielle had just finished our open water scuba diving courses together, and went to do our first dive with a group from the dive shop - including one of our instructors who was leading it.
It was a shore dive, we all walk in in our drysuits and I stupidly drop my mask and lose it in the silty water. Danielle starts swimming around looking for it, while most of us are chatting above the surface. We’re in about 3’ of water at this point on the beach, I’m literally standing up next to her, so danger is the last thing on my mind.
Suddenly someone asks me if Danielle is ok, I turn around just as she stops moving, grab her by the bcd and pull her up. She’s blue and not breathing. The instructor is already on his way over, gives her some rescue breaths and she immediately comes back. We pull her to the shore and she’s coughing up water, paramedics roll up shortly after and take her to the hospital just in case.
She has gotten air stuck in the boots of her dry suit and was stuck inverted. Instead of doing the recovery roll we were trained, or inflating her bcd, she panicked and as a result somehow lost her mouth piece.
She never dived in cold water again, although we did go to belize several months later to do a bunch of diving. I kept up the cold water diving.
It really made me appreciate how panicking can completely fuck you over, and made me a very safety conscious diver. I always stay close to my buddy and keep a close eye on them.
“Dave Not Coming Back”
(Bushman’s Hole incident)
Yeah… Heart wrenching😓
100%
Not saying anything cuz words just don’t
When we went to belize, a dead diver had been pulled out the week before from the blue hole. It had been down there a couple years, hands and head long gone, but identified by the rented camera still attached to it.
When i went diving in Bali our dive lead was ex military, and would tell us stories of doing body recoveries where they’d surface and just immediately go to a hyperbaric chamber. That just seems asinine to me.
I’ve gone diving around 200 times, it’s absolutely gorgeous and I’d recommend it to anyone, but it’s not something you should take risks while doing.
Did CPR on an overdose until somebody showed up with Narcan. Dude lived.
Good job, that’s a heroic deed.
About 5 years ago or so, was standing waiting for the bus, minding my own business. Next to me was a man in his 40’s, and his ~10 year old kid. Suddenly I saw from the corner of my eye that the man just collapsed, like you see in cartoons, straight down on the ground. Kid froze up and just stared at him, and I quickly realized that “Oh fuck, I am the adult in the situation.”
Went over to the man, who was conscious, but confused and angry. Luckily I recognized the signs of hypoglycemia, and asked the kid if his dad has diabetes. Kid didn’t answer, just stared at him. Snapped my fingers in his face, and he came out of it, and answered “Yes, type 1”. Told the kid to run to the nearby store and get a juice box or two, don’t bother paying or explaining, we’ll deal with it later. I stayed with the dad, tried asking some questions while ringing the emergency number, and he let me check his head. Luckily he didn’t hit it, there was no blood at least.
Got the ambulance sorted, and kid ran back with juice boxes, with the store clerk running and screaming in tow. I yelled at the clerk that it’s an emergency, man with diabetes collapsed. Clerk didn’t care or listen, just screamed at the kid that he stole the juice boxes and tried to grab him. I got up and stepped between them, and raised my voice over hers (fortunately I have a very loud voice if I want to) and she shut up for a few seconds before starting her inane tirade about stealing and how she’s gonna phone the cops. I lost my temper and told her to shut the fuck up and either help or fuck off, who the fuck cares about 50 cents worth of juice, man’s life was on the line.
After drinking two boxes of juice, the man perked up and was coherent again, and stated that he has type 1 diabetes and forgot to eat. I told him it’s fine, ambulance is on the way, do you need more sugar? He said he’s fine, and tried to get up but I gently stopped him. During all of this, the clerk was still going on about stealing, and I got pissed, told her I know stores have a budget for this sort of thing, what the fuck is your problem, this man had an emergency, the kid did what I told him and it was the right thing to do. At this point, I remembered the kid.
The kid was standing there, tears in his eyes, staring at his feet. I pat him on the back, told him to not listen to the insane lady, you did good lad, saved your dad’s life. Ambulance came at that point, and the man started fussing how he doesn’t need an ambulance, he’s fine. Told him that it’s a good idea to get checked even if you feel fine, see if there’s any underlying issues, check your head in case you hit it etc… Got the paramedics up to speed, they started a glucose and hydration drip.
During the whole ordeal, the clerk never stopped yammering and whining, so one of the paramedics told her to knock it off and jot it up as cost of business, stores have a budget for this exact sort of thing, and it was less than a euro worth of juice that saved a man’s life. They thanked me for the quick help, told them it’s fine, I have friends with diabetes, not my first rodeo, and I have a first aid certificate, got lucky I was there. Turned to the kid, who was sitting in the ambulance with his dad, still crying silently, in complete shock. I fist bumped him, told it was gonna be okay, you did good. Both the kid and dad thanked me, I told them no need, I just did what anyone else would have. Ambulance left.
Store clerk was still fuming, and tried to start her shit again with me. I took out my wallet, had 2 euro coin there and I threw it on the ground. Told her “there you go, you stupid piece of shit. You have your money, what the fuck are you still doing here” and put on my headphones, ignoring her. She left shortly after, glaring at me. I gave her the finger. She didn’t even pick up the 2 euro coin.
My bus came, and I was almost an hour late for work at that point. Boss nagged me when I got there, but calmed down when I explained. Was pissed about the clerk all day.
All of this at 06:30 in the morning. I’m not a morning person. It sucked. At least I could help someone in need.
Moral of the story (if you really want one):
Don’t be a fucking dickhead.
Also, if you have the chance, do first aid training. I’ve had several situations during my life where things could’ve ended worse if I didn’t know how to react. One situation unfortunately where it didn’t matter, old boy had a seizure (I think aneurysm or stroke) and was dead before the paramedics got there, me and another dude had been doing CPR for 20 minutes on a dead man, but at least we did our best.
I was camping at an event. I had recently finished recharging a large lipo battery (3S 9000mah). The battery went from normal to nuclear in a second or 2.
Thankfully I had it clear of flammables and in a lipo bag. Even so, it started 3 grass fires in the time it took to get it out of the marquee and wet enough to extinguish it. The event volunteers were there within 40 seconds, with fire extinguishers. Thankfully we already had it under control by then.
Lesson learnt, always use a fire resistant container to charge in e.g. an ammo can or a cooking pot. Also assume it can turn into a fireball with absolutely no warning, and plan accordingly.
Yes! Lipos are so fucking dangerous. Had 3 transform into fireballs on me, in different occasions. Now they stay in ammo boxes.
Last week, as a part of my job, I was interviewing a suspect in order to write a pre-trial report for the courts in which I give my recommendations regarding parole and probation in case the suspect is found guilty. The interview was going great and the suspect was a really nice person. Suddenly, my personal safety alarm - which signals that there is a medical emergency or an ongoing assault - goes off and the display indicates that the incident is taking place just across the hall. I tell the suspect to stay put, I jump out into the hallway (first mistake), hastily pull open the door to the room in question (second mistake) and see that a colleague is having a seemingly normal conversation with a parolee. I look into my colleague’s eyes to read their needs and I immediately realize that they want the parolee out of there. I look at the parolee, who’s reeking of alcohol, with a kind smile and tell them, “let’s take a walk 🤗” and point in the direction in which I want them to go with my left arm. The parolee follows my instructions and I keep talking to them in a calming but firm fashion. While moving towards the exit, I also give them positive affirmation on how not everybody would’ve been able to follow instructions in such a calm manner in such a stressful situation.
After following up with my colleague who had sounded the alarm, and who had already been taken care of by our on-site counselor, I learned that the parolee had said to my colleague, twice, “I am going to
kill[some direct threat of bodily harm] you before this meeting is over”.Edit: I suddenly became unsure of whether they actually used the word “kill”, but at the very least, it was about harming my colleague in some way before their meeting concluded.
I tell the suspect to stay put, I jump out into the hallway (first mistake), hastily pull open the door to the room in question (second mistake)
Why were those mistakes?
Because the person was threatening violence and any of these quick/loud actions could have triggered them to act. I think op is implying it would have been safer to be discreet and casually check the situation without alerting the person threatening their colleague.
In addition to what @snowsuit2654@piefed.blahaj.zone pointed out, I also ran into spaces - during an ongoing incident - in which I had no idea what was going on. Behind every door that I hastily jerked open, there could have been hazards that could have jeopardized my safety. Not incidentally, this way of thinking is also a part of a well-established first aid rendering protocol: check your own safety before rendering aid. You are no good to the person in need of help if you yourself become incapacitated or lose your life during the rescue.
But coincidentally, your mistakes turned out to give the best results. Your colleague needed someone to step in as soon as possible. How long would it have taken you to guarantee your own safety before each of those steps? How would you even do that? You can’t know why the panic button was pressed without stepping into the room.
Also, I’m kind of wondering what happened to the suspect you were interviewing at the start. Did they stay put as you told them? Did they, as I expected when first reading your story, try to flee?
Good point(s)! Because no matter how much we practice these safety first protocols, when somebody is in danger, we act instinctively. My only thoughts were “eliminate threat 👿”. 🤣
No, the suspect stayed where I asked them to stay. Those that we meet in our offices are not detained and attend these pre-trial interviews on their own volition. We do of course interview detained people too, visiting them in jail. Or at least I do, my coworkers are lazy and just do it over the phone. 😅
Anyway, sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard I try to explain to people over the phone or in a written letter how much this interview could work in their favor, they still don’t show up. Sometimes, this can directly lead to me suggesting to the courts that they don’t go for probation, especially if the suspect has a couple of priors.
People are the scariest animals on earth. Good job !
Being in the hospital near death is a fun time.
Specifically with a kidney stone causing a UTI that went near septic. Yay me. Also the look on the urgent care guy’s face was priceless.
My kid is Non-verbal autistic with epilepsy. One day he had an appointment with his neurologist. We are walking down the apartment stairs, mother in front I’m behind. He goes into a seizure. I catch him and hold his head between my legs so he doesn’t hit his head on the cement steps.
Suddenly my phone rings, it’s my sister. We are not no-contact but rarely talk so it must be important so I answer. Her first words as I’m holding a child actively seizing between my legs were “hey, so mom broke her neck”…
One of the ones that stand out to me was floating security in a music venue I spotted a patron alone about to have a seizure and was able to intervene before they fell over and got injured.
He has bad epilepsy so seizures are kinda a normal occurrence. He takes 4 medicines in morning, 1 mid day, 5 in the evening and 1 before bed but most days it’s about 25% chance of if hell have a seizure. Really only get concerned if it’s over 5 in a day…
I worked in a group home for several years. Those seizures are no joke. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that. I had a girl with drop seizures. I got really good at reading when she was about to seize. Several times I saw it across the room and darted catching her before she did any damage. My coworkers were always shocked.
I remember one time when she came to she was signing to me (she was deaf) any my clothes were different. We had matching shirts that day and she LOVED it. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it’s because she peed on me as I saved her from taking a face plant into the edge of the counter. I still miss her. She was awesome.
Yeah I don’t know exactly why but seizures often result in uncontrollable pee.
He was so much better a few years ago. He was on only 2 medications twice a day. The pharmacy was out of one of his medicine and we ran out. I gave him his other hoping it was enough. He got to school but didn’t even get into the classroom before seizing. The school called 911 and he was taken to hospital (yes school was aware of his conditions). Since then we have been fighting to get back to that state but his muscle control is decreasing and his seizures are more common. Not looking for medical advice, as I said he has like 7 doctors and gets good medical care. I’m just venting.
I can’t say I fully understand but, I have a glimpse of understanding. I’m so sorry man that sucks so hard. All you want is to see him happy and healthy. I’m hoping the best for you and him. You guys deserve some good things.
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be putting this negativity on you. We’ll figure out a life. Go live yours.
Man, if you don’t open up and talk about this shit, it will consume you. At 22 I had to put my mother in a nursing home due to severe brain damage. That shit almost ate me alive. I could talk about the day to day but, I couldn’t talk about my feelings.
That shit made life dark. If you don’t have a support network, find some online groups. It’s hard to do what you’re doing. It’s hard to get up every day knowing what the day is going to bring and worrying if it’s going to get worse. Holding it all in makes it harder!
Now, I’m not saying go out and trauma dump on every employee at your local grocery store lol. Consent is key. Friends, family, a support group, a therapist, find someone to talk to. You shouldn’t and you really can’t do it alone. Not in a healthy way anyways.
For the record, I’m consenting to this conversation and you’re not bothering me. I can put my phone down at any point. If no one has told you lately, you’re a great parent and I’m proud of you. Please, take care of yourself too.
I understand, my own father died when I was 13. It almost ate me too.
I’m not a great parent, I do care for him and I make sure he has food, medicine, milk(he loves milk but omg is lactose free milk expensive). I drink too much, smoke too much, generally a waste of person. He has a roof, his own bedroom and his own TV for entertainment.
Honestly, you sound overwhelmed and depressed. And who wouldn’t be in your situation. All the more reason to find support. You may not think it but, you deserve it.
Jeez that’s a rough day, hopefully both are doing better.
My mother is mostly recovered, she says it’s still stiff sometimes but that’s it.
Still working on the kid, he has like 7 doctors and takes a pharmacy of drugs per day but it’s only partially effective.
Glad to hear about your mom. Stay strong with the kid stuff, thats a heavy cross to bear.
Should also say my mother didn’t technically “break her neck”. Supposedly there are small spikes on your spine at the very top where it meets your skull to hold your skull in place. She broke one of those spikes.
He has a bunch of issues, liver issues, lactose intolerant, mostly deaf, little motor control etc. For example he’s about to turn 13 but can’t use bathroom alone and still watches shows like team umizoomie and blues clues.
Helped pull a man out of the street that was face down drunk yesterday. Was driving past and saw a skinnier feller attempting to pull him up with one arm. Figured one or both of them would get hurt trying to move him so I turned the car around, parked up and helped sit him up on the sidewalk. Guy was piss drunk, about 60 years old and rotund telling me that his wife left him yesterday.
He initially was fighting the help trying to get back into the street but I talked him down and hefted him up to his feet. Had the skinnier guy go into the store and get some water to bring out as it was 90+ degrees. I helped walk him into the shade against a wall outside the liquor store and called an ambulance to pick him up as he couldn’t stand on his own. Talked with the guy while I waited for the ambulance to arrive, he kept switching back and forth from thanking me and telling me that he wanted to shoot the guy his wife left him for. Just keep reassuring him that things will get better and today is just a bad day that will soon pass.
Once the emts arrived, filled them in with as much info as I gathered and headed home.
What a tough situation, sounds like you handled it as well as possible though.
Definitely a doozy all around. Id hope if not me, someone would have helped simarly
