I always find this a good conversation to get into. It is nice to share experiences with other in the field and maybe get there ideas if something else could have been done.

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Worst - Incident Commander of a 99-vehicle pile-up, fire, hazmat release, and mass casualty incident on December 11, 1990. I was the EMS Chief for McMinn County, TN at the time. This incident occurred in a fog bank on I-75 at the 36 mm (Lamontville Rd.) interchange. Listening to people scream as they burn to death...that was bad. So much fire that we couldn't get near them for a rescue attempt - that was the worst.

Most interesting - had to be my last major extrication while assigned to Rescue 3 in Greenville County, SC. We had a SUV over a bluff with a complicated extrication. Starting the rescue by rappelling about 80 feet to the car, then getting the tools and cribbing one stokes litter at a time from up top was a serious challenge. The rescue took 2 hours from on scene to the patient going into the medic. Recovering the tools, cleaning up, and washing and drying 400 feet of rope took two shifts.

Happiest calls - the 5 times I've delivered a healthy baby. One healthy delivery makes up for just about anything else during a bad shift.

Most bizzare call - tie between the diabetic who decorated her house with her own solid waste products and the seizure patient who wouldn't stop drinking Old Spice cologne without a fight.

Nothing like an interesting career...
The worst call I have been on was one where a 21 yr. old male fliped his truck and it exploded on impact and well the rest is better left unsaid.
My worst call is between me and that image permanently burnt into my minds eye. I don’t like visiting there you shouldn’t have to. Given the nature of this business why would you even start a forum like this?
OK; the subject has been brought up and I want someone to delicately explain to me why:
When there is a run involving a fatality, why is it "harder" if it is a death of child/infant rather than someone our age or older?
Because that is to say that responding to a fatality involving an older person is "easier".
Why does a young fatality affect you worse than an older fatality?
See; in my mind, there are many qualifiers that doesn't console me simply because they are "older". At that juncture in their life, they are still someone's loved one and their life, in my mind, holds the same value from an emotional perspective as that of a young child.
It's an interesting statement when I see it and I have to ask why some of you feel that way.
TCSS.
Art
I have not been on a call like that with a elderly person at this point. A loss of anyones life is traggic to say the least.
Some people it helps to talk about things to a point and others deal with it in other ways. Don't visit if it bothers you.
I was just finishing a meat loaf and mash potatoe dinner and was stuffed when the tones dropped for a drowning at the local lake.

So I proceed to run five blocks to the fire station gear up and get on the engine we drive to the lake and when we pull in I get off the truck and proceed to puke my guts out from eating so much and running to the station.

When we walk up to the dam the kids tell us they were swimming and he was drug under by the current and the ran off because they were scared so they waited a half hour to tell anyone.

The divers found him and pulled him out the medics started cpr called for a helicopter. when the helicopter got there they had a faint pulse on the 8 year old we had to hot load him off the dam because where we were located he se on skid on the dam and hovered the other over the water while we loaded him.

The 8 year old passed away in route to the hospital the only reason the could figure he survived so long was that when his head was lodged in the mud that he hit an air pocket because he had a faint pulse and was breathing when he was loaded.

If they would have let someone know sooner he might have made it.
Art,

There's also a lot of sympathy for a small child who is killed and for the surviving parents. Then there's the transferrence...that could be MY child.
There's a certain feeling that older people have had their chance at a long and hopefully fulfilling life. When a child dies, there's a feeling that the child was robbed of most of his/her life, and the family was robbed of that life as well.

I'll readily admit that working fatalities isn't easy for anyone with either a shred of human kindness or a sense of his/her own mortality. It's just more painful when it's a little kid.
I think this one falls under interesting...

I was running third with an ALS unit as a part of my EMT-P Practical rotations with an inner city medic unit. We were dispatched to a residence for a "shooting". While this seemed like it would be pretty straight forward, the story behind the shooting was as strange as they come...

The female victim was shot by her boyfriend - "Poopie"
The female victim could not give a real name for "Poopie"
She had been dating him on and off for nearly five years
They have at least one child together - can you imagine the Birth Certificate...

I happened to witness the Police interview of the victim at the scene:

"Do you know who shot you?"
Victim: "Yeah, my boyfriend"
"Who is your boyfriend?"
Victim: "Poopie"
"Poopie shot you in the butt??"
Officer now exits the medic to laugh hysterically...
Returns a moment later to complete the interview...
"Where does Poopie live?"
"What is Poopie wearing"
"Does Poopie have a last name?"
"What is Poopies real name?"
"Where does Poopie Live?"
On the Radio: "Can I get a make on any previous arrest warrants for an AKA "Poopie", please?"
"Where do you think Poopie will go tonight?"
"How do I find Poopie?"
"Does Poopie have any relatives in the area? Any Friends?"

Can you imagine how difficult it was not to laugh through this ordeal...
the most interesting call ive ever been on would have happened about two years ago. i was riding on the ambulance for my EMT-Basic ride time. we had been running all day and you were only required to ride 12 hours but i ended up riding 18 hours which was awesome. at about 10pm that night we were dispatched to a seziure call in the northern part of our county. as i went into the residence we found a 20 somthing year old laying completely naked on the floor covered in puke, pee, and crap. and you may be wondering why. the reason why would be because he and his friend had decided to eat mushrooms out of cow crap because i guess on a friday night they had nothing better to do. after we loaded him into the ambulance the medic on the truck told me to slide the trashcan under the dudes rear just as i did that he craped everywhere. to this day i still can not get that smell out of my nose. so dont eat mushrooms unless you buy them from a grocery store. yall stay safe.
Most interesting was also the biggest fire i have ever been at was in Wauseon Ohio in 2007. Had 22 departments involved and 33 tankers. Using over 3 million gallons of water. First time ive ever seen them bring a fuel truck to the scene. We was called out for mutual aid at 3:30am on Saturday morning and didnt get back to the station until 7:00pm that evening. Talk about a long day for everyone.
we had my worst one maybe 5 years ago or longer. was a pretty red headed lady had been dringing and smokin ridin back roads. lost control no seat belt rolled the truck she came part way out driver door window . truck cab was on top her. upon arival all i could see was her red hair she was doa. we used our tools for the first time to get the truck off of her i still see her .

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