Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...June 19, 2010

Excuse the lack of proper writing style. I am letting you peek into my brain.

Last night I just couldn't get to see the homebound person and her family that I visit every Friday after work about 20 miles away. I went to bed asking God to please tap me on the shoulder and get my butt out of bed and drive early this morning before my pedicure.

As these things go, ping I was awake at 6:30 and had loads of time to get to Cranford. And boy am I glad I did. The person I see, Mary, has been bedridden for at least 6 years now. I have been seeing her consistently all that time, and I am involved now with her family. Not as you may think, but involved in that when I get there I am bombarded by her 3 sisters and husband. Each time I go, they tell me I'm too skinny, and why do I go out with my hair wet, and try to force me to eat. I really enjoy this as my parents aren't here, and face it what woman wouldn't want someone to tell them they are too skinny and force you to eat pizza every week? LOL

So getting back to my story, this morning I got to St. Michael's, was able to get Communion and get to her house at 9:00.

Mary has intensive neurological pain in her legs. She has no hip due to a severe infection. She is in a bed contraption which was thousands of dollars, and adjusts the softness/firmness of the mattress. The switches for this bed are located at the bottom of the bed, and she cannot herself get to them. Her sisters take turns through the night rubbing her feet and legs. But we are talking about people in their late 70s-80s sitting by a machine that needs to be strictly regulated. I would imagine that during the night they drift off and accidently hit a button and that would explain why her bed feels different.

Last night, she felt like her butt was getting hot. Her sisters checked but they said it must have been her imagination. So she said she stayed up most of the night worrying that her machine would malfunction causing a fire in her bed. My question - has anyone every encountered a situation like this?

My first response was to tell them to call the phone number on the side of the machine and ask for the name of a local service person. They said that it was difficult in the past to get someone who knows how to operate this specialized device.

I said if you feel like something is getting hot, unplug the machine, call 911, and have a fire extinguisher right next to the bed. Being from the depression era, they have multiples of everything, and I was told they had 6 fire extinguishers. I said don't leave it in another room, put it right next to the bed. I told them they could roll her off the bed onto a small mattress or pillows if there was a delay in 911 arriving. I also told them that God forbid if this really happened, they would have to act very quickly, and hopefully the adrenelin would get them organized to mobilize her off the bed.

I had to repeat myself about 5 times, similar to last week when they all got confused because the remote for the TV wasn't working. Last week when I arrived, all of a sudden I was assaulted with a flurry of sibling fury. "'No you messed up the remote...You pressed the wrong button...I told you that wouldn't work..." I calmy showed them how to shut off the TV and cable box and what to press to get them back on. This exercise took about 15 minutes and at least 10 turns for each of them to try what I was explaining.

My observation after last week, and now the bed problem of this week, is I wonder how many homebound people don't have 3 sisters and a husband to help them in both of these scenarios. At least I have my kids help me with my remote. What about the people that have no help?

I missed my pedicure but it was worth it.

Denise Imperiale, the NJ Rookie Firefighter